Jesus poses this question to one who has been disabled for 38 years. This broken one has sat by the pool year-after-year unable to get down to the healing water. No on waiting with him to help him into the water. Day-after-day, month-after-month stretched before him, forgotten and alone.
“Do you want to get well?”
What a question. Isn’t that why the man sat there? Is it? His response is rather apathetic for his situation. I would think a bold declaration of YES would be his answer. Beaten down over time, his only thought is “I have no one to help.”
Jesus becomes his help.
“Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
The Word speaks and at once the man was cured. The broken becomes whole. I stop reading, close my eyes, and listen.
“Do you want to get well?”
Jesus, I’ve struggled so long with this lingering loneliness, rejection, feelings of inadequacy and failure…I have no one to help me.
“Get up!”
The Word speaks and at once…transformation.
Later Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, See you are well again, stop sinning…
The Word of Life has spoken words of healing over my heart and I am well again. Let unbelief and doubt go – stop sinning…
Believe,
Walk by faith.
YES, LORD!
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Check out the Transformation link above. Linda’s analogy so blessed me.
This is part of a continuing series of thoughts as I read through the book of John.
Here are the previous posts if you are interested:
1 comments:
Seems like such an obvious answer, doesn't it? Of course he'd want to get well. But really?
Reminds me some of the Hebrews, yearning to go back to Egypt. They wanted to be free, but it opened such huge questions. They were miserable in Egypt, yes, but they were comfortable. They knew what to expect, they knew their way around it, maybe even had learned to manage it. But freedom? That was all new and took a whole new kind of trust they weren't sure they were up to.
Maybe that's what this guy's lack of enthusiasm was a little bit about. I'll be thinking about that, Nancy. Thank you.
(And Linda does bless, does she not?)
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