The Son Who Makes Us Whole

John 5:1-18

A cycle of frustration

Have you ever found yourself stuck? You want to get better, but you can’t. You want to break free, but you don’t. You need to shake old, destructive habits, but they cling to you.

Pastor struggling to pray, knows he needs to, but just doesn’t

What do we do when we can’t fix ourselves? We become filled with doubt and despair, wondering if we will ever change or get better.

That’s where we meet the man in John 5; lying beside a pool, powerless to change. And into his helplessness comes Jesus, the Son who makes us whole.

The Healing at Bethesda

Picture the scene with me. It’s feast time in Jerusalem again. We’re not told which feast it was, there were several throughout the year, but we can know that pilgrims from all over Israel are pouring into the city, heading for the Temple to worship.

Jesus entered the city through the Sheep Gate, a gate that was used primarily for those shepherds who were bringing the sacrificial lambs into the Temple. Near the gate was a pool called Bethesda, which means “house of mercy.” But if you looked around, it probably didn’t feel very merciful.

Five covered porches lined the pool, and under those porches lay a multitude of the sick, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.

Imagine the noise, the smell, the despair. Not the antiseptic, sterile scene of a hospital ward, but the aroma of livestock and the mass of broken bodies, waiting for healing, hoping for change, but mostly waiting in vain.

There was a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. That’s nearly as long as Israel wandered in the wilderness, longer than Jesus Himself had been alive. This man’s life had been defined by weakness, dependence, and despair.

John tells us that when Jesus saw him lying there, He knew he had been there a long time. Think about that, maybe this wasn’t the first time Jesus had walked past him. Maybe Jesus had seen him on earlier visits to Jerusalem.

Jesus asks what almost sounds like a cruel question: “Do you want to be healed?”

Of course he does! But listen to his answer: “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred, and while I am going, another steps down before me.” For years, this man had put his hope in the pool, in the superstition that if you got in at the right moment, you might be healed. But he never made it. He always came up short. He says, “I have no one… I can’t get there… I can’t do it.”

And that’s when Jesus speaks the Word that changes everything: “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” Three short commands:

Get up: Jesus gave life where there had only been weakness.

Take up your bed: Jesus called him to freedom from the very thing that had bound him for decades.

Walk: Jesus gave the man direction and purpose.

And immediately, John says, the man was healed, and he picked up his bed and walked.

Now here’s the twist: it was the Sabbath. You would think everyone around would rejoice. Thirty-eight years of misery overturned in a moment! But instead, the Jewish leaders pounce on the man: “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

Imagine that. They cared more about a rule than about a man’s healing, more about preserving their tradition than recognizing and celebrating the mercy of God at work in their midst. He who had just been set free, they wanted to tie down with their rules.

The man defends himself: “The man who healed me told me to do this.” He doesn’t even know Jesus’ name! Later, Jesus finds him in the temple and says, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

Not all sickness is caused by sin, but all sin leads to something worse than sickness: eternal judgment. Jesus points the man to the greater healing He brings, freedom from sin’s penalty.”

The man goes and reports to the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. The word used here in the Greek is where we get our word for Evangelism, he was proclaiming Jesus as the Savior.

And from that moment, the conflict intensifies. John tells us the Jews began persecuting Jesus because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.

Only God can give life. Only God can raise the dead. And when Jesus says, “My Father is working, and so am I,” the healing at the pool is the sign, His unity with the Father is the reality.

And that’s when they determined, they had to kill Him.

We are Still at the Pool Today

As we hear this story, we might feel bad for this man’s condition and even marvel at Jesus’ miracle. But John is not giving us a spectator’s view; he’s holding up a mirror. The man at Bethesda is us, we are still at the pool.

Our Helpless Condition In Sin: The Doctrine of Total Depravity

Total depravity doesn’t mean we are as bad as we possibly could be. It means that every part of us - mind, heart, will, body - is corrupted by sin, leaving us spiritually powerless to save ourselves. The man’s 38 years picture the depth of human brokenness…

Eph 2:1–3 “You were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked.” Not sick, not weak; dead.

Rom 3:10–12 “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God.”

Like the man at Bethesda, we are helpless. No pool, no ritual can make us whole. We don’t need a crutch; we need resurrection. We don’t need a helping hand into the water; we need the Son of God to speak His life into us.

The Word of Christ Effectively Calls us to Life

Into that helplessness, Jesus comes. He says to us: “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” This is what the gospel does:

Later in John 5:25 Jesus says, “The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”

Rom 10:17 “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.”

The same Word that spoke creation into being (John 1:3) is the Word that calls us out of death and into life. Through the preaching of the Word and the ministry of the Spirit we are brought to life, our eyes are opened, our hearts are renewed, our wills enabled and strengthen to cry out to him in faith.

Overcoming our Obstacles

Knowing that Christ has come with life-giving power, why do we still struggle to grow in faith and righteousness? Why do we still throw up obstacles in His way? John shows us 3 of them: our inability, our conformity, and our ignorance, and how the Son overcomes them all.

Our Inability

“I have no one.” Beset by long illness or even sin.

Where do you feel most powerless right now? Do you despair that you will ever change? How many times have I heard people say, I’m too far gone. It’s impossible for someone like me.

Christ comes to us when we could not even go to him. Rom 5:8, God proves his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

We say, “I have no one.” He says, “I am the One.”

Our Conformity

“It is unlawful.” Bound by the chains of others.

When the man is healed, the people around him don’t rejoice. They say: “It is the Sabbath; get back on your bed…”

Other people’s expectations press us to conform, to stay the same, to keep the old rules, to remain bound by fear.

We feel that pressure: “Don’t be too different. Don’t let your light shine too brightly. Don’t let your faith disrupt your routines, your friendships, your reputation.”

Are there expectations of others that keeping you from following Jesus freely?

The world says, “Don’t carry your bed.” Jesus says, “Take it up and walk.” The leaders turned the Sabbath into a burden, but Jesus shows us He Himself is our Sabbath, the true rest for the weary, the true healing for the broken. Christ breaks the chains so you can walk in newness of life. Obedience to Christ may set you at odds with the world, but it is the only path of life.

Our Ignorance

“I don’t know him.” We are unfamiliar with Jesus.

The healed man initially doesn’t know Jesus’ name. He can’t identify the One who gave him life.

This is our obstacle too. Do you know Him, not just know about Him, but have a personal knowledge of Him as the One who makes you whole? How can you if you don’t attend to his Word, meditate on his ways, seek his presence. 1 Cor 2:14 “The natural person doesn’t accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him.”

We say, “I don’t know Him,” but Jesus says, “I will make Myself known to you.” You may not know much about Jesus, but He has made Himself known to you in His Word today.

Our inability, our conformity, our ignorance, these are real obstacles. But none of them are stronger than Christ. His Word overcomes our excuses, His power frees us from the world’s demands, His presence overcomes our ignorance. He is the Son who makes us whole.

Conclusion

The story is not just about a healing long ago, it’s about Christ’s power to give life today. Are you still by the pool? The Son who makes us whole still speaks today.

To the helpless, to the weary, to the resistant: He is calling you to life, to freedom from what binds you, and to follow after him in righteousness. If you hear him today, get up, take up your things, and follow after Jesus.