John 5:1-15 Do You Want to be Healed

Are there things about yourself that you wish you could change, but it feels too hard? Are there hurts in your life, broken relationships, or places in your soul where there’s nothing but emptiness and addictions to fill that emptiness? Do you struggle with illnesses or physical, emotional or intellectual disabilities that you’ve prayed for years to be healed from and yet nothing changes? How do you hear Jesus’ question to the invalid by the pool, “Do you want to get well?”

It’s the Sabbath and Jesus is in Jerusalem when he finds himself at the pool Bethesda, which means “Place of Mercy,” an interesting name considering what’s about to happen here. Our Bible places verse 4 in a footnote. It’s likely this verse was added to offer some explanation to why so many disabled persons are lying there, “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.” Jesus meets a man who’s been an invalid for 38 years. We don’t know how long he’s been there, hoping to be that first person in the pool when the water gets stirred up by the angel.

Then comes the strange question, Jesus asks the invalid, “Do you want to get well?” My first reaction to this question is, “Duh! Why do you think I’m here?” One commentary suggests that Jesus is trying to get the man’s attention. Since the invalid has likely been there a long time, many people have walked by him in that time and the question, “Do you want to get well,” would definitely grab his attention. Part of the reason for asking the question would be to hear the man’s story. Telling our story helps us to remember old emotions, thoughts and hopes. Hearing the man’s answer is a way for Jesus to get to know his deepest desires, the deep desires that keep him at the pool even though he’s never been first in the pool when the waters were stirred. Telling his story helps the invalid recapture his hope to be cured. It can be so easy to lose hope and sometimes we need someone, something to happen, to rekindle hope inside us again.

Another reason for Jesus to ask whether the invalid really wants to get well is that he may be comfortable with the way things are. Begging was not uncommon and people were not shamed for having to beg in order to eat. He’s been an invalid for 38 years; a long time. When we went downtown in Montreal to offer lunches to street people, the teens were surprised to hear how many of these people were content to live on the street and survive by begging and depending on the kindness of strangers. In Jesus’ time, they would also have depended on the charity of the temple and the offerings taken there for people like themselves. If he’s healed, he’ll have to take care of himself. The way the man answers will reveal his heart and true desire to Jesus.

“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.” The man keeps trying to be healed, he hasn’t given up hope even though he hasn’t succeeded yet. Even while relying on the kindness and charity of others, this man still has hopes and dreams for more than simply existing. One of the important ways we reveal God’s image in us is through the ability to see beyond our present situations and dream about what might still be, to see what’s possible, giving us the ability to keep hope even in seemingly hopeless situations.

Jesus, seeing his heart and desire, responds, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Jesus speaks and the result is instantaneous, the man picks up his mat and walks! This is amazing, life changing, completely unexpected on his part. We hear an echo back to creation here, God speaks and it was so. This is a God thing, something only God can do; reversing the effects of disease, disabilities, making the man whole again, renewed and restored, physically, emotionally and spiritually. This is pure grace given. This man is no better or worse than any other person there also waiting, hoping, praying for healing. As we see later on, he doesn’t even know who Jesus is. It’s not this man’s faith that made him well, but simply Jesus’ grace and compassion. This grace is extended even further when Jesus goes to the cross, carrying our sin, our soul sicknesses, our spiritual disabilities there and through his death bringing forgiveness of our sin, healing, wholeness, and renewal. This is offered to everyone, no matter who we are, we don’t earn forgiveness and grace, we don’t deserve it, Jesus gives out of his great love for us. In giving forgiveness and soul restoration to us, Jesus equips us to enter into the world to bring transformation and healing to others; calling us to work for healing and wholeness within our homes and communities.

Jesus heals this man on the Sabbath, on God’s day, a day of God focused praise and worship, a day of rest and restoration with God. Jesus never does anything by accident, by healing on the Sabbath, he’s pointing to God as the one with the power to heal the invalid man; that renewal and restoration that is found in him. Jesus pushes us on our attitudes towards the Sabbath. What is the Sabbath for? Is it about rules that hem us in, surround us to make sure we don’t mess up, or is it an opportunity to show our community what renewal and restoration look like? What does it mean to be in the image of God? Is it about singing songs and listening to sermons and giving money, or might there be more to Sabbath like joining God in bringing hope and mercy and aid to the people of our community? Does Jesus’ healing here show us how to connect with God on the Sabbath by being among those who are hurting and sick and bringing healing and love?

The Jewish leaders focus on the laws and rules designed to make sure the people honour the Sabbath Day, but they forget that the Sabbath Day is about God and his people, about restoration and renewal and God’s kingdom coming. They don’t allow compassion to stretch them in their beliefs and understanding of God and the Sabbath. Jesus points them, and us, to God’s heart for people, challenging us on our heart for people, challenging us on our compassion for others. Jesus’ healing of this lame man echoes back to the Old Testament prophecies pointing ahead to the coming Messiah, the one who will make the lame walk, the blind see, and the deaf hear. These prophecies were read regularly in the synagogues on Sabbath and Jesus’ miracles are all signs pointing to him as the Messiah, to God’s kingdom being close.

Dr. Sylvia Keesmaat reminds us, “We are painfully aware that God’s kingdom is not yet here. We know too well that the powers of darkness still have a deathly grip on our world. We know that sickness, sudden death, unfair death, and injustice—in short, sin—still wield a deathly power over us and our communities. And we know that this isn’t how God intended it to be. So we live with a terrible tension between what we experience and the vision of the kingdom that Jesus proclaims.” Until Jesus returns, not everyone experiences healing, not everyone finds relief from the pain and sorrow they live with, but we do live with hope because we know Jesus and he is always with us, able to heal us.

We hear Jesus’ warning, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” We are sinners, which is why we need Jesus, but remember that we have been given the Holy Spirit to guide us, to give us strength to resist the temptation to sin and wallow in our desires rather than swim in God’s desires for us. Jesus makes us whole again and calls us to take our relationship with his Father seriously so that nothing worse happens.

We see God’s kingdom in all its fullness in John’s description of the new heaven and earth coming in Revelation 21 and 22 when there will be no more sickness, mourning, or death, where the leaves of the trees are for healing, and the water of life flows in a stream in the middle of the city. And as we wait, we bring healing to our communities and in our lives as we point to Jesus, and we celebrate the healing that we experience from a gracious God.