A Question about Healing

Rise Up and Walk!

John 5:1-13

We have now entered the second week of our series of discussions concerning some of the challenging questions posed by the Lord Jesus. These questions asked by God is not indicative of His ignorance regarding the truth; rather, it serves to illuminate our own lack of understanding. Through strategically formulated questions, God seeks to unveil our underlying motives, fears, anxieties, moral impediments, and sins.

When God asked Adam in the garden of Eden, “Adam where are you? It doesnt necessarily mean that He is not aware of Adam’s whereabouts. Same thing, when he asked, Cain where’s your brother? What are you doing here Elijah? Ezekiel can these dry bones live? Mary, why are you crying?

And last week we delved into one of these questions and its a question about desires—Jesus was asking “What do you want me to do for you”

So today the message is a question about healing. Jesus asked this question: Do you want to get well? Now turn to your neighbor and ask that question, DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?

We’ll be reading in John 5:1–15 “Afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed—lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!” But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded…”

Summary: In this passage, Jesus heals a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years at the pool of Bethesda, showing His power to bring about miraculous healing and restoration.

Application: This passage reminds us that even when we feel stuck in our circumstances for a long time, Jesus has the power to bring about transformation and renewal in our lives. It encourages us to have faith and hope in His ability to work miracles in our own situations of weakness and struggle.

Teaching: This sermon teaches us about the compassion and healing power of Jesus, showing that He is willing and able to reach out to those who are marginalized, broken, and in need of a divine touch.

How this passage could point to Christ: This passage demonstrates that Jesus is the ultimate source of healing and restoration, fulfilling the prophetic promises of the Messiah who brings wholeness to the broken and oppressed.

Big Idea: Through the story of the paralyzed man at the pool of Bethesda, we learn that Jesus has the power to bring transformation and healing to the most hopeless situations, encouraging us to have faith in His ability to work miracles in our lives.

Recommended Study: As you prepare this sermon, consider delving into the cultural context of the pool of Bethesda and the significance of the healing on the Sabbath day. Use Logos to explore cross-references on miraculous healings in the Gospels and the theological implications of Jesus as the divine healer in the New Testament.

1. Perpetual Paralysis: Recognizing Our Need

Awaiting in desperation

Getting used to our condition

In every generation, the people who have found God have been those who have come to the end of themselves. Recognizing their hopelessness, they have been ready to throw themselves on the mercy and grace of a forgiving God.

Men Who Met God, 62.

A. W. Tozer

Awaiting in Desperation

John 5:1-4

You could begin by setting the scene at the pool of Bethesda, where many invalids lay waiting for a miraculous healing. This introduces the idea that, like the invalids, we often find ourselves waiting for change or healing, comfortable in our desperation, yet Jesus steps into our situations with the power to transform.

Everyone was a slave, all of us descended from slaves, its just a question of when is it, was it more recent or less recent, but what future do we want? Is this something we want to make part of our constant dialogue forever or do we want to say like, lets just move on and treat everyone according to just who they are as an individual, I agree with that but that doesnt mean a lot to a whole lot of people arent able to take advantage of the opportunities that you were to take advantage of, simply because the color of your skin—what advantages did my color have on these? well theres an ease that you have in society that many people of color don’t——if we keep making that the central thing, it will never go away, I think we want to get away from making everything a race or a gender or whatever issue and just treat people like individuals

2. Questioning Our Willingness

John 5:5-9

Perhaps focus on the interaction between Jesus and the paralyzed man, emphasizing Jesus' question, "Do you want to be healed?" This could underscore the challenge Jesus offers to our complacency and the faith required to embrace His transformative power in our lives. It speaks to Jesus' willingness to meet us in our stagnation and call us into action.

3. Commanded to Walk

John 5:10-13

Maybe conclude with the aftermath of the healing, stressing how the healed man picked up his mat and walked, an action that was both literal and symbolic of stepping into the new life Jesus offers. This point can highlight that, through faith in Christ's power, we too can rise from our circumstances and walk in the fullness of life He has for us, challenging societal norms and expectations in the process.