When Jesus say 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?"
John 5:6
Each of us face our own conditions and issues. One of the amazing qualities about Jesus is that He engaged with people right where they were at. He stepped into the lives of others rather than stepping around them. He talked with people rather than talking at them. His questions were the questions of One who understands the problems that each one faced.
In today's passage Jesus met a man who had been sick for 38 years. The Bible doesn't tell us exactly what is wrong with him other than there seemed to be a problem with his mobility because he said, "I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up." (John 5:7) Jesus knew that this man had been suffering all those years. He didn't give him platitudes about suffering because He didn't need to. Jesus is the Answer to each problem and dilemma that we face. Yet he does connect with the man on the level of his need. "Do you want to be made well?"
What a question! We might get upset at such a question. If we went into a hospital where people had incurable conditions and asked such a question we would probably get thrown out. That is because we aren't the solution to their problem. But the question was asked and answered. We can almost imagine the pain and agony in the answer. "I have no one ..." I am helpless. I'm lost. I am broken and can't be fixed. I have tried and failed so many times that I am stuck with my dilemma.
While we might not be in the same physical situation as that man, we can all identify with him in being broken and lost. The wonderful things is that Jesus is right here right now. His question is for each of us, "Do you want to be made well?" He knows what we are facing. It may be some horrible physical illness or it may be something much darker. Whatever the case, He is the solution to our dilemma. The solution may not be the solution to an incurable physical illness but it will be the solution to an incurable spiritual malady. And whatever the problems that we face in this life, we can be assured that He will always be with us and help us to overcome them.
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