Articles
What Do You Want?
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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?" (Jn. 5:6).
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The question that Jesus posed to the lame man at the pool of Bethesda seems dumb. He's a cripple--of course he wants to be made well! Why insult his intelligence by questioning such an obvious fact?
But Jesus was justified in challenging this man's intentions. I know that, because I've encountered quite a few people in my life who, I'm convinced, did not want to be made well. These are people who complain about their infirmities, alright--but they seem to enjoy the complaining. They milk their problems for all the sympathy they can get, and revel in the attention they attract. They relish their victim status, and play it to the hilt. To be healed of their affliction would rob them of one of their main sources of significance in life.
This phenomenon extends beyond physical illnesses. Some people are engaged in behaviors that even they will admit are self-destructive, but they will not let them go. They may not like the consequences of their bad habits, and will even bemoan the condition they've gotten themselves into; but they love the habits too much to give them up. They prefer to live with their disordered life rather than address the problem that caused it.
Whatever the nature of our infirmity--but especially if it is spiritual--before we can say that we want to be made well, we have to admit that we are sick, and that we want a real change in our life. That's harder to do than we realize. It requires a willingness to give up an old way of life and take on a new. Jesus can help with that; but do we really want it?
The lame man in this story knew exactly what he wanted, and accepted Jesus' gift of healing without hesitation. We must do the same.
--David
