Do you want to be made well??

Reflections on John 5:1-9

In this early part of John's Gospel, Jesus is already making a visit to Jerusalem. He goes to the pool by the Sheep Gate, which was known for its healing powers. Three years ago, when I visited the Holy Land, we made our way to what was presumably this same pool--the pool of Beth-zatha. It is no longer filled with water, but there are multiple levels of ledges lining a cavernous area. It would be easy to imagine ill people sitting or lying on these ledges, praying for the miraculous powers of the water to heal them.

Jesus asks one man who has been ill for 38 years, "Do you want to be made well?" What does Jesus mean asking this question? After a week of convalescing following knee surgery, this seems to me to be a weird question. "Do you want to be made well?" Of course someone would want to be made well. Who would want to spend their life as an invalid? Just a week of invalid status is already driving me crazy. Who wouldn't want to be healed, made well and able to be totally functional in society?

So just why does Jesus ask this question. Is it possible the man has become used to be an invalid? After all he has been ill for 38 years. Has he adapted to life as one who is less than whole? Does his life revolve around sitting by the pool of Beth-zatha? Is he used to being pitied and/or ignored?

Before Jesus performs a healing for this man, he wants him to acknowledge that he would rather be on the other side of the healing--out of the pool and into the mainstream of life. Even when Jesus is ready to heal him, Jesus forces the ill man to participate in the healing. "Stand up, take up your mat and walk." The ill man has to take action for himself--he has to believe that Jesus has the power to heal, and he has to take the initiative to stand up.

These words spoken to the man with the long term illness are meant for us, too. Is there some part of your life that is broken or not whole. Are you ill in mind, body or spirit? Jesus asks you "Do you want to be made well? Do you want your life to be whole?" Jesus provides grace for healing. Do you want to stand up, take up your mat and walk?? "Do you want to be made well?????"

Do you want to stand up, take up your mat and walk? Do you want to confront the things that are making you less than whole? Do you want to believe that Jesus has the power to heal the things in your life that are not whole--the messy relationships, the parts of your body that don't work as well as they used to, the lack of respect that you feel, the job that disappeared, or the job that makes you feel less than human? Jesus' command is for you: "Stand up, take up your mat and walk." Confront the demons that are haunting you--pray for Jesus' grace to dispel the demons. Pray to be made whole.

Amen