The Unanswered Question

It was one of those questions without a real answer.  Jesus asked the man at pool which was supposed to have healing waters, "Do you want to be made well?"  (John 5:6)  Some might declare it to be a dumb question.  First, the man had been ill for thirty-eight years which was likely most of his life.  Secondly, he had been coming there for a long time with hopes that he could get in the water while it was stirred up and experience its healing powers.  Had he not wanted to be made well, he could have stayed at home.  It would have made his days much easier.     

Still, the question of Jesus is an important question.  It is the question which poses life changing issues.  Did the man want to cease having other people take care of him?  Did he want his excuse for not having a job taken away?  Did he want an end to the handouts of life?  Did he want his excuses and reasons which had been his number one answer to all of life's challenges removed?   If the man was made well, everything would change.  Was that kind of change what he really wanted?  Such was implicit within the question of Jesus.    

Instead of directly answering the question with a simple "Yes," he found a way to have one last pity party.  "Sir, I have not one to put me into the pool when the water us stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone steps down ahead of me."  (John 5:7)  Jesus' question showed a real grasp of human nature.  Like the man there at the pool, we do not always want what we obviously need.  The status quo can become such a comfort blanket that anything seems better than change.  And, of course, Jesus is not really interested in seeing us change.  He is about something even more frightening.  He wants to make us into something new.  (II Corinthians 517)