I HAVE NO MAN

In Jesus' day, there was a pool in Jerusalem which in Aramaic was called Bethesda, meaning "house of mercy."  Once in a while, an angel would enter the pool and stir the waters up so that they visibly moved.  It was discovered that anyone who could be the first to enter the pool after the water was stirred would be healed of whatever was afflicting them.  For this reason there was always a large number of people who were blind, sick, crippled, etc. who would wait all around the pool for their chance to be healed. 

 

A story like this may seem strange to us today.  Many modern Christians and theologians would rather dismiss what they don't understand than to believe the witness of God's Word.  Even several of the more popular modern Bible translations have removed the text of John 5:4 from their editions, choosing to skip verse four altogether and go directly to verse five from verse three!  I say, let God be true and every man a liar.  God is a faithful and loving Father, and even at times when His people turn their backs on Him, He still moves in marvelous and miraculous ways in order to bless them, and remind them that He is God.    

 

A study of the history of the great revivals in America should be enough to convince us that God still moves in strange and unexpected ways even down to today.  From the Great Awakening of 1734-43 with the powerful preaching of Jonathan Edwards and George Whitfield, through the 2nd awakening of the early 1800's when Charles Finney alone was instrumental in leading 500,000 souls to Christ, to the Businessmen's Revival of 1857-58 where an estimated 2,000,000 were converted, God truly was stirring the waters in miraculous ways.  The Urban Revival of 1875-85 led to the rise of Dwight L. Moody who brought God's Word to millions during his ministry.  Revival broke out in 1904 among Welsh-speaking settlers in Pennsylvania and spread to other parts of the country.  A preacher by the name of Billy Sunday preached to about 100,000,000 souls during this time.  In 1906, revival began on the west coast with the Azusa Street Revival.  We could mention the Post-World War Awakening and the preaching of Bill Bright and Billy Graham, the Charismatic Renewal and Jesus Movement of the late 1960's and early 1970's, the Asbury College Revival of the 1970's, the Melbourne Revival, the Modesto Revival, the Brownsville Revival, and the Promise Keeper's Revival which were all in the 1990's to 2000.  During each of these times God manifested Himself in some very unusual ways bringing spiritual awakening, physical healings, gifts of the Spirit, and fresh anointing to hundreds of millions of people.  I was converted in 1971 during the Jesus Movement, and later participated in the Promise Keeper's million believer march on Washington in October of 1997.  During these times I witnessed personally the "moving of the waters" among God's people.  I saw many lives completely transformed by faith in the saving grace of the Lord Jesus Christ.  I saw drug dependencies miraculously cured, sick bodies healed instantly by prayer, and works of the Spirit that defied natural explanation.  Clearly, God still "troubles the waters" for the sake of His people today.

 

At a certain point in His ministry, Jesus was in Jerusalem and passed by the pool of Bethesda where He found a man who had been invalid for 38 years.  This man was waiting, along with all the other sick folks, for the waters of the pool to be troubled so that he might be able to get in the pool first and be healed.  On seeing the man's need, Jesus said to him, "Do you want to be healed?"  (John 5:6 RSV).  The man's answer was very unexpected.  Instead of crying, "Yes, what do you think I'm here for?" he offers an excuse.  "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled."  (v.7)  I have no man!?

 

The trouble with much of modern religion is that it has become too dependent on man, and not enough on God.  Jesus Christ is the answer to all of the world's needs.  He is our Healer, He is our Teacher, He is our hope and help when we are struggling with circumstances in this life for which we have no answers.  In His sovereignty He can save and heal without the help of angels, movements, or man.  Though God uses preachers, teachers, revivals, awakenings, and, yes, even troubled waters to reach out to the lost and faltering; none of those agents should ever distract us from God Himself.  They should, instead, point us toward our Lord Jesus Christ through Whom we all find access to God.  I've heard a lot of excuses over the years that people use for not serving God.  They blame their parents, their spouse (or lack of a spouse), their pastor, their Sunday school teacher, an evangelist, or just some Christian that let them down somehow.  They use someone else's failures as an excuse not to serve God themselves.  Instead of having their eyes on a man or even a movement, they need to fix their eyes on Christ.  The question needs to be whether or not they trust in Jesus Christ to make them whole or not.  He is able to work outside all of our paradigms, traditions, expectations, and norms if we will just believe.  "The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved."  (Romans 10:8,9 NKJV). 

 

Jesus ignored the sick man's excuses and said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  (v.8 NKJV).  Immediately, the man received faith to be healed, rolled up his bed, and walked away under his own strength!  God is not looking for our excuses, but our obedience and faith.  Faith is the thing that will fulfill God's promises in our life.  When we stop substituting people and things in the place of Jesus, we will find joy and victory overflowing.  When we quit saying, "I have no man," or, "I have no money," or whatever we use as an excuse, then we will find that the Lord Himself will be everything we ever need or want.  We will find also that salvation isn't just for the lucky few, but it is for all who hear God's voice and respond in faith.  Certainly God can and does use His servants and His movements to reach out to the lost, but those things should only serve as signposts that point us to the Savior of the world.  They should never exalt man in the place of Christ.  The truth is God doesn't need to use any of those agents to reach lost souls, but He does choose to. In His love and mercy He still moves in unusual and miraculous ways.  The point, though, is that Christ is always standing before us asking, "Do you want to be healed?"  What will our response be to our Lord and Savior?  Will we respond with a resounding, "Yes," or will we make excuses and remain unchanged?

 

"Give us help from trouble: for vain is the help of man.  Through God we shall do valiantly: for He it is that shall tread down our enemies."  (Psalms 108:12,13).