“Do You Want to be Made Whole?”

“Do you want to be made whole?” Jesus asks this pivotal question of the man at the pool of Siloam in John 5:1-15. You recall this man has been lame for thirty-eight years. Each day, someone brings him to the pool and lays him there, expecting he will enter the healing waters once angels begin to stir them. Yet, this man never gets into the pool in time. Others always beat him. In a defining moment, this lame man encounters the Lord Jesus Christ who asks the determinative question.

Imagine we live in the place of this man by the pool. For thirty-eight years, we live with a defining and limiting disability. We have someone who willingly brings us to the pool but does not remain to help us achieve the healing for which we show up each day. How incredible and perplexing to arrive 13,870 consecutive days with superstitious hope for healing. Yet, this man leaves each evening incomplete and broken.

Do we fully appreciate the depth of despair of his illness? Often, we mistakenly and hurriedly reach for the solution without entirely defining the many layers of the problem. To our detriment, we race for a resolution and eventually give out like the hare. In marked contrast, the slow plodding tortoise instructs us in the wisdom of finding and following a reasonable and steadfast pace toward victory. Notwithstanding his superstitious beliefs to the contrary, this lame man probably starts believing healing and wholeness will never be his. After such a long period of suffering, he eventually concludes his number will never come up in the heavenly lottery.

Certainly, we can relate to his dilemma. Many of us seemingly and interminably struggle with emotional, psychological, mental and spiritual challenges. Like the lame man, we suspect neutralization of the problem is the very best we can achieve. We harbor doubt and perhaps even cynicism that we will ever be free of this problem. We shudder when we think we will live our entire lives as captives to our problems. Like the proverbial ball, chain and handcuffs of a prisoner, we live each day with a glimmer of hope for a pardon; but the reality of our imprisonment shines starkly before us.

We can also relate to the intense anger he probably harbors within his mind, heart, and will. On any given day, he blames his parents for his illness. What sin did they commit to inflict such judgment upon themselves and punishment upon him? On other days, he curses the world for his predicament. If people were more kind and considerate, perhaps he would have been healed by now. He periodically turns his anger inward and blames himself. What could he have done to prevent the situation? What can he do now? Woe unto me! Who will help me? Additionally, where is God in all of this? Why does He fail to do something? Where is all of the goodness and greatness that I hear about Him? Lack of answers ignites smoldering, volcanic anger of his mind.