Christ The Power of God

"GET UP! PICK UP YOUR MAT AND WALK"

A few months passed after Jesus' encounter with the leprous man in Galilee. His travels took him from Galilee into Judea to preach and declare the good news of God's Kingdom.  The lives Jesus touched with his message and his manner must have numbered into the thousands. He clearly desired  to declare the good news to the poor, to proclaim liberty to the captives , and to bind up the brokenhearted. -Isaiah 61:1. ; Luke 4:18-21. 

Then the month of Nisan arrived. In obedience to his Father's command, Jesus journeyed to Jerusalem for the Passover.  The city was alive with activity as the people  arrived for this sacred festival. Just north of the temple was a pool known as Bethzatha, and there Jesus encountered a sick man. 

Large crowds of sick and infirm people would gather at Bethzatha. What drew them to this location?  For some unexplained reason, they believed that if a sick person entered the pool when the waters were agitated, he would be   miraculously cured. Imagine the feeling that must prevailed!  Desperation, anxiety, and feelings of hopelessness no doubt hung heavily in the air.  But what is it that drew Jesus there, a perfect man without physical defect?  Well, moved with pity,m Jesus approached a man who had been sick longer than Jesus had been alive on earth. -Read John 5:5-9. 

Can you picture the despair in the sick man's eyes when Jesus inquired if he wanted to get well? The response was immediate. The man wanted to be  healed but he could not see how for had no  one to put him into the pool. Jesus then commanded the man to do the impossible-to pick up his mat and walk. Taking Jesus at his word, the man picked up his mat and began to walk. What a heartwarming foregleam  of what Jesus will do in the new world!  In this miracle, we also see Jesus' compassion. He sought out the needy.  Jesus' example should motivate us to continue to seek out people in our territory who are depressed about the terrible things happening in this world.

Next time: Christ The Power of God -"WHO TOUCHED MY OUTER GARMENTS?"

From the Watchtower magazine, 2015