Hope for the Hopeless

The Hope and Promise of the Empathy Machine

Modern society is looking for new, innovative ways to help make people more empathetic. Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, whose company sells the Oculus VR headset, said of virtual reality (VR): “One of the most powerful features of VR is empathy. By cultivating empathy, VR can raise awareness and help us see what’s happening in different parts of the world.” The hope and promise of VR is that one day everyone will call it an “empathy machine”: By creating an immersive and interactive virtual environment, a VR headset can quite literally put you in someone else’s shoes. Text, image, or video offers only partial views of a person’s life. With VR, you can get inside their head. And this high-fidelity simulation, the argument goes, will make us better people by heightening our sensitivity to the suffering of others. It will make us “more compassionate,” “more connected,” and ultimately “more human,” in the words of the VR artist Chris Milk. ... By lending you the eyes and ears of someone suffering, tech helps you to develop a greater sense of responsibility for them. You feel compelled to act. This is connectivity not merely as a technical concept, but a moral one.

This expectation is partially explored in the movie Ready Player Two, released in November, 2020. More advanced VR--actually placed inside the brains of most of the world’s population--has rid the world of crime, disease, addiction, and all forms of prejudice. As one of the film’s characters says: “For the first time in human history, we have technology that gives us the ability to live in someone else’s skin for a little while.”

Source:

Ben Tarnoff, “Empathy – the latest gadget Silicon Valley wants to sell you,” The Guardian US ed. (10-25-17); Laura Hudson, “Ready Player Two Is a Horror Story but Doesn’t Know It,” Slate (12-1-20)

Is VR the answer to the lack of compassion that characterizes our world? Why did the NS government have to issue so many warnings about starting backyard fires during the burn ban? To boot, why did Primiere Houston have to issue a burn ban in the first place? It was largely because of a lack of compassion for those who had been evacuated or worse yet lost their homes.

Perhaps Meta has finally solved a pervasive problem? The problem is few people will be able to test Zuckerberg’s theory, because few will be willing to fork over $460 to $805 for a VR headset to help them become more compassionate. Furthermore, it is highly doubtful that VR will accomplish this goal. John 5:1-15 is the wellknown story about a man who was in desperate need of compassion. We will see what compassion really looks like by exploring the story of the man at the pool of Bethesda.

John 5:1–15 NKJV

1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 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.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” 11 He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ” 12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” 15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

The Pity

The condition of the man was pathetic. He had perhaps searched for treatments to cure his condition to no avail. We do not know his illness, but we are told he was an invalid for thirty-eight years. No one could help. The man then hears about this miraculous pool where people are made whole, and he does everything he can to get there. Was he transported there? Did he have to crawl there? We do not know. We do know that he finally made it, and it must have taken an enormous effort to get to the pool after being disabled for so many years. After the effort, he waits for his opportunity to get into the pool when the water is stirred, but every time he tries to get into the pool, someone steps over him and gets into the pool before him. Were the allegedly healed persons experiencing a placebo effect because of their strong belief in the superstition? Superstitions can be powerful things. Yes, this superstition also painted a terrible picture of God’s character. The man probably hoped for a very long time that someone would have pity on him and help him into the pool, but everyone was out for themselves. It appears that these people subscribed to the survival of the fittest. Imagine that, an angel from heaven would come and stir the water periodically and vitalize it with healing power, and only the first person into the water would get healed. What a cruel God!

An interesting thing about the name Bethesda. The name meant “House of mercy or compassion.” The man was looking for compassion. Did he find it there? No, he remained at the side of the pool, constantly stepped over every time he attempted to get into the pool when it was “stirred” by the angel. He went to the pool of compassion, looking for compassion, and found nothing.

The Power

By the time Jesus comes into the picture after years of misery, the man has lost all hope. There are three reasons that support this premise. One, he does not recognize Jesus. We know this by what it says in verses 12 and 13.

John 5:12–13 NKJV

12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.

Two, the disabled man does not consider that Jesus could be his ticket to finally getting into the water, “I have no one to put me into the water when it is stirred. Three, when Jesus asks him, “Do you want to get well?” the man does not respond to Jesus’s question. He has come to the point where he is content to remain in his misery. He is resigned to the thought that this is how his life will end; he will be constantly stepped over and eventually die in misery. What a seemingly hopeless case.

When Jesus meets the man, he does not judge him or ask him what landed him in his condition. He asks the man, “Do you want to be made whole.” But, remember, the man has lost all hope; it’s as though he does not hear Jesus. Though he was without hope, hope was looking for him. He came to the house of compassion and found nothing, but compassion came looking for him in the person of Jesus, and he not only found compassion but also found healing.

Others were lying sick, but the record shows only Jesus healing the invalid man. Why? Jesus came to show that he is there to give hope to the hopeless and heal the most hopeless case.

You may not be an invalid like this man, but you may have lost hope concerning your marriage; you may have lost hope concerning your children. Or you’ve tried everything, and nothing can cure the illness you are afflicted with. Like the man at the pool of Bethesda, whenever you feel that there might be hope, someone steps on and over you and dashes your hope. I’m here to tell you today that even though you have gone looking for compassion and have found nothing, compassion has come looking for you. Even though you have lost hope, hope and healing has come looking for you.

The Problems

Jesus says to the man, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” No one has ever offered him any hope. Hope springs up in his heart, he seizes upon Jesus’s words, and instantly, not gradually, but instantly he can rise up for the first time in thirty-eight years and walk on his own.

When the Pharisees find him, they don’t remark and praise God for healing a man who had been an invalid for 38 years! Instead, they tell him it is not appropriate for him to carry his mat on the Sabbath. Some miss out on the miracle that has taken place right in front of them because they are stuck on traditions and manmade regulations. A young lady who has not been seen in church for many years, Everyone knows that she fell headlong into worldly life. Now she’s back in church, but folk comment about the length of her skirt instead of praising God for the miracle of having her back.

However, there is an important point raised in verse 14.

John 5:14 NKJV

14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

Though Jesus did not judge the man, by warning the man, he detected in him the possibility of becoming complacent and falling back into the same habit that led to him becoming an invalid for 38 years. There is a message of hope and warning for us. One, even if we are at fault, through bad health practices for an illness that we may be dealing with, Jesus does not judge us, and Jesus is willing to heal us. For spouses that may recognize their part in the troubles in their marriage, for the parent that laments that they were too harsh or too permissive, Jesus does not judge you. The warning message is if God sees fit to heal us from whatever, if God sees fit to heal our marriage, if God brings back our wayward child, make sure to abandon any behaviour that lead to the unfortunate situation, lest something worse happen to us.