One night
recently I couldn’t sleep, so I started thinking about the encounters Jesus had
with various people during His walk on earth. The result was this imagined
story based loosely on John 5:1-17:
It’s hard to get comfortable on this mat. I’ve been laying
here almost four decades now. I was a bit of a rascal growing up, and when I
was a teenager I made some bad choices that ended with me falling off a roof.
My parents couldn’t care for me, and they probably thought I got what I deserved.
So I’ve spent my adult life here, begging for alms and watching to see if an
angel stirred the waters of this pool. When I was younger and slightly more mobile,
there were a couple times when I was the first person into the pool, but I was
never healed when that happened. I did see some people receive healing over the
years. But after a while I stopped even trying to get in. Let someone who is
more desperate get the healing they desire.
There are some interesting people here. Some of us have
become friends. Sometimes we play games or speculate about where a new person
is from. We also enjoy talking about various things that we learned before we
came here. I like to talk about the Torah or recite psalms I memorized years
ago when a young priest would come talk to us.
Here come some strangers. Maybe I can get some bread from
one of them. It looks like maybe a teacher and his followers. Some of the Pharisees
come by here and tell their students that this is where they’ll end up if they
sin, any maybe they’re right, since I’m here. There’s no point in asking for alms
from people like that. But this fellow looks different, more compassionate
perhaps. The men with him certainly look happier than most of the Pharisees and
Sadducees I’ve seen.
Is he looking at me? He’s coming over here! My heart is
pounding and I don’t know why. What might he have in mind?
“Do
you want to be healed?”
That’s a strange question. Of course I’d like to be healed,
but after all these years I don’t really expect anything to change. “Sir, I
have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I
am going another steps down before me.”
“Get
up, take up your bed, and walk.”
Whoa! My pain is gone, and my legs suddenly feel different.
Look at that, I’m actually standing! What a strange feeling! I’ve gotta go show
my brothers!
Whoops, there are some of those Pharisees. “Yes, I know I’m
not supposed to be carrying anything on the Sabbath, but the man who healed me
told me to take up my bed and walk… No, I don’t know who he was, but surely he
was a righteous man. I promise I’m only going a few streets over, to my brother’s
house...”
This sure has been a strange and exciting day. I never
thought I’d be able to talk around Jerusalem under my own strength. I guess I’ll
need to start thinking about where to live and what kind of work I can do.
There’s the man that healed me! “Kind sir, thank you for
having mercy on me! May I know your name?”
“I am
Jesus of Nazareth. See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may
happen to you.”
“May I follow You and Your disciples and learn from You?”
“I was
hoping you’d ask. Come along with us! Peter, give our new friend some bread.”
Thus began my new life as a disciple of Jesus Christ.
© 2026 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture are ESV and all images copyright free from pixabay.com. The opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of my church or employer.
