During a time of joyful feasting at Jerusalem, the
Savior left the multitudes to seek out
those in greatest need.
He found them at Bethesda, the five-porch pool by the sheep
market, which was renowned for attracting the afflicted.
The Gospel of John tells us that near the pool "lay a
great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt,
withered, waiting for the moving of the water.
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool,
and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the
troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of
whatsoever disease he had."
The Savior's visit is depicted in a beautiful painting by
Carl Bloch titled Christ Healing the Sick at the Pool
of Bethesda.
Bloch captures Jesus gently lifted a temporary canopy,
revealing an "impotent man" who is lying
near the pool, waiting.
Here, the word "impotent" refers to someone who is
powerless and emphasizes the mercy and grace of the Savior,
who came quietly to minister to those who could not help
themselves.
In the painting, the afflicted man huddles on the floor in
the shadows, exhausted and demoralized after suffering
his infirmity for 38 years.
As the Savior raises the edge of the cloth with one hand, he
beckons with the other and asks a penetrating question:
"Wilt thou be made whole?"
The man replies, "Sir, I have no man, when the water is
troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming,
another steppeth down before me." To the man's seemingly
impossible challenge, Jesus provides a profound and
unexpected answer: "Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his
bed, and walked."
In another tender scene, Luke tells us that the Savior,
while traveling to Jerusalem, met 10 lepers.
Because of their infirmity, they "stood afar off." They
were outcasts--unclean and unwanted.
"Jesus, Master, have mercy on us," they cried.
In other words, importuning, "Isn't there something you can
do for us?"
The Great Physician, full of compassion, still knew that
faith must precede the miracle and therefore told them, "Go
shew yourselves unto the priests." As they went in
faith, the miracle occurred.
Can you imagine the overwhelming joy with each
step as they witnessed in real time their bodies being
cleansed, healed, and restored right before their eyes?
"One of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back
and, with a loud voice glorified God, and fell down
on his face at [the Master's]
feet, giving Him thanks.
. . .
And [Jesus]
said unto him, Arise, go thy way: thy faith hath made thee
whole."
As a former physician and surgeon, my practice focused
on mending and correcting the physical.
Jesus Christ heals body, mind, and spirit, and His healing
begins with faith.
Do you remember when your faith and joy
were full to the brim?
Remember the moment you found your testimony?
Or when God confirmed to you that you were his son or
daughter and that He loved you very much, and you felt whole?
If that time seems lost, it can be found again.
The Savior counsels us on how to be made whole, to be
complete or become healed.
"Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,
and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn of me; for I am meek and
lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light."
"Come follow me"
invites us to leave behind the old life and worldly desires
and become a new creature for whom "old things are passed
away; [and]
all things . . . become new," even with a new faithful
heart, and we are made whole again.
"Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me
diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and you shall
receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."
As we draw near to Him, we realize that mortality is
meant to be difficult and that "opposition in all things" is
not a flaw in the plan of salvation.
Opposition, rather, is the indispensable element of
mortality and strengthens our will and refines our choices.
The vicissitudes of life help us fashion an eternal
relationship with God--and engraves His image upon our
countenance as we yield our hearts to Him.
"This do in remembrance of me," is what our Savior asked
when he instituted what we call the sacrament.
This ordinance with bread and water renews sacred covenants
we have made with God and invites the power of the
Atonement into our lives.
We are healed by abandoning the habits and lifestyles that
harden hearts and stiffen necks.
When we lay down our "weapons of . . . rebellion," we become
"agents unto ourselves," no longer blinded by the
sophistry of Satan or deafened by the discordant noise of the
secular world.
As we repent and become converted to the Lord, we
become whole, and our guilt is swept away.
You may wonder, as did Enos, "How is it done?"
The Lord answers, "Because of thy faith in Christ.
. . .
Wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.
Corrie ten Boom, a devout Dutch Christian woman found
such healing despite having been interned in concentration
camps during World War II.
She suffered greatly, but unlike her beloved sister,
Betsy, who perished in one of the camps, Corrie survived.
After the war, she often spoke publicly of her experiences of
healing and forgiveness.
On one occasion a former Nazi guard who had been part of
Corrie's own grievous confinement in Ravensbruck,
Germany, approached her, rejoicing at her message of
Christ's forgiveness and love.
"'How grateful I am for your message, Fraulein,' he said.
'To think that, as you say, He has washed my sins away!'
"His hand was thrust out to shake mine," Corrie recalled.
"And I, who had preached so often . . . the need to
forgive, kept my hand at my side.
Even as the angry, vengeful thoughts boiled through me, I
saw the sin of them.
. . .
Lord Jesus, I prayed, forgive me and help me to forgive him.
I tried to smile [and]
I struggled to raise my hand.
I could not.
I felt nothing, not the slightest spark
of warmth or charity.
And so again I breathed a silent prayer.
Jesus, I cannot forgive him.
Give me Your forgiveness.
As I took his hand, the most incredible thing happened.
From my shoulder along my arm and through my hand a current
seemed to pass from me to him, while into my heart sprang a
love for this stranger that almost overwhelmed me.
And so I discovered that it is not on our forgiveness anymore
than on our goodness that the world's healing
hinges, but on His.
When he tells us to love our enemies, He gives, along with
the command, the love itself." Corrie ten
Boom was made whole.
President Thomas S. Monson has said, "There is one life that
sustains those who are troubled or beset with sorrow
and grief--even the Lord, Jesus Christ." If you feel
unclean, unloved, unhappy, unworthy, or unwhole,
remember, "All that is unfair about life can be made right
through the Atonement of Christ."
Have faith and patience in the Savior's timing and
purposes for you.
"Be not afraid, only believe." Be assured the Savior still
seeks to mend our souls and heal our hearts.
He waits at the door and knocks.
Let us answer by beginning again to pray, repent,
forgive, and forget.
Let us love God and serve our neighbor and stand in holy
places with a life made clean.
The impotent man at the pool at Bethesda, the leper along
the journey to Jerusalem, and Corrie ten
Boom were made whole.
"Wilt thou be made whole?" "Rise . . . and walk." His
grace is sufficient, and you will not walk alone.
I have come to know that God lives.
I know that we are all His children and that He loves us
for who we are and for who we can become.
I know that He sent His Son to the world to be the atoning
sacrifice for all mankind and that those who embrace His
gospel and follow Him will be made whole and complete, in
His own time, in His own way, and according to His own will,
by His tender mercies.
This is my witness to you, in the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.