Jesus asked a curious question to an ill man. John 5: 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” [1] This man had been seeking healing at the pool of Bethesda, along with many others. He had been ill for thirty-eight years and was helpless to help himself.
Ill people would pilgrimage to this double pool covered by porches. People thought an angel would occasionally move the water, and the first person in the water after it was moved would be healed.[2] But the man didn’t answer in the affirmative; he only gave an excuse. John 5: 7 “I can’t (be healed), sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” [3]
Infirmity as Identity
Unfortunately, I’ve known people who have found their identity in their illness. It becomes an excuse for everything. They enjoy the perks their weaknesses allow. Their infirmities cause others to give them attention, and they can flee responsibilities for their own lives.
This man may have assumed that Jesus would help him into the water when it moved. But Jesus did something that the man did not expect. John 5: 8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” 9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking![4]
Will We Let Jesus Make Us Well?
Jesus physically healed the man but later warned him not to return to his sin. He wanted this man fully healed both in body and spirit. Jesus also wants to heal us from our sin. As sinful humans, we often want to try to do this on our own. We may try to earn our way to salvation. But this is impossible. Romans 6: 23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.[5]
Just as Jesus did not force Himself on the man in our story, He does not force salvation on us. Jesus paid the price for salvation, but we can refuse that gift. Jesus still asks us, would you like to get well from your sin problem? We can’t free ourselves from sin any more than the man could enter the pool alone. Confess and repent from your sin to receive God’s restoring forgiveness.
To learn more, listen here:
https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/healing-at-a-pool
[1,3-5] Tyndale House Publishers. (2015). Holy Bible: New Living Translation . Tyndale House Publishers.
[2] Whitacre, R. A. (1999). John (Vol. 4, pp. 118–119). IVP Academic.