"When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, He said unto him, Will you be made whole?" (John 5:6)
That was the question that Jesus put to the poor, impotent man at the pool of Bethesda. It is the same question that He puts to everyone of us; and He is just as willing to heal us as He was to heal that man. He is not only willing, but He is intensely anxious to make us all whole; for whenever He saw a great multitude on earth, "He was moved with compassion for them, and He healed their sick." (Matthew 14:14)
Why then are we not well? Simply because we either do not see Him standing beside us, with all power in heaven and on earth, and lovingly and longingly asking us, "Will you be made whole?" (John 5:6)
Or else we in some way object to the condition, which is that we shall abide in Him. "Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in the vine; no more can you, except you abide in me." (John 15:4)
The healing involves an exchanging of self for Christ. The lame man at the gate of the temple was healed "in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth." (Acts 3:6)
And it was in His name, "even in Him," that He stood before the people perfectly whole. "That in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him." (Ephesians 1:10) "And His name through faith in His name has made this man strong, whom you see and know: yea, the faith which is by Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all." (Acts 3:16)
How sad it is to think that so much of the Scriptures seems to have been written in vain, even for the professed followers of Christ. Why is it? It is because they follow Him as the multitude followed Him on the way to the house of Jairus, and do not come into conscious, definite, purposeful touch with Him, as did the poor woman with the issue of blood.
There is infinite power, both for body and mind, awaiting those were willing to receive it in the Lord's way, and to hold it always subject only to His service.--Present Truth, October 2, 1902--Timeline: III-9 (The Invalid at Bethesda)--John 5:6.