Many times in our lives, healing involves perseverance--by those who need healing, by those who care about them, or both. In the case of the paralytic, his friends persevered until they were able to lay their friend at the feet of Jesus--even to the extent of tearing a hole in the roof and lowering him on a pallet! The man at the pool of Bethsaida had been ill for 38 years; yet, he was still attempting to reach the healing waters. Also, we don't know if someone continued to bring him to the pool, or if he simply remained there, hoping for assistance. As we have seen, faith is instrumental in healing, but faith often requires perseverance. Am I tempted to give up, or will I persevere, trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit?
In both cases, Jesus healed spiritually, as well as physically. He forgave the paralytic before he healed him, and he reminded the man with the long illness to not sin anymore. Our spiritual health is often a barrier to our physical well-being. Am I allowing myself to remain open to the guidance of the Holy Spirit?
I am blessed to have friends and family that care about both my spiritual and physical well-being, and who remind me that Jesus knows what I need even when I do not. Their perseverance aids in my own, and I praise God for that.
I wonder how the story would be different if Jesus had healed him physically first. Would he have allowed Jesus to heal him spiritually?
ReplyDeleteI think of the people we try to help at the church who come begging us to pay their light bill. We try to help them emotionally and spiritually, but they in most cases refuse. They just want us to pay their light bill.
Having done that, we won't hear from them for another year.
Which brings the second question, maybe Jesus tried to give complete healing to many more, but if they would not allow spiritual healing, he could not physically heal them.