One man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there
and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him,
"Do you want to be well?"
It may have once been the case that the man would have been able to answer Jesus with an unqualified yes. But now, after thirty-eight years, although he was at the pool as though he were still seeking healing, it was clear that he had in fact given up. After struggling for so long, seeing others healed, but not being able to make it to the pool in time, he was no longer able to maintain his hope. He was, at this point, going through the motions. But, we might wonder, why bother, if it wasn't helping?
The sick man answered him,
"Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool
when the water is stirred up;
while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me."
It seemed that if he couldn't attain the goal of healing he could at least indulge in self-pity. Maybe such a sad story was occasionally rewarded and he was given alms, encouraging the behavior. But one wonders if such an attitude wasn't actually self-destructive. Perhaps he could have found a way to the pool if he had showed a little more spirit. Or, if not, perhaps there was a better way to spend his days than in close proximity to a constant reminder of what could never be.
Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your mat, and walk."
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
Jesus, however, neither indulged the man nor did he turn his back on him. Rather, if Jesus couldn't find the fire in the man's spirit that he desired to see, he would put it there himself. His answer was so powerful and direct as to bypass all of the man's apparent tendencies toward self-pity, hesitation, and self-sabotage. It had probably been long years since he had done anything in a way that would be described as immediate. But in response to the command of Jesus he demonstrated at once that not only his body but also his soul had been healed.
After this Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him,
"Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you."
Jesus did not imply that the initial illness was necessarily caused by sin. Rather he saw the tendencies that had developed in the man as a result of the illness and was aware that they could sabotage not only his daily life but also his spiritual growth. It would be far worse to abandon spiritual progress because of perceived lack of growth than to give up on a healing that was merely physical. Although Jesus healed him on both levels it would be necessary for the man to persist in the grace he had been given. The old ways he used to live need no longer define him. Our guess is that he probably took this positively, and truly valued what Jesus had done for him. If so, then telling the Jews that it was Jesus who healed him was well-intentioned, rather than revenge for ruining his pathetic but perhaps comfortable lifestyle. But. We each face both options as possible responses when we are healed by Jesus. We can begin to be active agents in the story of salvation using the grace we have been given. Or we can be upset by what is expected of us and turn against the one who healed us. Not sinning so that nothing worse may happen is indeed a lifelong process. But we who have been touched by the healing power of Jesus, who now walk by the Spirit, ought to know the goodness of what we protect by avoiding sin. It is the life of God within us, leading us to eternal life with him.
Wherever the river flows,
every sort of living creature that can multiply shall live,
and there shall be abundant fish,
for wherever this water comes the sea shall be made fresh.
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