“Do You Want to Be Made Well?” A Divine Invitation (John 5:1–9)
There is a stillness at the pool of Bethesda—a quiet ache that hangs in the air. Bodies line the colonnades. Eyes stare into the water, waiting for a ripple, for a chance, for a change.
Among them lies a man. Thirty-eight years of pain. Thirty-eight years of watching others move ahead. Thirty-eight years of disappointment pressing down on him like the mat beneath his back.
Then Jesus comes.
He does not stir the water. He does not wait for tradition. He simply asks, “Do you want to be healed?” It seems like an odd question. Of course he wants to be healed—doesn’t he? But perhaps the question cuts deeper than we think.
It is not just about physical healing. It is about the will to hope again. The courage to believe. The surrender it takes to let go of our identity as the wounded one, the forgotten one, the one who never quite made it in time.
Jesus sees beyond the man’s excuses and limitations. He speaks a command that is both impossible and filled with power: “Get up. Pick up your mat. Walk.”
And something miraculous happens.
He stands.
He walks.
He carries what once carried him.
This story is not just about a healing long ago. It is about the moments we feel stuck, worn down by years of trying and failing. It is about the times we’ve grown comfortable with brokenness. And into that space, Jesus still comes—not with condemnation, but with compassion. Not with formulas, but with freedom.
He still asks, “Do you want to be made well?”
It’s not just a question. It’s an invitation. To rise. To trust. To walk forward in grace.
Will you accept it?
