John 5

“Before God, with the people of God, we confess to our brokenness: To the ways we wound our lives, the lives of others, and the life of the world.”  (Taken from the Morning Service in the Iona Abbey worship book)

“For a good person to recognize that it is more important to be whole than to be good is to enter onto a straight and narrow path compared to which his or her previous rectitude was flowery license.”  John Middleton Murray

“Do you wish to be made whole?”  It is the question that Jesus posed to the man at the Pool of Bethesda.  It is imperative to note first what Jesus does NOT ask.  He does not ask: “Do you wish to join my movement (church)?” 

He does not ask: “Do you wish to be a good person and learn how to follow God’s commandments?”

He does not ask: “Do you wish to study and become an expert at interpreting the Scriptures?”

He does not ask: “Do you wish to serve me, or at least serve on a church board or committee?”

He does not ask:  “Do you wish to learn how to live a more successful and fulfilling life?”

He does not even ask: “Do you wish to be saved?”

Jesus asks, “Do you wish to be made whole?”  With this question He is delving below the surface of shallow sanctity and religiosity, diving deeper than temporary fixes and formulas.  Jesus is addressing the man’s condition, as well as ours; brokenness.

How would you answer that question?  Perhaps our first response might be “There’s nothing wrong with me;  at least not compared to others.  I thank God that I’m not like them!”  How true is that, really?  Technically speaking we might not have a physical ailment, at least not one so obvious like the man at the pool, but what about emotionally, psychologically or spiritually?  Are we any different than anyone else, really? 

Now note how the man answered.  “I have no one to put me into the pool.”  Blame.  It’s what we as humans do.  If and when we recognize our infirmity we blame someone else for being the cause of it.  It’s easy to play the part of the victim. It’s easy it is to absolve of ourselves of any personal responsibility for our particular life predicament, and thus avoid the path to wholeness and well-being.  After recognizing our brokenness, are we then looking at others as the cause, or accepting the part we have played?

Jesus says; “Arise, take up your mat and walk.”  And the man did.  He got up and walked.  Sometimes it’s just that simple.  After spending years battling our brokenness we not only embrace it, but also accept the path to healing and wholeness.  The man got up and went to the Temple and told people that Jesus had healed him.

It would be easy to move into moralism here and talk about the need to go to church and tell others about Jesus.  That’s not the point.  I think John includes this to indicate that there was some type of spiritual need the man recognized, and in fact it was not met by the temple or the religious experts found around or inside of it.  The path to spiritual health sometimes takes us down a path that is counter-intuitive to what we’ve been led to believe.

Back in the day there was a radio personality named Paul Harvey.  He was a master story teller who would recount real-life tales about people.  After leading the listener to the edge of their seats he would take a commercial break, and then come back with the phrase, “And now, the rest of the story.”  I wonder what the rest of the story was for the man made whole at the pool of Bethesda.  For those of us who like fairy-tale endings he lived a happy and successful life.  Maybe.  Or maybe he simply continued to walk on the Way.  Maybe he followed Jesus all the way to Golgotha.  Or maybe not.  Maybe his path led him in a different direction.  Maybe his Way took him down into the valley of darkness, despair and even death.  Maybe, just maybe his journey was not so different from ours, in which we descend into those dark valleys also, and in so doing recognize that there is Divine light to be found illuminating our way, not ins spite of what we face, but because of them.

I don’t know what happened to the man or where he walked with his mat.  I do know that the question posed to him is one that we all hear in some form or another, and if we are listening we will learn that it is more precious to be whole than to be good.