Sermon Tone Analysis

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

5 After this there was a ofeast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by pthe Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic1 called Bethesda,2 which has five roofed colonnades.

3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and qparalyzed.3 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, r“Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 rAnd at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

sNow that day was the Sabbath.

10 So the Jews4 said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and tit is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’

” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for uJesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.

14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well!

vSin no more, wthat nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

16 And this was why the Jews xwere persecuting Jesus, ybecause he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

[Intro]

When have you been most desperate?

We only have two more weekends without college football, so you are scarce to find me more desperate than in moments like right now, really jonesing for my favorite Fall-time activity.

But then again I’m a Tennessee fan so get back to me here in a couple months and I might take back my sentiments.

And for any of you that might be an Alabama fan, I don’t believe you, we’re in North Carolina.

But when have you been most desperate?

In 1944, at the close of the World War II, at the Battle of the Bulge, Allied forces were caught completely off guard and sustained critical loss.

If you hear any interviews of someone who endured these events they’ll tell you of the critical loss, of the bitter, biting cold that became stained in their bones.

But after suffering the initial shock of the attack.

Allied troops mounted a counteroffensive to stave off German momentum.

After being beaten and bloodied, troops at the Bulge were able to wage opposition enough for General Patton to plan the entirety of the counteroffensive that eventually wins the War.

These men were desperate.

In the face of what seemed like impossible odds, a porous defensive front, harsh weather conditions, harsh medical conditions, these men were desperate for reinforcements.

Though not everyone in here knows the trials of war, I am willing to bet that as you think on those harsh conditions that it wouldn’t be too much or a stretch for you to get to something personally that brings about the realization that we are all incredibly desperate for something.

Hear now a story of someone who was extremely desperate, and through a miraculous encounter found the only one able to give the healing that he truly needed.

If you are able, stand with me in honor of God’s Word...

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.

3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.

5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”

7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath.

10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’

” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.

14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well!

Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

z See ch.

7:1

a See ch.

10:33

b ver.

16

c []

d

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Main Idea: Now there is a lot going on here but if I could distill this entire message down to a single statement I want you to know, “in the face of our greatest desperation, Jesus seeks us out.”

And we see this beautifully lived out in three characteristics that we find in Jesus through this text, namely that Jesus intimately knows us.

He is compassionate for us.

And He is sovereign over us.

Jesus’ Intimacy vv.

1-6a

p , ;

1 Or Hebrew

2 Some manuscripts Bethsaida

q

3 Some manuscripts insert, wholly or in part, waiting for the moving of the water; 4for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had

r , ; , , ; ,

r [See ver.

8 above]

s ch.

9:14

4 The Greek word Ioudaioi refers specifically here to Jewish religious leaders, and others under their influence, who opposed Jesus in that time; also verses 15, 16, 18

t ; ; , ; [ch.

7:23; 9:16; ; ; ; ; ]

u [ch.

6:15]

v [ch.

8:11]

w []

x ch.

15:20; [, ]

y ch.

7:23; 9:16

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .

Jesus’ Intimacy vv.

1-6a

Exposition

Right out of the gate here we have a detail that we know to be representative of Jesus’ entire ministry.

He came to seek and save the lost.

A commentator on this passage notes, “When Jesus went to Jerusalem, he did not spend his time in elite hostels; nor did he concentrate his ministry merely in the temple or give attention to the rich and famous who could help him politically and financially with his ministry.

He concentrated on people in need,”

[Gerald L. Borchert, , vol.

25A, The New American Commentary (Nashville: Broadman & Holman Publishers, 1996), 231.]

He displayed His power in these signs and miracles so that many may believe as John would go on to say in .

We see this in each of these accounts throughout John’s gospel up to this point.

In with Nicodemus, with the woman at the well and also with the healing of the official’s son, and so we see it here in chapter 5 at the Pool of Siloam.

It was not by chance that Jesus finds himself in these encounters.

We know this as John the gospel writer details in that he had to go through Samaria in the account of the woman at the well.

It was not by surprise that he encounters her, nor Nicodemus, nor this sick and lame man here.

It says here that Jesus “knew that he had already been there a long time.”

Jesus knows this man.

Just as he knew the Samaritan woman and her past.

Jesus knows this man’s sickness, his situation, he displays that he intimately knows he’s been here for 38 years.

Proclamation

He knows these things about us and He seeks us out.

This is no less profound than when we read it in that “the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.”

Glory, grace, truth, we see all of these things perfectly in Jesus and this is the one who stoops down from eternity with the Father and the Spirit and dwells with us so that we might no longer be left to question through whom we might be saved.

This is the one who dwells with us in our lowest of lows and in the pits of our struggles.

Just as Jesus knew with this man laying by the water here, so too does he know the most intimate details of your life.

I pray that all of you are experiencing the goodness of His grace this morning and that has you all overwhelmed with joy, but the sad reality of the fallen world that we live in is that at some point or another we will know hurt and pain like this man, either personally or through a loved one.