Jump Into the Water (part 4)

Before we jump into the instructions that Jesus gave to the invalid in John chapter 5, I have to stop and consider the question Jesus asked the man.  If you look in verse 6, you see that Jesus asked the man, "Do you want to get well?".  I have already said that I find this question a bit of a head scratch-er.  Did Jesus think the man wanted to stay living life as a cripple, confined to a mat?  When you consider the types of people I have described, and have imagined, were at the pool of Bethesda, the question doesn't seem so silly.
You see, we've looked at the folks who took pride in their pain and found their security and identity in their ailments.  We also discussed the folks who were afraid of the change that would come from being healed.  These timid pool residents chose fear over a life of abundance.  And as we looked at these two groups of people, found at the pool of Bethesda, we've had to be honest with ourselves and see times in our own lives when we've chosen to live the same way.
But I believe it is because of these other personality types that stopped Jesus, making him pose the question, "Do you want to get well?".  And I think the invalid's response is spoken appropriately so.  The man responded in a way that comes across as if he is trying to explain himself.  Its as if he felt the need to justify why, after 38 years, he was still laying there by the pool.
The man said, "I have no one to help me."  Have you felt that way?  I know I have.  I have been so wrapped up in fear and consumed with insecurity that I felt no one would understand what "ailment" I was struggling with.  Just like the invalid, no one person could help.  But Jesus can and He did.  In fact, Jesus never even responded to the man's reason.  He didn't speak to his surface issue, needing help to get into the pool.  No, Jesus completely dismissed that response and went straight to the source, to the root of the man's issue.  Jesus touched the real part of the man that needed healing. 
Sometimes I have been guilty of wanting Jesus to just relieve my symptoms and discomfort.  I don't really want Him to address the real issue.  Sometimes that is a little painful and scary.  At times I think we would rather be pacified than be transformed and changed.
But Jesus didn't let the invalid get off that easy.  He did give the man three very specific instructions that we can follow in order to see change and healing in our own lives.  
Before we do that, the question Jesus asked the invalid, He asks of you and I.  "Do you want to get well?"  We have to want to be changed first.  Knowing, all the while, that it might not be easy.  Realize we might have to uncover parts of our hearts that we've worked hard to hide.  It means we might have to let go of pieces of ourselves we've kept a white knuckled grip on.  Choosing to answer, "Yes", means that it might cost us our pride, our so called image and appearances.  But isn't that what being free means?  Saying "yes" to Jesus and "no" to the world. 
If you're ready to count the cost and say with confidence and commitment, "yes, I want to get well.", great!  Let's quit with the excuses, pack up our pity party and dive in.  The instructions are simple, but it starts with the right answer to the question....."Do you want to get well?".