Introduction: Have you ever missed a sign?
I have.
One time I was rushing through the airport, ticket in hand, suitcase dragging behind me. I cleared security, found my gate, and sat down to wait. After a few minutes I started listening to the announcements — and realized everybody around me was boarding for Dallas. The problem? I was supposed to be flying to Denver.
I was in the right building, but I had missed the sign. And if I hadn’t caught it in time, I would’ve ended up in the wrong city.
Signs matter.
That’s why John doesn’t call them miracles; he calls them signs.
A miracle can impress you.
A sign directs you.
A miracle can make you stare.
A sign makes you move.
So what does the Bethesda Miracle sign? Not simply that Jesus heals, but that Jesus reveals the Father’s heart in a world where most have lost their understanding of who the Father is.
And that brings us to the question this message presses on us: Who is the Father to you?
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I. Futility – “The Father is Indifferent”
The lost understanding:
Thirty-eight years. Almost a lifetime. Every day the same mat, the same crowd, the same false hope at the pool. Every time the water stirred, he thought, “Maybe this time.” And every time someone else beat him there.
His words tell the whole story: “I have no one.” No friend to help, no healer to notice, no family to carry him. In his eyes, even God had walked past. The Father must be indifferent.
The revelation through Jesus:
But then Jesus comes. He doesn’t heal the crowd — He sees the one man everyone else overlooked. He asks: “Do you want to be made well?” And then: “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.”
The Father is revealed in that moment: not indifferent, but attentive. Not absent, but near. Not watching from a distance, but bending down to one man’s mat.
Illustration:
A man who still went to the bus stop every day with his briefcase after losing his job — stuck, but invisible.
Futility often looks busy — but it goes nowhere.
Have you ever felt invisible? Have regrets chained you so long they’ve become your identity?
When futility whispers, “God has forgotten you,” the Bethesda Miracle says, “The Father sees you.”
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II. Emptiness – “The Father is Cruel or Rule-Obsessed”
The lost understanding:
Bethesda means House of Mercy, but no mercy was found there. Healing was a cruel lottery: only the fastest and strongest won.
And when mercy finally came through Jesus, what did the leaders say? “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” In their eyes, the Father cared more about mats than mercy.
The revelation through Jesus:
Jesus heals without lottery, without merit, without condition. He heals on the Sabbath itself, declaring that the Father’s heart is mercy, not cruelty; compassion, not cold legalism.
Illustration:
A woman once entered a church with a note in her Bible: “If I don’t find hope today, this will be my last attempt.” She left unnoticed, the note damp with tears. That is religion without grace.
Have you ever been to a place that promised mercy but gave you rules instead? That’s Bethesda.
What picture of the Father did you inherit? Scorekeeper? Enforcer? Cruel master?
The Bethesda Miracle whispers: The Father is not cruel. His heart is mercy in person.
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III. Wholeness – “The Father Only Fixes, Not Forgives”
The lost understanding:
Strong legs might look like the happy ending — but healing without forgiveness is not enough. If the Father only fixes problems, He is just a repairman.
The revelation through Jesus:
Jesus finds the man again in the temple: “See, you are well. Sin no more.” The Bethesda Miracle is not just about walking. It is about salvation. The Father does not only repair — He forgives, He saves, He makes whole.
By sin we have been severed from the life of God. Our souls are paralyzed. Of ourselves we are no more capable of living a holy life than the impotent man was capable of walking. Many feel their helplessness, striving in vain for harmony with God. Then the Saviour bends over us with tender pity, asking, “Will you be made whole?” His word, believed and acted on, brings healing and peace.
Parallel with Peter’s house:
Remember the paralytic lowered through the roof. Before Jesus told him to rise, He said: “Son, your sins are forgiven.” That was the greater miracle. To say “Get up and walk” proved He had authority to say the deeper word: “You are forgiven… you are saved
The third sign reminds us: the Father’s goal is never just stronger legs or outward relief. The real sign is this: when Jesus speaks, sins are forgiven, hearts are restored, and people are saved.
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IV. The Reaction – Praise or Plot
Not everyone saw the same thing at Bethesda.
The healed man: After thirty-eight years on a mat, he could now walk into the temple. For the first time in his adult life, he could draw near to God with the worshiping community. His very steps were praise.
Some in the crowd: Amazed, they whispered of prophecy fulfilled — the lame walking, mercy revealed. Their hearts leaned toward worship.
The leaders: Instead of mercy, they saw a broken rule. Instead of praising God, they accused: “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
John records it plainly: “The Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.”
The Bethesda Miracle revealed the Father’s heart — but it also revealed the hearts of the people. Some were drawn near in gratitude. Others hardened in rage.
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Echo Back to the Beginning
This is not new. From the very start, humanity has split at the sign of God’s presence.
In Eden, when God walked in the cool of the day, Adam and Eve had to choose whether to hide in shame or step into His mercy.
Cain and Abel both brought offerings. Abel’s was authentic; Cain’s was hardened. One offering led to life and acceptance; the other to anger and violence.
The same sign of God’s nearness can draw one person into worship and drive another into rebellion.
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Conclusion – The Whisper of the Sign
The Bethesda Miracle is not filler. It is a sign.
And the sign whispers across the centuries: Jesus reveals the Father’s heart in a world where most have lost their understanding of who the Father is.
Against the lie that the Father is indifferent ? Jesus reveals a Father who sees you.
Against the lie that the Father is cruel or rule-obsessed ? Jesus reveals a Father whose heart is mercy.
Against the lie that the Father only fixes ? Jesus reveals a Father who forgives, saves, and makes whole.
The man said, “I have no one.” But the sign answers: “Now you do.”
And here is the question this sign leaves with us: Who is the Father to you?
Because your spiritual life will never grow higher than your view of the Father. And the good news of the Bethesda Miracle is this: when you see Jesus, you see the Father.
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Closing Appeal
Some of us have lived in futility for years. Some of us have been wounded by empty religion. Some of us have settled for surface healing but not wholeness.
This sign is for you. The Father has not forgotten you. The Father is not cruel. The Father is not finished until you are whole.
Come to Him. Believe in Him. Walk with Him. And when He speaks forgiveness, you are not just healed — you are saved.
