Do You Want to Be Healed? A Comedian's Question About John 5

Key takeaways

• The question carries a cost. When Jesus asks the man at Bethesda whether he wants to be healed, he is asking whether the man is ready for a different life.
• Healing means leaving something behind. The hosts explained that the man's cloak and mat tied him to a way of living, and getting up meant walking away from it.
• Glory can show up as obedience. The man's rising from his place is what the hosts say gave God glory, more than any words of praise.
• Some people stay by the pool. It is possible to want Jesus and keep hold of the thing that has been disabling you.
• God offers transformation along with information. The hosts encouraged listeners to invite friends into an encounter, and to let them say yes or no.

A comedian reads John 5

Pastor Adam Mesa and his co-hosts on Beyond the Letter opened with a clip that had gone viral. In it, comedian Theo Von talks about reading the Bible. The hosts described him as a very successful comedian with one of the top podcasts in the world, long known as a secular voice, who has lately been reflecting on faith, on who Jesus is and on the Bible.

In the clip, Theo describes John 5, the story of a sick man at the pools of Bethesda, and Jesus asking him whether he wants to be healed. He calls it a crazy question and explains why. As Theo put it, "if somebody gets healed, they have a new story." He asks himself whether he really wants something different, admits that sometimes the answer is no, and ends by saying he thinks he wants a new story.

The hosts were careful. They said they do not know where his walk with the Lord is, and they were not telling anyone to go listen to his content. They did see a man who has reached a high level of success and still feels the weight of unhappiness. One host also pointed out that Theo remembered the name Bethesda, which told him Theo was really sitting with the passage.

What the question asks

One host said the honest truth is that we are used to answering God's question with an easy "of course." But when God asks it, a response and a change follow. If the breakthrough you are asking for actually happens, your life has to change as well.

He then made it personal. A single person who wants to marry might ask whether they want what comes with marriage. A married couple praying for children might ask the same about what comes with children. Whether the need is financial, physical or relational, he said, the question deserves a slow, honest answer.

When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had been sick for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to be made well?”

(John 5:6, WEB)

The cloak, the mat and the pool

Another host explained a cultural background that he thinks changes how we hear the question. As he described it, people in biblical times who had a physical ailment or disability could get approval to wear a specific colored cloak. The cloak told the community to support them with money, food and care. In return, the person was expected to give honor and praise to whoever helped, announcing how generous that person was. He called it an occupation built around the exchange.

Seen that way, Jesus is not asking whether the man wants to walk, since of course he does. He is asking whether the man is ready to stop profiting from his disability. The host noted that the man is told to pick up his mat, which means leaving the jacket and the place behind. "You can't get healed and stay in the pool of Bethesda."

The host also read the man's trip to the temple in this light. If people saw him walking the streets, he said, they might assume he had been faking, and that could land him in prison. So he goes to show that he is healed and clean, and he hands the approved jacket back.

Getting up gives God glory

The hosts noticed what the passage leaves out. In that culture, a healed man would be expected to announce the name of his helper. John 5 says instead that Jesus slipped away into the crowd, and no praise is recorded. As one host said, "the thing that gave God glory was the man's ability to get up from his place."

Jesus said to him, “Arise, take up your mat, and walk.”

(John 5:8, WEB)

That fits what the hosts see across the Gospels, where Jesus often tells people to keep quiet about what he has done. They called it the upside-down way of the kingdom: it is better to give than to receive, and the praise does not have to come back to the giver.

They also saw a pattern in the reaction of the religious leaders. The leaders asked about the Sabbath and did not celebrate that a man had stood up. The hosts connected this to how some people respond when a public figure shares a moment of faith, asking right away where their walk with the Lord really is. They said accountability and searching both have a place. They still wanted the church to steward people who are leaning in, and to rejoice. As they put it, the gospel is for people in every walk of life, including those who seem to have everything together and are still broken inside.

Staying by the pool

One host pointed to another cloak. When blind Bartimaeus was called by Jesus, he threw his cloak off (Mark 10:50). The host noted that Bartimaeus was still blind at that point, so he could not simply go back to his old way of life.

Another host spoke bluntly about people who call themselves Christians and "hang by the pool every single day" in their brokenness. They tell themselves they can keep the sin and still have Jesus. He said he would rather someone ask Theo's question honestly than get swept up in emotion and find nothing different the next day.

One host recalled a clothing convention in Las Vegas where they ran a Jesus Loves You pop-up. Two young men, probably twenty-two or twenty-three, were asked if they wanted an encounter with God. They said yes and received Jesus on the spot. Then they mentioned a reservation that night at a Playboy event and wondered if they could still go. The answer was that it probably would not be the best thing to do right after giving their lives to Christ. The hosts said the young men were happy and did not seem sad to give it up, and they admitted they never learned what happened afterward.

From information to transformation

The conversation turned to how we share faith. One host said we often treat a first conversation about Jesus as an intellectual exercise, yet large parts of Jesus' ministry were encounter: healing and deliverance alongside teaching. He noted that we overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony (Revelation 12:11), and said we hold to the first more than the second.

Another host pointed to Luke 5, where the power of the Lord was present to heal and the Greek word for power is dunamis. Many people in the packed house, he said, wanted a teaching. His summary: "we want to exchange information. God wants to exchange transformation."

Both hosts thought this works best one on one, with a friend or coworker, after you share your testimony. You can ask whether it is something they want to walk into. If they are dealing with an addiction or a hardship, one host described a simple pattern his groups call the four R's: repent, receive, rebuke, replace. He said he tells people not to respond just because a friend does. Let them answer for themselves, and if the answer is no, that is okay too. He also noted that Jesus gave people this kind of opportunity and not everyone took it, the rich young ruler among them.

Where to start reading

Because Theo's reading moved them, the hosts ended with advice for new readers. They suggested starting with Mark because it moves quickly, and then John, then Luke, which leads into Acts, with Matthew last because it leans on Jewish context. Their worry was that people begin in Matthew, meet a long list of names in the first chapter and quit.

What this means for you

You may already know what you are asking God for. Take the hosts' point one step further and picture the answer arriving. What would you have to leave behind, and what role would you have to give up?

The man at Bethesda did not answer Jesus with words. He got up. If you are still by the pool, you can say so to God plainly, the way Theo did. Then consider who in your life could use a gentle invitation to pick up their mat, and whether you are willing to offer it and let them answer for themselves.