Do We really want to be made Well. Tuesday 4th Week of Lent

Breakfast With the Word Monday 4th Week of Lent

 

Do We Really Want to be made Well?

 

John 5:1-3,5-16

 

 

Have we for one day ask ourselves this question? Can we ask ourselves for one day whether we really want God to make us well? Do we really want to be made well? Do you want Jesus to touch your lives?

 

We do come in the presence of God, seeking for His mercy and forgiveness, seeking for breakthrough, healing, and salvation. Though we need God to touch lives, sometimes we also find it so hard to have faith in God to do things we seek for. Sometimes even we find it reluctant to pray, to have a constant communion with God.

 

Many times we feel so weak when the things of God are mentioned. It looks as if we seek God, yet we are not ready for Him. Therefore, there comes the question “are we really ready for God?

 

The Gospel

 

There was a Jewish festival, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now at the Sheep Pool in Jerusalem there is a building, called Bethzatha in Hebrew, consisting of five porticos; and under these were crowds of sick people – blind, lame, paralysed – waiting for the water to move.

 

One man there had an illness which had lasted thirty-eight years, and when Jesus saw him lying there and knew he had been in this condition for a long time, he said, ‘Do you want to be well again?’ Therefore, do we really want to be able?

 

The sick man replied  ‘I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is disturbed; and while I am still on the way, someone else gets there before me.’ Jesus said, ‘Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk.’ The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and walked away.

 

 

The Significance

 

Many of us today are passing through challenges and problems. When we undergo some certain challenges, we assume that it may be the anger of God. Some of us attribute it to the mistakes of our past? while others attribute their problems to a family curse or something. Despite whatever the situation or the source of the situation is, the question is ” do we really want to be made well?

 

 

 

This is the question Jesus asked the blind man He met today at the pool of Beth-zatha  in today’s gospel.

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been there for a long time, He said to him, ” Do you want to be made well?”

 

Instead of simply answering “yes”, he began a discussion, telling Jesus how he expected to be cured by the waters of the pool. But Jesus simple response to the discussion is “ take up your sleeping mat and go home”.

 

From this gospel, we can observe that Jesus was the one who saw that he has been there for a long time,

He has been sick for more than thirty-eight years.

 

He pitied His condition and told him “Get up, pick up your sleeping-mat and walk.’ The man was cured at once, and he picked up his mat and walked away.

The one thing that cured the man today is His willingness to be at the pool for a long time believing that one day that His time will come.

 

It is also the mercy of Jesus, who is always willing to save us. Therefore, the healing, saving and liberating power of Jesus is assured. Jesus cannot but have mercy always. Where the problem lies is on us.

 

Like this man, are we willing to stay strong in faith despite the seeming challenges?

This man today had challenges at the pool that prevented His healing. He would have left the pool since it was obvious there was no solution for Him, but he kept on staying and believing that His time has come.  And he got what he wanted. So if we want to be made well again, we need to imitate this sick man. The day of our liberation may be bear .

 

We need to have a Discussion with the Lord

 

When Jesus asks Him Do you want to be made well? Instead of answering Jesus, he began to narrate His problem. I guess that he does not know that Jesus is the one. But he was willing to share his problem to others.

It often happens that the disturbances and problems we have can be better faced if we can also discuss them with the Lord and become more open to His advice.

 

Jesus is really interested in our welfare. His ways are always above our ways, His thoughts always above our thoughts.

 

To have faith in this interior conversation with Jesus is the secret of the inner life of the Spirit. Do we really want to be made well? Let the us engage in a discussion with the Lord through prayers and reparation.

 

So, Let every one take up his or her weapon of prayer and seek the face of God. Let the us seek the face of God for divine inspiration.

 

Do We really want to made Well

 

The problem is ‘ do we really want to be well? Let us ask ourselves “Is there any ‘blindness’ in me that I am addicted to or stuck in? What am I doing that still makes God angry? The blind man has been there for 38 years, certainly may be in a state of hopelessness.

 

What type of sin do we want to stop?

 

Have we lost hope already in God’s salvation? Jesus question is a call to look into ourselves, or have we lost hope? The question is also a call for spiritual conversion, a call to deliver us from the seemingly anger of God. A call to seek for divine intervention. But the question still do we really want to be made well? And what shows we are ready to be made well?

 

May God bless you dearest and give you the grace to overcome the challenges that have befallen the children of God. Amen.