The Pool

Intro

Salvation is Through Christ Alone.

At this pool, you could get healed if your timing was right.

We are under the assumption, then, that this guy has nobody. No one who can help him get in the water, no one who can help clean him up. He’s stuck just outside of the reach of what he views as a new life.

And then Jesus comes up and asks if he wants to be healed.

The guys response was probably pretty sarcastic or gruff, “I can’t walk, stupid, of course I want to be healed.”

The assumed question is that within that statement, he’s asking for help.

Jesus cannot be your partner, but He can be your Saviour.

See, the man wanted someone to partner with him so that he could be healed.

He takes the responsibility on himself, he just needs a little bit of help

And we do the same thing!

You and I can be like this man, feeling like we could finally be perfect or make it if we could just get a little help.

Porn, lying, language, problems with parents.

We say, “God, help me to fix this problem,” instead of, “God, fix me.”

But, God is not a, “partner.” He’s either the ruler of your life, or He isn’t.

We see that with the man. Jesus heals hm far away from the pool.

He makes it clear that He is the One in control, not the man, and not the pool.

And He does the same for you.

Jesus isn’t your “homie” or your BFF, He’s got to be your Lord.

When you give yourself entirely to Jesus, things change, but that requires you to let go of the control in your life and give it to God.

Salvation is by Grace Alone.

This man didn’t do anything in order for Jesus to notice him.

He wasn’t holy [we see that later on], he wasn’t important, and he didn’t instigate the conversation; Jesus did.

He’s like the woman in chapter 4.

She didn’t have anything going for her, so Jesus instigated everything.

Whenever people, “find God,” it’s only because He’s found them.

This guy didn’t do anything to earn Jesus’ attention, and neither did you or I.

Jesus didn’t wait for this guy to respond to Him, Jesus went to the guy.

There’s this phrase in Christianity I’ve heard, “if you take 1 step, jesus will take the other 99.” It’s supposed to say that Jesus works harder than you for you to be saved.

The problem is that the formula is wrong.

God doesn’t wait for you to take the 1 so He can take the 99, in this story and in the rest of the Bible, it seems a lot more like God takes all 100 and drags you to Him [sometimes kicking and screaming]

That’s grace! That God loves you so much that He providentially brings you to Himself, even though you didn’t do anything to deserve it!

Salvation Requires an Appropriate Response.

No one responds to jesus correctly in this story.

The Pharisees, after hearing about the miracle, get mad at Jesus because He performed a miracle!

This is also the instigating moment when the Pharisees start to really hate Jesus and try to get Him killed.

The paralyzed man doesn’t respond right either.

He’s rude to Jesus at the start.

He doesn’t glorify God when he’s healed.

He then ‘tattles’ on Jesus to the Pharisees after they ask who healed him.

This section doesn’t seem like he’s trying to tell them because he’s glad, he’s trying to avoid blame by passing it on to Jesus.

We need the gift of faith to accept the gift of Christ.

The man was the recipient of a miracle, and yet he didn’t believe.

You may think, ‘If I just see a miracle, then i’ll go to God.” Not necessarily!

You can write off any great work of God if you try hard enough!

What we need is faith. We need to believe in the God who heals the paralytic.

We need to repent, to do what Jesus says to do in vs 14.

Not that we will be perfect, but that we turn away from sin.

When we encounter God, everything must change.

Questions.

Would you rather have to cartwheel everywhere or somersault everywhere?

Read vs. 14. This seems harsh. What do you think it means?

How does the grace of God change the way you view yourself?

What are areas in your life where you need to give God control?