The Invalid John 5:1-14

The term “deaths of despair” was coined in 2015 by Princeton economists Anne Case and Angus Deaton. The researchers were seeking to find what was causing the decline in U.S. life expectancies in the later part of the 20th century. They discovered the dramatic increase in death rates for middle-aged, white non-Hispanic men and women was coming from three causes: drug overdoses, suicide, and alcoholic liver disease. Deaths from these causes have increased between 56 percent and 387 percent and average 70,000 per year.

The researchers said, “The pillars that once helped give life meaning—a good job, a stable home life, a voice in the community—have all eroded.” Those pillars are certainly important, but another factor may have an even more detrimental effect.

Research suggests a potential cause of deaths of despair could be the decline in religious participation that began in the late 1980s. The researchers found “there is a strong negative relationship between religiosity and mortality due to deaths of despair.”

In 2010, country singer Jason Aldean released a song called “Church Pew or Bar Stool” in which he complains about how he’s stuck in a “church pew or bar stool kind of town.” He sings, “There’s only two means of salvation around here that seem to work / Whiskey or the Bible, a shot glass or revival.” That’s a crude dichotomy, but it appears to increasingly be the choice many Americans face. They’ll either find hope from a community of faith or the lonely despair that leads them to self-medicate with alcohol and drugs.

-Jesus is greater than anything else we may place our trust in.

I. Jesus is Greater than Your False Superstition vv. 1-5

When we pick up the story, Jesus is in Jerusalem, at a pool called Bethesda

At this pool, there is a surprising clientele; it is surrounded by invalids, the blind, lame, and paralyzed

They are here because there is a particular legend about this place: Supposedly, an angel will come from the Lord and stir the water. The first one into the water afterwards will be healed

It’s a kind of superstition, but superstitions are powerful and can inspire great belief in people

Think about what you see at Bethesda

There are people who are suffering all sorts of physical and emotional pain

They have a misplaced trust that is certain to disappoint

It is a recipe for despair

However, there is good news!

Jesus goes to the place and He pays attention to the people who are gathered there

Someone is present who is greater than their sickness and stronger than their superstitions

Superstitions are based in a false sense of causation:

Superstition says that if I place my trust in a mystical object with an uncertain power, I will find hope

It is a kind of faith, but it is faith that is placed in the wrong object

Jesus is greater than whatever else you are placing your trust in!

He sees you and your sorrow

He genuinely cares and is able to do something about it!

All of the most important lessons from the Bible were things I learned as a child. Every Sunday at FBC Bayou La Batre, a precious senior adult lady named Mrs. Boots Seaman played piano for the preschoolers and taught us to sing “Jesus Loves Me” and to memorize John 3:16. It turns out that her “little Bible” was exactly that, a recipe for knowing and believing the Gospel.

II. Jesus is Greater than Your Hopeless Situation vv. 6-9

Jesus asks the man a question with an obvious answer: “Do you want to be healed?”

This is an opportunity for introspection

Is this really what he wants? If so, what is he willing to do to be healed?

His answer is pretty simple, “Yes, but.”

He has two significant problems

He is unable to get into the water fast enough by himself

He has no one to help him

From his perspective, he has exhausted his available options and the situation is hopeless

Jesus has the answer to his problem:

He is able to help the man- He doesn’t need the pool at all, as it turns out

He is ready to help the man- No one else was willing to help, but Jesus goes out of His way to engage and help the man

Jesus gives him a simple invitation:

Get up and walk; take your mat and go

This action seems insignificant, but it is an act of faith

Think about what is taking place here:

The man does not have to have the power to stand; Jesus will make that possible

He does, however, have a responsibility to believe and that kind of faith changes everything

That’s the question that is in front of each one of us: Will we believe Jesus?

A Scottish pastor once called on an aged saint of the Lord. At once she handed the minister a Bible and asked him to read a portion to her. As the minister turned the pages he noticed that in the margins had be written the letters T. And TP. He asked the old lady what these letter signified. She answered, observe that they are always placed opposite some promise of God. T. Means “tried,” and TP means “tried and proven.” She had learned to feed on God’s Word. She had appropriated the promises unto herself. Have you learned this lesson yet dear reader? God’s promises will afford you no comfort or strength until you make them your own.

III. Jesus is Greater Than Your Religious Rules vv. 10-14

A tragic thing happens as the man walks away. He falls under the scrutiny of a religious crowd

Sadly, they are less interested in the power of God that healed the man than the protocol they recommend he follows

They have fallen into the trap that many of us live in:

They develop a system of practices that is designed to lead us into a life that honors God

Eventually, they elevate those practices above the heart of God Himself

In searching for God in their own way, they have missed Him completely!

Jesus makes it clear that He is greater than their religious rules:

He gives the instruction to rise and take up the bed and it leads to life

They would encourage the man to stay seated, but this course of action changes nothing at all

Who should we listen to?

Jesus has a power that is greater than our religion.

Two things happen for the lame man:

He is made whole- His legs are strengthened and he ends up on feet

He is made holy- He is able to enter the Temple, this is the place that Jesus meets him again, a place he was cut off from in his paralysis

His life is transformed by Jesus- he can go away and sin no more because he has been made new

Some of us are trying to justify ourselves before God by a set of rules that we are making up as we go and it is ultimately fruitless

It will not make us whole or holy!

It’s time to trust Jesus for what only He can do.

It’s time to set aside your superstitions

It’s time to set aside your hopelessness

It’s time to set aside your religious rules

1500 Illustrations for Biblical Preaching (Faith, Content Of)

Many ethnic groups decorate eggs for special events, especially Easter. In some cases the decoration is so much work that to preserve it the egg is first emptied of its contents through small holes in both ends. When you see the eggshell it looks perfectly normal. But, although it is beautiful, it is not a real egg. For what would happen if you tried to make a cake, or cookies, or egg nog with one of those beautiful “eggs”? Of course, it wouldn’t turn out right because the egg was empty of content. Like an egg, the real value of faith is its content.

It was the great Augustine who said, “If you believe what you like in the gospel and reject what you don’t like; it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself.”449