Think about the last 38 years of your life. How old were you 38 years ago? What have you all seen and done and experienced in those 38 years? For some of you, you’re not even 38 years old yet, so think about your entire lifetime. 38 years is how long the man in the gospel story had been laying on his mat. The Bible doesn’t say if he was born paralyzed or if he had an accident of some sort and became paralyzed. It just says he was an invalid for 38 years.

But one day, Jesus finds him. “Do you want to be made whole?” Jesus asked. Of course, the man does, but he thinks his only hope rests in a legend about the stirring of the Bethesda pool. With simply the power of His Word, Jesus tells the man to “get up, take up your bed, and walk!” Immediately the man gets up, he walks, and he is made whole.

Jesus once again has worked a miracle that proves that He is the Christ, the Son of God so that people will put their faith in Him and trust His words.

[Jesus said,] “greater works than these will [the Father] show [the Son], so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will. The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son” John 5:20b-22

Giving eternal life and judging the living and the dead are there greater works that God the Father has given His Son to do. Healing a man lame for 38 years is a mighty miracle and a great blessing for that man; but Jesus is the Savior of the world, and because of His death and resurrection, he has been given the power and the authority to give you eternal life; and to judge you on the Last Day.

Amen!