Most of us have read the Biblical account of the healing at the pool of Bethesda. I’ve always been puzzled as to why Jesus would ask the man if he wanted to be well. My initial thought was of course he wants to be healed who wouldn’t?
I experience back pain on a regular basis and have been told to expect it for the rest of my life because of scoliosis, a rib hump, and some problems between Lumbar 4 and 5. I had corrective surgery the summer after my sophomore year in high school. The surgeon shaved ribs from my right side and then used those shavings to fuse a stainless steel rod to fourteen vertebrae in my back. I didn’t have physical therapy after my surgery and wasn’t instructed on how to improve my back strength. I finally took matters into my own hands and started exercising at a local gym a little over three years ago. I noticed some improvement from being active; however the pain (ranging from mild to severe) continues often times without my understanding it’s cause.
One day when I was in a lot of pain, I sent an email to an online friend,
Jerri asking her to pray for my back. Jerri replied that she would pray that my rod would dissolve and my immediate reaction was
NO! I NEED MY ROD! Then it dawned on me that Jesus had good reason to ask if the man at the pool wanted to get well. He lived with his problem for 38 years and didn’t know how to live differently. Many times in life we become accustomed to our illnesses or problems. After my surgery, I was dependent on a back brace for six months. When I was cleared medically to quit wearing my brace, I was scared without it’s security. Time passed and I became comfortable with my limitations and life without my brace. Most people wouldn’t know I had anything wrong with me unless they saw my scars, which is unlikely because they are usually covered or if I wore tight fit clothing (I don’t). When Jerri suggested that God would dissolve my rod, I was hesitant because I’m used to having the rod and the limited flexibility. I’ve had a rod in my back over half my life, I can hardly remember what it was like not to have it. If God wanted to heal me by dissolving my rod and straightening my spine, HE could, but He’d also have to heal my mind. I don’t know what God’s will is, but I’m now open to whatever HE wants for me. I’ve always believed that my back issues were a “cross” I had to bear after all, even Paul had to live with his thorn. I want to bring glory to God regardless of whether it is through living with a “thorn” or proclaiming HIS healing power.
Think about limitations in your life and ask yourself, do you want to be well?
The Healing at the Pool Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
"Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."
Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
~ John 5:1-9
For some reason discussion of healing brings controversy. There are some who believe we aren't healed because we don't believe, others because we don't ask and still others because there is sin in our lives. I BELIEVE in healing! But I also believe that God doesn't always choose to act in the way we think best. Our understanding is beneath HIS.
