Do you want to get well? John 5:1-18
John 5:1 Some time 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. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.
4 (and they waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time and 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. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." 11 But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, ’Pick up your mat and walk.’" 12 So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?"
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
14 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." 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working." 18 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.
Every time Jesus goes to Judea he gets into trouble with the Jewish religious leaders. John 5 is no exception. Last time it was over cleansing the temple of marketers. This time it is over healing a man on the Sabbath, and claiming God as his father.
John has already said that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh, that Jesus created all things and that he has come to his own, but his own did not receive him. What do you suppose is in the hearts of these Jewish leaders that makes them so resistant to Jesus? What is in the hearts of people today that make them resistant to him?
John shows us in his gospel the developing hostility against Jesus by the Jews of Judea. Those who rejected him thought of him as a rebel from Galilee. He was a troublesome rabbi who had gone off the deep end making blasphemous claims and doing illegal miracles. It begins in chapter 2, but here in chapter 5 they find ammunition to use against him. He is working on the Sabbath and telling others to work on the sabbath too! Later in chapter 9 he heals a blind man on the sabbath, and if that were not enough, he makes claims about himself that sound like he thinks he is equal with God. For this, plus the fact that he keeps telling these leaders what hypocrites they are, they make plans to kill him.
Did you know that doing what God would have you do can be dangerous?
Let’s look at the setting of John 5 as we begin our lesson. Jesus is back in Jerusalem. He has gone to a pool called Bethesda. Here Jesus encounters a group of sick people waiting at this pool for the water to be disturbed. The first one in gets well. If you have any version except the King James and the New King James you will not have verse 4 in your text. This is because someone seems to have added it later as an explanation. There was a superstition that on certain holy days, an angel would disturb the water here and it would have magical powers to heal the first one who got into it after the disturbance.
We don’t know how many people were there waiting to be healed, but one man has been there a long time and someone always breaks in line ahead of him when the water bubbles. His hopes for healing are spoiled again and again as others get into the water ahead of him. Can you imagine that? How would you feel if you were this poor lame man? He’s been an invalid for 38 years. But he’s not the only one sick here. He’s just one of many.
So what does Jesus do? Does Jesus have the power to heal all the people there at that pool? Why doesn’t Jesus just say the word and heal them all? Instead, he goes up to one man. One who has been there a long time. And what does Jesus do? He asks a question. A simple, but profound question. Do you want to get well?
You would think that he didn’t really need to ask this. I mean, of course this man wants to get well! What other reason would he have for waiting here by this healing pool? True. But Jesus never asks foolish questions. Jesus is not one to waste words or strike up a conversation about trivial matters. I believe this question sees into the very soul of this lame man. Is this man ready for the responsibility of life without his sickness? As difficult as it is to be an invalid, the responsibility of wellness for this man is just as serious.
Do you know people who don’t want to get well? My cousin Philip was addicted to drugs, and I know he wanted to get well, but the price of wellness was high. There are people with addictions to all sorts of things whose health and lives are crippled by their addictions but do they want to get well? The world is full of sin sick souls who lay by the pools of worldly hopes and someone else always seems to beat them out. Some people place their hope on winning the lottery. Instead of buying bread for the family they go in a buy lottery tickets. Every time they jack up the numbers in the pot everyone runs to jump in the pool, but its always someone else. Maybe next time! What a wasted hope! Do you want to get well? Some people put their hope in the right job or the right investment or the right education. Looking for just the right opening with just the right benefits and when it comes up they scramble to get in, but someone else always gets the jump on them. Do you want to get well?
Jesus question is sincere.
This man’s answer is revealing. He has no one to help him. Someone else always beats him to the pool. I wish I could hear this man’s voice. Was he whining? Was he angry? Was there hope in his voice that Jesus would wait with him and help him in next time? I’d like to think that there was. I’d like to think that this man looked to Jesus for help and that he wasn’t just blaming others for jumping in ahead of him. We don’t know. But I see in Jesus response something that indicates he was putting hope in Jesus for help. Jesus words to him are in the form of a command. Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.
Wow! You can bet that this lame man has never been told to do that before. He’s probably heard lots of words of sympathy over the years. Maybe someone has prayed for him to get better. Maybe he has prayed for healing too. But Jesus, comes to him with a lot more than sympathy. He comes with the power of heaven. His words are God’s words. It doesn’t matter how long this man has been sick. Jesus words are powerful and true. And lets do a replay in slow motion and inspect what he said. We find 3 parts in this short sentence.
1. Get up! The Greek word here is one word: egeiro. It means wake up! Rise up! It can mean Resurrect as from death to life. It can mean more than simply to move from lying down to standing. It is changing time!
2. Next Jesus says, “Pick up your mat…” In other words, you’re out of this place. You are leaving here and you probably won’t be back before tonight, so you might as well take your bed with you.
3. Finally, the sweetest word of all… “walk.” I and tell you from one who couldn’t walk for 3 months, that this was the best thing he heard. Just imagine not having walked for 38 years! And in comes a Galilean who tells you to walk.
This man was healed at once! He did exactly what Jesus told him to do and as soon as he got out of there he was met by a group of Jews who tell him he’s breaking the law! “What are you doing there! You’re carrying a mat! That’s illegal! Don’t you know what today is? This is the Sabbath!”
But the man that healed me told me to carry it! Notice who he blames for what he is doing. It’s not my fault! It’s the guy who healed me who is at fault. I was just doing what he told me to do.
Their response? Who told you to pick it up and walk?
Never mind that he’s been lame for 38 years. Never mind that an amazing miracle has occurred. Never mind that the law never said any such thing as don’t carry a mat on the Sabbath. (They had invented that one). Legalism has a way of blinding men from the glory of God. They can’t see the work of God because they are consumed by their own interests and errors. Their attitudes stink. They could not see God if he stood right in front of them and healed a man.
The healed man has no answers for them. He didn’t know who it was. Jesus didn’t leave his card, just his blessing. But later Jesus found him in the temple. Does that tell you something? Jesus found him. Why? He has an important message for this man. Words that are more important than, “Get up, pick up your bed and walk.” Jesus found him and said, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” Wooooah. Again there are three parts to Jesus statement:
“See, you are well again.” That tells us that this man had been well in the past. Whatever affliction he had was not something he was born with. But Jesus is pointing out his condition to him.
“Stop sinning…” a good translation. We don’t know what he’s doing, but Jesus is clearly warning him of his spiritual direction.
“or something worse may happen.” Now those are serious words. Jesus is saying, if you think being lame 38 years is bad, you need to understand where sin will take you.
Jesus was always pointing out that perspective. Sin is the worst condition a person can find himself in. Sickness is bad. Sin is worse. Jesus sees the real picture. His compassion runs deepest for the sinner. Jesus warning to this man would cost him.
The next thing this man does is run tell on Jesus. Can you believe it?
We want to think that doing good will bring pleasure and enjoyable results, and eventually this is true, but Jesus did the ultimate good and it meant dying on the cross before seeing the glory on the other side. Paul’s words in Romans are so true…
Rom 8:17 Now if we are children, then we are heirs--heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. 18 I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.
Let’s draw this lesson to a close with these applications:
What are you putting your hope in today? Where is your hope? This lame man had his hopes in the bubbling pool of Bethesda. Jesus came along and gave him the help he needed. Put your hope in Jesus! He has the words of eternal life.
Take Jesus question personally, Do you want to get well? What problems are you facing right now that you need help with?
Do you want to get well? What struggles do you have that are overwhelming you and keeping you defeated? Do you want to get well? What sins in your life are you hiding and have control over your relationship with God? Do you want to get well?
Will you stop placing blame elsewhere and listen to Jesus? He will help you if you will hear him. It all starts with looking to him and listening to his words and doing what he says.
Will you obey Jesus today and experience his healing power. We have a pool here. No angel stirs it, and the water has no healing power. But the words of Jesus say, whoever believes and is baptized shall be saved, whoever does not believe shall be condemned. Jesus said those words. Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be saved? Will you turn from sin and listen to Jesus and obey him today?
Whatever your need we invite you to come.
