Do You Want to Become Whole?
What do you think you need? Just a little more money? More control? More respect? More time? More…? How are you striving to get it?
Here’s a condensed version of a talk I recently gave about disabled man Jesus healed beside the pool at Bethesda. It corresponds with our most recent podcast release which you can listen to here. Before diving in, please take a minute to read the passage in John 5:1-18 (or listen to the podcast to hear Liv read it to you).
"Do you want to become whole?" (Note: many translations say “Do you want to become well,” but the Greek has a much fuller meaning than merely healed.)
What a stupid question right?! Of course the disabled man wants to be healed! Why else has he been lying by this pool for 38 years? Except Jesus isn’t really asking him if he wants his disability healed. At least not at first.
Jesus wants to heal his real disease. His spiritual disease. Jesus is asking if he wants to be forgiven.
Scripture doesn’t tell us the back story. But we know from Jesus’ later words that this man has been running from God. And his running has brought him all the way to this crowded poolside, where he has to fight, push and shove so he can get out ahead of everyone else and take what he thinks he needs.
Sound familiar?
Think about it. What would happen if he succeeded? What would a lame man who's been “running” from God do with fully restored legs?
Jesus isn’t asking if he wants a little bit of healing, a little boost of power.
He’s asking if the man wants to be whole. Jesus is offering to reverse the curse of original sin itself. Jesus wants to heal his soul that keeps running after idols.
But the man didn’t understand. How could he? He thought he just needed better legs. And he thought he had to get them. So he didn’t even ask for those.
He responds to Jesus’ question with a complaint. It's as if he says, “I’m trying to be healed! But I can’t get myself there!”
What do you think you need? Just a little more money? More control? More respect? More time? More…? How are you striving to get it? How’s it working out for you?
Hold whatever you think you need in mind, and notice what Jesus does.
He says, “Rise! Pick up your mat and walk!” and instantly the man became whole.
Before the man could even think to ask. Before he had a chance to hope. Before he could make the case for why he deserved it. Jesus made him whole. (The physical healing is just a fruit of the spiritual healing; remember the lame man lowered through the roof?)
Out of nowhere, like a wind that blows where and when it will, and no one knows where it's coming from or where it's going next. Which is exactly what Jesus told Nicodemus the Spirit is like (John 3:8). Jesus made the man whole.
And he is saying the same thing to you. Today. Right now.
Do you want to become whole? Good news! "God loved YOU in this way: he gave his one and only son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life. He did not send his son to condemn you, but to save you!" (John 3:16-17).
You are forgiven.
You are whole.
You are Christ's own beloved—and as sure as the sunrise, you will be with him in paradise.
Reading the Bible for the Stories
What if we stopped overthinking some of the Bible stories?
While there is absolutely a time and place for deep dives into Greek and Hebrew root words, and studies and applications, sometimes this leads us to over-think and over-intellectulize the stories found in the Gospels.
What if we changed that?
What if we took some time to unlearn the need to make everything into a lesson or a concept that we needed to “grasp,” and allowed ourselves to connect with the stories for what they truly are - stories?
Jesus spoke in parables to help his listeners connect on a soul level. His stories were not mere information; they are “living and active” invitations to encounter him! In each Gospel story we are invited to stand right alongside Jesus, to hear his tone of voice, see the emotions on his face — to let Jesus catch our eye and ask: “what about you?”
If this is something you are interested in, please consider signing up for our upcoming webinar, “Reading the Gospels with Your Imagination.” Suggested ticket price is $35, and we also make this workshop available at a pay-what-you-want rate.
This workshop will be hosted by Brandon and Liv on Saturday, June 13 | 11:00–12:30 PM Mountain Time | Located on Zoom
P.S. If you miss the workshop, a private recording will be available to registered participants for a limited time.
Provisions for the Road
Signpost Inn Podcast - "Do You Want to Become Whole?"
In this episode, we read John 5:1-18 together and enter the story of a man who's been disabled for 38 years. We ask the question Jesus asks him: "do you actually want to become whole?"
Not just relieved. Not just a little better. Whole.
Food for Thought
Things the team found interesting this week, no endorsement implied.
What If the Solution To Dis-information Is Not More Knowledge?
By James K.A. Smith at Yale University Press
We live in an age flooded with information, yet we are starved of trust. Distraction, disinformation, and identity-driven division erode our shared humanity. James K.A. Smith argues this is not just a cultural or technological problem but a spiritual one, and more knowledge won’t fix it.
Renewing the Local Congregation
By R-J Heijmen and Aaron Zimmerman at Mockingbird
I (Brandon) haven’t finished watching this video yet, but I’m already fascinated by some of the ideas being presented. Certainly worth your time!
Kings, Behold and Wail
By Ephraim Radner at First Things
“People get swallowed up in policy decisions that aim at group trajectories, incentives, aggregates, or corporate solidarity. Call it ‘political triage.’”
