Questions and their answers can tell you a lot about a person. In fact one of the keys to being successful in life is to learn to ask the right questions. What we see in this passage is someone who was so far down, so removed from any real hope that he probably didn’t even really know what He wanted. So Jesus uses a question to see what it is that the man really wants.
The passage in John takes place in Jerusalem in the second year of Jesus ministry. The location of this story was by the sheep gat to the temple where sacrificial sheep were washed before being admitted. This year we’ve talked a lot about sheep and we know that when they first come out of the field that they are not the cleanest of animals. Sheep were also required for sacrifice in the temple and everything in the temple needed to be ceremonially clean, so what they’ve found as they excavate ancient Jerusalem is that there was a gate that the priests and who ever else would bring the sheep through into the temple and right outside that gate that had a pool. This pool was used to wash the sheep so that they were clean enough to be brought into the temple.
The sheep may have been clean but the water wouldn’t have been, everything that was washed off would be in the water and would settle into the sides and bottom of that pool. Verse 2 tells us that the pool was surrounded by five colonnades. These colonnades gave the illusion of protection from the elements. They would have blocked some of the wind during the cold months of winter and so protection from the rain. They would have provided some shade during the heat of the summer months. It would have appeared to have been a good place to seek shelter for those who gathered underneath them. But as anyone who has had to sit outside on a July day in Phoenix can tell you it’s just an illusion, the shade may be cooler but it’s still hot. As anyone can tell you on a windy rainy day, sometimes the wind makes it rain sideways and there is no protection from the rain. But on most days, the columns would help so on most days they gave the appearance, the illusion of being able to help.
This pool over the years became surrounded by handicapped people from all around because there was a legend about it but even the legend was an illusion because everything about this place was an illusion. Listen to how the passage reads in the New King James. Verses 3-4, “In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.” This verse doesn’t appear in the NIV, ESV or NET Bible because it’s not in the earliest and best sources, someone added this verse later.
So what happened here? Here’s a quick lesson in apologetics. See some people would look at the verse and say it is a problem. That we Christians can’t even get our Bible right so how can we trust it. Well let’s look at this really quickly. John probably didn’t include this passage about the angel because that was the local legend that an angel would appear and stir the water so someone could be healed. John the evangelist wouldn’t write a false legend in his gospel but it appears that in some of the later manuscripts someone added it, probably to make it more readable.
So what do we do today? Well some translations keep the verse in to keep with tradition, and some drop the verse to stay the most accurate. I’m with the accuracy camp because our goal when it comes to studying God and the life of Christ, is to get it right. We’re all betting not just our lives, but our eternities on what the Bible says; I personally would like it to be as accurate as possible. For those who would like to make a big deal out of it, what difference does it really make? It doesn’t change the essence of the story or the gospel. What it does show is that the guys who put our Bibles together the ones who work on these translations really take their work seriously. We have placed a sacred trust in them and they are working to be worthy of that trust.
So back to our passage, this pool was the place for the sheep to be ceremonially cleaned. Probably because of the religious connection the portico became a shrine of sorts. That would be why the people gathered there. See this little place, right next to the temple of the living God, the God who’s Son was literally walking among them at that moment, this place represented misplaced faith such a place in the Hellenistic world may have been dedicated to Asclepius or another god of healing. This probably would have been a shrine to one of the Hellenistic Gods of healing and that would explain why there was a legend springing up around it. But all of it was an illusion. The thing about desperation is that you’re willing to believe anything. These people needed help, they needed hope and they were willing to go anyplace and do anything for it. Hey let’s wait outside, partially exposed to the elements, next to a pool of dirty water, just in case we all need to race into that water and maybe then one of us can be healed. That sounds like a great plan right? No, and they probably knew that but when you’re desperate, you’ll take any opportunity you can find. That’s what they were doing, they were taking any opportunity.
The problem is that when reach the end of your rope you don’t need a source of hope you need the only source of true hope, you don’t have time for misplaced faith. The problem for the people in this shrine, and for so many people in our world, is that their willing to settle for any source of hope as long as it is comfortable. See healing in this portico, choosing to wait for this angel, there were all things that people can control. So many people are at the end of their ropes, but they still want to control it.
I think when Jesus looked across this scene, when John writes that He saw this man, He saw that this was a man who was ready to let go of His control, and follow someone else.
So Jesus asks Him a question, it’s not that Jesus doesn’t know the answer, it’s that He wants to draw it out of the man. So Jesus asks him the question, “Do you want to get well?” This is a loaded question. As we look at it I wants us to notice something first. Notice that Jesus doesn’t address why the man is where he is Jesus keeps it simple. We talked about this last week the gospel is simple, don’t make it complicated. We messed up, we sinned Jesus came and lived a perfect life then died to pay for our sins, now all we have to do to be able to come to God is accept what he did and commit to live for Him.
The problem is that as Christians we are tempted to see so many other things. How many of us would notice that the man was placing his faith in a false superstition and try and convince him that he was wrong first? Or try and convince him of so many other things? But Jesus keeps it simple, Jesus doesn’t deal with all of the other stuff but straight to the heart of the issue. “Do you want to get well?” We need to be showing people who Jesus is with our lives and then telling them who He is with our words. It doesn’t mean that when people ask us questions we shouldn’t be prepared with an answers, or research answers for them, it does mean that when the opportunity comes to share Jesus we share Jesus. That is how we can best reach the 8 to 15 people that God has supernaturally placed in your life to share His grace with them.
So Jesus keeps it simple and sticks to the main thing, but then Jesus is asking a more important question “what did the man really want?” To many of us the answer is obvious, of course we would want to be well, but Jesus isn’t just talking physically but spiritually, and I’m not just talking about salvation, I am talking about a change in the way this man has been living his life.
He had lived his whole live on the sidelines, but if he was made well he would have to be at the forefront of his life. There would be no more excuses, he would be responsible for what happened in his life. But it was even deeper, if the man was going to accept Jesus help then he would be accepting Jesus. When we do that it means that we’re going to stop living life for ourselves and start living for Him. It’s a choice everyone must make. It’s funny a few years ago it was really big to wear a bracelet that said, WWJD, what would Jesus Do, but the real question everyone must answer is what would you do?
See we all come to those moments in our lives when we are down. Those times when we need help and we’re asking for it, so when Jesus comes to help us the question is “Do you want to get well?” The issue is a matter of Lordship, are we willing to follow what God says, and do we trust that He will make us well? We all have to answer that for ourselves, and even once we have accepted God as the Lord of our lives, we must make that a part of our lives. Being a Christian is not about coming to church and doing good things on Sunday morning, it is about following Him everyday. We commit to live for Him 24/7. If so we know that He is the source of our hope always.
But what do people do without Christ when they have begin to run out of hope. What are a couple of signs for us that we are running out of hope and trying to find a way out on our own? First when you begin to run out of hope you look for someone who can help you. Notice what the man’s answer was, “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.” Notice, he was looking for someone to help him. We do this, we get into trouble and we ask people for help. Which is fine don’t get me wrong we all need help. In face the book of Proverbs tells us that two are better then one and they get a good return for their labor. But the question is, are you asking God first. We should always ask Him first because there is no greater or surer help then God. See the man had learned a lesson that too many of us know all to well. He asked for help and there was no one there to help him. If we place our hope in people, sometime and some way they will let us down, but God won’t.
When you run out of hope you don’t know where to go and can become trapped in the same place. This man had been sitting in this shrine for 38 years, waiting for a miracle. Waiting for healing, and for 38 years it didn’t come. You know I read that and I think to myself, you know maybe after the first decade or two he might have decided to try something different. You understand that in those days most people lived into their 40’s. Yes, some lived into their 60’s, but this man had literally been waiting by this pool for almost a lifetime. You understand that his parents wouldn’t have abandoned him to this place so he came here at a few years of age or older and there he has stayed almost a lifetime in this place.
That is what hopelessness can do to people to us. When we become hopeless, we can lay down, get trapped into do the same things over and over again. They haven’t worked before be we don’t know what else to do, so we just keep turning to what we know at some point knowing that it won’t work but we don’t know what else to do so we do it any way, and there we lay, just like this man trapped in false shrine with no real hope but willing to cling to an illusion just so we can cling to anything at all.
But then Jesus shows up and He asks us that questions, “do you want to get well?” The sad thing is that so many people in this life are asking the wrong question. When things get hopeless they ask, “Did/Does God care? The answer is that of course He does. He didn’t cross time and space to live among us, to know us, because He didn’t care. The issue for us is the same as it was for everyone in that shrine, are they willing, are we willing to follow Him. Jesus is asking, “Do we want to get well?” How we choose to live our lives is the answer to the question, will we follow him or not. Jesus is asking, how will you answer?
So we have the question, now let’s look at the responses. The man doesn’t understand the question, but he expresses his desire. We’re simple creatures, he doesn’t understand everything behind Jesus question, so he answers it at it’s face value, to paraphrase, “I’m trying, I’m doing everything that I can to get better, but I can’t.” It’s the paraphrase, but it’s the point that we all have to get to Lord I need help. This man was at the end of real hope, but there was Jesus.
Jesus sees the man’s plea and his acceptance. The man admits need for help and he doesn’t do what so many people in the world do, he doesn’t say that he’s still got it. Jesus sees his need and responds. Look at verse 8, “Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.” That’s what God does He sees the need and He meets it. It doesn’t matter how long the man has been down, it doesn’t matter what you have done or haven’t done in the past, God will help you. We live in a world where people are always looking for a catch. In a world where so many people think that everything in life must be earned this is the simple concept of grace, getting something we don’t deserve. God give to us because He loves us. Oh He will still discipline us, He will still give us tasks to do, but He saved us, He allows us to come into His family not because of what we do, but because of who He is the God of grace who gives to us what we don’t deserve. You know I think the world would be a better place and people would understand this concept more if we as Christians lived as a people of grace. That’s what we would do if we were to really follow Him, we would give grace to each other and to other people. Sure sometimes we would be taken advantage of, but that is a risk He took first. Notice when He sees this man again he tells him to stop sinning. It’s not that Jesus caught him in a sinful act, its that Jesus knew that the man sinned, just like we all do. Love is a risk, real grace is a risk, but Jesus took it first on each of us and if we would call ourselves followers of God then we must we willing to take that risk, to give grace to other people. That is part of the cost of following Him.
So Jesus sees the man and helps him, but here’s another lesson for those who are without hope. Those who didn’t help before still don’t want to help. Verse 9, “The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” The religious leaders were charged with helping the helpless but instead of helping they were just looking for a reason to accuse Jesus. They were talking to the man but they didn’t care about the man.
We all know those people, sometimes we are those people. You know the ones that I’m talking about. When they get down and out, sometimes they are more concerned with what other people think then with their problem. Sometimes they are concerned about what people think because those people have turned their back on them. They asked for help and the person they asked not only said, “No.” but began to avoid them, I mean, not only do they not help the person in trouble, but they don’t even give emotional support because they don’t even care. So you go you talk to the person in trouble and what are they concerned about, that person who so clearly doesn’t care about them. Sometimes, they think that if they can just get better again then they can be friends with that person. But the reality is they didn’t care, we see that here with the religious leaders. By the way I’m not talking about a momentary lapse by someone, or when you turned to someone and they were so busy trying to tread water they could help you too. I’m talking about a consistent and establish pattern over years. They didn’t care about this man for 38 years and they still don’t care. All they see is an opportunity to further their own goals. That is who they are and we need to make sure that our closest friends are people of grace and that we too in return are living as people of grace.
Sometimes we can’t turn to the people that we think we should, sometimes because they let us down, sometimes because it’s just not in their power to help. Sometimes we realize that the things that we try and the things that we’ve always done aren’t enough, they aren’t going to work, then what do we do? The one place that we can always turn for hope and help is in the direction of Jesus. This man spent 38 years hoping for a dip in dirty water, he spent 38 years misplacing his faith. But when he was willing to turn to Jesus, Jesus was there. It doesn’t matter what your situation is today, if you are willing to turn to Jesus, He is willing to be there for you and there is nothing in this world or the next that is beyond His ability help.
