Rules or Relationship?
Notes
Transcript
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.
3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.
5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
6 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?”
7 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.”
8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”
9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.
10 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.”
11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’ ”
12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”
13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.
Why does our flesh like to focus on keeping rules? I know when I was younger, I always wanted to push the boundaries of rules. How far can I go? What can I get a way with?
Another reason I think we like rules is self righteousness right?
9 He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt:
10 “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector.
11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector.
12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’
13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, a sinner!’
14 I tell you, this man went down to his house justified, rather than the other. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, but the one who humbles himself will be exalted.”
So was the Pharisee righteous? Did he earn his salvation?
27 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and all uncleanness.
28 So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.
Let’s pause a moment and just look how corrupt their hearts had become focusing on rules and self-righteousness and not on a relationship with God.
8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”
9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.
10 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.”
Jesus just healed a man who had been lame for 38 years! And the Pharisees can’t even see the glory of God at work. They should have fell down and worshiped! Right?
1 On one occasion, while the crowd was pressing in on him to hear the word of God, he was standing by the lake of Gennesaret,
2 and he saw two boats by the lake, but the fishermen had gone out of them and were washing their nets.
3 Getting into one of the boats, which was Simon’s, he asked him to put out a little from the land. And he sat down and taught the people from the boat.
4 And when he had finished speaking, he said to Simon, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch.”
5 And Simon answered, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets.”
6 And when they had done this, they enclosed a large number of fish, and their nets were breaking.
7 They signaled to their partners in the other boat to come and help them. And they came and filled both the boats, so that they began to sink.
8 But when Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus’ knees, saying, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord.”
It is not about rules it is about the heart!
Our self-righteousness blinds us doesn’t it? We must be careful that we don’t do the same
Once again we see in our text just how deceitful and blinding the human heart can be, but what does our text tell us about God?
First, it tells us that He is the source of truth not us. Not pastors or Bible commentators or teachers. He is. Now God can and will use these people. but there is NO substitute for the Word of God and His Holy Spirit. Leading us. Look at our text.
3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.
5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
6 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?”
7 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.”
8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”
9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.
10 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.”
11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’ ”
12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”
13 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.
So the Pharisees see this man carrying his mat on the Sabbath, which they decided was unlawful. Now pay attention to this. The word of God didn’t say it was unlawful. They did. Listen to the guys response again.
11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’ ”
For 38 years this man could not have taken up his mat and walked on the Sabbath even if he wanted to.
What else does our passage say about God?
Our God Is a compassionate God. I always struggle when someone professes faith in Jesus but than lacks compassion.
So we have already looked at how our hearts want to keep rules and build up our own self righteousness or completely ignore God’s law and do what is right in our own eyes, but I want to look at one more truth about us I see in this passage. And that is that we don’t hate sin enough. I have to be honest this point comes from pastor J.C Ryle and that is we don’t hate sin enough.
Look at our story again.
5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
7 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.”
So the final question for you this morning is rules or relationship. Which do you have?j