QUESTIONS JESUS ASKS

Week Three
John 5: 2-13

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is

called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes.

3 In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame,

and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters;

4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the
pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the
stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from
whatever disease with which he was afflicted.

5 A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already
been a long time in that condition, He said to him, “Do you wish
to get well?”

7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me

into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am
coming, another steps down before me.”

8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.”

9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his mat and
began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.

10 So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the
Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your mat.”

11 But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one
who said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up
your mat and walk’?”

13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for
Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.

According to a legend an angel would occasionally descend into

the pool of Bethesda, stirring the waters. Whoever stepped in the
pool first, after that, would be healed of their disease.

One day as Jesus was passing the pool, he noticed an invalid

who had waited for 38 years trying to be first into the water.
Thirty-eight years of commitment to the same plan for healing…
that was not working. You’ve got a plan for healing whatever
is broken in your life also, don’t you?

You may not still be on Plan A. You may be up to Plan X, Y, or

Z. But you’ve still got something you are sure will make
everything okay again. The danger to your plans for getting life
fixed up is that they likely will blind you to the presence of God
who is the only one who can heal you. So when Jesus, the
Savior, passes by, you will not even notice him if you are too
focused on your own agenda, your own expectation, your own
plan.

“When Jesus saw the man lying there and knew he had been
there a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to be made
well?’” Why would Jesus ask this question? He’s been trying
for 38 years! But Lord if you have spent most of your life
committed to a plan for healing that is not working, it may be
because you are not really ready to give it up.

We are not even given the name of this man by the pool.
Perhaps the hurt has overtaken his identity. What would it mean
to live without this hurt that has been your companion for so
long? People often prefer the misery they know to the mystery
they do not. It isn’t logical but certainty offers control.

So the question of Jesus to the man at the pools echos down

through the centuries to us as well. “Do you want to be
healed?” You with broken hearts, broken spirits, and broken
down dreams: do you want to be healed?

The sick man does not answer. He says, “Sir, I have no one to
put me into the pool when the water is stirred up,…and….” You
just know that if Jesus had not interrupted him, the man would
have recommended Jesus develop a fair system. Then Jesus
would become a part of the system and the plan.

Notice Jesus does not help this guy into the pool. He does not
get him a better doctor, etc. Instead, “Jesus said to him, ‘Stand
up, take your mat, and walk.’ At once the man was made well,
and he took up his mat and walked.”

This is a difficult scripture for anyone who has lost someone or

struggles with an unremitting illness. I am not saying that any
one of us wants this…but aren’t we more than our pain? Does it
mean that if you are ill, Jesus will always heal you? No. And
Jesus will soothe you with a band aid. What it means is that the
Savior will heal the soul that has been crippled by growing used
to hurt.

Everybody Jesus healed eventually got sick and died. Everybody

Jesus fed got hungry again. Miracles aren’t the point. The point
is we have a Savior who can heal the sin-sick soul, restore life,
and pick you up from the misery to which you’ve grown
accustomed. Isn’t that the healing we most need?

Your brokeness does not define you. Your life has already been
defined in Christ. If you believe that, no disease, no loss, no
tragedy, not even the gates of hell can prevail against you. You
are free to get up from your losses, take up the mat, and get
walking again through the grace of life.

Okay, you may still be sick but you will not let that cripple you
from inheriting life. You are not alone. A Savior is with you,
which means anything can happen. It can. Only those who
believe that are fully alive.

The truth is that Jesus, the healer, is with you, with us, and he is
still with this world that is running out of plans that do not work.
Do you believe that?

Do you believe that through this sacred text, Jesus is now calling
out to you as well. “You have been hurt long enough,” he says.
“Get up, take your mat, and walk again.” Walk away from the
hurt.
Stop cuddling it, exploring it, trying to get to the bottom of it.
You’ve done all of that too long, certainly long enough to know
there is no bottom. I know this is a challenge but truly, healing
comes only by getting up, leaving the hurt behind, and walking
back to life. Jesus loves you…so…do you want to be healed?

Week 3 Questions for Reflection and Discussion:

1. How long would you wait (and hold up some of your life) for
healing?

2. Can you think of the things we might need healing from?

What are some of them?

3. Jesus stopped and entered the scene without much prompting,

but because he was there. Do you think you have to “do
something” to get his attention?

4. There seemed to be an inequity to the pool system. Do you

feel life is fair for those who have illnesses or troubles? Why
not? What keeps us from being fair or compassionate? What is
your experience?

5. Jesus’ healing is complicated in that he isn’t easily

controlled. How do you feel about the complexities of
unanswered prayer?

6. Have you ever known someone who identifies with their

illness or condition so much that it might be hard for them to let
it completely go?

7. We love people who overcome adversity. Why do we love

stories of overcoming challenges so much? Do you have a story
of overcoming?

8. Is there a hurt, a condition, an attitude, etc that you might

want to lay at the feet of Jesus for healing? Are you looking for
your own answers?

9. Think of the thing you might want to change most about

yourself. Do you truly believe that God can handle it or guide
you or change it? Do you think you have to suffer for a change?

10. What happens when Jesus’ healing doesn’t make sense to

us? When the “wrong” person gets sick or the “wrong” person
is healed how do you feel? Do we have to understand God’s
activity to believe it?

11. In the midst of a world where life ends, do we truly believe

that it is in the hands of God? How do you feel about an
afterlife? Do you think that healing may be at times that passing
over?

12. This week, find your need and ask yourself if you want to be
healed. Pray about it this season, and challenge yourself to step
toward healing.