In our gospel reading for today, Jesus encounters a paralysed man by the pool of Bethzatha. And this man has been waiting for a miracle of healing for a long time - so long, that Jesus asks him the question, "Do you WANT to be made well?" Satisfied with the man's answer, Jesus heals him, even on the Sabbath - knowing full well that this will lead to trouble with the authorities.....
Back in 2019, the Government of Canada launched a program called Reaching Home, the country’s homelessness strategy to support the National Housing Strategy. Reaching Home aimed to reduce chronic homelessness in Canada by half by 2028 by providing a total of $5 billion to communities to generate affordable, stable, and safe housing. How is it going so far? Well, I couldn't find data for 2019, but between 2021 and 2023, the rate of homeless shelter use by citizens ROSE 29% from 22.3 per 10 thousand to 28.8 per 10 thousand. And I shudder to think what the number looks like in 2025, especially if you also include asylum seekers and visa holders. It's almost as if either, a) some people see an advantage to being homeless, or b) some politicians see an advantage to having homeless people to care for....
In our gospel reading, Jesus is in Jerusalem by the pool of Bethzatha - a very special pool. Legend has it that every once in a while, an angel would come down to the pool of Bethzatha, and stir up the water. And then, whoever entered the pool next would be cured of whatever disease or ailment they carried. No triage. No schedule. Just next one in the pool after the angel stirs it, wins.
And Jesus sees a man at the pool who had been there a long time - someone who would have had many opportunities to see the water in the pool stirred. Obviously, he was unable to provide for himself, and so someone had been feeding him and providing for him all this time. It's possible that after all this time, he may have felt a sense of camaraderie with his fellow invalids at the pool. And maybe, he received a greater share of attention and sympathy from people than he would have if he were able-bodied. It's possible that the man was COMFORTABLE in his paralysed condition, so Jesus asks him the question, "Do you WANT to be made well?"
Do WE want to be made well? How desperately do we want CHANGE in our lives? How diligently are we doing for OURSELVES, the things WE can do to IMPROVE OURSELVES?
Because it is certainly possible for us to get COMFORTABLE with a problem. With a serious problem, sympathetic people might step in and help us and provide for us, or at least allow us to set low expectations for ourselves. We might find camaraderie with other people with problems, and we can complain together, and maybe even enlist others who don't have problems to complain for us, in something called advocacy. We might find reporters and news outlets anxious to tell our story of problems, and garner us attention well beyond what we could have garnered on our own. We might find that having problems gives us a position of power in society, and the last thing we want is some bloody person or program to SOLVE our problem, because then we are no longer a victim. These are the things we need to think about, before we answer the question, "do we want to be made well?"
But if the PROBLEM we're talking about is our own SINFULNESS, we can't afford to get comfortable! It doesn't matter if people are sympathetic, or if we find camaraderie with other sinners, or if it brings us attention or power - the consequences of sinfulness are dire. We do NOT want to be shut out of the new Jerusalem, and we do NOT want to be erased from the Lamb's book of life! The only answer we should consider to the question, "do you want to be made well from SIN?" is an enthusiastic and desperate, "Yes!"
The man at the pool of Bethzatha had a good reason for why he had not been healed - "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me." It wasn't that the man was comfortable being paralysed, but he was unable to reach the pool without help. And Jesus took him at his word, and immediately healed him. The desire for healing was there, and Jesus honoured it, even to the extreme of healing him on the Sabbath. And in doing so, Jesus declares, "My Father is still working, and I also am working - we are continuing to make people who want to be well, well."
IF we are truly desiring to be made well from sin, and are not living comfortably in our own sinfulness, we too can count on Jesus to make us well. His death and resurrection are the sign that he is still working today, to bring freedom from sin to his people, through grace and forgiveness, and the power of his love. Through his sacrifice on the cross, we are written in the Lamb's book of life, and we drink from the river of the water of life. By his guidance, we are steered clear of Satan's deceptions, and are given discernment as to God's will for us. With his presence, we radiate his love and hope of healing to the people around us. And as his disciples, we look forward to seeing the face of God as we live together with him in the new Jerusalem for eternity.
Heavenly Father, keep us eager to be made well. Focus us on finding solutions to our problems, and grant us freedom from sin, in Jesus' name we pray, amen.