Do you want to be made well?
“When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’” (John 5:6)
Would you believe me if I told you that I was enjoying a delicious sundae from Baskin Robins when this entry came to me? I had just finished complaining to my friend about my long-time struggle with my skin and here I was indulging in the very habit that agitated my skin. In my mind I heard “do you want to be well?”. In today’s passage, we learn about an un-named man with an un-named sickness that had confined him to this community of other sick individuals for thirty-eight years! As Jesus is traveling to Jerusalem, he notices this man and asks him such an intentional question. He does not ask what his issue is (he already knows what we struggle with), nor did he ask what he had already tried on his own (God doesn’t need a recount of every failed attempt in the past). Instead, the only question that matters when Jesus steps into our situation is “do you want to be well”.
The man, like many of us, initially responds with excuses and rationale for why healing had been out of reach for so long. Jesus ignores all of this and commands him to do the very thing that would be impossible without the miraculous healing that only God can do. He says “Rise, take up your bed and walk” in the face of almost 4 decades of infirmity. He is saying the same to you today. You may have been in your situation for months, years, or even decades! You may have watched your parents, cousins, and grandparents struggle with the same “sickness”. I don’t know if your sickness is toxic relationships, poverty, purity, addictive behaviors, hopelessness, depression…but He knows. And he is big enough to usher you into healing with a word from his mouth. Do you want to be made well?
Now, I would be doing you a disservice if I did not tell you that you have a responsibility in this miracle. Later when Jesus saw this man again he gave him an instruction: sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you (vs. 15). This is a crucial factor in deliverance and healing. Jesus can absolutely heal and he absolutely sets free, but our ability to remain free depends on our resolve to sin no more. Not perfection, but a decision to live life differently. I can desire clear skin and put it on every vision board for the rest of my life, but if I continue to eat dairy, sugar, and greasy foods, I can be mad at only myself for my skin’s condition.
Today’s heart work: What is your “infirmity”? What control do you have over becoming well? Can you look for a therapist, delete phone numbers, get plugged into a community? Today, we pray that Jesus would meet you where you are and that you would be able to say “YES!” when he asks if you really want to be made well.
Prayer:
Lord, I want to be made well! I want to be changed from what has been allowed to be normal in my life. There are so many excuses I could give for why I keep repeating cycles, but today I take responsibility for what I can do and I invite you to help me with the rest. Holy Spirit, I invite you into this process. Please help me remove myself from the environments and people around me that keep me bound to my past. I declare that I will be well! In Jesus’ name, amen.
