First Responder: Helping the Wounded, Part Two

Helping others heal is a tender task. How many could be healed of heart wounds if we took the time to learn how to respond? Jesus invites us to be First Responders. Read Part One of this series by clicking here. 

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. -John 5:1-8

When Jesus Saw Him

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had already been there a long time… (v. 6).

First responders are alert to their environment at all times. Jesus showed us how to notice the injured.

The Savior did not turn away in shock or freeze in place as he walked among a multitude of invalids. He saw the wounded and drew near. Jesus took time to look upon them with the face of God, with eyes of joy that silently said, “I am glad to be with you. I see you.” God is glad to take the time to see the wounded. To be with them.

Do You Want to Be Healed?

…he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” (v. 6)

In First Responder class we are taught that even if a person is unconscious, we first speak to him and give him an opportunity to respond. We seek consent to help. If he is conscious, we ask if we can help and tell him what we can do.

Do you want to be healed?

In those six words, God who saw the earth take shape and spoke the stars into being asked for consent from His creation. In the resonance of His gentle question reverberated the credentials of the King of kings, the One who would a short time later be wounded that all humanity might be healed.

Do you want to be healed?

I Have No One

The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me” (v. 7).

Those with heart wounds have often lost hope in people. Blinded with pain, they feel invisible to others. Their hearts have learned that human compassion often revolves around convenience.

Oh, that the sick man had perceived in that moment of honest despair Who was asking consent! This was no mere First Responder.

A friend recently said to me, “When we are hurting in the body of Christ, it is sometimes hard to tell the difference between those who are drawing near to actually see me and help me, or those who are drawing near because it is the right thing to do.”

Her words lodged themselves in my heart and have ached there ever since. 

Jesus draws near to wounded hearts and looks upon them fully without reservation. He is not concerned with His reputation. He never exploits our pain. He is the Rescuer, and His heart is bent on healing. 

The injured are never invisible to Him. The wounded are fully seen and fully known.

Dear wounded one, you have Someone. And He is the Healer.

Get Up, Take Up Your Bed and Walk

Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked (v. 8).

We are taught as writers to “show, don’t tell.” I imagine an explosion of joy in heaven as Jesus showed the sick man Who He was and What was in His heart to do.

He did not give a long preamble (this is one of my great faults—my husband calls the habit my pre-ramble).

Jesus was not concerned with establishing His credentials or the semantics of his title. He didn’t need to tell the man any of this. He showed him.

Get up, take up your bed, and walk.

Jesus, the Healer

Jesus is the healer. You and I are not. Might sound elementary, but I am embarrassed to admit how many times I have acted as if it’s up to me to heal someone’s broken heart, stop their grieving, take away their sadness. The truth is, others’ pain makes me uncomfortable because I feel so helpless to help them, really.

So what can we do? How can we join Jesus as He walks among the multitude of invalids today?

Every good First Responder knows that he must always be alert to the environment, ready to identify those in need.

He must draw near and look closely. See them. Be fully present. Speak to the injured. Seek consent to help.

Some folks don’t want help just yet. 

First Responders have the skills to help people keep breathing and their hearts beating when their heart is failing. 

They have the ability to help onlookers understand what is happening to the wounded and how to create a safe space for healing and rescue.

The job of a First Responder is to do all she can to help a wounded person until the rescuer comes.

The First Responder must know who she is, and who she is not.

I am not a doctor. But I have some skills to help the wounded until he can get to the doctor.

Jesus heals. And He invites you and me to be His first responders to the multitude of heart wounds around us today. To make sure the wounded get to the One who has the power to heal them. #healing #mentalhealth #trauma #grief Click To Tweet

I can do that. Can you?

Lord, teach me to be a First Responder to the heart wounds around me. Amen.

If you are interested in learning how to help those with heart wounds, visit www.thetraumahealinginstitute.org.

@audreycfrank