2/4/14- Do You Want to Get Well John 5:1-6

1Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda^a and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. [4]^b 5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:1-6)

Thoughts: Surely this person wanted to get well.  Could we not assume that much?  He had been sick for 38 years.  Why did Jesus ask that question?  Perhaps the man had been an invalid he knew no other way of life, and had coped so much that he could not change into wellness in his heart.  Perhaps he was like the kind of person who gets out of prison but goes back because he likes the routine of a hot meal, cot and security
     We train ourselves to cope.  We cope with tragedy, with sickness, with grief.  But what if Jesus wants to transform?   He transformed this man.  He didn't say, here is a crutch.  He said, "Get up and walk."  The image of being born again is not the same as putting on makeup to cover up the age spots and scars.  It is a radical transformation.

Prayer: Lord, help me to want to get well.  Transform me according to your word.

(Pool at Bethesda today)