MELVIN M. NEWLAND, MINISTER
RIDGE CHAPEL, KANSAS, OK
(REVISED: 2018)
TEXT: John 5:1-15; Matthew 11:28-30
A. When you look around at the people who attend church on Sunday, what do you see? Do you see remarkable people, dressed in fine clothes who have it all together? Or do you see hurting people in need of comfort; troubled people in need of peace; sick people who need healing?
ILL. Marshall Hayden wrote an article entitled, "Would Every Non-Hurter Please Stand Up?" He pointed out that people come to church wearing their best clothes & their best smiles. Everybody looks happy, so we assume everything is okay.
But he suggested that we need to look beyond the facade & realize that the pews are full of hurting people.
He wrote, "Over here is a family with an income of $550 a week & expenses of nearly $800. Over there is a family with two children who, according to their dad, are failures. ‘You're stupid. You never do anything right,’ he is constantly telling them that. The lady over there found a lump that tested positive.
"There's a couple who just had a nasty fight. Each is thinking of divorce. Last Monday one man learned that he was being laid off. And there is a wife who has tried her best to cover the bruises her drunken husband inflicted when he came home Friday night.
"Then there are those of us with lesser hurts, but they don't seem so small to us: a boring job, a poor grade, a friend or parent who is unresponsive ...on & on the stories go. The lonely, the dying, the discouraged, they're all here."
B. And it was to such people that Jesus said, in Matthew 11:28-30, "Come to me, all you who are weary & burdened, & I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you & learn from me, for I am gentle & humble in heart, & you will find rest for your souls."
This is not to say that He will resolve every problem immediately, for Jesus clearly said that we will have trouble in this world. But He can resolve our problems if we trust in Him. In some cases, He may resolve the problem immediately. In other cases, He grants the power to endure the difficulty & triumph over it.
The healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, recorded in John 5:1?15, is a dramatic example of this. Here was a man who for 38 years had been unable to walk, a burden to others, & probably with little sense of self?worth.
But Jesus had pity on him & healed him. And it's one of the few times the Scripture records Jesus healing someone when He was not asked to do so.
PROP. Let's see how Jesus dealt with this man & his needs, because I believe there are some lessons we can learn from it.
I. HE HAD TO DECIDE WHAT HE REALLY WANTED
A. First of all, Jesus encouraged the man to decide what he really wanted. Vs. 6 says, "When Jesus saw him lying there & learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?'"
That sounds like an absurd question. Of course this man wanted to get well! You wouldn't ask a starving man, "Do you want food?" would you?
Actually, it was a valid question, for there are people who, if given an oppor-tunity, might actually choose to remain sick. Right now they're free of some unpleasant responsibilities, & they get sympathy by complaining. They can manipulate people by being sick, or punish themselves if they feel guilty.
ILL. Dave Reavor, disabled Viet Nam veteran, tells of a young man in the 1960s who didn't want to be drafted. So he had all his teeth pulled out to make himself unfit for military duty. But when he took his physical, he was declared unfit because of flat feet!
So when Jesus asked, "Do you want to get well?" He seems to be saying, "You have friends who bring you here, & you've developed friendships with others who come here regularly. If I heal you, your life will do a complete reversal. You'll be expected to get a job & relate to people on a different basis. Are you ready for that change? Do you really want to get well?"
B. That's a question we may need to answer as well. What do you really want? The first step to gaining something is to want it.
ILL. Drs. Minirth & Meyer wrote a book entitled "Happiness Is a Choice." In it they said, "As psychiatrists, we cringe whenever … patients use the words, ‘I can't'… Any good psychiatrist knows that ‘I can't' … is merely a lame excuse. We insist that our patients stop saying ‘can't' & say ‘won't' instead."
"They need to see what they are really doing, so we make them face up to it by repeating, ‘I just won't get along with my wife.' ‘My husband & I won't com-municate.' ‘I won't discipline my kids the way I should.' ‘I won't stop gossiping.'
"When they change their ‘can'ts’ to ‘won'ts’ they stop avoiding the truth & start facing reality."
We need to determine what we really want, & as God's people, learn to say with Paul, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Philippians 4:13).
II. HE HAD TO QUIT BLAMING OTHERS
A. A second need for this man's healing was to quit blaming others for his problem.
There was a local belief that the waters of Bethesda had healing powers. The people in that day believed that when the waters of Bethesda bubbled up, the first one in the water would be cured.
So when Jesus asked, "Do you want to get well?" the man replied, "Sir, 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." (John 5:7)
He was complaining, "Every time the water bubbles up, no one will help me get into the pool. It's always the stronger ones who reach the water first. Those of us who need it the most don’t have anyone to help us. It's been that way for 38 years."
B. It's easy to blame other people for our problems. When God asked Adam why he disobeyed, Adam explained, "The woman you gave me persuaded me to eat."
When Moses asked his brother Aaron why he permitted the Israelites to worship a golden calf, Aaron said, "The people pressured me to do something since you were gone so long, Moses. They wanted gods like the Canaanites. So I just threw their jewelry into the fire & out came this calf."
Blame the people, blame Moses for taking so long, blame the Canaanites, blame the fire even! But don't blame me!
When Pilate was forced to make a decision about Jesus, he said, "I wash my hands of this matter. Do with Him as you please. But I'm innocent of this man's blood."
C. People do the same thing today. How often do we hear people say things like, "I'd stop drinking if my wife would quit nagging me!" "I'd work harder, but no one appreciates my effort." "I'd make better grades, but my teacher doesn't like me."
ILL. It is said that King William of Pottsdam once paid a royal visit to a prison. Every prisoner brought before him claimed to be innocent & begged for a pardon, except for one man who admitted his guilt.
King William told the warden, "Get this guilty man out of prison before he corrupts all these innocent men!" And the man was set free.
APPL. We have such a difficult time saying, "It's my fault." We blame heredity, environment, circumstances ? everything except ourselves. Yet what the Lord wants is for us to accept responsibility for our own behavior.
Romans 14:12 says that the day will come when "Each of us will give an account of himself to God."
Heredity & environment play a part in influencing us, but we can rise above that if we want to. Some of the world's most successful people had terrible pasts. Some of the most privileged people wind up being complete failures.
APPL. Maybe it's time for us to quit blaming others, & say with the old spiritual, "It's me, it's me, O Lord, standin' in the need of prayer. Not my brother, not my sister, but it's me, O Lord, standin' in the need of prayer."
III. HE HAD TO PUT FORTH AN EFFORT
Notice also that Jesus motivated the lame man to put forth an effort. Vs. 8 says, "Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat & walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat & walked."
A. Jesus frequently required effort on the part of people he healed. Not always, but often, He required a response of faith even before He would heal.
He said to the 10 lepers, "Go show yourself to the priests," & as they went they were healed. He said to the man with a withered hand, "Stretch forth your hand." When the man did, his hand was healed. Jesus put clay on the eyes of a blind man & said, "Go wash in the pool of Siloam." When he washed, he could see.
Jesus asked this man to attempt the one thing that he hadn't done for 38 years. Jesus said, "Pick up your mat & walk." When the man made the effort, he was healed at once.
ILL. One man told about a friend who has been in a wheelchair for 15 years. But his doctors say that he could be walking today if he had made more effort in therapy when he was younger. Apparently, he wasn’t willing to put forth that much effort!
Contrast that with Tony Melendez, who plays the guitar with his toes! Born with no arms, Tony shares with audiences what Jesus Christ means to him & then skillfully plays the guitar with his bare feet. Can you imagine the tremen-dous amount of effort, frustration, & determination it took to develop that skill?
SUM. So if we really want to be whole, we must make an effort. It was Jesus who said, “So I say to you: Ask & it will be given to you; seek & you will find; knock & the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; & to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10)
IV. HE GAVE CREDIT TO JESUS
And last of all, after he was healed, this man was motivated to give testimony that Jesus had healed him.
Vs's 9-13 tell us, "The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, & so the Jews 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 & walk.'
"So they asked him, ‘Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up & walk?' The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there."
But Jesus came back to reveal himself to this man. He wanted him to have more than just a healthy body. He wanted the former lame man to be healthy spiritually as well.
Vs. 14 says, "Later Jesus found him at the temple & said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’" Oh, did you notice that word “again”? He was well "again." Evidently there had been a time when he could walk.
I wonder if there had been some disobedience in his younger years that had caused him to become lame? Whatever the cause, Jesus warned him that there was something worse than being physically handicapped, & that was spending eternity apart from God.
B. Vs. 15 says, "The man went away & told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well."
ILL. In Max Lucado’s book, “He Still Moves Stones”, he asks about this story & similar stories in the Gospels, “Tell me, why are these stories in the Bible?”
“Why are the Gospels full of such … hopeless people? Though their situations vary, their conditions don’t. They are trapped, … rejected. They have nowhere to turn. On their lips, a desperate prayer, in their hearts, desolate dreams. And in their hands, a broken rope. But before their eyes a never-say-die Galilean who majors in stepping in when everyone else steps out.
“Again I ask. Why are these stories in the Bible?...Why did God leave us one tale after another of wounded lives being restored? So we could be grateful for the past? So we could look back with amazement at what Jesus did?
“No, No, a thousand times No! The purpose of these stories is not to tell us what Jesus did. Their purpose is to tell us what Jesus does.
"In Romans 15:4 the apostle Paul wrote, 'Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance & the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.'
“These are not just children's stories, not romantic fables, not somewhere-over-the rainbow illusions. These are historic moments in which a real God met real pain so we could answer the question, ‘Where is God when I hurt?’
“How does God react to dashed hopes? Read the story of Jairus. How does the Father feel about those who are ill? Stand with him at the pool of Bethesda. What is God’s word for the shameful? Watch as his finger draws in the dirt of the Jerusalem courtyard.
“He’s not doing it just for them. He’s doing it for me. He’s doing it for you.
“I know there used to be a stone in front of a tomb. And I do know it was moved. And I also know that there are stones in your path. Stones that trip and stones that trap. Stones that are too big …"
The reason these events are recorded in the Bible is not to help us look back at Jesus with amazement, but to move forward with faith.
The God who spoke still speaks. The God who forgave still forgives. The God who came still comes into our world. He comes to move the stones that we cannot move.
APPL. This morning we are all handicapped by sin. We can't heal ourselves. All the suggested cures of this world are futile.
But the blood?stained hands of Jesus reaches out to us. "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, & by His wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5 ).
There is healing power in the touch of Jesus. He is reaching out to you. Do you want to get well?
INVITATION
A. When you look around at the people who attend church on Sunday, what do you see? Do you see impressive people, dressed in fine clothes who have it all together? Or do you see hurting people in need of comfort; troubled people in need of peace; sick people who need healing?
ILL. Marshall Hayden wrote an article entitled, "Would Every Non-Hurter Please Stand Up?" He pointed out that people come to church wearing their best clothes & their best smiles. Everybody looks happy, so we assume everything is okay.
But he suggests that we need to look beyond the facade & realize that the pews are full of hurting people.
He wrote, "Over here is a family with an income of $550 a week and an outgo of $1,000. Over there is a family with two children who, according to their dad, are failures. ‘You're stupid. You never do anything right,’ he is constantly telling them. The lady over there just found a tumor that tested positive.
"Sam & Louise just had a nasty fight. Each is thinking of divorce. Last Monday Jim learned that he was being laid off. Sarah has tried her best to cover the bruises her drunken husband inflicted when he came home Friday night.
"Then there are those of us with lesser hurts, but they don't seem so small to us: a boring job, a poor grade, a friend or parent who is unresponsive ...on & on the stories go. The lonely, the dying, the discouraged, the exhausted, they're all here."
B. In the face of that, the Word of God has good news! In Matthew 11:28-30, Jesus said, "Come to me, all you who are weary & burdened, & I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you & learn from me, for I am gentle & humble in heart, & you will find rest for your souls."
This is not to say that He will resolve every problem immediately, for Jesus said clearly that we will have trouble in this world. But He can resolve our problems if we trust in Him. In some cases, He may resolve the problem immediately. In other cases, He grants the power to endure the difficulty & triumph over it.
The healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, recorded in John 5:1 15, is a dramatic example of this. Here was a man who for 38 years had been unable to walk, a burden to others, & probably with little sense of self worth.
But Jesus had pity on him & healed him. And it's one of the few times the Scripture records Jesus healing someone when He was not asked to do so.
PROP. Let's see how Jesus motivated this man to become a candidate for healing, because I believe the same things are necessary today.
I. HE HAD TO IDENTIFY WHAT HE WANTED
A. First of all, Jesus encouraged the man to identify what he wanted. Vs. 6 says, "When Jesus saw him lying there & learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?'"
That sounds like an absurd question. Of course this man wanted to get well! You wouldn't ask a starving man, "Do you want food?" would you?
Actually, it was a valid question, for there are people who, if given an opportunity, might actually choose to remain sick. Right now they're free of some unpleasant responsibilities, & they get sympathy by complaining about their sickness. They can manipulate people by being sick, or punish themselves if they feel guilty.
ILL. Dave Reavor, disabled Viet Nam veteran, tells of a young man in the 1960s who didn't want to be drafted. So he had all his teeth pulled out to make himself unfit for military duty. But when he took his physical, he was declared unfit because of flat feet!
So when Jesus asked, "Do you want to get well?" He seems to be saying, "You have friends who bring you here, & you've developed friendships with others who come here regularly. If I heal you, your life will do a complete reversal. You'll be expected to get a job & relate to people on a different basis. Are you ready for that change? Do you really want to get well?"
B. That's a question we may need to answer as well. What do you want? The first step to gaining something is to want it.
ILL. Zig Ziglar looked into a mirror one day & realized that he needed to lose a lot of weight. He found all kinds of motivational gimmicks available to would-be dieters. For example, how about a sound track that laughs at you & calls you “fatso” when you open your refrigerator door?
Well, Ziglar really wanted to get in shape, so as a positive incentive, he put a picture of a thin man on his refrigerator door. That constant reminder was the first step toward achieving his goal.
ILL. Drs. Minirth & Meyer wrote a book entitled "Happiness Is a Choice." In it they said, "As psychiatrists, we cringe whenever … patients use the words, ‘I can't'… Any good psychiatrist knows that ‘I can't' … is merely a lame excuse. We insist that our patients stop saying ‘can't' & say ‘won't' instead."
"They need to see what they are really doing, so we make them face up to it by repeating, ‘I just won't get along with my wife.' ‘My husband & I won't communicate.' ‘I won't discipline my kids the way I should.' ‘I won't stop gossiping.' When they change their ‘can'ts’ to ‘won'ts’ they stop avoiding the truth & start facing reality."
We need to determine what we really want, & as God's people, learn to say with the apostle Paul, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" (Phlp. 4:13).
II. HE HAD TO QUIT BLAMING OTHERS
A. A second need for this man's healing was to quit blaming others for his problem.
There was a local belief that the waters of Bethesda had healing powers. Some Biblical manuscripts also contain the words that "An angel of the Lord came down & stirred up the waters." Earlier manuscripts did not contain that explanation, & many scholars believe the stirring of the water was from an underground spring that would occasionally experience extreme pressure.
Whatever caused the disturbance, the people in that day believed that when the waters of Bethesda bubbled up, the first one in the water would be cured.
So when Jesus asked, "Do you want to get well?" in vs. 7 the man replied, "Sir, 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."
He was complaining, "Every time the water bubbles up, no one will help me get into the pool. It's always the stronger ones who reach the water first. Those of us who need it the most don’t have anyone to help us. It's been that way for 38 years."
B. It's so easy to blame other people for our problems. When God asked Adam why he disobeyed, Adam explained, "The woman you gave me persuaded me to eat."
When Moses asked his brother Aaron why he permitted the Israelites to worship a golden calf, Aaron said, "The people pressured me to do something since you were gone so long, Moses. They wanted gods like the Canaanites. I just threw their jewelry into the fire & out came the calf." Blame the people, blame Moses for taking so long, blame the Canaanites, blame the fire even! But don't blame me!
When Pilate was forced to make a decision about Jesus, he said, "I wash my hands of this matter. Jesus is yours. Do with Him as you please. But I'm innocent of this whole matter."
C. People do the same thing today. How often do we hear people say things like, "I'd stop drinking if my wife would quit nagging me!" "I'd work harder, but no one appreciates my effort." "I'd make better grades, but my teacher doesn't like me."
ILL. King William of Pottsdam once visited a prison in England. Every prisoner brought before him claimed to be innocent, & pleaded for a pardon except for one man who admitted his guilt. King William said to the warden, "Get this guilty man out of prison before he corrupts all these innocent men!" And the man was set free.
APPL. We have such a difficult time saying, "I'm responsible." We blame heredity, environment, circumstances everything except ourselves. Yet what the Lord wants is for us to accept responsibility for our own behavior.
Romans 14:12 says, "Each of us will give an account of himself to God." Heredity & environment play a part in influencing us, but we can rise above that if we want to. Some of the world's most successful people had terrible pasts. Some of the most privileged people wind up being complete failures.
ILL. Bob Russell, former minister of Southeast Christian Church, Louisville, KY, once said, "My father was the 17th of 18 children. His mother died when he was 4. His father had a drinking problem. He was juggled back & forth between his sister's homes. I see some permanent scars in his life from that upbringing. He doesn't have as much self confidence as he should.
"But my father is one of the most gentle, faithful, generous, compassionate people I know. I've never heard him blame his parents or appear bitter about his circumstances. He's proof that you can rise above your past."
APPL. Maybe it's time for a lot of people to quit blaming others, & say with the old spiritual, "It's me, it's me, O Lord, standin' in the need of prayer. Not my brother, not my sister, but it's me, O Lord, standin' in the need of prayer."
III. HE HAD TO PUT FORTH AN EFFORT
Notice also that Jesus motivated the lame man to put forth an effort. Vs. 8 says, "Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat & walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat & walked."
A. Jesus frequently required effort on the part of people he healed. Not always, but often, He required a response of faith even before He would heal.
He said to the 10 lepers, "Go show yourself to the priests," & as they went they were healed. He said to the man with a withered hand, "Stretch forth your hand." When the man made the effort, his hand was healed. Jesus put clay on the eyes of a blind man & said, "Go wash in the pool of Siloam." When he washed, he could see.
Jesus said to this man, "Pick up your mat & walk." Jesus asked the man to attempt the one thing that he hadn't done for 38 years. When the man made the effort, he was healed at once.
ILL. One man told about a friend who has been in a wheelchair for 15 years. But his doctors say that he could be walking today if he had made more effort in therapy when he was younger. Apparently, he wasn’t willing to put forth that much effort!
Contrast that with Tony Melendez, who plays the guitar with his toes! Born with no arms, Tony shares with audiences what Jesus Christ means to him & then skillfully plays the guitar with his bare feet. Can you imagine the tremendous amount of effort, frustration, & determination it took to develop that skill?
SUM. So among other things, if we really want to be whole, we must make an effort. It was Jesus who said, “So I say to you: Ask & it will be given to you; seek & you will find; knock & the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; & to him who knocks, the door will be opened.” (Luke 11:9-10)
IV. HE GAVE CREDIT TO JESUS
And last of all, after he was healed, the man was motivated to give testimony that Jesus had healed him.
Vs's 9 13 tell us, "The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, & so the Jews 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 & walk.'
"So they asked him, ‘Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up & walk?' The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there."
But Jesus came back to reveal himself to this man. He wanted him to have more than just a healthy body. He wanted the former lame man to be healthy spiritually as well.
Vs 14 says, "Later Jesus found him at the temple & said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’" Oh, did you notice that word “again”? He was well "again." There had been a time when he could walk.
I wonder if there had been some disobedience in his younger years that had caused his lameness? Whatever the cause, Jesus warned him that there was something worse than being physically impaired, & that was spending eternity apart from God.
B. Vs. 15 says, "The man went away & told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well."
ILL. In Max Lucado’s book, “He Still Moves Stones”, he asks a question concerning this story and similar stories in the Gospels – “Tell me, why are these stories in the Bible?”
“Why are the Gospels full of such … hopeless people? Though their situations vary, their conditions don’t. They are trapped, … rejected. They have nowhere to turn. On their lips, a desperate prayer, in their hearts, desolate dreams. And in their hands, a broken rope. But before their eyes a never-say-die Galilean who majors in stepping in when everyone else steps out.
“Again I ask. Why are these portraits in the Bible?...Why did God leave us one tale after another of wounded lives being restored? So we could be grateful for the past? So we could look back with amazement at what Jesus did?
“No. No. No. A thousand times no. The purpose of these stories is not to tell us what Jesus did. Their purpose is to tell us what Jesus does.
In Romans 15:4 the apostle Paul wrote, “Everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through endurance & the encouragement of the Scriptures we might have hope.”
“These are not just Sunday school stories, not romantic fables, not somewhere-over-the rainbow illusions. These are historic moments in which a real God met real pain so we could answer the question, ‘Where is God when I hurt?’
“How does God react to dashed hopes? Read the story of Jairus. How does the Father feel about those who are ill? Stand with him at the pool of Bethesda. What is God’s word for the shameful? Watch as his finger draws in the dirt of the Jerusalem courtyard.
“He’s not doing it just for them. He’s doing it for me. He’s doing it for you.
“I know there used to be a stone in front of a tomb. And I do know it was moved. And I also know that there are stones in your path. Stones that trip and stones that trap. Stones that are too big …
Please remember, the reason these events are recorded in the Bible is not to help us look back at Jesus with amazement, but to move forward with faith. The God who spoke still speaks. The God who forgave still forgives. The God who came still comes into our world. He comes to move the stones that we cannot move.
APPL. This morning we are all handicapped by sin. We can't heal ourselves. All the suggested cures of this world are futile. But the blood stained hands of Jesus reached out to us. "He was pierced for our transgressions, He was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon Him, & by His wounds we are healed" (Isaiah 53:5 ).
There is healing power in the touch of Jesus. He is reaching out to you. Do you want to get well?
INVITATION
