Just a Simple Question

There’s a story in the Bible about a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. He spent his days lying near a pool called Bethesda. The pool was surrounded by five covered colonnades. In this area, many disabled people lay waiting for movement of the pool’s water. The belief was that an angel of the Lord would occasionally come down to the pool and stir its waters. The first one into the pool after the stirring would be healed of whatever disease or disability he had.

On this particular day, the invalid lay among the lame, the blind, and the paralyzed – as he had done every day for the last 38 years. Jesus saw him and learned of the many years he had been afflicted. Then Jesus engaged the man with a simple question: “Do you want to get well?”

While Jesus’ question might seem insensitive, it was a probing inquiry for the invalid to seriously consider. And it was a question that he managed to avoid in his response. Suddenly faced with the possibility of wholeness, he realized his life would be changed dramatically. It was a life change for good, but it would be an unknown future for a man who had only ever known disability. Was he ready for that? Did he want to get well?

Rather than respond directly to Jesus’ question, the invalid explained that when the waters moved, he had no one to help him get into the pool. Someone else always received the healing that he so desperately wanted.

Because of Jesus, the means of healing for the invalid would be different that day. Jesus wouldn’t carry him to the water’s edge. Jesus would instead tell the invalid to get up, pick up his mat, and walk. Day after day, for 38 years, the invalid had reclined near the pool, hoping for healing that never came. On this day, all it took was a word from Jesus, and he was made whole!

My friend, how long have you been living a life full of hard things, no purpose, a gut feeling that something’s just not as it should be? And how long have you plodded through one day after another, hoping that today might be the day that everything changes – hard things resolved, a sure sense of meaning to your life, a peace in knowing that all will be made right?

Let me ask you one more question: Do you want to get well?

The same thing you’ve been doing day after day – maybe even year after year - hasn’t yielded any change. You must be exhausted.

I don’t know why you may have resisted Jesus, but today can be the day everything changes. He sees your desperation and the futility of your efforts to heal yourself and your circumstances. He knows that your heart is longing for peace, hope, and truth. He has compassion for your pain and answers to your problems. And He has an offer for you: “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” (Matthew 11:28)

The disease of sin cripples us all. Jesus offers to make us well and whole again. He’s taken the weight of our sin and paid our debt on the cross. His resurrection power has defeated death and opened wide the doors of heaven to those who will trust Him and take Him up on His offer.

The invalid dared to hope that trusting Jesus would change his life. Will you? Do you want to get well? A simple answer to Jesus’ question will change your life: “Yes, Lord, heal me.”

(You can read the story of the miraculous healing of the invalid in John 5:1-9.)