The Last to Know

From Pastor Quentin Wallace

 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.” — John 5:7-9

In 1776, the colonies in America declared their freedom from England through the Declaration of Independence signed on July 4. Afterward a great celebration ensued. However, it wouldn’t be until 1865, nearly 100 years later, before all Americans could experience this freedom. 

On June 19, 1863, five months after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed so slaves could be freed from bondage. However, it wasn’t until Union soldiers marched into Texas on June 19, 1865, that these slaves were finally liberated. Clearly, they were the last to know that freedom was a reality. 

In our world, can you imagine being free and not knowing it? Imagine being pardoned for a crime but remaining in prison because no one informs you that you’ve been freed.

In the Bible passage above, Jesus found a man by a pool who’d been waiting to be healed for 38 years. According to the story he’d been dropped off to be healed nearly four decades earlier, but healing hadn’t occurred because other people hindered him from getting into the legendary healing pool.
 
While the man was seeking to get deliverance in this pool, it mostly never happened because of the competition. When Jesus stopped by the pool, he gave the man the healing he needed and sent him home walking. Healing was available through Christ, not through a pool. This was an act of God’s love, compassion, and grace because clearly this paralyzed man was the last to know that healing was available through Christ. 

Sometimes in life we, and others, endure lengthy periods of suffering and oppression only to later discover that we didn’t have to. As we approach another Independence Day, we remember those who remain in spiritual bondage and problems. Keep in mind that Jesus came to set us free from those things.

Just as the Union soldiers who marched into to Galveston, Texas, and announced to the enslaved that freedom had arrived, God wants us to feel the liberation of Christ and to gladly share with others that Christ is available to all.

Enjoy your summer.

Blessings,
Pastor Quentin