"Do you want to be healed?"
John 5:6
It seems like a silly question; almost patronizing. The man has been an invalid for 38 years. Countless times throughout the decades he has been hauled to that pool, hoping one day would be the day.
Today is the day. Though it doesn't come as expected or hoped.
Legend had it that once in a while an angel would stir the surface water of the Bethesda Pool (excavated in the late 19th century and just as described in the Gospels). The first person in the natural spring pool, it was said, would be healed from whatever malady they possessed when they entered the water.
What a sight it must have been. Day after day they came, by whatever means possible. A mixture of waning hope, dying expectations, and cruel possibilities. This particular man had an additional problem. As close as he was to the water, even if an angel stirred, he could only watch. He had no way into the pool. So close to promise, yet never realized.
Paralyzed body. Paralyzed spirit. Paralyzed hope.
He did not know, but the Promise himself walked up to the pool that morning. (Ironic, that healing supposedly came through the waters of the pool, and now the giver of living water (remember the well from chapter four?) shows up.
"Do you want to be healed?"
It's not silly or patronizing. The fact is we are often most comfortable in our discomfort. We hold to our infirmities and find identity in them. Sometimes it is easier to see ourselves as victims of circumstance than to humbly face our disabilities and turn to God for help.
God may not always heal (others, ourselves, circumstances, etc.) the way we think he should. He is not bound by our expectations. But he has an amazing way of turning weaknesses into strengths.
Therefore, it is possible that the most miraculous healing of all, is the one that doesn't look like a miracle. It is when God changes a heart, strengthens a spirit, and gives new purpose and direction. God can do whatever he wants in any way he wants. Our job is to turn toward him and away from our preconceptions.
My version:
Jesus: "Do you want to be healed?"
Man: "There's no way into the water."
Jesus: "Get up."
Man: "OK."
I wonder if after 38 years, he walked off like a wobbling newborn giraffe, or like an Olympic champion. Maybe a bit of both.
God, laying by the pool is comfortable because in doing so, I can pretend I want change. Instead, let me hear your voice say, "get up!"
For now...
D
