Come forth! part 4

Now we are going to go a passage I read just the other day. In John 5, there is the account of the lame man who had waiting by the pool for 38 years in order to get healed. John 5:5-7 “One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’” [What an interesting question: Do you want to be healed?!]

Picking up in John 5:7 “The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going, another steps down before me.’” He just gives excuses as to why he can’t be healed: there is no one to put me into the pool, others always get there before me, etc. etc.

When Jesus comes to Mary (and later, to Martha), they both said, “If only you had been here.” They, too, had their reasons of why their brother died. They had faith for the past: “If only you had been here…” “If only that accident hadn’t happened…” “If only my dad had raised me differently…” “If only my schoolmates had treated me differently… things would be different today.” Faith for the past, quite honestly is easy. 

The sisters of Lazarus also had faith for the future. “We know that one day in the resurrection everything will be good again.” “One day I’ll be over this problem…” “One day I’ll be able to get my mate to do this or that and life will be better…” “One day my neighbor will stop kicking my dog and life will be good again….” Faith for the “one day” future is also quite easy. 



Faith for today is what Jesus is dealing with in both of these cases. But instead of faith, we give excuses as to why it won’t work. Another word for unbelief could be the word “excuse.” We continually make excuses as to why we can’t be healed or receive the miracle we need. We believe in Jesus as our Savior but we are struggling with believing for the miracle we now need.
 

We are double minded

James 1:6-8 “But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind. 7 For that person must not suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; 8 he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways.” James says the double minded person will not receive anything from the Lord.

Double-mindedness relates to having two minds at the same time. When Jesus said to the lame man, “Do you want to be healed” don’t you think in his mind he was saying, “Yes, that is why I’ve been lying here for 38 years hoping to get into the pool when it is stirred?!” He is of two minds: he wanted to be healed, but at the same time he is telling Jesus why he can’t be. 
 

“Mary and Martha, do you want to see your brother again? “Yes, Lord, we do, that is why we are saying if only you had been there.” In both cases Jesus was trying to get them to believe. “If you believe you will see him rise from the dead.” To the lame man, “If you believe you can just take up your bed and walk. But you must believe without excuse.” 
 

Jesus comes to us and says, “Do you believe I can take care of you financially?” We say, “Yes, Lord,” while in the back of our minds we are thinking of our rich uncle to whom we can go to for help, or that small loan we can take out. That is being double-minded. It’s faith for the future, but not necessarily for the moment.

Continued tomorrow