March 18, 2023

John 5: 5-6 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked, “Do you want to get well?” (NIV)

Fear wants nothing to change.*

The scene: the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, believed to have healing properties if you were the first one to take a dip in it after the waters had been stirred up – supposedly by an angel. The main characters: a man who had been an invalid for 38 years, and Jesus. There is no evidence that the water in the pool was any more therapeutic than any other body of water, but like the desperate people today who flock to faith healers, this man thought it was worth a try. If only he had someone to help him.

This man’s condition is sad on several levels: 1) he had been an invalid for so long; 2) he had no one to help him; 3) others, who apparently were able-bodied enough to leap into the pool ahead of him, were too self-centered to let him go first; and finally, 4) perhaps he had been sick for so long that his illness defined him.

So why would Jesus ask, “Do you want to get well?” At first, we might think that Jesus was being deliberately obtuse. Of course he wants to get well; he’s hanging out at the pool, isn’t he? There are lots of things we don’t know about the man: Had he been to a doctor? Had he ever seen anyone else actually be healed by the magical water? Had he tried to find someone to help him be the first into the pool - after all, he had found some way to get to the pool in the first place. Would he have to get a job if he was no longer sickly? And by the way, how had he managed to survive for 38 years with a disability if he had no one to help him?

Before we offer good advice or reach out a helping hand to someone in need, perhaps we should ask them that crucial question as well. “Do you really want to get well?” Are you willing to do the work, make the changes, give up the attention that your condition invites? If we feed you, help you out of your financial bind – are you going to be hungry and broke again because you have made no effort to improve your circumstances yourself? We don’t find examples of Jesus asking anyone else the question that he asked this man. Perhaps, because he is God, he knew that the others were helpless to help themselves. Perhaps that’s why he asked it of this man – he knew the man had options. When it comes to helping others, we don’t have the advantage of Jesus’ gift of perception.

But what about you and your troubles? Do you really want to be healed? Are you ready to seek out scriptural solutions and submit to God’s will, even if it doesn’t always make sense, even if it’s not the answer you were hoping for? Are you willing to make sacrifices and commit to a course of action that will help you succeed? Can you look forward to who you will be without your problems? Is there a wise person of faith that you can trust to give you some good advice? Will you listen for the Holy Spirit’s counsel? Do you want to get well?

When we look closely at Jesus’ ministry, we see occasions when he offered the crowd exactly what they were seeking, whether it was healing, clarity, or lunch. . . His words were refreshing, encouraging, affirming. But then there were days he told them things so true they hurt. There were days he refused to answer their questions. . . There were moments he saw through their requests for healing and went right to their need for forgiveness.*