Will You Be Made Whole?

Jesus asked a particularly interesting question to the disabled man by the pool of Bethesda. “Will thou be made whole?” ( John 5:6 KJV ). The man had been lying crippled for thirty-eight years waiting for someone to help him into the pool when the angel of the Lord stirred the water. Year after year, someone always reached the water before him and he continually missed out on being healed.

Bethesda means, kindness, grace and favor. The place where the man was lying was called ‘the house of kindness’. Once a year, an angel visited resulting in one person being healed. As Jesus passed through, he stopped, taking notice of the man and asked him if willed to be well, one translation says “Do you wish to get well?” (NASB).

There were a lot of people in need of healing, a great multitude waiting. For a place called ‘the house of kindness’ expectation was tremendously low because experience told them that only one person would be healed and it only happened with a visitation by the angel and most of all, he needed someone to get him in the water. For a severely crippled man, this all but disqualified him.

However, as Jesus walked by that day he noticed him and asked him if he willed to get well, not want, there is a difference. Of course the man wanted to get well but willing it is entirely different. The difference between will and want is that wanting is wishing, wanting is passive and impotent. Willing is decisive and powerful. You have to have the “will to” for the “want” to work.

The Greek word for will is thelō, it means to determine and to decree. To make up your mind and say something about it. As in all cases, the will to get well is rooted in the scriptures. It is not a new age theology that says you can will something into existence, instead it is a biblical principal. However, it requires us to act on the Word. The Word is Jesus. It’s your will that activates His faith to make you whole because He promised and purchased it for you in your redemption. Which is why you must set your mind to it, determine and decree it (thelō). Do not let anyone, even well meaning people talk you out of it; that is a faith-killer.

It is God’s Will That You Are Whole

Part of this is understanding, first and foremost, that it is God’s will and desire that we are whole, which includes healing and health. It was Jesus’ will that those he came into contact with were healed. Hebrews says, “The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being ( Hebrews 1:3a ). Jesus also told us that everything He did, he saw the Father doing ( John 5:19 ). John said, “No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only, who is at the Father’s side, has made him known” ( John 1:18 ). Meaning that Jesus’ will is God’s will. If Jesus expressed a desire to restore and heal then this desire stems from God the Father.

If we aren’t healed then we naturally question if it’s God’s will for it to happen. However, we must first establish that, in our own heart, and decide that it is God’s intention that we are whole then decide that God is true and every man a liar especially when our circumstances lie to us (Romans 3:4). Instead of focusing on circumstance that lie to us, although very real and convincing, we can focus on who God said He is.

Consider these thoughts about who God is:

Jehovah-Rapha; I am the Lord who heals ( Exodus 15:25-27; Psalm 103:3; Psalm 147:3, I Peter 2:24 )

Jehovah-Jireh; I am the Lord who provides. ( Genesis 22:13-14; Psalm 23; Mark 10:45; Romans 8:2 )

Jehovah- Shammah - The Lord is There, The Lord is My Companion. ( Ezekiel 48:35; Psalm 46; Matthew 28:20; I Corinthians 3:16; Revelation 21 )

God dwells within us, he is our source of health, our provision, our peace, our joy, our life. The life we live now we live by the faith OF the Son of God ( Galatians 2:20 ), we have his faith to live by, the same faith that healed everyone who came to Him.

To settle this we can look at examples from Jesus showing that it was His will (thelō), which translates to God’s will (thelō), for everyone to be healed. When the leper came to Jesus in Matthew 8 he said, Lord if you determine and decree my wholeness (thelō) I will be whole. “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy” ( Matthew 8:3 ). Jesus said, I am willing, be clean. I determine and decree it (thelō), be cleansed. This should settle forever the fact that it is God’s will to heal.

In another example, the Syrophoenician woman came to Jesus and asked Him to heal her daughter. She was outside of the covenant and yet she understood God’s goodness knowing He would help her. “Then Jesus said to her, “O woman, your faith is great; it shall be done for you as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at once” ( Matthew 15:28 ). The King James Bible says, “Be it unto thee even as thou wilt (thelō)”. It was the woman who decided, determined and decreed it, Jesus just came into agreement with her. Jesus associated her will with her faith and we have been given the same measure of faith ( Romans 12:3 ). So it is our will (thelō) that activates the measure of faith needed to be made whole.

So here are the three things we must learn

First; It doesn’t require a miracle or a man to be made whole nor does it require a visitation. Just as in our example from John 5, the disabled man sat for thirty-eight years waiting for a miracle when it is a far better thing to be walking in God’s blessing. God is a demonstrative God who is here to show his Kindness to Man. That’s His business. He won’t show up once in a while, he is always there. He desires (has determined and decreed) us to be whole. “And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus” ( Ephesians 2:6-7 ). Jesus said in John 11:40 if you would believe, you will see the glory of God. Glory is God’s view and opinion. So naturally, His glory is the view and opinion I want.

Secondly; We have an opportunity to believe something that is always true and always right. We have one source of reliable information, and that is God’s Word! In Hebrews 3 and 4, it says three times, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts” ( Hebrews 3:7-8, 3:15, 4:7 ). God is speaking these truths throughout the entirety of scripture but we must hear it and act on it. We must not let our unbelief rob us of having it. When we see it in the scriptures we must will  that it is ours (remember; thelō, to determine, to decree, to say something about it) because of Christ Jesus, that He purchased us and what He’s promised us.

Lastly, we must stand steadfast. The things of life don’t make the decision, your will does and your will must stem from God’s truth. “But the man who has settled the matter in his own mind, who is under no compulsion but has control over his own will, and who has made up his mind not to marry the virgin—this man also does the right thing” ( I Corinthians 7:37 - not in context, but in principal). He who stands steadfast in his heart and has so determined the outcome in his heart does well. To determine means to set bounds and limits, to settle a dispute, to declare a termination in the matter.

This is how you move from pain to health. You find out what God has said about it. You know what He has promised concerning it. You know it is His will that you are whole. You renew your mind to the truth of the scriptures. You take your will and determine, decree and say something about it. You activate your faith, which is God’s faith living in you, to address the circumstance. You believe God in the midst of the circumstances, which are lying to you. Then you determine the matter closed and stand steadfast, agreeing that God is true and every man a liar. In this, you will not only be healed, but you will be made whole. This is an amazing truth!

*Special thanks to Charis Bible College and Mike Miller for his teaching on ‘Will You Be Made Whole?