Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem. Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda, with five alcoves. Hundreds of sick people—blind, crippled, paralyzed—were in these alcoves. One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”

7 The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”

8-9 Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.” The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off. (The Message)

In the background to this passage, there lurks the belief, held by many at the time, that an angel would occasionally come down and stir up the waters in the pool of Bethesda, and the first one in following the stirring of the waters would be healed. (But note that not all ancient manuscripts of John contain verse 4)

We might wonder why Jesus asked the man ”Do you want to get well?” The fact that he had ben there for thirty-eight years would rather suggest he did! Furthermore, his explanation of why he wasn’t beter seemed highly plausible (7).

Nevertheless, I do think there are those who enjoy bad health. A malady can become your identity. You can become addicted to a lifestyle of dependence, unemployment, sickness benefit, and being the centre of attention and the object of sympathetic care. Yes, some people, I’m sure, do need the above challenge.

But your issue may not have to do with physical health, but spiritual. There is some other matter with which you are struggling: a problem, a sin, an addiction maybe? You too must face the challenge, ‘Do you really want to be free?’ Jesus is able to make you ”free indeed’ (Jn.8:36). Yet how much do you want such liberation?