JOHN'S GOSPEL: JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD XV. "Jesus Heals the Paralyzed Man at the Pool" John 5:1-18

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1 January 17, 2016 AM Pastor Ken Hepner JOHN'S GOSPEL: JESUS IS THE SON OF GOD XV. "Jesus Heals the Paralyzed Man at the Pool" John 5:1-18 Introduction: In our series from the Gospel of John we are studying the truths John wants all of us to know about Jesus Life, Teachings, and Work on the Cross for all of us. John writes some 30 years after the other Gospel writers to fill in the blanks for us, what they didn t write. John writes His Gospel to show us who Jesus really is: The Son of God Almighty, the unique, one-of-a-kind Son of God. John wants us to see and understand the truth that in Jesus we get to see what the Father God is like. Only Jesus has ever been with the Father and then come to earth to make Him known. Only Jesus can introduce us to a spiritual relationship with the Father. When we believe in Jesus and invite Him to be our Savior and Lord, we are given the incredible privilege of becoming the Adopted Children of God the Father. John writes in John 1:11-13 "He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God - children born not of natural descent, nor of a human decision, or a husband's will but born of God." The lesson before us today is Jesus the Son of God going to the place at which He knew He would find the most suffering and misery in all of Jerusalem, the pool of Bethesda. Jesus went there on the Sabbath day and He knew full well what He was going to do; heal a man. He did so specifically to make two very important things clear to everyone who was present: First, He wanted His followers to see the truth that He was indeed the Son of God who had authority over physical issues like pain and suffering. He was sending His followers a clear message that for him who believes nothing shall be impossible with God. Jesus healed a paralyzed man who had been that way for 38 years. This was an unheard of act of God in those days. That Jesus did so on the Sabbath day was telling His followers that Jesus is Lord over days and activities, and that it is always right to do acts of mercy, even when some ridiculous religious law interpretation forbids it! Second, He wanted everyone to know and understand that the way the religious leaders of the day interpreted what it meant to keep the Sabbath was hopelessly and ridiculously wrong! These men had completely lost the true meaning of Sabbath because they had obscured it with their religious nit picking. The original Sabbath law was given because God rested from creating on the seventh day. It was given to human beings as a grace to cease from normal activities and to worship and to rest. It was not a command of God to meticulously cease from doing anything that could be considered to be work. 1

2 For those who visiting this morning, here is what we have been learning as we study this powerful Gospel of John. We are studying the Gospel of John in order to see Jesus as John presents Him to us: As the Son of God who alone can introduce us to His Father, who offers us the incredible blessing of knowing God personally. John tells us in the text why he wrote this testimony to Jesus. It is found in John 20:30, 31: "Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name." John tells us a key truth by referring to belief in Jesus twice in his purpose for writing the book: Believing in Jesus is crucial to John: that by believing you may have life in his name." It is vital that we understand the truth that to John, believing isn t merely giving mental assent to a list of facts. Believing is absolutely entrusting one s entire being to Jesus, to have eternal life. We believe the truth is that what Jesus came to do taking away the sins of the world, giving the gift of eternal life, was for me personally! This kind of believing; entrusting myself to Jesus results in eternal life now, making me alive to the things of God. What that means is that I get to live my life here on earth with the presence of the Spirit of Jesus living in me, moving me to think and act differently! John wants us to Know Something very important about Truth! John teaches us that the truth in life is known and understood more clearly in and through the life, teachings, and work of Jesus. In the Bible to become acquainted with or to know what truth is, is to engage in the faithfulness and reliability of the very nature of God. The truth is characteristic of God and it is only as we know God personally that we engage in truth. Of the 118 references to truth in the New Testament, 68 of them are in the four books of the New Testament that we attribute to John s writing. Clearly, John is fixated on helping his readers to know about what the reality of who Jesus and what He came to earth to establish. Jesus is the Revelation of God's Truth in the human arena. Here is why this is so important for us to know and understand. If it is true that Jesus is the truth of God revealed to us, and He comes to live in our hearts by His Holy Spirit, then the Truth of God actually takes up Residence in you and me. To know the truth because have welcomed Jesus to live in our hearts means that we get the incredible privilege of walking through life in freedom from sin's power to enslave us, guilt, shame, and condemnation. That's why Jesus says, "If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth and the truth will set you free." In the message today we are going to study a story that portrays Jesus as the Son of God, with authority to act on earth in keeping with the revealed will and purposes of His Father God. Just a couple of quick things to set the scene. Most scholars I read this week indicated that the events of chapter 6, because it occurs in Galilee, actually occurred before the events of chapter 5. John 6:4 says, The Passover feast was near. If you recall, the last time Jesus was in Judea, more 2

3 specifically at Jerusalem, things got pretty heated between him and the religious leaders when he cleared the temple of human clutter. Jesus returned to Jerusalem for what is probably His second Passover Feast, while He knew full well that the intense conflict with the Jewish leaders in Judea was about to heat up even more. Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate the feast and to send a very clear message to people about what is and what is not important as we seek to do the will of God on the earth! I. The Place of Suffering and Misery: John 5:1-3 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. (From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had. It is of interest to me that every other traveler into the city of Jerusalem for the Feast of Passover was headed for one destination. They wanted to get to the Temple, to celebrate and worship the Lord God, to remember His goodness to His people, and to rejoice with the gathered people of God. The travelers would have more often entered into the Valley Gate, The Golden Gate, or the Hulda Gates. They had the easiest and quickest access to the temple proper But Jesus didn t go into Jerusalem with the same agenda everyone else had for their trip to Jerusalem. Jesus entered through the Sheep Gate. It was through the Sheep Gate that the Sacrifices were Brought to the temple area. That Jesus went to Jerusalem and entered the gate the animals for sacrifice were brought in, couldn t be more striking, given what will happen on a Cross outside Jerusalem next year at the Passover feast! Near to the Sheep Gate was a large pool, with five porches covering it, called the Pool of Bethesda. It was an imposing place 200 feet wide and 355 feet long. Around the pool lay hundreds of people who were suffering with all kinds of different ailments and maladies, from blindness, to be partially lame, to be paralyzed. The porches were full of People in Great Need. I find it interesting that on this Sabbath day, while everyone else headed for the temple to hear the worship rites, Jesus turned away from the temple and went to the Place of Human Suffering. Jesus was attracted to this place because on this trip to Jerusalem He had a message to deliver and a task to complete. He came to do something that was a clear picture to anyone who had eyes to see it, that He really is the Son of God Almighty, God in human form. The picture of hundreds of suffering people, unable to help themselves, longing to be made whole, was a picture of the wages of sin in the human heart, mind, soul, and body. This Passover He was about to paint a picture of what He was going to do when He came back the following year for His third Passover: Take away the sin of the world! So on this Sabbath Day, Jesus went to the Pool of Bethesda among the sufferers and found the one that was the most helpless. He found a man who was paralyzed for 38 years whose friends 3

4 brought him to the pool and laid him there that day. Jesus was moved by mercy to go directly to him and engage his heart and mind in a journey to wholeness. II. Do You Want to Get Well: John 5:5 7 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, Do you want to get well? Sir, the invalid replied, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. Jesus asks this man a question that you and I might look at and think is a bit ridiculous. Jesus asked him, Do you want to get well? I am pretty sure that had the man answered the question incorrectly Jesus would have walked away. Jesus wants to know if the man really wants to get well or is he content to remain in the condition of paralysis. Here is what is behind Jesus question. A lot of people who are walking around in infirmities have so embraced what is wrong with them that they are defined by it. Their entire Life Revolves around their Infirmities. Perhaps it is a physical issue that they have become so adjusted to that is somewhat defines them. It is embraced as simply being, Who and what I am today. Perhaps it is a particular issue of sinful behavior that has become a part of their life. Perhaps it is a place in their past that they experienced incredible pain, abuse, or were scarred by an event. If you talk to people who are defined by infirmity for five minutes they will tell you about the hurt or the offenses. This man gave Jesus the answer Jesus wanted to hear. Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. It was the right answer. Yes, I have been brought here every day with the hope that I can be the first to bathe in the water when it is stirred. But I have no one to help me get into the water so someone else always gets into the water before me. That is the answer Jesus was looking for, Yes, I want to be different, I want things to change! The Desire to be different, the Want to be bettered in life is critical to our journey with Jesus as our Lord and Redeemer King. Jesus asks us do you want to change? Do you want to be defined by an infirmity in your life? Do you want to be defined by a sin you can t seem to ever defeat? Do you want to be defined by what someone did to you years ago that you can t seem to let go of? Or do you want me to change you by Cleansing the Infirmity out of your life, the sin, or the sin done to you put to death with me at the Cross? If we answer Jesus correctly, it could be the first day of an adventure of faith, being set free from what held us in prison for too long! III. The Miracle through Jesus Words: John 5:8, 9a Then Jesus said to him, Get up! Pick up your mat and walk. At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. As soon as the man spoke the word to Jesus that he wanted to get well, Jesus looked at him in his incredible need and acted to alleviate his suffering in an instant. He spoke the words, get up 4

5 pick up your mat and walk. Instantly, without any angels stirring any waters, a doctor asking him to take a cure, or even so much as a touch from Jesus hands he knew in his heart and mind that something wonderful had happened to his body! Slowly the man stood up on his feet for the first time in 38 years and picked up his bed, which was his prison cell for 38 years! It was the word of Jesus that the man needed because behind the words of Jesus there are two incredible things. Behind the voice speaking the words Get up take up your mat and walk, stands the quiet, creative power of the Most High God reaching into his life. It is the voice of God s Mercy reaching into his human Need. This paralysis began 38 years ago. He had taken every opportunity afforded to him to seek help for his situation. Nothing had helped him and the paralysis got worse. Now, 38 years later he is at the point of desperation, laying beside a pool hoping for an angel to stir the waters and somehow someone will push him in first. It is the voice of God s Authority over human Infirmity. Divine authority releases divine power at the instant the man speaks to Jesus who possesses it. The man s will touches the will of God and instantly strength comes to his legs and he stands up and walks away carrying his mat! Similarly to what this man experienced, you and I need the voice of Jesus speaking into our hearts, lives, sins we have done and can t seem to beat on our own, or places at which we have experienced infirmities within us because someone sinned against us. We need to hear the voice of Jesus speaking into our hearts and souls by our invitation, the mercy and the authority of God to change us. Rise, take up what has held you down and walk in new life and power! IV. Upset about a Mat-Carrying Law: John 5:9b 13 The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat. But he replied, The man who made me well said to me, Pick up your mat and walk. So they asked him, Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk? The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. These religious leader guys absolutely amaze me. They see a man walking down the street carrying his mat in public and immediately go and start to accost him. This is the Sabbath Day, how dare you break the Sabbath laws by carrying your mat? Their concern is based in Jeremiah 17:21 and Nehemiah 13:15, which are considered to be additions to the Sabbath law written in the original Ten Commandments. But in both cases those Scriptures were written specifically about doing business on the Sabbath, making money and working at your profession, instead of honoring it as God s day. What the Rabbis had done with these Scriptures was to load people down with ridiculous interpretations. One commenter I read said they argued over whether or not having a sewing needle in your pocket or wearing a false tooth was burden bearing on the Sabbath. These guys spent hours and weeks of their meetings arguing over such ridiculous things! 5

6 Here is what is so absurd that is it actually sad. If you listen carefully to what they say in this text, they are so Angry about the mat under the man s arm on the Sabbath day, that they completely Missed the Fact that he told them he had just experienced a Miraculous Healing! Understandably the man is scared of them so he told them it was the one who cured him that told him to carry the mat. They completely missed the cured me in the sentence and went right at the mat-carrying law that he was told to break! Talk about blindness to truth! There are lots of ways we do the same thing today. It is so easy to get caught up in our particular brand of Christianity, our church, at what God is doing among us, with us, in us, that we can think we have a corner on the market. Sadly, when we make this mistake we can miss the wonderful things that the Lord is doing in and through the lives of others! V. Jesus the Son of God Who Works with His Father: John 5:16 18 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working. For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. After the man told the religious leaders it was Jesus who healed him, they were Furious and began to Persecute Jesus. It is incredible to me that in the conversation he emphasizes the healing, He made me well. They on the other hand can only see the offense, the breaking of the Sabbath laws! Their conclusion was that Jesus couldn t be a man of God because He broke the Sabbath laws by working to heal a man s paralysis, and then telling him to carry his mat! When they confronted Jesus with their complaints His appeal wasn t to their laws or interpretations of God s laws. His appeal was to His unique relationship with His Father God. My Father is working and I too am working. He says, in effect, The only thing God rested from was creation. He has never rested from His love, mercy, compassion for people. I am here to Show People what the Mercy and Compassion of my Father God look like when lived in human form! Here is where the story takes an interesting turn. Jesus couldn t heal a man or tell him to take up his mat and walk on the Sabbath day without breaking their laws, but they could go and Plot Jesus Death on the Sabbath day. You can t make someone well but you can kill on the Sabbath day and its OK! These men s blindness is simply striking to me! This story introduces us to another of John s major themes. The truth is that Jesus is the Son of God who reveals the heart of God to us. Jesus tells us again and again in John s narrative. Jesus came to do the will of the Father completely! I do nothing of my own but do exactly what my Father is doing. I speak only what my Father speaks to me! Look at verses 19, 20 in the text. When we meet Jesus we meet the person of the love, mercy, grace, and compassion of God. When we meet with Him on a regular basis, we get to experience His life living in our lives. We are met with love and grace to change and to live differently. 6

7 January 17, 2016 John s Gospel, Jesus is the Son of God: XV. Jesus Heals the Paralyzed Man at the Pool John 5:1 18 Introduction: Our series from John s Gospel looks at Jesus as John presents Him to us: His L, T, and W for us on the Cross! One of John s themes is we are C of God! John 1:11 13 The story before us is Jesus going to the place in Jerusalem at His second Passover Feast where He would find the most human suffering and misery! He is sending a twofold message We are studying John to see Jesus as John presents Him to us. John tells us why he wrote the Gospel message, John 20:30 31 B is critical to John. John want us to K S very important about the T. John wants us to know that Jesus is the R of God s nature, His truth. Here s why this is important to us. If it is true that Jesus is the truth and His Spirit comes to live in us then the T of God actually takes up R in us. The story before us is a tremendous lesson in who Jesus is. I. The Place of Suffering and Misery: John 5:1 3 Every other traveler to Jerusalem for the Feast was headed to one place: The T. They went through one of three gates. Jesus went through the S G the gate through which the animal S were B. Near to the Sheep Gate was a large pool called Bethesda. At that pool, under the five porches, laid many P in great N. Jesus turned away from the temple and went to the place of H S. Jesus found the man with the greatest need. II. Do You Want to Get Well? John 5:5 7 The question Jesus asked may seem ridiculous at first. But the truth is: There are people who walk in infirmities and are defined by them. 7

8 Their L revolves around their I! The man gave Jesus the answer He was looking for: Yes, Lord, I want to C. The D to be different, the W to be bettered in life is vital to our journey with Jesus. The crucial questions: Do we want to be defined by what happened to us? Do we want to be to be C of our I? III. The Miracle through Jesus Words: John 5:8 9a Jesus told the man to pick up his mat and walk! Behind the words spoken by Jesus stand two incredible things: 1. It is the voice of God s M reaching into human N. 2. It is the voice of God s A over human I. In our places of infirmity we need the voice of Jesus speaking to us! IV. Upset About a Mat-Carrying Law: John 5:9b 13 The religious leaders are basing their anger in Jeremiah 17:21 and Nehemiah 13:15, but those texts are about doing your job on the Sabbath! Their words are self-indicting. They are so A about the man s mat under his arm on the Sabbath Day that they completely M the F of his M H! V. Jesus Son of God Who Works with His Father: John 5:16 18 When they learned it was Jesus who healed him on the Sabbath Day they were F with Him and began to P him. Jesus appealed to His unique relationship with His Father. He says in effect, The only thing God rested from was work. He never rested from His mercy and compassion. I am here to S P what the M and C of the Father look like in human form! Jesus couldn t heal on the Sabbath Day, but they could go out and P His D on the Sabbath Day! When we meet Jesus we meet the mercy and grace of God in person. When we R M with Him we experience His L! 8

9 Discussion Starter Questions for Home Groups 1. John writes about spiritual adoption in all of his writings. Why is it important for us to know this truth personally? 2. John uses the words believe, life, and truth over and over in his Gospel. What do the words mean and why does John see them as being so important? 3. Why do you think Jesus chose to go to the Pool of Bethesda, where there were people in great need and suffering, and not to the Temple? 4. John quotes Jesus as asking the man if he wants to get well. Why would Jesus ask the man this question? Why is it important for us to want to get better in our journey with Jesus? 5. In the message, the point was made that behind Jesus words to the man stood the authority and the power of God over human suffering and infirmities. Why is it important for us to know this truth about the voice of Jesus to us? 6. What was behind the anger of the religious leaders as they confronted the man who was carrying his mat on the Sabbath and persecuted Jesus for healing on the Sabbath Day? 7. What do you think of Jesus words, God the Father rested from His work, not from expressing His nature of love, mercy, and compassion? 8. Read together aloud Isaiah 58. Discuss insights you have regarding God s desires for us in living out His mercy, compassion, and justice. 9. Read together aloud Matthew 12:1 14. Discuss insights you have regarding Jesus teachings on keeping the Sabbath Laws. 10. What truths touched your heart as you heard the message on the ways and works of Jesus for the paralyzed man? Why is it important for us to desire to be changed by the power of God s love, mercy, and grace? 9