Do You Want To Be Made Well? (John 5:1-14)

Do you want to get well?  That was the question.  So what are the possible answers to the question that Jesus posed?  Yes.  No. Or one could also argue that it could be a qualified maybe…I think so if...  But none the less, it was a question that sought an answer.  And based upon the story that John spins, an invalid depending upon the generosity of other for thirty nine years, you would think that the answer would be an unequivocal YES.  But instead of giving the obvious answer, YES, YES,YES, he evades the question with an excuse…I have no one to help me.  He has been an invalid for thirty-eight years depending on the generosity of others.  There were no social welfare programs to provide for his needs.  Further because of his disability, he was not able to be an active participant in the faith community.  All that the invalid could see is obstacles that stood in the way of his being made well.  But instead of Jesus just turning around, he ignores the excuses and tells him to get up and walk.  Jesus does not allow the all the obstacles that the man sees to interfere with his healing.  Jesus wants him well.   

All of us have struggles in our lives that prevent us from experiencing the fullness of life much like the invalid in this story.  Some of them may be physical but for others they may be broken or damaged relationships, unemployment, homelessness, depression, loneliness or isolation.  Whatever the situation Jesus is there asking us, “Do you want to be made well?”  Jesus is not merely asking whether you want to be free from your affliction. 

 At the end of the story where did Jesus find the healed invalid?  He was in the temple participating in the community like he was never able to before.  So Jesus didn’t ask him if he merely want to be healed of his present affliction.  He is asked him if he wanted to be made whole.  Did he want to be an active, vibrant participant in the community of faith?  And Jesus asks us the same thing?  Do you want to be made well?  Do you want to be made whole?  

If we are real with ourselves we see many obstacles in the way of a full and abundant life.   What are some of the obstacles?  I don’t have time.  What is it going to cost me?  What is it going to require of me; because ministry is going to cost something.  It may be money.  It may be time.  It might be my talent or even to reprioritize my life.  I can’t do it.  I’m too old or young.  I’m tired.  I’ve already done my time; it’s somebody else’s turn.  I don’t know how.  We’ve never done it that way before.  And what happens when we put all of these obstacles in our way?  They tend to paralyze us.  We feel stalled.  We feel dejected, frustrated and inferior.  So our obstacles get in the way of who we are called to be.  

But sometimes we feel comfortable with the obstacles that we place in our lives.  Did the invalid like his situation?  Did he really want to be healed?  In some ways showing up every day at the pool with the other invalids was comfortable and predictable.  He may not have liked being an invalid but he knew what life was like and over the years I am sure that he adapted.   But when Jesus asked, “Do you what to be made well?”  He is inviting change.  And for each one of change can be scary.  It can make us nervous because of fear of the unknown.  And obstacles help to keep us in a familiar situation.  

When the invalid is asked the question, his excuse is that other people are unreliable.  There is no one around the pool that will help him into the water when it was stirred.  Or if he tries to rely on his own ability he fails.  He is focused on people for his cure.   But where does his cure come from? Jesus Christ.  The presence of Jesus Christ in his life.  Do you what to be well?  Do you want to have abundant life?  Then the presence of Jesus Christ needs to be at the center of your life.  We don’t really need to fully understand everything about Jesus but we need to rely on him.  The invalid didn’t even know who Jesus was, but in Christ’s presence he had abundant life.  So do you want to be made well? Jesus wants to make you well.