In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.
John 5:3, NKJV
Growing up, the phrase, “that’s not fair” was not something I uttered often. As an only child for my first eight years, there was no one to fight with or complain about. And by the time my baby sister came along, we were in such different stages that it still was never an issue. Maybe that’s why I cringed so severely every time I heard my own kiddos say it. Kids always thrown a little bit of a whiny draw on the word “fair”. Err.
As parents, we did our best to treat our kids fairly. The Bible gives fair warning about showing favoritism with your children. It never turns out well. But it is just impossible to be 100% fair, 100% of the time. What was wrong for one kid, may be permissible for an older one.
I can’t help but think of Father God having several palm-to-forehead moments during our days together as we whine to Him about fairness. He is fair in His love and forgiveness, but our lives/resources/circumstances/families are all very different, so one could argue that God isn’t fair.
These are all thoughts that ran through my head as I read the beginning of John chapter 5. Jesus was in Jerusalem going through the Sheep Gate called Bethesda. Here, there were MANY who were sick and waiting for a miracle. In walks Jesus.
But as Jesus exits, only one was healed. Only one walked away from Bethesda that day. What about the rest of the multitude who were in a bad state? That’s not faaaaiiiir!
The lame man didn’t ask Jesus for help, in fact, he didn’t even know who was talking to him at first. (More on that next week.) So why did Jesus stop and separate this man from the rest of the multitude?
Honestly, I don’t have an answer. I can look at the surrounding text that follows and see that this exchange gained the attention of many Jews who saw this as unlawful, persecuted Him and sought to kill Him because His actions occurred on the Sabbath. (John 5:10, 16) Jesus was always concerned about the end game, doing the will of the One who sent Him.
Jesus goes on to do the most unfair thing ever. He who was without sin, died in place of us all. He got what WE deserved. That’s not fair!
As someone who’s never been lame, blind or paralyzed, I feel majorly unqualified to say such things in such a simple way. I have a hard time imagining what it must have been like to be the one reclining next to this man, watch him take up his mat and walk away only to look down at my lame legs unable to do the same. I wish the story ended with Jesus healing them all, but it doesn’t. Our definition of fairness is not the same as God’s.
To be like Jesus, we must be more concerned about doing the will of God than we are about fairness. Celebrate the love, forgiveness and communion we get to live in with God no matter what our state of affairs are today.