Healed Before We Understand

Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was (John 5:13). To the happy and healthy, years are short. But thirty-eight years of disease must have dragged by with weary slowness in the life of this poor lame man. So when Jesus healed him with a word at the pool of Bethesda, he was delightfully aware of the change. It is the same for the sinner who has for weeks and months been paralyzed with despair and has sighed for salvation. That person is very conscious of the change when the Lord Jesus speaks the word of power and gives joy and peace in believing. The evil Jesus removes is too great to be taken without our realizing it; the life imparted is too remarkable to be possessed and remain inoperative; the change worked out is too marvelous not to be perceived.

Still, the poor man of John 5 was ignorant of the Author of his cure—he did not know the sacredness of His person, the high offices He filled, or the errand that brought Him among humanity. There may be an ignorance of Jesus in hearts that have felt the power of His blood. We must not condemn people quickly for a lack of knowledge; where we can see the faith that saves a soul, we should believe that salvation has been bestowed. The Holy Spirit makes people penitents long before He makes them theologians, and when we believe what we know, we will soon know more clearly what we believe. Ignorance ultimately is an evil, for this poor man was tormented by the Pharisees and was quite unable to cope with them. It is good to be able to answer opponents, but we cannot if we don't know the Lord Jesus clearly and with understanding. The cure of the lame man's ignorance soon followed the cure of his infirmity, when he was visited by the Lord in the temple. After that gracious interaction, he was found testifying that "it was Jesus who had healed him" (John 5:15). Lord, if you have saved me, show me yourself so I may declare you to the children of men.

—Charles Spurgeon