QT 11 Jun 12, The focus needs to be on Jesus, nothing else compares

John 5:1-6 (NIV) Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.  5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

NOTE: I believe that one of the principles of scriptural interpretation is that when God asks a question, it is not because he is lacking information. That point is even more clear in this situation where Jesus asks an obviously crippled man sitting near a legendary place of healing (whether the legend was true or not is besides the point) if he wants to be healed. Of course, he wants to be healed. But Jesus' question is much more loaded, because even if the man could be moved quick enough to the pool when it stirred there is no guarantee of healing. The man's focus is on the obstacles to getting to the pool, which is also most likely a false hope. Jesus' question is not so obvious as it seems. Jesus says, "do you want to get well," meaning, forget the hope of the waters stirring, and moving into the pool quickly -- DO YOU WANT TO GET HEALED … right now, right here, without any pool -- do you want to get healed -- I can heal you. I don't think the man ever realized what Jesus meant, until Jesus said, "Get up! Pick up you mat and walk." I think later the man probably realized that Jesus' initial question had nothing to do with the pool, but everything to do with what was really important. The man's hope was in the pool when it should have been on the person asking the question. Later, the man will find Jesus (or possibly Jesus found him), because it is far better to find Jesus than it is to be healed of some earthly disability. Healing does not save a person eternally, but knowing Jesus does. Jesus is where our focus should be in life because all the trappings cannot provide what only Jesus can truly provide--eternal and abundant life with God.