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Healing of the Soul
49
or she might have. Hundreds of sufferers visited the place, but so
great was the crowd when the water was agitated that they rushed
forward, trampling underfoot men, women, and children weaker
than themselves. Many could not get near the pool. Others, who had
succeeded in reaching it, died on its bank. Shelters had been erected
about the place to protect the sick from the heat in the day and the
cold at night. Some spent the night in these porches, creeping to the
edge of the pool day after day, in the vain hope of relief.
Jesus was at Jerusalem. Walking alone, apparently in meditation
and prayer, He came to the pool. He saw the wretched sufferers
watching for that which they supposed to be their only chance of
cure. He longed to exercise His healing power and make every
sufferer whole. But it was the Sabbath day. Multitudes were going
to the temple for worship, and He knew that such an act of healing
would excite the prejudice of the Jews and cut short His work.
But the Savior saw one case of supreme wretchedness—a man
who had been a helpless cripple for thirty-eight years. His disease,
in a great degree the result of his own evil habits, was looked upon
as a judgment from God. Alone and friendless, feeling shut out from
God’s mercy, the sufferer had passed long years of misery. At the
time when it was expected that the water would be agitated, those
who pitied his helplessness would carry him to the porches. But at
the favored moment he had no one to help him in. He had seen the
rippling of the water but had never been able to get farther than the
edge of the pool. Others stronger than he would plunge in before
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him. The poor, helpless sufferer was unable to contend successfully
with the scrambling, selfish crowd. His persistent efforts toward the
one goal, and his anxiety and continual disappointment, were fast
wearing away the little strength he had left.
The sick man was lying on his mat and occasionally lifting his
head to gaze at the pool, when a tender, compassionate face bent
over him, and the words, “‘Do you want to be made well?’” arrested
his attention. Hope came to his heart. He felt that in some way he
was to receive help. But the glow of encouragement soon faded. He
remembered how often he had tried in vain to reach the pool. Now
he had little prospect of living till the water would be agitated again.
He turned away wearily, saying, “‘Sir, I have no man to put me into