When Jesus Went Looking For A Fight Series

Happy Father’s Day to you.

When I consider the privilege of my three children, the words of pastor John Drakeford toward his children are salient. “To [my children] have put gray hairs in my head, bills in my pocket, illustrations in my sermons, happiness in my home, and pride in my heart.” Be generous with dads on Father’s Day: tell your dad you are going to take him to Chick-fil-A directly after church today on a Sunday and tell him to order anything he wants.

Dads, we need you in our lives, and we thank God for your faithfulness. I hope you have a great time celebrating.

Invitation

At the conclusion of today’s message, you will be invited to respond to Jesus’ offer of a clean, fresh start. You can respond by going to the Encourager’s Room, a virtual room, or the altar.

Sermon

What if I told you about a man who was an invalid for thirty-eight years and was instantly healed? A man who was depressed could now do for himself. A man could walk for himself and leave the embarrassment of not caring for himself. And a man who was on welfare could work again? What if I told you that this man was gloriously healed, but the bigger controversy was that many people felt he was healed on the wrong day? Would such a thing shock you?

You might call this, “When a Miracle Makes You Mad.” Instead of celebrating and leaping, the miracle Jesus performs leaves people silent and fuming.

If you have a Bible, find John 5 with me. We turn a corner in the gospel of John, where Jesus’ ministry is more well-known.

In the first few chapters, people would not have recognized His name. Now, His ministry and name are more readily recognized. While Jesus’ fame increases so does His opposition.

Today’s Scripture

“After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?’ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (John 5:1-18).1

The gospel of John includes many stories and miracles inside its pages. This one is different. This is the miracle that marks the angry hostility coming toward Jesus that will eventually kill Him on a cross.

1. Everything Changes

“One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’” (John 5:5-6).

1.1 The Pool at Bethesda

The pool is all likelihood the pool at Bethesda. Bethesda means in Hebrew the “house of outpouring.” The pool is actually twin pools, about as large as a football field and about twenty feet deep. The “five roofed colonnades” in verse 2 represent a porch on each of the four sides and one more column separating the two pools.2 Perhaps the two pools were to separate the men and the women. If you’ve been to Israel with our church, then you visited this sight. It’s near the St. Anne’s Church which many of you will remember for its stunning acoustics, and we always stop to hear and sing a beautiful hymn.