Picture # 6: The reformed sinner
Picture # 6, the picture of the reformed sinner, is evidence that works alone cannot save!
At the healing at the pool of Bethesda, we see a candid snapshot of a sinner who has tried everything to reform his life, but to no avail(John 5: 5,6).
He could not save himself, and he needed help from God instead of help from man.
The person who is looking to save himself or herself, or looking for humanity to save him or her can have a new birth in Christ by personal faith in Christ, and can instantly become a witness to Christ(John 5:15; II Peter 3:18).
The word “miracle” means “power.”
It comes from the same word from which we get our English word “dynamite.”
Jesus literally dynamited with power the people’s doubt and fear to demonstrate to them the amazing power and grace of God.
This miracle set the bloodhounds of hate, the Jewish religious authorities, on Jesus’ track, and they never let up until they put Christ to death on the cross and folded their arms beneath His cross.
The pool at Bethesda was surrounded by 5 covered colonnades, and the name “Bethesda” means “house of mercy” or “house of olives,” which testifies to the number 5, which is the number for God’s amazing grace.
The fact that the man had been in this same state for 38 years is also a study in numbers.
The number 3 is a divine number: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
The number 8 is a number that represents new beginnings, for after creation was complete on the seventh day, the eighth day was a new beginning.
With divine intervention in your life, you can have a new beginning.
You’re going to be surprised here because you notice in our New International Version of the Bible, that verse 4 does not exist.
In the better manuscripts of the Bible this verse has been left out because it was placed there by a scribe as an explanation to verse 7, where John writes, “when the water is stirred…”
Verse 4 I believe is very important as an explanation as to why there was a crowd of people waiting to get in the water.
I want to read you the last part of verse 3 and verse 4 from the Kenneth S. Wuest Expanded Translation of the New Testament.
“In these there was lying down a multitude of infirm people, of blind people, of crippled people, of those, the members of whose bodies were withered, waiting for the stirring up of the water, for an angel from time to time was accustomed to descend into the pool, and he stirred up the water. Then the first who stepped in after the stirring up of the water was cured of whatever disease had gotten possession of him and was holding him down.”
Our attention now is directed to one man here.
Whether he had been at the pool for a long time or not, we do not know.
We do know that he had been infirm for 38 years and he moved with great difficulty.
Perhaps he was the worst case there that day.
You can well imagine this poor fellow lying there, keeping his eyes on the water, waiting for the moving, or the stirring of the water that happened from time to time and the people believed by the presence of an angel of the Lord.
Actually, there is a natural spring there, and it has been proven in the last few years that this spring naturally erupted from time to time, and stirred up the waters.
This man was in such a bad state in regards to his health that the other people waiting there would always manage to get into the water first.
The condition of so many people today is just like that man who was watching the pool, waiting for something to happen.
It’s the condition of many of us today in the world who are waiting for some great, sweeping emotion to engulf us; postponing our personal decision for Christ, just waiting for something emotional to happen.
It’s the condition of the average person in the pew on Sunday morning who looks impressive to others sitting in the pews, dressed in fine clothing, but is in need of comfort; troubled people who need healing.
Our pews are full of hurting people, waiting for some supernatural event in his or her life, or for God to heal his or her situation!
Read verse 7(a key verse).
“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.”
He had been a burden to the people.
He probably had low self-esteem.
Perhaps he loved his weakness and helplessness, always craving the attention of others through his weakness.
Perhaps he had given up on his situation, refusing to believe that there could possible be a change, resigned to being weak, a failure for the rest of his life.
How many times do you figure someone has decided not to go down the isle of a church and make a personal decision for Christ because someone else went down the isle ahead of them; and Satan spoke to his or her heart and he or she postponed their own personal decision for Christ, thinking, “Oh, well, I can go down next time the pastor gives the altar call since another person has already gone down the isle?”
During the Vietnam War, a young man who didn’t want to be drafted had all his teeth pulled out to make himself unfit for military duty.
He was called one day to take his physical, and he was found unfit for military duty, not because of no teeth, but he was declared unfit because he had flat feet.
What a sad story this tells.
This poor, helpless, lonely fellow waiting at the pool is really saying to Jesus, “Would you place me in the pool?”
Our Lord Jesus had no intention of getting that man into the pool.
He’s going to get him out and away from the pool.
So, we see that Jesus doesn’t pick him up and carry him to the pool of water, but heals him by telling him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk”(verse 8).
Notice that this healing took place on the Sabbath, which was against Jewish religious Law.
It was even against Jewish Law for the healed man to carry his mat on the Sabbath.
And the minute this man focuses his eyes on Jesus instead of the waters in the pool, a miracle happens.
This man was healed physically that day, but he wasn’t healed spiritually, for the Bible says, “he had no idea who” Jesus was.
That’s symbolic of the fact that at this time Jesus didn’t reside in the Holy Temple of his heart.
Verse 14 says that “later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, `See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’”
Jesus’ words were a warning to him that there was something worse than being physically handicapped, and the something worse was spending eternity apart from God.
First he got a well body, then that day in the Temple when he met Jesus, he got a well soul, and from that day on, he knew who Jesus was.
Oh, we need to find the area where God is moving in our lives, and then work with Him.
We can’t wait and hope that someone will help us, or that one day we will win the lottery, or some supernatural force will suddenly enter into our lives, but instead, “arise, pick up our mats, and walk daily with the Lord."
Before we get to Picture # 7, we have some testimonies about Jesus and how we can have life through the Son.
The opposition to Jesus for healing the man at the pool of Bethesda is growing and the Jewish religious authorities are seeking to kill Him to the point that they will not stop until they stand beneath the cross and watch Him die(John 5:16-47).
In this passage that we might call an interlude, Jesus testifies as to the witness of John the Baptist.
Jesus also testifies to the witness of God the Father, the witness of prophecy, and the witness of Scripture.
He also testifies for those who are seeking honor of themselves, instead of seeking humility before God.
Rev. Jimmy Davis
Bayview Baptist Church
5300 Two Notch Road
Columbia, SC 29204
Telephone: 803-754-8690
Email: BayviewBaptist@aol.com
