Spiritual health significantly impacts physical health. Yet people seek relief from physical ailments and neglect their spiritual wellbeing. They address the symptoms and overlook the root cause. After Jesus fed the five thousand and crossed to the other side of the lake, the crowd found Him (John 6:25), and asked Him, “Rabbi, when did you get here?”
“Jesus answered, ‘I tell you the truth, you are looking for Me, not because you saw miraculous signs but because you ate the loaves and had your fill,” (John 6:26). The crowd failed to understand that the miracle of feeding such a large crowd with a few loaves and fish signified the spiritual sustenance available through Christ and not simply a free meal.
What prompts men to seek God? Most people never look beyond the comforts of their daily lives for greater purpose and existential insight. Society at large seems completely unaware of the extent to which spiritual illness has infected everyone, and the few who recognize the symptoms often resort to physical remedies or promote self-help as the solution.
Truth be told, if God didn’t come to us, we would remain in our ignorance and brokenness, and never reach out to Him. Paul tells us in Romans 3:10–11, “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God.”
Thank the Lord that He entered our world and dwelt among us so that we might turn to Him! By incarnating as Jesus of Nazareth, God made Himself knowable, understandable, and approachable. Yet, despite living in our midst, many didn’t recognize Him.
JOHN 5:1–14
John 5:1–14 relays the story when Jesus went to the pool called Bethesda, where many disabled people congregated for healing. Tradition has it, “that an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had,” (John 5:4, NKJV).
“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?’” (John 5:5–6). This wasn’t a rhetorical question. It was obvious that the man sought healing. But did he really expect be healed? Jesus probed deeper than the obvious and enquired if he had a genuine desire to be changed.
The paralyzed man’s response reflected his frustration of being unable to get to the water first and how someone else always got there ahead of him. He could see what he perceived as the source of healing. He could almost touch it, yet he could never reach it. Why did he stay? Did he cling to a false hope that by continuing to do the same thing over and over again, the outcome would somehow change? Did he envision one day being next to the water by chance when it was stirred up and getting into the pool first? The desperation in his words illustrates his inability to help himself.
How many people perceive that their own circumstances prevent them from receiving God’s grace? Just like the paralytic in John 5, we can experience paralysis in our ability to overcome grief, doubt, or anxiety. Or we can feel completely immobilized by our inability to deal with stress and frustration, or trapped in a cycle of sin. We often look to human solutions and seldom turn to God until our situation becomes dire.
Our cultural conditioning leads us to do it ourselves through self-help therapies, and we try and try to do it our way but we continually fail. Like the paralyzed man by the pool, we continue doing the same things over and over again, with a false sense of hope.
JESUS ISSUED A DIRECTIVE
Jesus issued a directive that required a response. “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 5:8–9). By faith the man stood up and through faith he was given the power to stand. The instant he obeyed the command of Jesus, he was healed. If the pool actually had the power to heal, Jesus could have carried the man into the water. Instead, He healed him on the spot.
Jesus left before the man found out his name. He never sought recognition or acclamation. He simply slipped away into the crowd. “Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you,’” (John 5:14).
This doesn’t imply that the man’s paralysis was the result of sin. It simply means that the man did not look to God for healing, but chose to rely on false hope to get well. Jesus advised him to seek God first and not miss out on the greater blessings of salvation. This is the lesson for us: Faith and obedience make us well and we must continue to walk in faith and obedience to remain well.
Our Savior doesn’t force His way into our lives. He is gentle and humble, and offers us rest. Revelation 3:20 states that Jesus stands at the door to our hearts and knocks. If anyone hears His voice and opens the door, He will enter and commune with them. Jesus respects our freedom to surrender to Him.
But we must incline our ears and listen if we are to hear Him. Psalm 46:10 reads, “Be still, and know that I am God.” That means stepping back from our busy lives and seeking God. The Lord says, “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart,” (Jeremiah 29:13).
God does not violate our free will. He asks us the same question, “Do you want to get well?” But He still issues a directive that demands a response. “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near,” (Matthew 4:17), and “Go and sin no more,” (John 8:11).
There is a certain familiarity in being the victim of our circumstances and many people prefer to remain in their comfort zone even to the detriment of their spiritual health. They rationalize that being saved by grace means repentance is unnecessary, or attempt to normalize sinful behaviors by rebranding them with less offensive terminology, such as “mistakes,” or “lifestyle choices.”
John 3:19 states, “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” Many people want God to fix what is wrong but avoid doing what is right. What would they answer if Jesus were to ask, “Do you want to get well?”
Salvation is free. It is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8). Yet there is a cost to believing. Jesus said, “If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for Me will save it,” (Luke 9:23–24).
The man at the pool wasn’t healed because he remained laying down. He responded to Christ’s command to stand up and walk. It is the same for us. Faith is a gift from God but we must believe. God provides the strength for repentance but we must repent.
HOPING FOR HEALING
How did the paralytic feel as he lay by the pool? Of the multitudes of invalids, what were his chances of getting to the water first? In the midst of all this hopelessness, Jesus walks up to the man and asks him “Do you want to get well?” It would be like walking into a hospital room and asking a patient in a hospital bed if they wanted to get well. The Greek phrase that is translated as “to get well” here is hugieis genesthai, which literally means “to become whole.” Jesus wasn’t looking for a superficial answer. He could see that the man was hoping for healing. He was interested in a much deeper response, from the core of the man’s being.
Does that scene apply to our brokenness in a world filled with broken people? Many of us have struggled with a deep-seated issue for a very long time and simply accept it as part of life, to the point that our problem becomes part of WHO we are and can even define who we are. We can grow accustomed to living with our ailments and the thought of someone removing them can be outside of our comfort zone. How would we answer the question if we were brutally honest?
What would you say if Jesus were to ask, “Do you want to be well?” Would you justify your circumstances by claiming that you are trying to resolve your problems? Or are you content in your brokenness? Where do you put your hope for change apart from Jesus? What is your Bethesda?
Like the paralytic, we must follow Jesus’s commands if we want to be healed. He picked up his mat and we are called to take up our cross daily. When we surrender our lives to Christ and let Him heal us from our brokenness, He heals us completely. Jesus saves everyone who places their trust in Him. From the first one who steps into the water to the last. When we put our faith in Christ, He will make us well.
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