"Do you want to get well?"

John 5:6

In the Gospel of John, Jesus performs seven miracles. In one case he changes water into wine. With another person, Lazarus, he raises him up from the dead. But not all these healings or miracles required the supernatural power of Jesus. For instance, in John 5:6, Jesus ask a man lying on the ground;  Do you want to get well?

We normally see Jesus in the Gospels, as a white knight who heals with miracles. But in this case Jesus hesitates and sternly asks the question, Do you want to get well? . The answer to why Jesus asks this question is found in the preceding verses. The man, posing as an invalid, had been going to a pool called Bethesda for thirty-eight years. The pool was a place to go and be healed. Many went; the lame, the blind and the paralyzed. Legend has it that the pool would be stirred up by a spirit and if you entered the pool during this time you would be healed. 

But for thirty-eight years the man never entered the pool. Knowing this Jesus, asks the question, Do you want to get well? To which the man meekly complains that there is never anyone around to help put him in the water. Jesus knew this was a weak excuse. Certainly in thirty-eight years someone would have been able to help. 

So we can also ask the question, Why after thirty-eight years did the man keep going back? Many that I tell this story have the same question.