John 5:6 - Would You Like to Get Well?

When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, "Would you like to get well?"

-John 5:6

I think that Jesus's conversations with the people he heals are so important. In this instance, he knows the man has been ill for an extremely long time and asks if he would like to be healed. The man doesn't instantly say that he does. He offers the details of why he hasn't been healed up to this point - he can't get to the healing pool in time. Jesus then tells him to get up, take up his bed, and walk.

I can definitely relate to this man's mentality. Instead of thinking about the answer to the question actually asked, he thinks only of the negative. What he can't do. This is probably due to a genuine disability to do so; he, in fact, cannot walk down to the pool fast enough in his condition. 

I know in my own life, sometimes the things I can't do start to look bigger than they really are as I focus on them. Sometimes, those things become excuses to not think outside the box or not do other things that I actually can do. I always wonder why this man hasn't already begged and pleaded with the people around him to put him in the pool or dragged himself a few inches every day. Maybe everyone was too selfish to help and his body was too weak to do even that. 

Weakness and infirmity are real and need to be engaged with compassion. Excuses need to be eradicated.

The only reason I insinuate this man could have been the cause of his own problem is what Jesus says to the man in verse 13: "Now you are well; so stop sinning or something even worse may happen to you." In either case, whether this man's inability to receive healing was completely legitimate or was caused by learned helplessness, Jesus doesn't acknowledge the obstacle the man presents. 

He issues a command: Get up.

The man is healed and obeys by doing just that. This is one thing I love about being in Christ. He heals us and enables us to do things we could never do otherwise. Did the man know he had been healed before he started trying to stand up? Perhaps he just had to obey what he was told to do having the faith that he would be able to do it?

Sometimes God's spirit moves that way, telling us to attempt something that seems impossibly crazy in the face of our own assessment of our ability level, real or perceived. Healing is from given from God, and we have to have clear sight and faith to see what areas He may be intending for us to walk toward.