Jesus as Healer (Healing the Man at the Pool)

Intro

A few weeks ago the wife and I got a Costco card. My mother-in-law took Leah and after that we had to get one. I didn’t realize the greatness that is Costco, b/c as you know we have 3 boys, ad feeding them is expensive.

Unless…

Costco! Which is exactly what we needed. Boxes of chips, ketchup, granola, meat — oh meat for days.

I didn’t realize that we were going to the wrong place!

—

This is true in life too. There are certain places you go to get certain things.

Dentist — teeth // Optometrist — eyes.

You don’t go the eye Dr to get your teeth worked on, and you can’t go to the teeth dr to get your eyes worked on. You don’t go to work to have fun and spend time with your family, you go to work to earn money. You go to Disney World to have fun and spend time with the family.

My point — make sure where you're going is to the right place.

Series MIRACLES.

Built around the 7 miracles of Jesus.

John calls them signs b/c signs are meant to direct you.

Scripture

John 5:1–2 NIV

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.

Needed to go UP b/c of the location of the city and it was the only way to get there.

Now, this was a real place, that’s why John is giving this level of detail.

John 5:3–5 NIV

Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

Now there was an old legend or myth that an angel would come down from heaven and stir up the water and if you were the first person in after the pool was moving you would be healed.

V.4 — in your Bible this verse might be there, but if you have a digital Bible it will be removed with a minor note on the number. That is b/c the most reliable Greek manuscripts don’t include this section. So they have removed. Don’t be afraid, that is actually a good thing, b/c it means the scholars are working hard to ensure we have the most reliable copy of the Bible.

(Rev — don’t remove anything from this book) that actually doesn’t refer to the Bible b/c the Bible wasn’t formed yet. It’s referring to the book of Revelation which was a collection of 3 visions that John had. Yes, same John.

Now they have discovered that this pool was built on a spring and from time to time the spring would well up and cause the movement in the water.

John 5:5–6 NIV

One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

Now, this is important, this is a real question that I want to ask you here today.

Do you want to get well?

Whatever is going on with you right now. Do you want to get well? For many of us this is just the truth of it,

It’s easier to stay sick than it is to get well.

Sometimes getting well is hard. Sometimes when you’re unwell, you get things you wouldn’t normally get when you’re well.

Then there’s the spiritual aspect of it, the EN lies and often says, “it’s better for you this way.” “You can’t get out of it, your dad tried, your grandad tried. You just can’t do it.

John 5:7 NIV

“Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

From what we can tell, the man, who can’t walk is ready to get well, but he can’t seem to do it on his own.

He has faith that this pool and the forces behind it will heal him. His hope is placed in this pool.

John 5:8–9 NIV

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,

Now, you have got imagine that this man has never walked in his life likely b/c he was unwell for 30 years. For the first time in 30 years he can walk! John doesn’t go into detail here but I think he is beyond excited. I think he’s running, I think he’s jumping, I think he’s signing up for a 5K. You have to think, he hasn’t been able to walk in 30 years, imagine how he must feel.

Here’s something else he hasn’t been able to do, go to the Temple and offer sacrifices.

John 5:9–10 NIV

At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

This is so sad. The religious people weren’t excited or happy for this man b/c he hasn’t walked they are most concerned with the Law. The Law forbad work on the Sabbath day, to include carrying something, however this man’s life has been changed. It was also against the Law for someone to heal on the Sabbath. Stop for just a second, how ridiculous is that? We’ll cover more of that in week 6.

John 5:11–13 NIV

But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

Jesus had a habit of this, he would heal and then slip away before he could be arrested, b/c he was certain he would get arrested for the things he was doing. The man just looks and says “IDK look I wasn’t able to walk and then all of a sudden I could walk.

John 5:14–15 NIV

Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Now there has been a lot of speculation as to what Jesus means here but I think it’s simple. Stop sinning b/c the results of sin, not accepting me, not walking with me, is far worse than the current set up you just had.

Application

Here’s the point, the man didn’t get healed in the pool, he got healed b/c he was close to Jesus.

Isn’t it true that sometimes the worst situations in your life come b/c we’re not close to Jesus?

But here’s the rub, just like the man at the pool, we put our hope in something other than him. We think that...

More money is going to make things better

More time off

Better job

More peace

Better relationship with my family

Now, these things can at times make life better, but they are like the pool at Bethsaida… They’re a myth. On the surface it looks like other people are getting healed in reality it’s simply a bandaid or a facade, the things culture promises aren’t going to fix you. They’re not bad, but they can’t heal you.

Only Jesus can.

Healing isn’t found in a place, it’s found in a person.

But our rub is that we place our faith in other things things of this world, things that cannot deliver the healing. They provide temporary fixes, feel good for the moment. To go back to my example from before, you’re going to the wrong place for healing.

We have an advantage that the man didn’t have, we can choose to get close to him.

The point of this sign was to present Jesus as the only one who can heal. The other gods, other influences, other things in the world, they cannot heal you. Jesus doing this at the pool was him showing the entire city.

Nothing else can provide the healing that you need.

Healing isn’t found in a place, it’s found in a person.

Isn’t it time to get up and leave the pool?