During the three and a half years in Ministry, Jesus gave thirty parables, and He performed 33 miracles! Understand that Parables are miracles. They are miracles of wisdom. Miracles are parables of teaching! Turn with me in your bibles to John 5:1-14.
This is the Word of God and what He says, “Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.
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. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
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?”
“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.”
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.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’
So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 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.”
Now, take a look at the setting for his miracle. It took place just inside the Sheep Gate at the pool called Bethesda. His attention was drawn to a man who had been in need for over 38 years. Christ’s attention was drawn to the man’s obvious frustration in not being healed.
Understand, this man had been asking for help to the water for years and could get no help? I would guess that this man was beyond a normal frustration. 38 years and no one would help him to the water. The water was known to have healed many of the ones who could get into the water when it had been stirred.
He must have seen so many healed, but he could not get to the water. No one would help him. Until……
Jesus approached the man with compassion. How else would the son of od approach the sick, but with compassion, Amen?
Jesus asked the man, “Do want to get well?” Now to some, this would sound like a foolish question to ask a sick man, right? But Jesus was looking to see if the man was committed to being healthy again.
This man did not know Jesus, or who Jesus was. He did however know that all else had failed in his life. Sometimes, that is when we are open to hearing what He has for us in His heart. When all else has failed. When no one else can fill that void in our lives, amen?
Looking at verse 8, Jesus gives this man a very simple command, “Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
The command was so simple. But we need to understand that if this man did not have the faith in what Jesus had spoken to him, he would not have stood. It was in the faith he was healed, and it is in our faith in Christ that we are healed spiritually.
CHILDLIKE FAITH
Perhaps it is the reason that I embraced Christianity so easily was that the Christian faith doesn’t demand intelligence. I have an above average intelligence level. Well, actually, although it was above average according to the IQ test I completed at School, it was more tilted towards the average side than the above part. I have imagined having an intelligence level that would ASTOUND people, but unless that miracle happens I will remain who I am, without the ENCUMBRANCE OF GENIUS and I will always have to examine things carefully before I can understand them.
Jesus prayed an unusual prayer in Matthew 11:25-27. After the cities of Korazin and Bethsaida had ignored Him and rejected Him, He prayed "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank You for hiding these things from those who think themselves wise and clever, and for revealing them to the childlike. Yes, Father, it pleased You to do it this way!"
Jesus says that only the childlike can understand spiritual things. He doesn’t say childish, just childlike. I must admit I can have a little trouble with distinguishing between the two at times, but I do recognize God as my Father and I know that I am in His family.
This man, he had just that, a child-like faith.
After this man was healed, the Pharisees were pretty unhappy. Look at verses 9 and 10 with me.
“At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
These Pharisees were very legalistic types. The Law was pretty strict about working on the Sabbath day. He was after all carrying his mat! Such hard work?!
To Follow the Story, the man went home, he put up his bed, then returned to the temple to worship for the first time in 38 years! I guess being healed by Jesus would drive anyone to worship, amen?
So now, let us see what the miracle says to us today, in 2017.
The Miracles of Jesus Depend upon Our Response of Faith
Jesus recognized the royalty of the human will. Take a look at verse 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?”
Unless we want to get well, nothing will be done. Maybe this man was in this place because of another reason. Maybe this man does not want help, because of his pride. Until Jesus asks him, the man has not indicated he wants help from Jesus. Once the man answers Jesus, it is known that he wants help.
Know this, if we really want help, nothing can prevent God’s power from helping us.
But also, I want to point out that this man recognized his hopelessness. And so must we acknowledge our hopelessness outside of God’s Grace. Jesus confronts us with the same question that he asked that man.
He is asking if we want to live a whole and complete life? Do you?
In order to do that, we must turn to Jesus in complete and absolute faith. You may have tried many different things and failed in your search for happiness and contentment. To fill that void. To be complete.
If you will listen to Jesus, He can heal you of your most crippling disease, sin. Sin is what separates you from God. It is what causes that void in your life. You know that feeling of emptiness I am speaking of. Once you get past your self pride, and self pity, you have an empty spot. It can only be filled by Jesus.
Jesus Tells Us What To Do
In Colossians 3:15 we're told to let the peace of God rule in our hearts. Incidentally, the Greek word for rule is the same one used in other writings for referee. In other words, it says to let Christ make the call.
Now we know what a referee is and what he does. In baseball, he decides what pitch is a strike and which is a ball. Another umpire watches the bases and declares the runner safe or out. Most of the time, his job is fairly easy because the right call is obvious. But sometimes it’s awfully close, but he has to make the call quickly. He can’t say, “Let me get back to you” or “I need to sleep on it.”
In the same way, there are times when people say or do things to us or around us and we have to respond in some way. In those situations, Paul is saying to let Christ and who He is make the call. He tells us to have Jesus at the center of who we are and how we think so the call, the right call, can be made quickly.
Jesus did not heal the crippled man on the ground. It was not until the man responded in faith and stood that Jesus healed him. As the man began to rise, Jesus healed him!
Jesus said, Get Up! Pick up your mat and walk!
Look at the order of events here. To ”Get Up” was something this crippled man could not do. To the people around him, it seemed impossible! It would have sounded unreasonable that this Jesus would tell the man to get up. But the miracle of salvation is the performance of the impossible and unreasonable.
“Pick up your mat and walk” were very commanding words. Jesus makes no provision for failing. Today, many people make provision for failure.
“Walk” tells us that we cannot expect to be babied, coddled or pushed in a buggy. We need to walk.
Then, Jesus met the man in the Temple. He issued a command and a warning. He reminded the man he is well. He had been changed, healed and delivered. In verse 14 He told the man to stop sinning. That to continue to in sin would be tragic.
Do you want to be delivered from the most tragic disease in your life, sin? Let Jesus heal you today by exercising your faith in His Word.
