Every direction we look now days we see an overwhelming number of desperate people; people who are powerless to save themselves.  They are lying on our streets, standing in the alleys, begging on the street corners.  Then there are those who aren’t easily seen but are helpless none the less.  There are children that go to school and hide their hunger and heartbreak and abuse because the familiar, though unbearable at times, is way less frightening than the unknown.  And we all have co-workers who hide their shame and pain behind smiles and some behind bad attitudes.  But seen or unseen, we often turn and look away – because it is easier to ignore and hope “someone” will help them.  Sometimes we think there are too many to help.  Sometimes we might think they should be helping themselves.  And sadly, sometimes we just won’t look because our own hearts have become hardened.  We feel better if we can ignore the emptiness in someone else’s eyes.  We reason that it’s not our responsibility; that we can’t save everyone nor is it our job to do so.  I have even heard people say “Even Jesus couldn’t save everyone while He was here on earth!”  And one popular belief is that “God helps those who help themselves”.

In the Bible I find a story that contradicts that last statement.  John 5 tells a story of a crowd of helpless people lying by a pool of water.  The Hebrew name for the pool was Bethesda. These people were blind, lame, or paralyzed. Some writings say that at certain times an angel would come down and stir up the water. Then the first person to get into the pool after the water was stirred would be healed of whatever disease or infirmity the person had.  One day Jesus showed up at this pool.  One of the people at the pool that day was a man who had not been able to walk for thirty-eight years. Jesus saw him there and knew of his condition.  But, what struck me is that the lame man did not recognize that he was in the presence of the Great Physician!  Jesus asked the man, “Do you want to be made well?”  Can you imagine such a question?  Of course the man wanted to be well but he couldn’t walk to the pool when the water stirred and he had no one to help him.  He told Jesus all the reasons he couldn’t be made well.  Even though this man could not help himself and even though this man did not recognize who he was talking to, Jesus still healed him! 

This world is full of people much like those lying around the Pool of Bethesda.  They too are blind and cannot see Jesus; they are lame and cannot walk to Him; they are paralyzed and cannot reach out to Him as He passes by.  These people are utterly helpless!  That’s where we come in.  We must start asking these people, “Do you want to be made well?”  Then we must give them the only Hope they will ever have of being made whole.  If Jesus lives in us then we must take responsibility just as He did to offer sight to the blind and strength to the weak.  We cannot wait for them to come – they simply can’t…we must go to them.  Don’t walk into a crowd of dying people and become so overwhelmed with the masses that you close your eyes to those closest to you. As you walk your daily road, reach out to those whose path you cross and allow Jesus to give them life.  It will make a difference to them, this I promise you.