Lent 14: Do you want to get well?

Jesus asked him, "Do you want to get well?"  John 5:6

What a stupid question!  "Do you want to get well", indeed!  Of course he wants to get well - don't we all?

Maybe we do, maybe we don't.

It depends what is at stake.  It depends what 'getting well' would mean for us.

Perhaps 'getting well' might involve giving something up that we have come to rely on, even though it is something damaging.
Perhaps 'getting well' means quite a lot of effort and learning of self-control.
Perhaps 'getting well' would make redundant the main topic of conversation that we have these days.
Or maybe 'getting well' means giving over control to someone else, control that we like to have for ourselves.

There is that hilarious scene in 'The Life of Brian' where an 'ex-leper' approaches Brian, moaning about the fact that Jesus healed him and took away his livelihood.  Illness, for him, was his way of being.

Do you want to get well?

A big question.

When we say yes with our lips, are we saying yes in our hearts - giving over the control to Jesus, whatever that might mean?  Or are we really saying no without realising it?