Fear No Fear

(All scripture from the NET, netbible.org, all rights reserved)

When Jesus saw him lying there and when he realized that the man had been disabled a long time already, he said to him, “Do you want to become well?”
John 5:6 (emphasis added)

The place this man was lying was the Pool of Bethesda. Which was a place where an angel came and stirred the water (John 5:4). The first person who got into the water when it was being stirred got healed. A pretty good deal for the Old Covenant. As a result, the place was filled with the sick. Not the slightly sick, either. The REALLY sick. It was a place of disease, sickness, and a lack of hope. Which is often the case in places of sickness. Jesus question can seem like a silly or unnecessary one, but it is a VITAL question. One we ALL need to ask.

“But now Jesus has obtained a superior ministry, since the covenant that he mediates is also better and is enacted on better promises” (Hebrews 8:6). Under the Old Covenant, Yahweh had ways to get healing to His people. One of them was this angel. A miraculous healing from a supernatural source (using His faith) toward those who heard of it and believed (using their faith) in the process. That’s how much He wants His creation healed. There are verses about it throughout the Old Covenant. Sometimes there were conditions on it, but He encouraged people to meet them. The Psalmist celebrates this merciful attitude of Adonai. “Praise the Lord, O my soul. Do not forget all his kind deeds. He is the one who forgives all your sins, who heals all your diseases, who delivers your life from the Pit, who crowns you with his loyal love and compassion, who satisfies your life with good things, so your youth is renewed like an eagle’s” (Psalm 103:2-5). This was a SURE THING when you got where Yahweh could work.

Yes, COULD work. From the beginning, Yahweh chose to limit His interaction. Spirits needs PERMISSION to operate here. It was designed not to deprive us of His Blessing, but to protect us from the devil and his angels who were rebellious toward Yahweh and doomed to destruction (Matthew 25:41). If they needed permission to operate here – because WE had been given authority by Yahweh over this planet (Genesis 1:25-31; 2:15-17) – then they would be barred from interfering with us and the planet as long as we stood on His Word to us and kept sin (the sin of rebellion which was only on the devil and his angels) at the door (Genesis 4:7). But we did NOT listen to Yahweh. We did NOT stand on His word to us (do not eat of that one). We decided to listen to the devil and gave up our authority by bowing to another’s. Yahweh did not lift the way He set things up, however. Permission was still required. That’s FREE WILL for you. So if He wants to move on or through us, He has chosen to need our permission.

It isn’t permission for us to get what we want. Or to get Yahweh to work how we want Him to. It’s Him saying that He wants to do a thing and us agreeing that He can. If WE say no, He’ll get someone else. He will move how He wants. “You will say to me then, “Why does he still find fault? For who has ever resisted his will?” But who indeed are you—a mere human being—to talk back to God? Does what is molded say to the molder, “Why have you made me like this?” Has the potter no right to make from the same lump of clay one vessel for special use and another for ordinary use?” (Romans 9:19-21). “Certainly the Lord watches the whole earth carefully and is ready to strengthen those who are devoted to him. You have acted foolishly in this matter; from now on you will have war”” (2 Chronicles 16:9). If we do what He says, when He says, and how He says miracles happen, things work out, and nothing is impossible for us (Matthew 19:26). It is how Jesus operated. Look what the Father accomplished through Him.

We know that Yahweh wants to heal. We know that He will do all that He can to get it to us. We know that He wants to work through US to get it to US and those around us. We’re filled with the Holy Spirit – which they weren’t in the Old Covenant. We’re under Grace – sin having been removed as an obstacle between us and Yahweh. Jesus accomplished it on and through the cross. It is finished. Work completed. Healing sent out. Available to all. Done deal. Why aren’t we all walking in healing? This question Jesus asked is one of the reasons.

Not everyone WANTS to be healed. Sure, they may talk a big game about it. But reality is that not everyone WANTS to be healed. Maybe they like the victim card. Maybe they are used to it. Maybe they’re afraid of being well. Maybe they don’t want the responsibility of taking care of themselves. Maybe they can’t see themselves well. Maybe they like the benefits and perks available to the sick that aren’t available to the well. Maybe they don’t think it is even possible. Maybe they’re waiting for a direct word from Adonai that He wants it to happen – the ‘ol we know He can but we don’t know if He will line. There are a lot of reasons why people might choose to say ‘no’ to that question. It is a question that MUST be answered and answered honestly if there is to be forward motion with healing. It’s kind of a ground-floor question.

Do you WANT to be healed? Do you WANT to be made well? Are you WILLING to BE well? Jesus asked if he wanted to be made well. The word translated ‘want’ is thélō meaning to desire (wish, will), wanting what is best (optimal) because someone is ready and willing to act. It is a strong determination. It is not a passive desire or wish. This isn’t waiting for something to happen. This is eagerly striving forward toward the person who is eagerly seeking to act. This is the two lovers running toward each other across a mountain meadow scene from old movies. This is the Creator reaching across to take the hand of His created. This is LOVE on BOTH sides. One wanting them well, one willing to be made well.

If your inward self isn’t ready or willing to be healed and made well, this is wasted effort. If you have given up. If you’re depressed, despondent, or full of self-pity, this is wasted effort. Just like with salvation, Jesus performed the necessary act at the cross. He is READY to see you take it from His hand. He is WAITING for you to take it. But you have to WANT to. You have to BELIEVE. You have to TRUST. You have to give PERMISSION. You have to WANT it more than you want anything else. You need to have a STRONG determination that you will take His hand, appropriate what He’s made available to you, and not stop until you get it – no matter what you see. It is a spiritual and mental determination that needs to get deep into your heart and lodge there.

Do you want to be made well?

Daily Affirmation Jesus IS Messiah: Psalm 30:3

“O Lord, you pulled me up from Sheol; you rescued me from among those descending into the grave.” Messiah would be rescued. It was going to be part of who He was. A rescued of Yahweh personage. Pulled up from the very depths of hell (Sheol), a place of punishment for sin. “David by foreseeing this spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was neither abandoned to Hades, nor did his body experience decay.This Jesus God raised up, and we are all witnesses of it” (Acts 2:31-32). Jesus died, went to hell, and was raised to life by the Father through Holy Spirit (Romans 8:11). Jesus IS the Living One (Revelation 1:18). Jesus IS the Messiah!

Your Daily Confession of Jesus/Yeshua’s Identity:

Yeshua is the Christ, the Son of the living God.

Matthew 16:16b