John 5: A miracle can't change a heart...

Jesus said to [the paralysed man], “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked...

...Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”

(John 5:8,14-15)

I once heard a testimony from a man who had suffered from severe asthma as a child. It had been hard for him - as all he had wanted to do was to go and play football with his friends, but his illness had rendered him unable to do so. He then experienced a miraculous healing though prayer by the grace of God. But, as he explained to us, this healing did not result in a love for God and a desire to give his life to Him. What it meant was that all of a sudden he could go and play football with his friends, and that was all he thought about. He came to a living faith later on his life - hence able to share such an insightful testimony.

The two excerpts of the story of Jesus healing the paralysed that I have quoted above tell us three things:

1) Jesus is Lord of all creation and has the power over illness and physical decay

2) Our greatest need is not healing of our bodies, but spiritual healing and a right relationship with God

3) Physical healing does not necessarily lead to spiritual renewal.  If it had in this situation, Jesus would not have had the further conversation with the man where he tells him to stop sinning.

How many people have thought: if you do this one thing for me, God, change this one thing about my life, then I'll believe and trust in you.  Or maybe: I'll be able to trust in God when this thing is sorted out, but I need to sort this first.

As our two stories show (the Biblical and the contemporary), when the change that is so earnestly sought happens, the response of the human heart is not to turn to God.  We either spend our energies celebrating and embracing the new change, or we decide that this is not enough and that there is something else just around the corner that will make everything right.

Why is this? It is because we don't have to be in possession of something to make it an idol.  The men in both stories thought that having perfect health would solve their problems.  They regarded it as their greatest need, and therefore it was that they sought above all else.  The paralysed man wanted desperately to be lifted into the pool, the man whose testimony I heard sought prayer, others may turn to medicine or healthy living.

The men in our stories were healed physically, but that didn't change the fact that good health was an idol to them - their solution for life.  The fact that they had attained what they desired didn't mean it suddenly became less important to them.  In fact, it may even have become more important!

If we, like many of the crowds who followed Jesus around, seek him only in the hope that he will use his divine power to bring about some change we need in our lives - something we think will make everything right again - then we are not seeking him and our hearts will remain fixed on our idols.

Jesus says: "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Matthew 6:33). He invites us to seek him now and to come as we are. His kingdom and righteousness - the hope of spiritual renewal and eternal life with God, both now in part and fully when he returns - are our greatest need, and it is these that we should earnestly seek.