Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
John 5.1-8 [NLT]
I've developed a skill in my life that has proven super helpful in terms of time-management and efficiency. Many other people also have this skill. In fact it's a skill that we're expected to learn. The skill/ability I'm thinking of, is to rationally think, problem solve, and anticipate things. However, there are some times when this skill/ability can inhibit us. I believe the man in this passage helps us see this.
Here's the situation. Jesus arrives. Jesus notices the man and asks him a question. The man responds to the question. Jesus graciously responds anyway.
Notice I didn't say that the an responded with an answer to THE question that was asked. It seems to me, that the question the man is answering is different from the one Jesus is asking. (Side note: I understand the question could have a multitude of 'non-communicated' meanings. The fact is we don't know Jesus' tone or body language, nor that of the man. Therefore our FULL observations on the passage are still yet limited.) Jesus simply asks if the man WANTS to be healed, to which the man replies with the REASON why he hasn't been healed yet.
As I read this passage this morning, it hit me that I think I often times answer questions that Jesus' isn't asking. I say this, because I do the same thing with friends and family close to me. I anticipate the REASON or MOTIVES behind a question, and seek to answer THOSE rather than the actual question. Now, as I alluded to, this is VERY helpful in today's world. However I can't help but wonder if this skill has proved to be a weakness in our walk with Jesus. There are countless examples in Scripture of God leading people one step at a time, rather than giving them everything at once. Maybe our (very good and great to have) skill of rationalizing, problem solving, and anticipating has moved us (in our relationship with Jesus), away from the very faith that we long to have. Maybe for us to have a DEEP faith, we have to stop anticipating and trying to "read-into" Jesus' questions so much, and instead LISTEN and OBEY. Maybe THAT'S how God paves the way for us to grow into the deep faith of so many other of whom we tend to look at with envy. I know in my own life, I can easily miss the point of the question Jesus is asking of me ALL TOGETHER, simply because I'm trying to operate out of efficiency and reason. As I sit here and think about all of this, I have to chuckle. If I were to sum up what God has been trying to teach me over the past 5 years, it'd be "TRUST." As I sit here looking at this passage, I'm "hearing" the very same thing. "Stop trying to find hidden agendas. Stop making excuses because you don't want the spotlight on your failure/weakness. Trust and just answer the question. What follows from there will change your life!"
"Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”
Matthew 11.28-29 [NLT]
