JESUS HAS COME: NO ANGEL IS NECESSARY!
John 5:1-9
INTRODUCTION
A. HUMOR: MALE’S KEEN OBSERVATION
1. Jason was out shopping at the Woodlands Mall with his wife Latisha, but he wasn’t enjoying it. For over 45 minutes, he'd been 'stuck' with Latisha in the ladies department of the Forever 21 store. And he couldn't leave until she found a fashionable new outfit. So he was getting very tired and irritable.
2. Then, for the seventh time, Latisha came out of the changing room wearing yet another outfit. He looked Latisha up and down and said, "That's it, Babe! Not only does the outfit fit you perfectly, but it's your favorite color. Buy it and let's go get something to eat!"
3. She blew up. "You’re worthless, Jason!" said Latisha, "This is the same outfit I came in here with!"
B. TEXT
5 Sometime 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 [KJV –“porches”]. 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. 4 From 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 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. [NIV with footnote included]
C. THESIS & TITLE
1. Today we’re looking at the phenomenon of the stirring of the waters, why the man couldn’t get in, and what Jesus’ interruption means for us!
2. The title of this message is “Jesus Has Come: No Angel Is Necessary!”
I. THE MIRACULOUS POOL OF BETHESDA
A. REALITY OF THIS POOL
1. The Pool of Bethesda was thought to be a myth* until Conrad Schick discovered a large tank with 5 porticoes situated about 100 feet NW of St. Anne's Church near the Sheep Gate. This exactly describes the ancient pool with 5 porches referred to in John’s Gospel.
2. This Pool was associated with healing. Bethesda means "house of mercy" and it was the gathering place of the sick and cripples (v. 3). John specified three sorts of diseased people that lay there: the blind, lame, and withered/paralyzed.
B. WATERS STIRRED SIGNALED THE ANGEL’S PRESENCE
1. John’s Gospel tells us that an angel went down into the pool, and stirred the water. Angels are God’s servants.
2. The troubling of the water was the signal of the descent of the angel. This was similar to the “sound of marching of the angels” on the tops of the mulberry trees David experienced. It was then time to move out.
3. We shouldn’t think it strange that there were times of special healing manifested. Luke says "... and the power of the Lord was present to heal the sick." (5:17). There was a special liberty/ presence of God there to heal the sick.
C. JESUS CAME IN PLACE OF THE ANGEL
1. This pool was no tourist spot. You don't go to a garbage dump, slum, or emphysema ward while on vacation. This pool was similar to a hospital.
2. When Jesus came to Jerusalem, He didn't visit the palaces, but the hospitals. Out of all the multitudes, Christ chose this one. The most helpless of all, attracts Christ's attention.
3. Jesus knew how long he’d lain in that condition! Take courage! God knows how long you've suffered!
II. WHY HE LAY THERE SO LONG
A. FAITH IN THE WRONG THING
1. Oftentimes our rituals don't work. We declare a breakthrough, we rebuke, we take authority over something – and for whatever reason – it doesn’t work. For 38 years brother so-n-so had gone to the church at Bethesda and substituted rituals for reformation.
2. This was where society put people they couldn't heal, at the pool of Bethesda. It's lonely when you're powerless. It's lonely when you say, “After all these years I should've gotten further. I never thought I'd get to this age and still be in the same place.”
3. It wasn't just that the man was there that impacted Jesus, but it was HOW LONG. How long you've had bad credit, how long you've been without love, how long you've been without accomplishment, how long you've been in debt, how long you've been angry with your sister, how long you and your mother have not been speaking. Thirty-eight years is a long time to be mad.
4. DOESN’T GOD CARE? Thru the first 5 verses of John 5, there was no conversation, there was no communication -- because Jesus was just taking it all in, looking at this man and his situation.
5. Have you ever been hurting? C'mon, we can be honest; there’s nobody here but us. Have you ever been hurting and felt like God was unjust?
6. “God, Don't you see how lame I am? Don't you see how blind I am? Don't you know how broke I am? Don't you know how hurt I am?” “I've been in church for 38 years and I need something to happen for me.” Somebody say, “I need something to happen for me!” And Jesus came, but He didn’t say anything.
B. JESUS’ QUESTION & HIS ANSWER
1. And then the all-knowing, all-powerful God asked him a question. It's a very simple question; “Will you be made whole?” The man probably wanted to say, “Respectfully, sir, why would you ask me such a thing when you see my condition and where I’m waiting?”
2. But today I want to step around the question and get to the man's answer, because the power of this passage is in his answer. And I want to make sure that when you leave here that you leave here on a whole ‘nother level. Bethesda had 5 porches.
3. I don't just want you to come to the House of God and then go back and resume your place on the “porch.” Tell your porch, “I'm leaving.” Tell your seat on the porch, “I'm leaving.” Say, “I will not be on this porch next year.” Say it like you mean it; “I will not be on this porch next year! I'm going to a whole 'nother level!” “I may have to deal with something else, but it won’t be this same old devil” I've been dealing with for 38 years. If you agree with that, make some noise!
4. Now listen to how the man explains why he's stuck. This is important. Everyone has a way of explaining why they're stuck. This story is not a story that he created in the moment. It is the story of powerless people. It’s how we explain to people why our life has not changed.
5. Notice Jesus asked him, “Will you be made whole?” This is really a yes or no question, but he couldn't say “yes” or “no” because of the story that he told to himself.
6. The Lord sent me here today to challenge the story you tell yourself -- how you explain what you lost, why you haven't grown, why your first marriage didn’t last.
7. It’s not the devil that's got you stuck. That's why spiritual warfare classes won't change your situation. It not the demonic, not something spiritual: it’s THE STORY. The impotent, afflicted, crippled, lame, blind story.
C. THE STORY WE TELL OURSELVES
1. The man said “When the waters are troubled, it's not that I don't want to be better, but while I am coming down, the reason I'm like this is that SOMEBODY... (Oh, I'm gonna mess with you today.)
2. See, all of us have SOMEBODY that we blame. (Let me try this section over here.) All of us have somebody that we blame as the reason why we didn't get any further than we got. It might sound like this:
a. If my father would've stayed with my mother...
b. If I'd had a good education...
c. If my mama would’ve supported me like she did her sister....
3. As long as you point at somebody else as the reason to why you’re not moving, it means you can't go forward unless somebody else does something. You’ve given the power of your story to some other person that doesn't have anything to do with your deliverance/solution.
4. Have you ever considered that your story could be a lie? I'm not saying that it doesn't have truth in it, but have you left out some significant things? This man says, “It's not my fault I'm like this; it’s somebody else’s fault! Every time I got ready to move forward somebody gets in my way.”
5. He’s saying, “Even though it was God's will to heal me, somebody’s blocking me from getting what God... Wait-a-minute! Do you really believe that junk? Do you really believe that anybody could block you from getting what God has for you? I came to tell you that when God gets ready to bless you no devil in hell can stop Him!
6. Turn to somebody and tell them, “You can't stop this! When I get ready to get up, you can't stop it. When I get ready to stand up...go forward...change my life ... move up, you can't stop it. You can roll your eyes, but you can't stop it!”
7. Folks, That means your sister can't stop it; Your mama can't...Your ex-husband...Your knobby-head children can't...the haters can't stop it. NOBODY can't stop it, if God be for you!
8. Touch your neighbor and say, “I'm takin' it back! I'm takin' back my authority, I'm takin' back my control, ...my story...my decision. It ain't up to you, it's up to me! Give me my joy. Give me my peace. Give me my power. Give me my dignity. Give me my strength. I will bless the Lord and at all times.
III. WHY NO ANGEL IS NECESSARY
A. MIRACLES ARE ALWAYS AVAILABLE
1. One of the truths of this passage is, that the man didn’t have to wait for the angel to come down and stir the waters! We don’t have to either – Jesus has come! Miracles are NOT only SOMETIMES AVAILABLE, but ALWAYS AVAILABLE!
2. God is not God only some of the time, and other times is on vacation (as Elijah accused Baal of). Grace is available 100% of the time. You can get SAVED anytime. God hears PRAYER around the clock. GOD IS ON THE JOB 24 hours a day!
3. Miracles can happen anytime; they can happen right now. All we have to do is stand on the Word and receive the miracle.
B. REACH OUT AND RECEIVE
1. Blind Bartimaeus heard Jesus was passing by and claimed his miracle. Jesus isn’t just passing by, He’s come to abide with us forever in the Holy Spirit. Where Jesus is, there’s healing! There’s deliverance! There’s financial miracles. There’s marital healing. There’s whatever you need.
2. The Bible says, Deut. 30:11-14, “The Word is near you, it’s already in your heart – the Word of faith.” Speak it out! Reach out and take it! Many verses that tell us to “receive” from God, (Greek, lambano) also mean to “take!” Mt. 21:22; Jam. 1:7; 1 John 3:22. God is holding it out – all you have to do is reach out and take it!
3. Jesus told one man, “Stretch out your hand!” Another, “Rise up and walk.” Another, “Wash in the Pool of Siloam.” LET’S HAVE SOME MOVEMENT! Let’s RECEIVE the miraculous, FLOW IN God’s will for us. The lame man got up off his mat; in a few moments we’re going to also.
CONCLUSION
A. ILLUS.: A Modern Genuine Miracle
1. Undercover narcotics police officer Norm Wielsch worked in the San Francisco Area. He had been on the police force for 10 years and because of the emotional stress and physical wear and tear, PTSD had taken hold of him. His wife took their two daughters and divorced him. He remarried, but because of several surgeries, he became addicted to opioids.
2. In 2010, his daughter was diagnosed with liver tumors. Doctors gave her a 50% chance of surviving. Norm sank down into deep depression. He made some bad decisions on the job. He said, “This was my darkest hour. But God began his mighty work in my life. My wife insisted we visit a church near our home.”
3. During a Sunday morning service, the Pastor asked the congregation to pray for Norm’s daughter’s healing. Shortly thereafter, they went to get the results from her latest biopsy.
4. The doctor presented two scans: one showing the tumors, and another on which the tumors had disappeared completely. The doctor couldn’t explain the results.
5. Norm said, “It hit me like a ton of bricks. This was no coincidence—God had healed her! I finally knew there was a living God!” [Christianity Today, Sept. 2022, “Police Work Nearly Broke Me.”]
B. THE CALL
1. The shocker is that God’s down here and is working among us! Now that Jesus has come and sent His Holy Spirit, we don’t have to wait for some special circumstance – all we need to do is step forward and receive what we need!
2. I want everyone who has a need to step forward to the front. We’re going to anoint you with oil and pray for God’s miracle to be released in your life. What God did in the Bible He’s still doing today!
3. PRAYER
*Verse 4 is probably an early copyist’s note added to explain verse 7. However, there is strong mss evidence for keeping it in the text: A, C3, E, F, G, Delta, etc., Tertullian (200 A.D.), Didymus, and Cyril. It does have numerous variants.
[Section II is a rewrite of a message by T.D. Jakes on this passage]
