Seasons: Fall — Monday
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?” (NLT)
This question Jesus asks in our verse today stands out as odd, at first glance. In John 5, there is a man suffering some form of paralysis for 38 years. We can assume this is the reason for his geographical location, the pool of Bethesda—a common place where people would come to find healing. Crowds of sick people with various infirmities showed up at this pool because it was believed that the water would stir, and if you got into it when this happened, you could be physically healed. The man was one of many hoping for a miracle.
Jesus’ question, odd as it may seem at first glance, is valid—psychologists, counselors, doctors, and caregivers will tell you that people often resist the help they need the most. They’ve grown comfortable with their hard place in life and don’t really want to change. We have no way of analyzing the state of mind of the paralyzed man, but Jesus, in all His eternal wisdom, asked the man, “Would you like to get well?”
The sermon series we are in called Seasons is designed to help us navigate the changes life brings us. Change, real-life change, the kind that would make a big difference, is often just barely out of reach. We know we should stop overeating, arrest our gossiping tongue, break off the emotional affair, forgive the person we loathe, or quit drinking altogether, but that kind of change doesn’t seem possible, and so we compromise. We live with our misery (numbed just enough by our ongoing sin) to avoid change.
In John 5:6, Jesus clarified that this man wanted actual change, the man did, and Jesus healed him. It was instantaneous and caused a ruckus. The change we need may not come suddenly and miraculously, but if it’s needed, the question remains for us: Would you like to get well?
Monday’s Reflection
What is the thing you know needs to change? What is standing in your way? Answer these questions by writing them down or stating them out loud right now.
