The Pool Of Healing

The pool of healing

John 5:1-5:9

Prayer

Scripture- John 5:1-5:9

Introduction-

This morning I want you to pay close attention to the details of this passage of scripture. It is a familiar verse and as we hear it, we sometimes miss the new that the Lord wants because we think of the familiar.

Details

A crippled man was placed at the pool of healing alongside a lot of others in the same condition as he is.

He had been there for 38 years. EVERYDAY HE WENT THERE.

Someone else put him there. He himself could not get there without help.

They were there because they believed that if they were the first one in the pool as the waters were stirred by an angel of God , the beggar would receive a healing from the waters.

Jesus showed up, but this man did not know or recognize Jesus for who He was.

Jesus went to him- no one told Jesus about him and asked him to come to the man.

Jesus asked a bizarre question to the man that needed a miracle- Do you want to be well?

Does that about cover it? Of course not! One important detail left out is the fact that this man was healed by Jesus and sent back into society.

Happens in Jerusalem- could be Middletown Pa.

Piers or porches around the water where men and women laid loved ones to receive a healing or at least gave them a good spot to beg from the passerby.

Question I ask you this morning is…you begging or do you want to get well?

You doing the same old thing everyday or is today going to be different because Jesus showed up?

Today different because you recognize who Jesus is and what Jesus can do for you?

I. Do you want to get well?

That is a simple question with a complicated answer. By all appearance, you would think this man wanted to be healed. Been there 38 years trying to get into the water to receive his healing.

I think he started out with good intentions- at first, I believe he went with the idea of healing, get me to the water and I will get myself in the pool of healing and I got this!

I believe as time went on and he was not the first to get in the pool, he became more discourage and time got away and now 38 years later, he is going through the motion, but never really believing he will be healed.

What could he do different?

Put yourself in a position to receive healing from the Lord.

I don’t know about you, but I would have built or had someone build me a way to drop in the water at the right time. I would have watched others get in and figured out a way that I was in before them.

I would have found those guys that dropped their friend through the roof. Whatever it took- I would have found a way! That is my story and I’m sticking to it! That is the way that we want ours written. But truth is, we each have something in our lives that we need to, should, or have been too scared to present to God that we need from Him. For some it might be an addiction, some it is relational, financial, some we have fought with God for obedience issues and that has not gone well. We keep thinking we can out last Him or He will change His mind.

It takes determination to receive from the Lord. He gives instructions and I would have made sure I understood them and was on the cutting edge of receiving. If one got the healing a day as the water were stirred, I would make sure that I was the one to receive it.

I talked a while ago with someone that needed a job. In conversation, they said they were praying that God would bring them a job. I asked them a few questions-

Are you out looking for jobs-No.

Have you written a resume’ to give to the employer- No.

Have you let others know that you desire a job- No.

Do you know what jobs you are capable of doing or what experience that you have to offer? No-

This person is literally asking God to bring a job for them and drop it in their lap in between watching their favorite TV shows. Is it possible? Yes- but if you put yourself in a position to receive his healing or his blessing. It would probably come faster.

If you were needing advice because things are not going well in your life. Where do you think that you will receive the answer from God? Sitting in front of the television, sitting at a sports event, or coming into the house of God? You can receive from all these places- but where do you think that God will start- in a placed and ordered anointed service or doing your own thing.