In our Gospel today, for the Sixth Sunday of Easter, Jesus asks the sick man what seems like an obvious question. If the man didn’t want to be healed, presumably he would not be hanging out by the pool at Bethzatha, waiting for the angel to stir up the water and effect the cure. So why the question? Some interpreters think that Jesus was doubtful about the man’s sincerity: did he really want to be cured? After all, thirty-eight years is a long time to wait just to get to the head of the line. In all that time, surely someone could have been found to help him make his way, if that’s what he really wanted.
But I think that Jesus’ question is about something else. It’s part of a question and answer format, providing an almost liturgical frame; one familiar from the Old Testament. For instance, God delivers the law on Sinai through his servant Moses, and the People respond, “Everything the Lord has spoken we will do” (Ex. 19:8). God sets up the structure and the People sign on. Or when God called the prophet Isaiah, he asked, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah responds, “Here am I; send me” (Is. 6:8). God asks the question, and the prophet replies.
We see this same pattern over and over again in the Gospels, as Jesus carries out his ministry. In Matthew, the mother of James and John comes to Jesus with a request that her sons be given seats at his right hand and his left in his kingdom. Jesus gets things rolling by asking her the question, “What do you want?” (Matt. 20:21). Or the miracle of healing, in Mark’s Gospel, as blind Bartimaeus approaches him. Jesus asks him, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mk. 10:50); a question echoed in Luke’s account of the miracle (Lk. 18:41). Jesus begins with an interrogatory to which the petitioner responds. Question and answer, statement and response.
So Jesus asks the sick man, “Do you want to be made well?” (Jo. 5:6). It’s the Gospel of John’s version of what we hear in the other gospels: what is it that you want, that you wish for, that you desire? That’s Jesus’ question for the man. It turns out that getting into the pool when the water stirs was not even required for the healing. The one who asks the question can deliver the goods. “Jesus said to him, ‘Stand up, take your mat and walk’” (Jo. 5:8).
Desire is always about the future, about what still lies ahead. What we want is either near at hand or far off, but in either case we haven’t quite grasped it. In the case of the man in our Gospel, he’s been waiting for thirty-eight years, so getting what he wants has been long deferred. This reminds us that desire always brings with it uncertainty, because what we want is not yet realized. It’s inherently unstable, a matter of hope or fear about its fulfillment that still lies ahead.
Jesus’ question to the man might well be asked of us. “Do you want to be made well?” (Jo. 5:6). What is the deepest desire of our heart? In its most profound sense, our hope is for healing, for reconciliation with God and with each other, and for renewal of life. Sin is our affliction; our battered hearts are symptomatic. Human desire is messed up, since we often end up desiring things that are not good for us, or fall short of what would be best. Even the good things that we desire are inherently insecure, because they still lie in the future and are as yet unrealized. Only Jesus, through his death and resurrection that secures our future, and gives us everlasting life, can meet the deepest longings of our heart.
Remember the collect that we prayed at the beginning of our service this morning: “O God, you have prepared for those who love you such good things as surpass our understanding: Pour into our hearts such love towards you, that we, loving you in all things and above all things, may obtain your promises, which exceed all that we can desire; through Jesus Christ our Lord.”
The promise of God in Jesus Christ is certain and sure, trustworthy and true. There’s nothing unstable about it. As the collect says, it exceeds all that we can desire, and surpasses all that we can understand. This run on, excessive quality is part of the reason that the Easter season goes on as long as it does. (Still two more Sundays to go!) What God has promised us exceeds our capacity to comprehend it. It takes a while to take it all in.
Jesus asks the man, “Do you want to be made well?” (Jo. 5:6). Our celebration of confirmation contains its own question and answer framework, not too different from the exchange in our Gospel. Today, members of the church will be asked to renew their commitment to Jesus Christ, and all of us will have the chance to reaffirm our faith. It’s a matter of question and answer, of statement and response. Salvation is healing and renewal of life. With prayer, and the laying on of hands, we’ll supply the outward and visible sign of God’s promise to us in Jesus Christ. This morning Jesus is asking us his own probing questions. If we desire to be made well, we have come to the right place.