Do You Want to Be Healed?

 
Recently, I was reading through the gospel of John when I came across the story of Jesus and the Invalid at the Pool of Bethesda in chapter 5. I’ve read this story many times before, but this time Jesus’ question to the Invalid captured my attention. While we don’t know exactly what this man’s physical limitations were, clearly he had some type of physical limitations; otherwise, Jesus’ command to “get up and walk” wouldn’t have been noteworthy or held much significance. Whatever the impediment was, we know he’s been living with it for thirty-eight years, and here he is sitting amongst a multitude of others in similar circumstances. This was a place where the blind and lame and paralyzed were known to congregate because from time to time the waters would stir, and it was believed that the first one to enter the water after it got stirred up would be healed.  

The story tells us that the man had been sitting there for a long time. Imagine sitting before a water source amongst many other people with physical ailments like you, physical ailments that often hindered your mobility. And then some man who you’ve never met walks up to you and asks you out of nowhere, “Do you want to be healed?”  

"Who is this man who has the audacity to ask me a question like that?! Of course I want to be healed! Why do you think I’ve been sitting here for so long?" It is a strange question.  

But even more strange than the question is the answer the man gives Jesus. He doesn’t respond with some sarcastic comment: “What do you think?” or “No I’m just sitting here to enjoy the view.” He doesn’t respond in outrage: “Are you mocking me?” or “Who do you think you are asking a man like me a question like that?” Instead, he deflects the question and answers a question Jesus never asked him. He responds with the reasons he can’t be healed. “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”
 
What this man doesn’t realize is who he is talking to; he doesn’t realize he is talking to Jesus, the man who can heal him with his very spoken word! If only he knew, he wouldn’t be concerned with the logistics of racing to be the first in the water! This crippled man is missing the forest for the trees.  

Of course, this is no fault of his own. No one knows who Jesus is until he reveals himself to us. It’s a very act of mercy that Jesus reveals himself to us, shows us his character and his abilities. And that’s exactly what he does for the man in this story. He doesn’t reprimand the man for not knowing His identity. He doesn’t refuse to heal the man because of the man’s ignorance. The man was blinded by his limited knowledge of what was possible; getting into the water was the only way he knew how to be healed. But Jesus healed the man and thereby taught the man who He (Jesus) was. He had the power to heal, the mercy to reveal himself, and the compassion to give a new life to this man, for he would surely live a different life after getting up and walking.
 
The only thing Jesus required of this crippled man was faith. Jesus commanded him to get up and walk. If the man hadn’t trusted, at least the tiniest bit, that Jesus had the authority to make him stand up and walk, he wouldn’t have tried. But he did, and by doing so He experienced God in the flesh and was given new life.  

Application for the Unbeliever 
In my own personal journey of coming to faith in Christ, this question, “Do you want to be healed?”, played a critical role. I had been curious about Jesus and had been going to church and trying to understand what the Bible teaches. But I am a very logically driven person. I wanted to “figure it all out” before I would claim belief in it. I needed to understand how all of the parts and pieces worked together. And one night when I was alone in my bedroom talking to God, I was confronted with the question, “Do you want it to be true?” Although it’s not the same exact words, the sentiment behind the question is the same: would I accept Jesus for who He was and what He is able to do without understanding it fully? Did I want to be healed? Did I want to believe it was true? At the end of the day, I needed to let down my sense of control and entitlement to understanding and just accept the miracle of new life that was being offered to me. In time, I have grown to know and understand who Jesus is more and more. I have grown in my comprehension of what the Bible teaches and how it all works together. But, like the Invalid who was never going to be the first to get into the pool of water  to be healed, I was never going to be healed of my unbelief by trying to reason through and understand everything. Like the Invalid who was healed by a mysterious man he’d never met and couldn’t identify or describe (verse 13), I was being offered a new life by a man whose name I knew but who I didn’t have a real relationship with or comprehension of.  Ultimately, I had to answer the question that was being asked of me. Jesus wasn’t asking me if I understood how it all worked together or if I fully understood who He was; He was asking me if I wanted to believe. And by God’s grace, I said yes and he gave me the gift of faith that enabled me to “get up and walk”.
 
He asks this same question of each one of us and we each have one lifetime (however long that is) to figure out how we are going to respond to it; will you take him at his word and believe He is who He says he is, that he has the power to heal you and give you new life? There’s a time and a place to grow in our knowledge and understanding. Jesus’ call is not a call to blind faith; it’s a call to submission, to trust the word he tells us, to trust in his character, regardless of our ability to comprehend. Faith doesn’t have to have all of the answers before it trusts. In fact, faith is faith because we don’t have all of the answers! Faith is trusting in the One who is true despite our lack of full comprehension. If we will submit to the truth He shares with us, the truth of who He is, He will heal us and continue to reveal himself more and more to us.  

If you’re stuck in a place of curiosity and confusion like I was, Jesus is asking you, “Do you want to be healed?” If you find that your answer is, “Yes”, even if it’s traced with large amounts of doubts and skepticism, I encourage you to pray to Him. Simply tell him that you want to believe, you want to be healed and ask him to give you the faith to do so. He came to seek and save the lost (Luke 19:10). It is his very heart’s desire to grant you the faith to believe in Him.  

It is worth noting here that this is a specific situation. This is not an application I would make across the board… if you want something to be true, just believe it is true. There is an absolute truth (see this article on absolute truth) and we can’t change it based on what our desires are. However, Jesus is who He says He is. His words are already true, whether we accept them as true or not. Often times, our own misperceptions or ignorance gets in the way of realizing what is true. In this specific case, recognizing that we want it to be true could be the last hurdle we need to overcome in order to accept it as the truth.
 
Application for the Believer  
I said above that every one of us is asked a form of this question, “Do you want to be healed?” For those who answer, “No” or “I don’t know”, the question remains ever before us until our answer becomes, “Yes” or until our time on earth ends. But the reality is that even for those who answer, “Yes” to this question, it’s still a question we are confronted with often in our Christian walks. As we battle our flesh and fight our sin, our merciful Savior continues to press on our souls and offer healing at his hand.

• Often times, we go through a particularly difficult season or trauma. In these times, especially if it’s for a prolonged season or if we have received considerable attention or affection, we can slowly begin to incorporate a trial like this into our identity. We begin to forget who we were before this trial and we are confused who we are supposed to be when we move past this trial. Maybe we’ve grown to appreciate the amount of attention and compassion and care we receive from others as a result of this trauma and so we are hesitant to move past it. Maybe we’re afraid we’ll be forgotten or in some way less important. If this is you, Jesus is asking you, “Do you want to be healed?” Sometimes, we need to realize that our answer is, “No.” We’d rather continue to carry this load. But it’s just that, a heavy load. What Jesus offers is better. Lay it down and get up and walk in the new life you’ve been so graciously given in Jesus Christ. 

• In other times, we may be in a real “valley” in life, a dry and barren season, or maybe just a season of feeling stuck.  Sometimes we know there’s a “way out” or a “better option” but we’re afraid to take it because we like “the devil we know more than the devil we don’t know.” Maybe you’re in a bad work situation, but you’d rather keep suffering through it than go through the work and anxiety of finding a new job. Maybe you’re in an unhealthy relationship, but you’d rather stay in it than risk not having one, even at the expense of possibly finding a better one. Maybe, the Lord is calling you to some specific action, but you’re too afraid to act upon it and so you stay complacent. If this is you, Jesus is asking you, “Do you want to be healed?” Do you want to just survive and get by or do you want to thrive and act in faithful obedience? Will you lay these things down and live in the healing he has given you? Or are you going to be content to sit by the stirring water pool and complain that you can’t get in fast enough? 

• Another example could be choosing to endure as a victim in a certain situation in order to feel justified and find satisfaction in holding a grudge. Instead of being healed and reconciling the relationship by having the hard conversation, maybe you’re content to continue to be sinned against because it means you are the “better person” in not “stooping to their level”. In a twisted way, your pride likes that you are being victimized. Or maybe you don’t desire a good, healthy relationship with this person and you prefer the toxicity and unhealth you are used to. If this is you, Jesus is asking you, “Do you want to be healed?” Are you willing to lay down your pride and vengeance and self-entitlement to live in the freedom Christ is offering you? Can you recognize that the pleasure you get in those sinful desires pales in comparison to the pleasure he offers you at his healing hand? 

 
Let me be clear: not all of suffering is sinful. Not all hardship can be avoided by “trying harder” or “believing more” or “desiring to be healed”. Just as the Invalid had legitimate excuses for why he hadn’t been healed yet, there are legitimate excuses and reasons in our lives too. In fact, we are promised suffering and hardship by the Lord. It is a gift he gives us to grow us and strengthen us. So just because you are suffering or enduring a hard season does not mean you are in sin. Don’t hear me say that.  

However, we are children of the Almighty God who has healed us, given us new life, and guaranteed us freedom from sin (not hardship). If you find yourself in a season of hardship and suffering, it’s worth spending some time reflecting on why. Ask yourself if it’s something that you’ve begun to cling to, to identify with and in some way receive pleasure in. Is it something you don’t want to be taken away from you? Are you leaning into the excuses (legitimate or otherwise) as a way to avoid conflict or change, as a way to gain attention or approval, or are you enduring faithfully the season the Lord has gifted you? The question, “Do you want to be healed?” is an invitation to let go of bondage, to embrace a new reality, a new identity. It is a free gift, but it comes at the cost of our pride and selfishness. If we will accept his invitation and be healed of our pet sins, we will have joy. So, “Do you want to be healed?”