Hope For Our Healing

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” (John 5:6-7)

New Year’s Day is a time for resolutions and reflections. As we look backward to the past year and forward to the next, we evaluate the old and set goals for the new. It can be a depressing time for those who have had a really bad year. Folks like these can spend many days reliving and regretting past choices. But it can also be an exciting day for those who are facing the future with their eyes wide open. New challenges are waiting to be accepted and change is eagerly anticipated. In a lot of ways it is easy to blame the past for our present failures. Or postpone making real time decisions to some future time which always seems to remain in the future.
Some people’s lives are so paralyzed by the pain of the past, they never look to the future. Hope is something they don’t think much about. And some people are so focused on what they are going to do in the future, they refuse to learn any lessons from the past. Some of these folks are has-beens and some are will-bes. But the saddest of all are the are-nots. The saddest people are those who never live in the present. If you are one of those who believe that your life has been a total waste, it can be really painful. No one wants to think that their life lacks meaning. We want to believe that we matter to someone.
In the passage before us today, we can see someone who was a stranger to hope, but no stranger to hurt. Jesus met this paralyzed man, wasting away every day and begins to enter his life. Was there any hope for his healing? Here’s some thoughts to think:

I. JESUS SEES US IN OUR PRESENT PREDICAMENT.
Jesus saw him lying there and that encourages me. It gives me cause to think that He notices the times that I am incapacitated. He takes note when I’m down about life.
II. JESUS KNOWS ABOUT OUR PAINFUL PAST.
Jesus knew he had already been a long time in that condition. Nothing about this man or any man is news to Jesus. He knows our situation and He cares about us.
III. JESUS ASKS US ABOUT OUR FUTURE HOPES.
He said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” The man was living out his life waiting on something. Waiting on some angel to stir the waters or some man to place him in the pool. He could have spent the rest of his life waiting. Jesus was really asking, “Have you any hope for healing? Do you want to leave this place in your life? Or do you wish to stay?”
Have we given up hope for our healing? Is our hope based on man’s ability or God’s? There is hope for our future despite our painful past and present predicament. Hope lies in our desire to be healed. Do we have that desire? Or are we comfortable with our present condition? As we reflect on these things, God wants to heal us of our afflictions, cleanse us of our sin, so we can tell His story and have a real Happy New Year all year long. So what are we waiting for? Do we wish to get well? Then tell it to Jesus. He is our hope for healing.