No need to wait in line

“The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.” John 5:7-9.

Many years ago, I went to go see an air show with a friend in Korea. It was a beautiful Sunday morning, a perfect day to go see all the airplanes and the shows. I went to pick up my friend and we drove to the air force base.

Now, due to the limited parking space we were re-routed to a parking area in a nearby college campus. From there, we had to take a free shuttle bus to the entrance of the air show. We hadn’t purchased tickets yet. After parking the car we walked toward the shuttle bus stop and it was then when I realized how long the line was. I looked at the line and I knew it would take a good hour or two in order for us to get on the bus! There was nothing else we can do so we got in the line.

I think we waited for about 5-10 minutes. Suddenly I heard a young man across yelling at us in the line. “Are you guys going to the airshow?” I nodded and said, “Yes!” He said, “Come on, I’ll take you guys there!” You know how people say about not talking to strangers. At that moment it didn’t matter to us. We just wanted to save time. The man seemed legit and we gladly went over to him and got into his car. (Kids, never do this!) We were just thankful that we can save lots of time by not having to wait for the shuttle bus and go straight to the ticket booth. Well, it turned out that he wasn’t taking us to the entrance. As we talked it turned out that he was an airmen stationed at the air force base! He was out on a Sunday morning to play soccer and he was returning to his base. What he offered to do was to take us into the air show for free! He had access into the show and we didn’t have to pay a dime. He drove right through the side entrance for military people only.

The man who was paralyzed for 38 years was lying in line to get into the pool of Bethesda to be healed. But the opportunity never came. There is always someone in front of him in the line! But as this man was waiting, Jesus came to him. That was all he needed. No need for a line. And that man was healed and saved. If you are waiting in line, there is no need for that. Jesus is right here!