Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?

I know of not one human being who always takes the most direct path to God's goodness or his own satisfaction. In fact, people often take strange paths to get into trouble, take even more convoluted paths trying to get out of trouble - kind of like making three left turns when one right turn would have worked better. God must look upon our well-intentioned but highly complex and unsuccessful efforts to solve problems and wonder aloud, "And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life" (John 5:40) Let's journey over to the 5 porches of Bethesda and look to answer the question Jesus put to a man who lingered a long time in infirmity: "Wilt thou be made whole?"