Lenten Reader | Day 14

February 29th, 2024

Get Well

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

John 5:1-9

I’ve been sick for two weeks. Well, I was sick for a week, and I’ve been coughing uncontrollably for a week. It isn’t fun. I want to get well more than anything. I would try whatever it takes at this point. Medicine, neti pots, yoga. Whatever. I just want to be well!

Jesus asked, “Do you want to be made well?” He asked because it’s a choice, and not everyone wants to be made well. Some people choose to cling to bitterness, envy, anger, and a whole host of other issues. They want to embrace it and dwell in it. They purposely choose to not let it go. Sometimes people get so discouraged that they put away all hopes of healing. People must choose healing. It’s a choice that everyone must make for themselves.

The same is true with Jesus. He won’t forcefully come into our situations without us asking Him for help. We must choose to let Him in. When we do, we can be made well. There are a number of times throughout the Bible where Jesus shows us that he has the ability to make us well, but first we must have this desire for ourselves. When these miracles happen, we are reminded of the overwhelming love that Jesus has for us. He wants us to have hope so that we can make the choice to want to be made well by Him. 

Abby Daly