No More Excuses

John 5 vs 6-8 No more excuses

6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”

7 The 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.”

8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

From the beginning of time even starting back in the book of Genesis we find Adam and Eve shifting the blame for a sin that they had committed, God asked the question after they sinned, “what have you done”? The excuse Adam gave was the woman you gave me; Eve said the serpent beguiled me. Excuses

God asked Moses to go to Pharoah and tell him to let my people go, Moses said I can’t go I can’t go I can’t talk well enough; I have a speech impediment. Excuses

This morning Jesus is at the pool of Bethesda asking an Invalid a question, that has been laying at this pool for 38 long years.

Jesus is at a Jewish Festival that is not named in the text because it’s not important, and He winds up at Bethesda, which in the Hebrews means House of Mercy, and there is an ironic scene at this pool of Bethesda, because at this house of Mercy is misery, blind people, lame people, paralyze people. The pools are about the size of a football field five of them, separated by Colonades and there is a mass of people who has gathered at this house of mercy because they are blind and lamb and paralyze. All of them are there clustered around this pool at Bethesda waiting on the troubling of the water, because they superstitiously believes that an angel troubles the water, and I need to get you to understand that verse #4 is a superstition they believe that the water is troubled by an angel, and they don’t know the science of the Arteagan wells, underneath the waters of Jerusalem are Artegan wells and those wells bubbles up every once and awhile and the minerals from those wells sweep into those waters in Jerusalem and the first person into the water when the water starts bubbling and moving causes these minerals that has Madisional properties to come into the waters, they believe that an angel has stirred the water and the first one to get in because of the minerals properties in the water gets well

And they believe in this superstition but what they don’t realize is there is no magic in spiritual matters, God does not magically make the waters heal they just believe in their superstition pretty much like the older folks believes it’s bad luck when a black cat crosses your past, or somebody sweeping over your foot means you’re going to jail, or putting salt in your food and throwing some behind your back, that’s a superstition and the same thing is going on here in this passage of scripture

Here Jesus He is in Jerusalem for a feast. He is alone. He’s not there to teach the disciples or to draw a crowd. The people need him—so he’s there. There are blind and lamb and paralyzed, and out of all the people there Jesus singles out one man who is paralyzed and he’s been in that condition for 38 long years he’s paralyzed, 38 long years at the pool of Bethesda, he’s paralyzed at the house of mercy. He’s lamb and he’s laying at the place that promises to cure him. How many times in life have we depended on something that had great promises just to find yourself empty, disappointed, still longing for a cure, still longing for answers, still longing for a peace of mind, still waiting at the House of Mercy

Don’t just look in Jerusalem, Bethesda could be at UIC, Bethesda could be at the local bar and lounge, it could be at the Tabernacle house of prayer, it could be at Grace apostolic; it could be in my house, your house, because it’s not just the outer part that’s blind and lame and paralyzed because God’s not looking at the outer appearance He’s looking at the heart. You may not be physically blind, but spiritually blind, you may not be physically lame but you limping spiritually, you may not be physically paralyzed but you’re spiritually unable to move even when the spirit is moving. Picture a battleground strewn with wounded bodies, and you see Bethesda. And the more I read this story I began to realize this story isn’t about an invalid in Jerusalem. This story is about you. It’s about me. The fellow isn’t nameless. He has a name—yours. He has a face—mine. He has a problem—just like ours, he’s lamb and he’s at the house of mercy just like you and I when we find ourselves at the throne of mercy waiting on God to move on our behalf