Series: Light And Life [#12]
DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?
John 5:1-15
Introduction:
It seems like I say this almost every Sunday- What a week it has been. A close friend of mine’s son died this week at age 32. As each day went by, things seem to get worse and worse. This week, the Governor shut down all of the schools in the state for 3 weeks due to the Coronavirus. While the teachers and students are going to have a break; I’m not. There has been a lot of senseless panic. Why people would buy up all of the toilet paper is a head scratcher. The milk is gone. The bread is gone. The bottled water is gone. People are buying up all of the bullets. If you look at the statistics of this virus, it is nothing compared to the Swine Flu. 60.8 million people in the US had the Swine Flu from April 2009- April 2010. At least 13,000 in the US died from the Swine Flu. There were not any school closures or suggestions to not attend Church. Please understand, I am not saying that we shouldn’t take this seriously. I am saying that the media and politicians have created an unnecessary panic.
As Tharon has always said about his being blind, “We all have a disability, mine is just more noticeable than most people’s. We all have flaws and problems. The more that I watch all of these things happening, the more I believe that many people want problems. There are many people who want to be sick. There are many people who want to be stressed out and panicked. They like the attention. They like that people feel bad for them. My question to you this morning is, “Do you want to get well”?
John 5:1-4 (NIV)
1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 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- and they waited for the moving of the waters. 4From 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 they had.
Do you want to get well…
1. Or do you just want to wait around?
Jesus went to Jerusalem. There by the Sheep Gate, (the gate in which people would bring their sacrificial sheep to the Temple); there were many disabled people at the pool nearby. These disabled people were waiting for the water to move so that they could get in the pool 1st, and be healed.
Verse 4, is not found in the NIV or several other versions. It is found in the KJV. These people believed that when the water was moved around that it was an angel stirring it up. The fact that the 1st person in the pool was healed is not proved correct or false. God can do anything He wants, so the 1st person in the pool could have been healed.
What I want to focus on here is that these disabled people were waiting around this pool everyday hoping that they would be healed. How serious were they about being healed? That is a hard question to answer. What I do know is they were just hanging out and hoping.
There are many people doing the same thing today. They are just waiting around for their problems and struggles to get better; but they are not doing anything. Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be made whole? Then do something. Stop waiting to get lucky and allow God to deal with it for you.
John 5:5-7 (NIV)
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.”
Do you want to get well…
2. Or do you just make excuses?
This man was an invalid and had been that way for 38 years. I’m sure that he had been at that pool many times. Jesus asked him a very important question, “Do you want to get well?” Why would Jesus ask him this question? Isn’t the answer obvious? Maybe not. There are many people who do not want to get well. They do not want to change.
Notice, that the man began to make excuses. He blamed others for his inability to get into the pool. No one would help him into the pool; and even if he was getting close, someone else would get in before him. It wasn’t his fault. How often do you blame your problems on others? If they would just help you more or let you get your way, then you could be successful.
John 5:8-13 (NIV)
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 Jewish leaders 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.
Do you want to get well…
3. Then obey Jesus.
Jesus doesn’t continue to visit with him; but gives him a command. He told him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” The man did exactly what Jesus told him to do. He got up, picked up his mat, and walked away. This is a vital part of being healed- Do you believe that Jesus can heal you? We talk about how God can do anything; but we don’t really believe that He can heal us.
Notice also, that immediately there were people upset with what Jesus did. They could care less that this man who had been an invalid for 38 years was healed. They were more concerned about the day in which he was healed. This is also a vital part of healing- You have to choose who you are going to believe. You can listen to the world or you can listen to Jesus.
John 5:14-15 (NIV)
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 Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Do you want to get well…
4. Then give Jesus the credit.
Jesus found the man at the Temple and gave him some information. “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” When Jesus changes our lives, we should be different. Christians, you should not think that you are saved to keep on sinning. Yes, we continue to sin after we are saved; but you should deal with that sin by confessing it to God. Don’t forget that many people are sick due to sin.
Once the man left, he went to those Jewish leaders and told them that Jesus had healed him. When God heals your body, or a relationship, or a situation; make sure to give Him the credit.
Conclusion:
Do you want to get well? Start obeying God and giving Him all of the glory, honor, and praise. Don’t fear this virus- Trust in Jesus.
