It seems strange that Jesus would have asked such a question of a man who had been sick and helpless thirty-eight years. That was understood, it would seem. But in this again he showed himself as the Knower of men. We fall into illness and for a month or two we chafe and feel weary. Then we give up immediate hopes and settle into a state of dogged endurance. Later we become more reconciled and adjusted to the fact that we have to be helpless invalids, and (such is the adaptableness of human nature) even find a sort of satisfaction and begin to think upon a possible resumption of active life, with its burdens, duties and responsibilities only with dim feeling of dread. I have heard of an old convict who, pardoned after many years' imprisonment, came back and piteously begged to be readmitted into the prison. He had grown used to it, [175] and was too old to adjust himself to the conditions outside. This sick man at Bethesda, to be sure, was carried to the healing pool every day, which would indicate that he was desirous of being restored to health; but his answer to Jesus shows that he had given up all real hope in the matter, and his being there was only a habit. He did not reply to Jesus' question, but rather gave a timid excuse of his condition and lack of ambition to be whole. (John 5:1-9.) To us the Lord comes with another question, "Wouldest thou be made free?" Not every slave of sin, not even every one that chafes against its power over him and mourns and grieves over the wrongs he does, could come out and truthfully say, "Yes, Lord." They would often be really sorry if they knew that a certain accustomed sin were destined to be rooted and torn entirely out of their life. They dread the sudden change of it, or they are afraid they will regret it and would want to go back to the sin when the opportunity for committing it is gone. They have no positive hope that they can be freed from it, anyway. Yes, they want to be, and no, they do not want to be, delivered. This is the frame of mind of many--and not only people of the world, but of church members who daily lie around the healing pool without definite expectation or determination of ever being freed from their bonds. Your first step toward freedom is to make up your mind, wholly and absolutely, that at least you want to be made free; and the rest of the road will open as you proceed.

[TAG 175-176]