The Healing of the Lame Man
Notes
Transcript
Handout
We have discussed the first two signs performed by Jesus as recorded by John:
Turning water into wine
Healing the nobleman’s son
A sign, as recorded by John, was a miracle with a purpose. John records seven of those signs and his purposes for doing so are clear.
And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;
but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
To prove that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God
To prove that by believing in Jesus as the Christ you can have eternal life
Tonight, we are going to discuss the third of those seven signs which is the healing of the paralyzed man lying by the pool of Bethesda.
1. The Setting.
1. The Setting.
A. The Pool of Bethesda.
A. The Pool of Bethesda.
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.
In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.
For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.
This pool was spring-fed located north of the Temple. The name of the pool, Bethesda, is Aramaic meaning the house of mercy.
The pool is aptly named as at the pool was a pitiful sight as there were a great number of infirmed people such as the blind, the deaf, the lame, and the paralyzed. This was a pitiful sight, and all those there were seeking a miracle, but they should have been seeking God.
B. The Superstition.
B. The Superstition.
Now, I found this interesting.
The people, according to the Bible, gathered at the pool waiting on an ANGEL.
They were waiting on an angel to move the water.
I want to ask some questions, and I want you to answer them honestly. Just write the answers or your thoughts somewhere on your outline, and I am asking the questions here and not answering the questions.
Were those lying by the pool godly or superstitious?
In verse 1 of this chapter, John says that there was a feast of the Jews that was occurring.
Should those who were at the pool have been participating in the feast of the Jews or waiting for a miracle?
Were they serving God or waiting on the angel?
Do you remember what the Bible says about trusting, worshipping, or relying on angels?
Then he said to me, “Write: ‘Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb!’ ” And he said to me, “These are the true sayings of God.”
And I fell at his feet to worship him. But he said to me, “See that you do not do that! I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren who have the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.”
Now I, John, saw and heard these things. And when I heard and saw, I fell down to worship before the feet of the angel who showed me these things.
Then he said to me, “See that you do not do that. For I am your fellow servant, and of your brethren the prophets, and of those who keep the words of this book. Worship God.”
Is there a difference between healing and being made whole?
Whatever healing took place at Bethesda, who was responsible?
The men’s study group has been reading a book about angels, and we know that many in this society are enamored by angels, but even angels would tell you that only God is worthy of worship.
2. The Source of True Healing.
2. The Source of True Healing.
Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.
When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?”
The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.”
Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”
And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.
This man is extremely desperate. He had been crippled for 38 years.
Jesus walks over to the man and asks him if he wanted to be made well. He did not ask him if he wanted to be healed. Jesus had intentions far greater than physical healing. Jesus desired to make this man complete. Jesus wanted to make his soul well before God.
For 38 years, this man had lived in this pitiful condition. He was lying there waiting on something to happen that was never going to happen. He had placed his faith in everything except God. He had placed his faith in the angel who moved the water. He had placed his faith in the pool, but he would never be first to get in the water because he could not move.
That is exactly what the man says in verse 7, and this shows us that regardless of the pool and regardless of the angel, to be healed this man needed someone else, and that someone was standing right in front of him talking to him.
Jesus was the only One who could make this man whole, and Jesus did not need a pool or an angel. All He needed was for this man to believe, and that is exactly what he did.
3. The Skeptical Pharisees.
3. The Skeptical Pharisees.
A. Condemning the Lord of the Sabbath.
A. Condemning the Lord of the Sabbath.
The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”
He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”
Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”
But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.
Can you imagine bringing an accusation against the Lord of the Sabbath for violating the Sabbath?
Let me just say something here.
Jesus did not violate the Sabbath because that would have been a sin. What Jesus violated in the eyes of the Pharisees were the things the Pharisees had added to the Sabbath. The Pharisees were the ones who had totally violated the Sabbath by adding to it all that they added.
This is where the Tradition of the Elders comes into play.
Instead of condemning Jesus, they should have been seeking Him to worship Him.
I will raise up for them a Prophet like you from among their brethren, and will put My words in His mouth, and He shall speak to them all that I command Him.
Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, And the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.
Then the lame shall leap like a deer, And the tongue of the dumb sing. For waters shall burst forth in the wilderness, And streams in the desert.
With each sign performed by Jesus, the Pharisees should have been more and more convinced that Jesus was the Christ.
Instead of seeking Jesus to worship Him, they were seeking Jesus to kill Him
B. True Salvation.
B. True Salvation.
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Through this sign, Jesus showed that He was greater than man-made rules, superstitions, and beliefs.
It is Jesus who heals.
This man had been lying there for 38 years. He thought he needed an angel or a pool to be saved, but all he needed was the faith to believe, a faith to believe that was given to him by God.
For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
not of works, lest anyone should boast.
For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.
This man displayed that faith by taking up his bed and walking. If he had not done that, he would have never known for sure that he had been healed.
It takes faith to be saved. Faith in the word of God, faith in Jesus Christ who is the Word.
I want you to pay careful attention to verse 14.
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
When Jesus tells this man, “sin no more”, what do you think Jesus means?
Can I tell you what I think?
This man’s sin was not being crippled. This man’s sin was trusting that pool and the angel more than he trusted God.
In essence, this man was violating the first commandment. He had other things he had placed before God.
Evidence of this man’s salvation would be his repentance, and let me just say this. There is no salvation without repentance.
Salvation produces a new creature, a creature no longer enslaved by sin. Without repentance, there is no proof of a new birth.
This man’s physical healing was not his true need. His true need was to healed spiritually, and proof of that would be displayed by a new life; a life of repentance. He no longer had to depend on someone to place him in the pool. He no longer needed the pool. He no longer needed an angel. He had Jesus.
Jesus can forgive anyone who will turn to Him for salvation-which is the ultimate healing we all need.
