January 19, 2003
1After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, ?waiting for the moving of the waters; 4for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. 5A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
6When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said* to him, "Do you wish to get well?" 7The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me." 8Jesus said* to him, "Get up, pick up your pallet and walk." 9Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.
Now it was the Sabbath on that day. 10So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet." 11But he answered them, "He who made me well was the one who said to me, ’Pick up your pallet and walk.’" 12They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, ’Pick up your pallet and walk’?" 13But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.
14Afterward Jesus found* him in the temple and said to him, "Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you." 15The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. John 5.1-16 (NASB)
When John the beloved apostle wrote this Gospel account he had a specific purpose in view. That purpose was not to tell a story from beginning to end, but to show the meaning of that story. It wasn’t chronology, but theology, our thoughts of God - who He is.
John wrote to help us understand that Jesus is the Lord God. The way he does that in this incident is to re-tell the conflict Jesus had with the Jewish religious leaders over rituals and traditions. Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath; the traditionalists in the group didn’t like the change.
We have to admit, most of us don’t like changes. Mark Twain once said:
The only person who likes change is a wet baby.
In fact most Americans won’t change even if the results are good. According to a survey sometime back:
Percentage of Americans who would change a bad habit if they could: 45
Who would change their wealth: 64
Who would change their weight: 51
Who would change their intelligence: 32
Change is not the devil. In fact God is into change - new! Consider all these scripture verses which mention God’s view of "new"…
Also if you bring a grain offering of early ripened things to the LORD, you shall bring fresh heads of grain roasted in the fire, grits of new growth, for the grain offering of your early ripened things.
’My glory is ever new with me,
Sing to Him a new song;
And over our doors are all choice fruits, Both new and old,
Yet those who wait for the LORD will gain new strength;
And let the peoples gain new strength;
Now I declare new things;
And you will be called by a new name
23They [mercies] are new every morning; Great is Your faithfulness.
26"Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you;
38"But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins.
20And in the same way He took the cup after they had eaten, saying, "This cup which is poured out for you is the new covenant in My blood.
34"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another, even as I have loved you, that you also love one another.
7Clean out the old leaven so that you may be a new lump,
17Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.
and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth.
1Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth passed away, and there is no longer any sea.
5And He who sits on the throne said, "Behold, I am making all things new."
Now, by contrast, see what God has said about never changing:
"For the waywardness of the naive will kill them,
And the complacency of fools will destroy them.
Proverbs 1:32 (NASB)
God says that the complacent attitude that says, Let everything stay the way it is, don’t change anything, is out of step with God, and it destroys you.
Let’s look at a man who was in sad shape before he met Jesus. The Lord touched him, and what changes occurred!
JESUS TOUCHED THE MAN’S WILL
This man was conditioned to be spiritually wasted. For 38 years his illness and the way people related to him had kept him in a societal bondage. He believed God was on a "first come first served" accessibility. And this man had the perfect excuse for never getting better.
Jesus confronted the man…Do you want to get better? The man played his well-rehearsed line, Man, smell the coffee…everybody else moves faster than me. Jesus’ answer was simply, Rise up! There was no pity or patronizing; Jesus told the man to get himself together and walk.
At that point the man had two choices - he could remain in his retreat from humanity, or he could trust the stranger with this new idea and get up.
Christian men share the burden for leadership. We also face, and struggle with the lame man’s temptation to opt-out of responsibility. It is easy to pull the covers back over your head on a Monday morning. That is the nature of our will, and God will not force us to get in the game. He will, however, "touch" us to remind us the game is not over, and that we have a choice.
Jesus touched that man with a face-to-face confrontation. It isn’t the same way with us all, because we are so different:
Jesus touches some with the memory of a fine Christian leader’s example of working hard, loving others and life engaged on an enthusiastic plane.
The touch might be in your Dad’s words, still ringing in your ears long after he is gone.
The Bible is a touch of Jesus; it will prick your heart and conscience.
The touch of Jesus might be in a kindness extended from a friend or foe.
The touch of Jesus might be in a child’s admiration that you don’t want to destroy.
Jesus touched that man, and He is touching some of you right now.
JESUS TOUCHED THE MAN’S WITNESS
It is a certainty that this man told everyone who would listen what happened to him. He had been lying on that pallet for 38 years waiting for a miracle. Day after day he was continually reminded how impotent a life he led. Suddenly the whole horizon had unfolded before him. He had a life. It is without doubt he became a walking billboard for Jesus. Even when questioned by the town political/religious leaders the man was unshakeable.
Here is a question before the house this morning. What will make a weak/hopeless man into a fearless/tireless witness? Perhaps the answer is found in the name of the pool, Bethesda. In Hebrew that is the word, "Chessedh", literally "the house of grace". Chessedh is the "covenant mercy" of God. Perhaps many of us would do more with our witness for Christ if we were to keep in mind His mercy and love for us.
JESUS TOUCHED THE MAN’S WEAKNESS
The Bible tells us this man was healed. The verb root is "enlarged". The man became normal, changing, growing, and it put him right in the middle of controversy between the Healer and the critics.
What about you? Henry Blackaby wrote about this syndrome of our weakness when it comes to being healed:
Just because we are spiritually sick, or just because we are near a place of healing, does not necessarily mean we want to be made well. We may attend church regularly, but choose to remain sinful.
Our generation has taken many of the activities that the Bible identifies as sin and has labeled them as addictions or character flaws or the result of an abusive upbringing. We act as if having an addiction is sufficient excuse for disobeying God’s commands. As Christians, we are no longer helpless victims of our sin. There is no sinful habit or past hurt that is beyond the healing touch of our Lord.
Have you gone year after year without receiving spiritual healing? God is capable of freeing you, but you may have become comfortable in your sin. You may not want to be healed. If you really want to receive spiritual health, God can give it today. He wants you to ask Him.
And so, the natural question now is:
Do you desire to be changed? Or do you want nothing new?
Do you desire a closer walk with Him; or what you have always had?
Do you want Him to make you whole?
If you want this, let Him touch your will, your witness and your weakness. You will arise, take up that pallet and walk!
