Jesus Has Come: No Angel Is Necessary!

JESUS HAS COME: NO ANGEL IS NECESSARY!

John 5:1-9

INTRODUCTION

A. HUMOR: MALE’S KEEN OBSERVATION

1. Jason was out shopping at the Woodlands Mall with his wife Latisha, but he wasn’t enjoying it. For over 45 minutes, he'd been 'stuck' with Latisha in the ladies department of the Forever 21 store. And he couldn't leave until she found a fashionable new outfit. So he was getting very tired and irritable.

2. Then, for the seventh time, Latisha came out of the changing room wearing yet another outfit. He looked Latisha up and down and said, "That's it, Babe! Not only does the outfit fit you perfectly, but it's your favorite color. Buy it and let's go get something to eat!"

3. She blew up. "You’re worthless, Jason!" said Latisha, "This is the same outfit I came in here with!"

B. TEXT

5 Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 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 [KJV –“porches”]. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed—and they waited for the moving of the waters. 4 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. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 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?” 7 “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.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. [NIV with footnote included]

C. THESIS & TITLE

1. Today we’re looking at the phenomenon of the stirring of the waters, why the man couldn’t get in, and what Jesus’ interruption means for us!

2. The title of this message is “Jesus Has Come: No Angel Is Necessary!”

I. THE MIRACULOUS POOL OF BETHESDA

A. REALITY OF THIS POOL

1. The Pool of Bethesda was thought to be a myth* until Conrad Schick discovered a large tank with 5 porticoes situated about 100 feet NW of St. Anne's Church near the Sheep Gate. This exactly describes the ancient pool with 5 porches referred to in John’s Gospel.

2. This Pool was associated with healing. Bethesda means "house of mercy" and it was the gathering place of the sick and cripples (v. 3). John specified three sorts of diseased people that lay there: the blind, lame, and withered/paralyzed.

B. WATERS STIRRED SIGNALED THE ANGEL’S PRESENCE

1. John’s Gospel tells us that an angel went down into the pool, and stirred the water. Angels are God’s servants.

2. The troubling of the water was the signal of the descent of the angel. This was similar to the “sound of marching of the angels” on the tops of the mulberry trees David experienced. It was then time to move out.

3. We shouldn’t think it strange that there were times of special healing manifested. Luke says "... and the power of the Lord was present to heal the sick." (5:17). There was a special liberty/ presence of God there to heal the sick.

C. JESUS CAME IN PLACE OF THE ANGEL

1. This pool was no tourist spot. You don't go to a garbage dump, slum, or emphysema ward while on vacation. This pool was similar to a hospital.

2. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, He didn't visit the palaces, but the hospitals. Out of all the multitudes, Christ chose this one. The most helpless of all, attracts Christ's attention.

3. Jesus knew how long he’d lain in that condition! Take courage! God knows how long you've suffered!

II. WHY HE LAY THERE SO LONG

A. FAITH IN THE WRONG THING

1. Oftentimes our rituals don't work. We declare a breakthrough, we rebuke, we take authority over something – and for whatever reason – it doesn’t work. For 38 years brother so-n-so had gone to the church at Bethesda and substituted rituals for reformation.

2. This was where society put people they couldn't heal, at the pool of Bethesda. It's lonely when you're powerless. It's lonely when you say, “After all these years I should've gotten further. I never thought I'd get to this age and still be in the same place.”

3. It wasn't just that the man was there that impacted Jesus, but it was HOW LONG. How long you've had bad credit, how long you've been without love, how long you've been without accomplishment, how long you've been in debt, how long you've been angry with your sister, how long you and your mother have not been speaking. Thirty-eight years is a long time to be mad.