“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’ 7 ‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’ 8 Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.” (John 5:1-9, NIV)
I love this story for so many reasons. One of them is the puzzling question that Jesus asks in verse 6. The Bible reads, “When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” [John 5:5-6]
It seems obvious doesn’t it? I feel like if it were me in that circumstance I would say, “UMMM YEAH! Why do you think I’m by this stupid pool???”. But digging a little deeper, it makes mores sense. Verse 5 says that Jesus asked him this question after he had learned that he was in this condition for a long time. Day after day, year after year, this man was in the same spot, in the same condition, with no life change.
So Jesus asks him, “Do you want to get well?”
What a humbling question. What seems to have an obvious answer is actually much more complicated than it seems. Often times, we may desire to have change, to get well, but we do not want to do what it takes to stay well.
See, healing can happen in an instant. But do you have the discipline to do what it takes to walk in that healing? Are you willing to leave things behind to walk in what God has for you? Do you want to get well?
The man could have wanted to be physically healed, but if he wasn’t willing to stop following the worldly processes he had been accustomed to, it was only a matter of time before he found himself in bondage to something else. He could have been physically healed, but if he wasn’t willing to leave behind the negative influences that were keeping him stuck on his mat, he will be a man with a physically healthy body but no divine purpose. If he had been physically healed, but did not learn to find his identity in Christ, he may find himself healed, yet still sitting on his mat, because he can’t figure out who in the world he is outside of his condition.
It is so easy to become comfortable in our own dysfunction, that while it may seem on the surface that we want change, deep down, we are actually more comfortable being bound.
And so, what seems like a simple question is actually a profound one.
Do you want to get well?
I think this is a question we all need to ask ourselves. Do we simply want bailed out of a bad situation, or do we really want to walk in all that God has for us, even if it means doing the hard work to walk in freedom? Often times, God’s way isn’t the easy way. It requires saying no to the flesh, dying to ourselves, loving our enemy? Turning away from things that we really want, because we want God more? Trusting that when God says all things work out for good for those who are called according to his purpose, that his Word is true?
I think the longer we have been in the same cycle, the harder it is to truly walk away.
That’s why Jesus asked him that question only after he realized how long he had been there. The longer you wait, the more difficult it will be! Luckily, we serve a patient, gracious God, who even through our own stubbornness, has grace to help us walk on His path.
Reflection: What are some thought patterns, behavior patterns, lifestyle choices are you too comfortable in, that you need to break free from?
Application: Do you want to be made well? What are the difficult steps you are going to need to take to walk in that freedom?
