John 5

The encounter between the Jesus and the man by the pool has always intrigued me. Jesus never comments on the question of how or whether an angel stirs the water or not. He simply asks a question: Do you want to get well?

In trying to look at how John has structured his gospel, it's interesting the look at the characters Jesus encounters in the first few chapters. Each of them has to set something aside in order to experience what it is that Jesus offers. Nicodemus has to set aside his religious safety net, his position of power and authority and respect. The Samaritan woman has to set aside her sense of worthlessness. The man at the pool has to set aside his sense of hopelessness. Each of them has a choice to make each of them must decide if the offer Jesus makes is worth more to them than staying as they are. 

The fist five chapters of John's gospel open the door for us to see that Jesus can, and does, change lives. Not just some lives, not just lives that are of a certain quality, but any life that is willing surrendered to him.