Thursday, January 9: “The Voice of Hope”

John 5: 6b, 8b: “Jesus said to [him], ‘do you wish to get well? … Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.’”

The man at the pool of Bethesda had a choice: Listen to the voice of hope coming from Jesus, or the voice of bondage from the Jews. (“You must follow our ways, even if it means you stay sick.”) As we have seen with the adulteress in the temple (John 8: 1-11), when the voice comes from Jesus, hope and healing will come first, then any needed correction (v. 14).