“A HARDENED HEART IN A HEALED BODY”
John 5:1-15
Message 11 in Gospel of John 2021
Greenmount and O’Leary Churches of Christ, March 28, 2021
Video Link: https://youtu.be/8YfVvENb5Ro
INTRODUCTION:
1.) Over the past few weeks, I have said the miracles of Jesus were to bring people to faith.
2.) Yet even the miracles of God cannot bring to faith one who has hardened his heart to God.
3.) Today I want to introduce you to just that kind of man.
A.) The fifth chapter of John, tells us of a man whom Jesus healed, but whose heart was to hard to put his faith in Christ.
I. OUR SCENE OPENS WITH HOSPITAL BEDS AT THE POOLSIDE
1.) “A great number of disabled people used to lie.” (5:3a)
A.) There at the pool of Bethesda from time to time the water would bubble up from an intermittent spring underneath.
aa.) When this spring would bubble up it would stir up the sediment in the bottom.
aaa.) Jewish tradition held that it was an angel that stirred up the water and also brought healing.
ab.) It is possible there may have been some degree of healing properties in the minerals of that sediment, but beyond that it was more superstition than reality that the water would provide healing to the body.
ac.) Just the same in Jesus’ day many in need of healing would gather there hoping to be healed.
aca.) On this particular day Jesus came to the area around the pool.
.01) We are given a description of who Jesus saw there.
B.) “The blind, the lame, the paralyzed.” (5:3b.)
ba.) Anyone with a physical ailment would have congregated there.
C.) In many ways this was an open-air hospital.
2.) Though many came for healing, Jesus focused on only one man.
A.) Sometimes we feel that Jesus healed everyone he met who was sick or had physical ailments.
aa.) Nothing could be further from the truth.
ab.) John 5 is proof that Jesus did not heal everyone.
aba.) We are told there were many people at this pool, but Jesus chose only this one man from the group for physical healing.
B.) John 5:5
ba.) This man had been disabled for thirty-eight years.
C.) Jesus saw him lying there. (John 5:6)
ca.) “He had been in this condition for a long time.” (5:6b.)
cb.) Perhaps Jesus chose this man because of the hopelessness of his case.
cba.) If you had been unable to walk for thirty-eight years, the chances of healing now were unlikely.
3.) Jesus came to the man and asked if he wanted to get well. John 5:6c.)
A.) “Do you want to get well?” (5:6d.)
aa.) What kind of a question is that?
ab.) This man had been on a bed for 38 years, of course he wanted to get well, at least we would think he would.
ac.) But that is perhaps not the case.
aca.) There are people who enjoy ill health, and the attention it brings to them.
acb.) Daily he received attention from people who might otherwise not even notice him much less give him the time of day.
acc.) Not only this, but his thirty-eight years of sickness meant he did not have to work for a living but had his every need met by those who were passing by.
acd.) Yes, there was a certain degree of embarrassment, and shame to lie there and beg, but he had got used to it, and now the begging was just part of his daily life.
.01) It is also possible that he had become quite good at it.
ad.) These could all have been reasons why Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well.
ae.) I think there could have been another reason for Jesus to ask him if he wanted to get well:
af.) Jesus was likely speaking of both physical healing, and spiritual healing.
B.) In response to Jesus’ question the man focused only on his own abilities.
ba.) John 5:7
bb.) In fact, we will see later in this text that He did not even know who Jesus was, so had no reason to put his faith in Him.
II. HEALING FROM THE HEAVENLY HEALER.
1.) The healing was done through the spoken word.
A.) John 5:8-9
B.) “Get Up!” (5:8a.)
ba.) It was a commandment from the very one who had created his body.
ba.) “At once the man was cured.” (5:9a.)
bb.) The words of Jesus came as a commandment to the man, but it was also a commandment to his legs and body to come back to life so the man could walk.
C.) “Pick up your mat!” (5:8b.)
ca.) That may not seem that big of a request, but we will see in our text that it stirred up trouble because this was the Sabbath, and the Pharisees considered him to be working on the Sabbath.
cb.) “He picked up his mat.” (5:9b.)
cba.) Without any hesitation he did what Jesus had commanded.
D.) Jesus gave him a further command “Walk!” (5:8c.)
da.) He “walked.” (5:9c.)
2.) But there was a problem in that the healing was done on the Sabbath. (5:9d.)
A.) Jesus did not have to heal the man on the Sabbath.
B.) The man had been in this condition for thirty- eight years.
ba.) Certainly, one more day would not have made much of a difference.
C.) That being the case, why would Jesus heal him on the Sabbath?
ca.) Jesus may have had another purpose in healing that man on the Sabbath.
cb.) Jesus deliberately chose to heal this man on the Sabbath in order to show his own authority and power as the Son of man.
cba.) In Matthew 12:8 Jesus even pointed out that he is “Lord of the Sabbath.”
cc.).) I believe Jesus wanted to point out some of the additions and extensions to the Sabbath laws which the religious leaders had added.
cca.) These were additions from man not God.
ccb.) There were God’s laws, and then there were man’s laws.
ccc.) God’s law had given guidelines for the Sabbath, but man’s laws went beyond the law of God to keep you from breaking the law.
ccd.) Let me give you an example:
.01) God’s law said to remember the sabbath to keep it holy, and that they were not to work on the Sabbath.
.02) Man’s laws tried to define what was meant by work.
.021) They would do this in every area of society adding sometimes hundreds of laws to define the law of God.
.022) One area in which they defined it was to go for a walk.
• They concluded that if you only walked about a kilometer or 6/10 of a mile it was not work.
• If you walked more than that it was considered to be work.
.03) By this time the laws of man were looked at with an authority equal to that of the laws of God.
3.) The man was challenged for carrying his mat on the Sabbath.
A.) John 5:10
B.) “The man who made me well said to me ‘Pick up your mat and walk.” (5:11)
ba.) The man shifts the blame.
bb.) The one who healed me commanded me to do this.
bba.) As I read this, I am not sure if he was placing the blame for his actions on Jesus, or if he felt the religious leaders would understand for to do such a miracle he must be from God.
C.) “Who is this man?” (5:12)
ca.) John 5:13
da.) This was one of the few instances where faith was not necessary on the part of the one who benefited from the miracle as the man did not even know who Jesus was much less put faith in him.
db.) Jesus was also not seeking attention as he slipped away.
III. THE HATRED FROM THE JEWISH HIERARCHY.
1.) “Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, see you are well again.” (5:14a.)
A.) Perhaps Jesus had quietly slipped away earlier as he wanted some private time with the man to confront him on his sin without humiliating him before the people.
2.) Jesus also confronted this man on his state of sin.
A.) “Stop sinning.” (5:14b.)
aa.) This is not an indication that all physical issues are the result of sin.
ab.) In fact when we come to chapter 9, we will find a blind man being told that he or his parents had been sinful for him to be born blind.
aba.) In that instance Jesus clearly stated that neither he nor his parents had sinned to cause the blindness.
abb.) Yet the scene here in John 5 is different, and Jesus indicates that in this man’s situation his physical condition had come because of his sin.
.01) Jesus therefore warned him to stop sinning …
B.) “or something worse may happen to you.” (5:14c.)
3.) This man did not care to be confronted in his sin.
A.) Generally, most people are not fond to be confronted on their sin.
aa.) There are those like King David when confronted by the prophet Nathan had a humble heart, and readily turned back to God in repentance.
ab.) There are also those who if confronted by sin are proud and become even more rebellious toward God and man.
B.) How did this man react?
ba.) John 5:15
bb.) This man had not been able to walk for thirty-eight years.
bba.) When Jesus healed this man, it should have been the greatest day of his life.
bbb.) You would have thought being healed after nearly four decades the man would be singing the praises of Jesus.
bc.) Under normal circumstances that man might have done just that except for one thing: Jesus had confronted him on his sinfulness.
bd.) What the sinfulness was we are not told.
be.) Whatever it was it seems that his health issues had been the direct result of his sin.
bf.) Not only that but he had continued in his life of sin.
bfa.) People do not want to be confronted in their sin.
.01) Many times a person will become defensive, and angry when confronted in sin, even denying the existence of it.
bfb.) People also do not want to be told they need to repent of their sinfulness.
bg.) The man had absolutely no repentance.
bh.) Jesus told him to stop sinning or something worse may happen to him.
bi.) We ask what could be worse than being bed- ridden for thirty-eight years?
bia.) Answer: To continue in sin and spend eternity in hell.
bib.) Sadly, today many people know the truth yet prefer to stay in sin than to surrender to Jesus Christ and come under his mercy, grace, and forgiveness.
bij.) This is true with non-Christians, but sadly there are times that it is also true of some who at one time or another had come to know Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour.
.01) What a sad thing that a person would choose sin rather than Jesus Christ.
.02) That choice if not reversed would also mean to choose an eternity away from the presence of God in hell.
C.) The question is what choice did this man make?
4.) The man decided to stir up trouble for Jesus because of this confrontation.
A.) John 5:15
B.) There is no indication from our text of this man listening to and heeding the words of Jesus.
ba.) We can hope that sometime down the road this man turned from his sin, and turned to Christ, but there is nothing in our text that indicates he that he ever did.
baa.) Scripture never again mentions this man.
bab.) We can only guess as to where this man would spend eternity.
CONCLUSION:
1.) As I close this passage today, we have seen of a man who had been touched with healing from the Master’s hand.
A.) What a blessing this man received.
2.) Yet the ultimate reason Jesus came was not for physical healing, but for spiritual healing.
A.) While Jesus had warned this man to turn from his sin, there is no indication in our text that he ever did.
B.) In fact, when the scene closed, he seemed to have some anger and bitterness towards Jesus.
ba.) While we hope this man left his sin and came to Christ it is possible that he continued in his sin until something worse happened to him if he ended up in hell.
3.) As we leave this account it is decision time.
A.) If you are faithful Christian you need to continue faithfully in Christ, growing in his grace, praying for and encouraging the lost to come to Christ.
B.) If you have never come to Jesus Christ, your greatest need is to come through faith to Jesus Christ and be obedient to the gospel in the waters of baptism.
C.) If you have come to Christ but have fallen into sin and away from Christ, you need to repent and come back to Jesus.
D.) "What will you do with Jesus?
Neutral you cannot be;
Someday your heart will be asking,
What will He do with me?”
