The Chosen and Friends: God With UsSample

Pool's Closed
From Come and See

When you’re hurting you want healing—and you’ll look just about anywhere and to anything to find it. That was certainly true for the man you just met in John’s gospel. For thirty-eight years he’d been an invalid, partially paralyzed. It surely goes without saying, but: he longed to be well.

In the earliest years of his condition, perhaps he’d had family members or friends carry him from doctor to doctor, looking for healing. But—nothing. And then he heard of a mysterious pool down by the old Sheep Gate in Jerusalem. On occasion the waters would be stirred, and supposedly the first person to wade their way in would be healed. So, to the pool he was carried, and life on the daily would have been as follows: eyes on the water; wait for movement; hope for healing.

But—nothing.

And then one day his “pool time” is interrupted.

Suddenly he’s in the shadow of Jesus, who now pointedly stands between him and the pool. “Do you want to get well?” Jesus asks.

The question might seem cold, but it’s anything but. It’s just another way of saying, “I can make you well.”

Jesus isn’t being cold to the man; he’s being kind.

And being kind doesn’t mean the absence of confrontation.

Remember, for years this man’s eyes have been locked on what he thinks offers his best chance at healing. And with one piercing question, Jesus asks the man to take his eyes off the pool and put them on him, the only one who can truly make him well. And once the man does just that? He’s rolling up his mat and racing down the street, the pool lost in the dust he’s kicked up.

Jesus pits himself—pits God himself—against the “pools” of the world and reveals a critical truth: when you’re hurting, you’ll look just about anywhere and to anything to find healing, be it physical or (much more importantly) spiritual. But the time is now to look to Someone—Someone who can actually bring healing and desperately wants to.

About The Author
Come and See is a faith-based nonprofit that exists to share the authentic Jesus with at least one billion people worldwide. Because of the generosity of supporters around the world, Come and See is able to ensure that all seven seasons of “The Chosen” are produced, translated into 600 languages, made globally accessible, and free to all. Learn more at comeandsee.net.