Healing Spiritual Paralysis

September 20, 2016

by Kent Hughes

In John 5:1–18, we read of our Lord healing a man who waits superstitiously for healing from his paralysis. The first question Christ asked the paralytic was, “Do you want to get well?” That is quite a question. The man had been crippled for thirty-eight years, and Jesus had the nerve to ask, “Do you want to get well?” That sounds like a ridiculous question.

I have learned over the years there are some questions you just do not ask. For instance, when I am out in a boat looking for a spot where the fish are biting, I have learned never to ask fishermen if they are catching anything. If they are, they will say, “I’ve had a few bites,” and if they are not catching anything, they will resent the question. Besides, fishermen by nature are not truthful. Similarly, you never ask a football coach, even during his most successful season and even if next Saturday’s game is against the worst football team in the conference, if he is going to win the game. He will invariably give a glowing description of the opponents, saying their record is not indicative of their ability. He will follow that with a recitation of the injuries on his team. Finally he will make some statements like “We’ll have to get off the ball a little quicker,” or “We’ve got to learn to execute,” and to conclude he’ll utter the cliche, “If everything comes together, we’ll play competitive football.”

And I must confess that in all my years of hospital visitation I have never stood at the side of a bed and said, “Do you want to get well?” I do not think I would have asked it of the paralytic either. If I had, I can imagine his response. “I have been confined to this loathsome shell for years. When the water ripples, I claw my way, and I crawl over others, but I have never been able to get to the water. Someone always shoves me back. I’ve been lying here because I want to be healed—and you ask me if I want to be healed?” A cruel, ridiculous question. But not when it comes from the lips of our Lord.

I believe that is the question Christ asks all of us; it summarizes the great problem of our lives. Do you want to be well? Few things hamper the gracious work of Christ in our lives more than our response to this question.

Hardened against Healing 

We hear the promises of God, and at first our hearts are warmed and we respond to them, or at least we think we respond to them. But then we hear the promises again, and we again want to be warmed. This cycle continues in our life, but nothing ever happens. Why? Because although we think and say we want to be healed, in our heart of hearts we really do not. That is why this miracle is so relevant and important to us today.

For those of us who are already Christians, there is also a question we must keep asking ourselves. Do we really know our own hearts? As we get to know ourselves, we find more and more that needs healing. But the question is, do we really want to be healed?

If we take the time to ask God to do his work within us, he will reveal to us the things that must be washed away.

I am speaking primarily of bitterness, unresolved conflicts, and things that lie hidden within us. Sometimes when we experience these things, we were aware of them but didn’t deal with them. We cauterized them, layered over them. But they are realities within us, and they do affect our lives. Even though we cannot put a finger on them, they take their toll. As a result we do not feel God’s power; we do not feel the authenticity of grace we know we ought to feel. We know we should be joyful in all the things we confess and while we are doing the right things—reading the Word and praying—but we have little power or inner peace. The question remains, do we really want to be healed? Do we really want to have those things resolved? I believe with all my heart that if we do and if we take the time to ask God to do his work within us, he will reveal to us the things that must be washed away—the refuse, the filth, the sin.

So the question that Christ asked the paralyzed man, the seemingly unnecessary, ridiculous question, was relevant for him and for us. It is the most insistent question people face if they do not know Christ, and it remains relevant in the lives of Christians. Do we want his continued healing? What a blessed thing to have the release, fullness, and joy that come with having things cleared with God, with being healed.

Humble for a Cure 

The paralytic wanted to be healed but responded, “Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me” (v. 7). He desired to be healed, but he realized he could not do it himself. Thirty-eight years of impotence, of not being able to get the edge of the pool even though he longed to, had convinced him he was paralyzed, that he needed outside help. If it were only that way with our spiritual paralysis, but we just can’t see it. So we imagine that although we want to be healed, there is something we can do for ourselves. Like the Burger King crowd, we want to have it our way. We want to fix ourselves.

Do you really want to be healed? Realize that you cannot do it yourself.

The paralytic wanted to be healed, and he knew he could not cure himself. The third requirement for him was faith. When he realized he could not heal himself, he looked in obedience to Christ, trusting in him. The man stood up, and suddenly he found his legs straightened out and he had the power! We too, if we look to Christ in faith, can find the power in our lives to do the things we could never do otherwise. In Old Testament times, faith healed those who were bitten by the fiery serpents. They were about to die but were obedient and dragged themselves out to look at a serpent impaled on a pole, and then experienced healing power in their lives.

This is the progression Christ demands of us. First do we want to be healed? And if we do, do we realize that we cannot heal ourselves? Lastly, are we willing to move to him, to cast ourselves upon him? With that faith comes joy. The paralytic experienced this. Whether he danced physically or not, he danced spiritually, leaping for joy in the Lord at the healing of his paralysis.

There are very few people whom I admire more than a woman known to us all—Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic who was at a one time very bitter against God. But now she has the most liberated spirit— joyous, bounding, dancing. In one of her books she talks about how someday she is going to be glorified, and it is a great statement of faith.

Being “glorified”—I know the meaning of that now. It’s the time after my death when I’ll be on my feet dancing.

And of course one day she will. She will have a new body, and she will be dancing. But the beautiful thing is that though she has not yet been healed physically, the paralysis of her soul is gone. Her words are dancing words. Every one of us can experience the same thing. We can be touched by faith, relieved of paralysis and liberated to rejoice in God. All it takes is the willingness to be healed. Do you really want to be healed? Realize that you cannot do it yourself. Reach out to Christ in faith.

This piece is adapted from R. Kent Hughes, John: That You May Believe (Wheaton, IL: Crossway, 1999), 147–150. Used with permission of the publisher.

Kent Hughes

Dr. Hughes (DMin, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School) is professor of practical theology at WTS.

Next Post...

The Most Wonderful Hope Set Before Us

September 12, 2016

by William Edgar