What are you waiting for!!
St. John 5: 1-9
Wilt thou be made whole? It is a question that Jesus asked the man at the pool. It was a question that is comprised of 5 words. It was a question that not so much asked a question, but rather posed a challenge to the man. Tonight taken from these verses and this phrase Wilt thou be made whole, I like to use for a subject a challenge, comprised of 5 words and that is “What are you waiting for.”
Feast of the Jews: This feast was the Passover, which was to commemorate how when the children of Israel were in bondage in Egypt and the 10th and final plague was brought upon the Egyptians, which was death. God told Moses to tell the children of Israel to put the blood of a lamb on the door post and the mantle of the door and when the death angel would pass by through Egypt, he would see the blood and Passover the blood saving those that were covered by the blood of the lamb. Hence the meaning Passover. Understand that Jesus didn’t come to destroy the law, but to fulfill the law, so he had to go to Jerusalem for the Feast of the Jews, Passover. In the book of Deuteronomy 16:5-6 God said “Thou mayest not sacrifice the Passover within any of thy gates, which the Lord thy God giveth thee: but at the place which the Lord thy God shall choose to place His name in, there thou shall sacrifice the Passover.”
So to fulfill the law Jesus went to Jerusalem for the feast of the Jews or the Passover also it provided Him the opportunity to reach many more people, because people from every tribe that had been scattered all over had to come to Jerusalem for Passover..
In Jerusalem there is a pool, the Greek word “Kolumbethra” which means a place of cleansing or bathing.
The name of the pool is Bethesda, which means: - House or place of Mercy. It had 5 porches. It was the shape of a pentagon. The 5 porches were for protection from the weather and sun. The number 5 denotes man as responsible under the government of God. It declares God’s work in redemption and is symbolic of grace. Grace is the unmerited favor of God shown to the unworthy; therefore the number 5 represents unworthiness or weakness. What am I saying. 5 is the number of exercise and responsibility of weakness (man) and of grace in spite of weakness (God). Man is weak and unworthy and responsible for giving God praise for allowing him to function and because of God’s grace inspite of our weakness He shows favor upon us.
Within these 5 porches there laid a great multitude of impotent folk, literally weak folk, some were blind, halt, withered, all were waiting for the troubling of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season, certain time of the year, and troubled the water and the 1st person into the water was made whole of whatever disease they had.
Verse 5 (which represents weakness) says “And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.” The word infirmity means weakness, feeble, diseased.
Whenever you read the phrase “Certain Man or Certain Woman” it is expressing an historical fact true, but prophetically speaking it is pointing to something else. It is different than “There was a man from the land of Uz whose name was Job.” When the Bible specifies a person by name, there is something about that person that we can learn from, rather it is their character, dedication, determination there is something that God needs us to see and learn from that person. However, when you see the phrase certain man or certain woman it points to something that God wants us to be aware of, like the condition of the person or the mind-set of that person. For example, we should strive to be patient, longsuffering, and committed like Job, but be aware that the mentality of this certain is not found in us, for this man’s mind-set caused him to be spiritually blind and we must be aware not to become spiritually blinded.
Verse 6 says ‘When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole.” Understand that this was not so much a question that was asking him do you want to be healed, but a challenge to the man saying what are you waiting for, the source of your healing is standing right here. The impotent man answered and said unto Him SIR.
WATCH THIS: Sir is a show of respect that is often used when you don’t know a person’s name. How many times have you spoken to someone and did not know their name and said Sir or Ma’am. This man didn’t know who Jesus was, he was not only physically impotent, but spiritually impotent as well. Because he didn’t know who He was began to make excuses for why he was still in the condition he was in.
1.) He said “I have no man when the water is troubled to put me into the pool.
2.) But while I am coming another steppeth down before me.
The man failed to see that he was actually in contact with the source of the troubling of the water because he was so focused on the resources that he didn’t recognize the source. He was still waiting for someone to put him into the water. When in fact he was in the presence of the Lord right then.
This is like so many people today and I am not talking about the sinner man, but the church folk. That have become so spiritually impotent focusing on the resource instead of the source. They have become withered, weak, blind, and lame waiting for the troubling of the water instead of getting connected to the source of the water.
What are you saying preacher.
The praise team is the resource they are not the source, but we have become so focused on the praise team that we fail to see the source. What do you mean preacher. If we are having a dry service Michael and the praise team begin to say things like lift up your hands, bless the Lord, say Halleauah. Once we begin to do that then we say that we are praising the Lord, but I hate to be the bearer of bad news. You are not truly praising the Lord, but only doing what you are told, you are playing a spiritual game of Simon says. Because you are focused on the resource.
However when you get your focus off of the resource and get connected to the source the praise team doesn’t have to try top pump you up all you have to do is think of the goodness of Jesus and all He has done for you. You don’t have to wait for the praise team to sing a certain song, you don’t have to wait for the spirit to fall down, but you enter into His gates with thanksgiving and into His courts with praise.
Isaiah said in Isaiah 6:1 “In the year King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne high and lifted up and his train filled the temple.” When he got his eyes off of Uzziah and focused on God it caused him to be no longer spiritually blinded which allowed him to see that he was undone, and of unclean lips, and that he dwelled among unclean lipped people. In other words he realized that he was in a total mess. Because he got focused on the source he had a transformation, his iniquity was taken away and his sin purged. He was no longer conformed to this world, but was in fact transformed by the renewing of his mind. Then he heard the voice of the Lord, answered the call of the Lord became committed to the Lord and said send me, received a new commission from the Lord to go and tell this people. WHY because he finally got focused on the source and not the resource.
When you are focused on the resource you begin to make excuses. I couldn’t get into service today because the music was to loud, the praise team just couldn’t seem to get it just right they were just to loud. That’s the ones that come to church.
The other ones say I can’t come to church tonight, my car broke down, but come Monday morning car still broke, we will do everything in our power to get to work and make it why because we are not focused on the resource, the car, but on our source that pay check. Don’t wait for the car to get fixed, get focused on God, the source, get to church and praise Him, seek Him first and He’ll fix the car or give you a new one, but you must be focused on the source.
Many times people desire something from the Lord and we keep on telling them to hold on, but what we need to tell them what are you waiting for. The Bible says the spirit is subject to the prophet. Then Paul tells us in Timothy to stir up the gift that is within you.
WATCH THIS: If the spirit is subject to me, and the gift of the spirit is the Holy Ghost, and the Holy Ghost dwells inside of me, and all I have to do is stir up the gift then the source lies within me. Therefore I don’t have to wait for the Praise team to get me into an atmosphere so I can get into a realm of worship in order to get something from God. All I have to do is stir it up.
What are you waiting for. You don’t have to wait for the spirit to fall down just stir it up. You don’t have to wait for the praise team just stir it up. You don’t have to wait for the preacher to come and lay hands on you just stir it up.
You want something from the Lord, STIR IT UP! What are you waiting for stir it up.
I’m sorry but there ain’t going to be a angel come down and stir things up for you any more, it’s all up to you.
There is what is called the butterfly effect. What the butterfly effect states is that just one flap of a butterflies wings in China can cause a hurricane in New England. WHY because when they flap their wings it causes a change in the atmosphere simply is the condition surrounding something.
The man at the pool was in a condition or atmosphere for 38 years waiting for the troubling of the water and when the water was troubled he couldn’t get in the water in time, someone always got in before him, but all he had to do was just stir it up.
You want something from God. WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR. Stir it up.
Elder Melvin L. Maughmer, Jr.
Boanerge Ministries
