Healing & Conflict (The 3rd Miracle)

Welcome

Morning!

Please turn your bibles to John Chapter 5

we will be in the first 16 verse this morning

hopefully if we have enough time

While you are finding your place I would like to tell you a quick story

One day a father decided to take his son to play at the local park. The boy quickly gravitated to the sandbox and found himself mesmerized by the colors and textures surrounding him. After a short time, he began digging around to see what treasures might reveal themselves to him.

As his hands plunged under the sand he discovered something rather large, and having pushed enough of the sand away, realized it was a large rock. Instantly he knew he needed to move that rock, no matter how big it was. This rock was the obstacle to his dreams of a sandbox clear of all extraneous matter.

So the boy tried as hard as he could to move the rock. He pushed and pushed and pushed, and finally he was able to get it to the edge of the sandbox. But the next step would be the hardest. How could he get it over the edge? Again the boy pushed and pushed until his energy was completely fried. The rock’s stuckness matched the boy’s feelings of the situation. Eventually he started to sob.

The boy’s father watched all this, and just when the meltdown began, the father went over to his son and began to comfort his overtaxed, dejected son.

“Why didn’t you use all the strength available to you to move the rock?” the father asked.

The boy was confused, “I did daddy, it’s just too heavy.”

“No son,” you didn’t. You didn’t ask me to help.” And at that, the father lifted the rock with a single hand and tossed it out of the sandbox.

See its easy for us to try to go at it alone. To try and navigate this world that is full of misery and darkness when we obviously do not have the power to do so

However, we serve a God that does

We serve a God that is powerful

Just like this father was in the eyes of his son

And that same God is merciful and ready and able to help

sometimes it takes us to ask

and sometimes he helps anyway

Just like the father in that story did

See a brief biblical definition of mercy is “the gift of God’s undeserved kindness and compassion.”

On a human level, mercy is the benevolent or compassionate treatment of someone suffering or in need.

Mercy is an attitude that moves us to act on behalf of the unfortunate.

And that is exactly what we will learn about this morning.

As we get yet another glimpse of Gods mercy

his power

and the Conflict that comes with it

Text

John 5:1–16 “After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.” “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk. Now that day was the Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.” He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your ma…”

Introduction

This part that we just read is actually the beginiing of a new

portion i guess we could say of the book of John

a new section if you will

In Chapters 1 we got an introduction to the entire book

in fact we spent I believe 4 weeks just on the prologue

and introducing Christ as seen through Johns eyes

Last week we concluded chapter 2-4

which showed Jesus’ initial ministry in both Judea

the area around Jerusalem

and Galilee

we learned how Jesus and us

are to spread the gospel

and this message of hope to entire world

Now, one thing we saw in those initial chapters was that Jesus was not yet being

persecuted

we saw some pressure

we saw some curiosity

but no persecution

only, curiosity

right, the people

generally the Jews

were interested in his miracles

his signs and his wonders

because that did not play against their “religion”

His miracles didn't impede on their way of life

Much like we see today right

Where everyone is fine with Jesus until you find out who he really is

until you find out that he requires life change

until you figure out that it isn’t about signs and miracles

its about submission

it’s about putting away yourself

and putting on a new life in Christ

And that is exactly what the Jews did not want to do

See they had formed a legalistic foundation to their faith

based on practices and works

and now, with Christ on the scene

he is transforming the way in which we are to enter into right standing with God

right, we are to enter though mercy and grace

laws and regulations

So,

This morning, we are going to see a shift in that paradigm

A shift from curiosity

to opposition

We will also begin section in which is called the miracle - message method

explain how that works in this chapter

In which a miracle performed by Jesus will

lead way to or lay the ground work for a sermon

Our points this morning are

The Mercy of Christ

The Power of Christ

The Persecution of Christ Begins

The Mercy of Christ

John 5:1 “After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.”

After this, is our time stamp this morning

This is Johns transition to the next teaching

See as we move from the previous section

the section which included Jesus initial ministry that started in Cana, went down to Judea, back up through

Samaria, and the back up to Cana

Some time has passed

so after those things happened

Jesus went up to to Jerusalem

Remember it was an hilly uphill climb

Now the Jewish festival is not listed

But, it must have been one of the 3 major festivals because it was one Jesus felt was worth the travel to

Now if it was the passover, we are looking at roughly a year to a year and a half difference

it it was pentacost it would have been roughly 50 days later

or it could have been the Jewish Festival or lights or tabernacles

Either way if it was intended for us to know the specific festival

John would have been specific about it

However, he is not,

so I will not dwell on it.

Instead this festival opens up a larger section that revolves around 4 of the seven festivals

I will say though, that based on other evidence there is a higher probability that

this is the pass over feast

So, Jesus headed back to Jerusalem

Now in V 2 John gets specific

John 5:2 “By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades.”

So, if were standing on the temple platform

the large grounds I could say

and if you travel to the north wall

and north east of the temple

and you walk out and down some stairs you will find a small road coming up from the kindred valley

on this corner of the temple grounds

is the sheep's gate

it is most likely called the sheep's gate because

that is where the sheep were led in for slaughter etc

now if you go across this street you will find

the place John is speaking of

So it is very close to the temple

and its very close for a reason

remember water and pools

and cleansing are very important to the Jews

especially around the temple

Also, there are a lot of them

But this one specifically

is there

and isn’t it a thing of beauty

it was found in 1888

and you know what they found when they excavated it

Five colonnades

or porches

exactly how it is described in our text this morning

anyway,

These pools were called Bethesda

and you know what that means in Hebrew?

“House of Mercy”

And it was named that

before, Jesus performed his 3rd miracle there

Verse 3 picks up with

John 5:3 “Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed.”

So we see here as our scene us set up

that Jesus has walked into a relatively crowded

place

a place filled with folks that are blind, lame, and paralyzed

Now, before we move to V5

I want to point one thing out

And that is the fact that in some of your bibles,

mostly the later versions

including mine, which I am using the CSB

the end of verse 3 and V4 is not there,

or, it is bracketed, or there is a subscript down at the bottom

Now, the reason for this is that based upon the earlier manuscripts discovered

most New Testament scholars believe that this section was added later

as a margin or something along those lines by the

scribes that were making these copies

and not only is this verse not in the earlier manuscripts but it also doesn’t fit with John’s writing style

Now, I will read it because it does add some value,

however, it is not in the original manuscripts and therefore it cannot be taken as scripture

..3b and 4 read like this - waiting for the moving of the water, because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment him

So, this was mostly likely added by the scribes to show the readers why these blind, lame, and paralyzed folks were congregate in this area

They believed, based on folklore, that an angel would stir the water

and if they happened to be the first one in

they would be healed

Can you imagine putting your hope in that

that my friends is superstition

But let us not digress too much

This pool was in fact most likely fed by

an intermittent underground spring

which would bubble and thus give those laying under the covered porches hope

John 5:5 “One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years.”

It doesn’t say the exact reason for his illness

but we will soon find out that he was either extremely weak or was paralyzed

and not only that but he had been that way for

38 years

Can you imagine

what it must feel like to be lame, paralyzed,

unable to move for 38 years

I know i have had instances where I was sick

or had partial surgery or something and was down for just a few days

how it made me feel

The sense of hopelessness that comes with not even being able to take care of yourself

right

to being absolutely dependent on those around you

and to add to that hopelessness is the

helplessness we would feel along with it

Or maybe it isn’t a physical illness at all

Do you know that today 1 in 25 people have some sort of mental illness

That today drugs and pharmaceuticals are a multi billion dollar industry

And the number one mental health problem is depression

Most likely driven from our current societies

obsession with business

and popularity

or the need and want to fit in

social media telling us what we should look like

how we should act

the constant comparison to those with more

all of this can add to our sense of helplessness

maybe it was a scarred childhood

or maybe a rough marriage

or maybe a life lived that’s full of regrets

Any way you put it

many of us live with things

live with burdens

that aren’t new

that have been there

that keep festering up

and coming back trying to bring us down yet again

so much so that

see we tend to think that time produces hopelessness

surly the longer we deal with these ailments

the harder it will be to overcome them

its often thought that the longer a person has lived in sin and without Jesus

the less likely they will come to Him at an older age

I mean statistics show that we as a church should minister as much as possible to the younger ones because we know as they age it become more difficult to lead them away from the world and to Christ

But let me say that we serve a God

that is master over all things

And that same God is merciful

see, we can all probably identify with this lame, sick, paralyzed man

in one way or another

doing everything in his OWN power to heal and save himself

with no prevail

That is until a man walks in

A man that is full of the same mercy as God

that also displays the same power as God

a man that is God

which leads us to our next point

The Power of Christ

John 5:6 “When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?””

Jesus in his supernatural way knew this man had been like this a long time

Longer than Jesus had been walking the earth as flesh

this man had been putting his hope in this pool

Now why would the Lord ask this man

if he wanted to get well?

of course he wanted to get well

or he wouldn’t be at that pool day in and day out

But by asking this question Jesus assumed the mans full attention

he focused on the man’s need

offered him healing

and offered him mercy

Now instead of embracing this

healing from Jesus

the man expressed that his belief was in the pool

Verse 7 says the disabled man answered with

John 5:7 ““Sir,” the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.””

Now if there was healing in this pool

Jesus could have just picked him up

and carried him to the pool

and ensured he got thrown in first

but he didn’t

in fact the man was probably hopeful of this

he probably thought that this was exactly how Jesus was going to heal him

by getting him into that pool first

but instead,

Jesus says

John 5:8–9 ““Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk. Now that day was the Sabbath

That brothers and sisters is the 3rd miracle

recorded by John

By the power of Jesus this man was healed

Instantly!

See this mans expectations for Jesus were based on

his expectations of him

They were limited to what he thought was possible

but with Jesus, all things are possible

and that is precisely why John recorded this miracle

right

I mean the very reason for Johns gospel

as written in John 20:31 “But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

See when we learned of the miracle of water into wine

(The first miracle recorded)

we learned that Jesus is the master of quality

how instantly he made the best wine one could imagine

now normally it takes wine a long time to get good right

but Jesus, produced perfect quality wine instantly

Then in the healing of the officials son last week

(the second miracle)

we learned that Jesus is the master of distance

That he had the power to heal that boy from 15 miles away

Shoot, that boy could have been 100 miles

1 hundred miles

or 1 million miles

and Jesus could have healed him

And this morning

(The 3rd miracle)

The purpose of John recording this miracle is so that we can see that Jesus is the master over time

See he is able to heal and show mercy no matter how long you have been in your current condition

no matter how far gone

no matter hopeless you feel

Jesus can bring you out of that

This man was grumpy

He did nothing of his own merit to deserve this healing

He didn’t get healed because

he gave more than expected with his tithe

he did get healed because he never missed a Wednesday night bible study

He didn’t get healed because he understood

the doctrine of justification

He got healed because HE is merciful

HE is grace full

and HE is powerful

And it is because of these attributes that HE can see

past our failures

past our sin

and can restore us

no matter our illness

whether physical, mental, or emotional

and no matter how long we have been dealing with them

Faith in Christ is the only way that we are made whole

and healed from the inside out

PAUSE

Now unfortunately

It was God’s mercy

as displayed through his power

which will lead to his persecution

and that is our final point this morning

The Persecution of Christ Begins

John 5:9–10 Now that day was the Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.””

This man had just been healed

after 38 years of illness and disability

and the first thing the Jews said to him was

the law prohibits you from picking up your mat

Do we now understand the legalism I described this morning

see their tradition

their rules

their legalism

outweighed their compassion

Legalism isn’t a word that we find in the bible

however, it is a word used to describe a concept which is widely discussed throughout scripture

Legalism describes a position that emphasizes a system of rules or regulations, or traditions

in order to achieve salvation

and spiritual growth

and it is probably one of the biggest reasons society and some people opposes the church

See legalism is directly opposed to grace

and these Jews began to oppose and persecute Jesus because

he imposed on their religion

he didn’t fit the mold they thought a religious person should fit

he did look how they thought he should look

and he didn’t play by the rules

even though he essentially made the rules

See many legalists back then

and now

make the error that their own personal

biblical interpretations and even their own traditions outweigh that of grace

and isn’t that what the jews were doing, interpreting the scriptures in a fashion that bred legalism

and dismissed grace and compassion in the process

That is something that I pray we are able to avoid here

John 5:11–13 “He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked. But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.”

See the Jews specific problem was that Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath

and it’s obvious Jesus did this for that very reason

to open the doors for the opportunity to provide

the message for this miracle

as we will see next week

But let us not look past the fact that this man lacked faith

while Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman, and royal official all seeked out Jesus

This man did not

Jesus found him

See Christ is there

sometimes we are looking for him

and sometimes we dont even know we need him

and sometimes He finds us

John 5:14 “After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.””

This final verse of the morning

because we are going to go ahead and stop here

points to the fact that this man most likely did not put his faith in Christ

Even after he was healed

But Christ isn’t as concerned with physical healing as he is with spiritual healing

Remember the fact that he could heal was only

to show his authority and point to the fact he is the son of God

See Jesus’ real concern is spiritual healing

healing that saves the soul!

not just the body

not everyone whom asks or prays for physical healing will be healed

and that is according to God’s will

and sometimes not being healed is precisely his will

because while we may not understand it

sometimes the testimony and faithfulness

that comes through trials and sickness advance the kingdom just as much as a miraculous healing

And please do not even equate faith with healing

But to finish out this morning

Jesus tells the man to stop sinning

so that something worse does not happen

and what is worse than 38 years of debilitating disease?

Well, eternal seperation from God is worse

namely eternity in hell

And that is exactly what Jesus is saying here

Conclusion

See Jesus offers us salvation through his great mercy, grace, and power

as offered on that cross, through his burial

and with his resurrection

Should we turn to him, repent, and believe that he can save us

no matter how long we have been lacking

no matter our illness

no matter our depression

no matter our short failings

no matter our sin

Jesus can save us

and he will

BUT

should we instead turn to legalism,

should we put our own ways

our own ideas

our own passions

in front of His

then unfortunately worse things will happen

So lets humbly submit to God

and accept that free gift of grace and mercy

that only He provides

Let us Pray!