Refer to slide for Observations of the passage and use it to read alongside below Interpretation/Application.
Have you ever heard, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”? This saying simply means and encourages people to eat healthily in order to avoid having to visit a doctor. But what if you have been sick for a long time? In John 5, the story tells about a crippled man who had been crippled for 38 years. He spent his days sitting beside a pool where people gathered, hoping that they would be miraculously healed if they could enter the water at the right moment. One day, Jesus approached him and healed him. Imagine that hopelessness of being crippled for years and not being able to do anything about it, would you still be able to hope?
Jesus asks the man, “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:6). Jesus poses a seemingly peculiar question to the crippled man. The man has been crippled for years, and of course healing is what he desired. Jesus is God and definitely knows what the man is going through but why did He ask this? It’s important to recognize that the man’s prolonged presence by the pool, surrounded by others who also sought healing, had likely left him with a deep sense of skepticism and disappointment. Numerous individuals had come and gone, offering false hope and failing to deliver on their promises of healing. The man could have chosen to complain, instead he chooses to explain to Jesus what he knows – how things work at the pool to get healed – although he personally does not have hope that he can be healed (John 5:7). How often are we like this man regarding things we have been struggling with for years? Instead of shifting our focus on Jesus who is capable of healing, our tendency is to settle or go through life with dysfunction.
Therefore, Jesus’ question serves a purpose beyond mere inquiry. It invites the man to reflect on his own desires and readiness for transformation. By presenting the question, Jesus encourages the man to confront any lingering doubts or reservations he may harbor, and to genuinely consider the possibility of receiving the healing he had longed for. Jesus tells the man what he could not do (John 5:8), challenging the man to have faith. Previously the man could only explain his situation to Jesus, but now, he obeys Jesus when instructed to take up his bed and walk (John 5:9). The man responds in faith and experiences healing. How can we respond in faith? When was the last time we prayed about the breaking of chains and overcoming long-term addiction?
Consider this, what if God desires to heal you and use you for a greater purpose? The story continues with controversy arising among the Jewish authorities due to Jesus healing the crippled man on the Sabbath, which they considered a violation of Jewish law. Jesus intends to use the man to expose the skewed human interpretation of God’s law which the Jewish authorities have at that time (John 5:10-17). To those persecuting Jesus, the miraculous healing of this crippled man pales in comparison to their rigid religious rules. Little do they see that Jesus is the son of God that will die for their sins and resurrect to life to give them hope. They fail to see that they themselves are the one that need healing as well, same as the crippled man.
So, do you want to be made well? What can you bring to God and ask for healing today?