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?"
The implication of the question was of course that the man didn't really want to be well, that his coming to this pool was basically a pretense. He didn't want to be well, but he didn't want to believe that about himself, so he came again and again as though he did. But had he truly desired it he could have at least found a way to get into the pools by then. It seems rather that he gave up in advance. He had a certain amount of frustration with the repetition of this occurrence, but not so much as to make a change. In fact, he was like many of us. He had grown comfortable with his condition, with the limits that it imposed, and with the demands of normal life from which he found himself safely excluded. In exchange for the joys of normal life he substituted wallowing in self-pity as his consolation. Feeling self-pity doesn't seem like something anyone would want. But for some who felt it it could serve as a protection of their egos, a way to blame and to absolve themselves of any culpability or responsibility. It had a certain intoxicating quality that made it hard to abandon even while it rendered one increasingly incapacitated.
Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your mat, and walk."
Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.
There was so much more in the command of Jesus than merely that of a physical healing. Everything that had hindered the man's inner life and stunted his growth was also healed. It was as though Jesus said to him, 'You are meant for more, now live for it'. We can imagine that if the man had been healed without the help of Jesus he would have taken a much longer and slower road back into life in the world. But in response to the words of Jesus the change was immediate.
"Who is the man who told you, 'Take it up and walk'?"
The man who was healed did not know who it was,
for Jesus had slipped away, since there was a crowd there.
We don't necessarily know everything about Jesus when we first experience his healing power. This is obviously true for those of us baptized as infants. But even for those who had powerful adult conversions there is still much to learn. It is not merely one encounter that teaches us the truth of who Jesus is but many, as he himself visits us in the varied circumstances of our life and reveals himself to us.
"Look, you are well; do not sin any more,
so that nothing worse may happen to you."
The man went and told the Jews
that Jesus was the one who had made him well.
Once Jesus had revealed himself to the man he found himself unable to keep it a secret. We can't imagine that he told the Judeans in bad faith, knowing how they would respond. Rather, he was too excited about Jesus, and couldn't hold it in. Surely any who realized what he had done would realize that he wasn't an enemy. But he underestimated the hardness of their hearts.
Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus
because he did this on a sabbath.
Some people are more stuck in their patterns of life than others. They tend to respond with more violence and hostility to the call of Jesus to convert. But Jesus only ever responds to us with love, though not always of the warm and fuzzy variety. He isn't interested in acting as enabler for our sin and addiction. He is interested in healing us just as he did for the man by the pool of Bethesda. It is not truly any pool that heals, but Jesus himself, the source of living water.
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.
Along both banks of the river, fruit trees of every kind shall grow;
their leaves shall not fade, nor their fruit fail.
Every month they shall bear fresh fruit,
for they shall be watered by the flow from the sanctuary.
Their fruit shall serve for food, and their leaves for medicine.
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