Imagine for a moment...you are standing on the stones of the actual road outside the place where Jesus was held before dragging his cross to Golgotha. The stones you stand on are the very stones that supported the feet of Jesus as he exited the building and forced His beaten and bruised body to the place where He would be crucified. Each stone is covered with small traction groves carved into the rock to help the beasts of burden gain traction on the rocks as they carried materials to market each day.
I stood on those stones outside the Antonio Fortress which was a Roman Garrison at the time of Christ. I could see clearly in my mind’s eye the entire drama unfold that would change everything and everyone for all time. I reached down and swept my hands across the groves in the rock. I pressed my palm against the rock to feel the cold, hard surface. I thought to myself that this would be a moment I would not forget. Just as a man who looses his arm in battle feels the itch of a limb that is no longer there, I can still feel the cold sensation of the rock that I won’t soon touch again.
We left the ancient garrison and found our way through the streets of Old Jerusalem to the famous Pool of Bathesda. John 5 tells us that the “blind, the lame [and] the paralyzed” would come to the waters of the pool because of their healing properties. Once again I was looking at a physical piece of biblical history!
This is where the scene of John 5:1-18 unfolds. Jesus approaches a man who has been an invalid for “thirty eight years.” Jesus asks the man one question, “Do you want to get well?” The man, misunderstanding what Jesus is offering, respond, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. When I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Jesus then commands the man to get up and walk! The man was immediately cured and picked his mat up and walked. The story doesn’t stop there. But, I don’t want to ruin it for you . The entire passage is at this link – John 5:1-18.
More to come…
Carpe Deum! (Seize God!)
Todd Phillips
www.toddphillips.net
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