Do You Want to be Healed?

Introduction

If you remember before I went on Sabbatical, we were going through a series on the miracles of Jesus out of the Gospel of wanted to close up that series before the Fall and in the next two weeks, Pastor Sergio and I will go over some last thoughts on this very important subject. I’m emphasizing the importance of this belief in miracles because in our day and age, this idea of a God who supernaturally intervenes in our life is almost seen as nonsensical, anti-intellectual, and unbelievable. For that very reason, we tend to be skeptical and suspicious about any purported news of the miraculous. And because there are so many accounts of false miracles, we assume incorrectly that all miracles are fake instead of correctly believing that the presence of counterfeits actually proves the existence of the authentic. We check for counterfeit money, fake ids, and inauthentic paintings specifically because the real ones are out there. But why is it so important to believe in miracles? It’s because without this firm belief in a God of miracles, you can become a half-believer without even knowing that it’s happening to you. Let me share what I mean. For the past few hundred years, there has been essentially 2 different ways of thinking about God. Starting in 17th century Europe, philosophers began to argue for a belief in God that was not accompanied by the miracles and stories of divine intervention that we read about in the Biblical accounts. This came to be know as Deism which is the Latin word for God. Thomas Jefferson is the classic example of a deist in our history books. The Smithsonian has a copy of the Bible that Thomas Jefferson tried to construct and what you’ll find is that Jefferson cut out all the miracles of Jesus including the virgin birth and the resurrection and re-titled the gospels as “The Philosophy of Jesus of Nazareth”.

The best way to describe Jefferson’s faith was that he was a half-believer:

In regards to what he believed, Jefferson wrote, “I am a real Christian, that is to say a disciple of the doctrines of Jesus.” He went so far as to call Christ’s teachings “the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.” But in relation to his disbelief, our third president wrote that “Jesus did not mean to impose himself on mankind as the son of God.” He went as far as to call the writers of the New Testament “ignorant, unlettered men” who produced “superstitions, fanaticisms, and fabrications.”

The deist believes in a god who created the universe, set the laws of nature in motion, and then just watches as the world turns. Over and against this view of God is what is known as Theism, which is the Greek word for God and it’s a reference to a God that cares about the daily affairs of mankind and who intervenes supernaturally in the lives of ordinary men and women. This is the God of the unedited version of the Bible who speaks to His people and who shows Himself through signs and wonders. And I bring all of this up, not as a history lesson in religious philosophy but simply as a warning that in our hyper modern world filled with all of this technological advancement, it is rather easy to become a practicing deist, someone who believes loosely in the moral teachings of Jesus but without any real expectation in the divine intervention and interaction of God with your personal life. This is the real danger in not believing that Jesus can perform miracles today. Without even knowing it, we render much of the Scriptures meaningless. And though we may not cut out those words physically, we can live our lives like large parts of the Bible don’t exist or don’t matter. And I pray that you’ll be convinced that every miracle of Jesus that is recorded in the gospels is still incredibly important for us today.

John 5:

John 5:1–17 ESV

1 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.”

Body

The best way to think about this passage is to break it down into three segments:

Look at the man

Consider the healer

Examine the miracle

In our day and age of uber political correctness, it would be considered highly offensive if we saw someone who has been an invalid for 30 plus years and said to that person, “This is a result of your sin, and if you don’t stop sinning, something even worse is going to happen to you.” This seems insensitive, condemning, judgmental, and contrary to what we think God and religion should be. This is a Jesus that is not familiar to us nor comfortable for our modern sensibilities. Most of us are far more comfortable with the Jesus that we see in . When you read that story, Jesus and his disciples come across a man who has been blind from birth and his disciples ask Him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Perhaps they remembered this previous miracle in which Jesus laid the root cause on the man’s sin but to their surprise Jesus tells them:

John 9:

John 9:3 ESV

3 Jesus answered, “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him.

What we learn from these two miracles is the fact that things in life are rarely black and white and you cannot throw a blanket statement on all cases of physical illness. Sometimes our sickness is a result of sin and at other times, they are not but what is important for us is to discern the difference because depending on the root cause, your path to wholeness is different. For this man, the miracle that he experienced was just the first step (no pun intended) towards the full healing that God had in store for him. When you look at this man in the passage, you quickly realize that he is not a very likable person. At first, we are led to feel sympathetic and to feel sorry for this man who has been coming to to this pool for over 30 years waiting to be healed. The local legend was that an angel would come and stir the waters so that whoever went in as the waters were moving could be healed. But every time this happened for the past 38 years, the crowds would rush ahead of him, there would be no one to help him to the water, and he would be left again without a miracle. It’s enough to break your heart, that is if you have a heart. So Jesus sees him, knows that this man has been there a long, long time and asks what appears to be a ridiculous question, “Do you want to be healed?” No other miracle that Jesus performs is prefaced by this question.

It is as if Jesus is saying to this man, “Do you actually want this miracle or are you just making excuses for why you haven’t been able to get to the water for these past 40 years.” I don’t want to make Jesus seem hard-hearted or unsympathetic but this man seems to have a classic case of victim mentality or what some psychologists call the victim complex and Jesus sees right through it.

And it is not solely because he can’t seem to get to the water for 40 years and blames the world for not helping him but it’s also what happens even after he has been healed. We read that he was healed on the Sabbath and that he picked up his mat and began to walk but this would have been against Jewish rules that forbid doing any sort of work on the Sabbath including picking up your mat and walking. So one of the temple authorities stop him and begins to reprimand him about the illegal nature of walking with your mat on the holy day. The answer that this man gives to the religious official is classic. “This isn’t my fault, the man who healed me, he made me take up my bed and walk.” What an ungrateful jerk. In fact, he is so self-centered that he doesn’t even know the name of the man who healed him and makes no effort to find Him. In the end, Jesus has to come to him to point out that he is finally well at least physically but unless he turns from his sin, something worse could happen. But the man clearly doesn’t heed this warning because as soon as he has the chance, he goes to the temple authorities and gives up the very name of the person who healed him. This is a man worth hating and maybe it explains why no one helped him for nearly forty years. We don’t know what led to this man becoming an invalid and I’m sure that it was a horrible thing but what is far worse is psychologically, emotionally, and even spiritually, he remained a victim of that event for the rest of his life.

In our day and age, we are unwilling to call sin for what it is and we have to label it with these benign terms like victim complex. But I’m going to list some common symptoms of those with a victim mentality and have you assess for yourself whether or not this sounds like someone who is struggling with a sinful heart.

You’re constantly blaming other people or situations for feeling miserable

You’re cynical or pessimistic

You’re cynical or pessimistic

You think others are purposely trying to hurt you

You believe you’re the only one being targeted for mistreatment

You keep reliving past painful memories that made you feel like a victim

Even when things go right, you find something to complain about

You feel attacked when you’re given constructive criticism

You believe you’re not responsible for what happens in your life (others are)

You believe that everyone is “better off” than you

You attract people like you (who complain, blame, and feel victimized by life)

You have a habit of blaming, attacking, and accusing those you love for how you feel

You expect to gain sympathy from others, and when you don’t get it, you feel upset

You refuse to analyze yourself or get the real help you need

I think we will all agree that this is just deeply entrenched sin that we often refuse to deal with.

I realize that the concept of sin is becoming a foreign concept but this list that we read through is a classic example of someone who has sin deeply entrenched in their heart. And often as we go through a list like this, ironically to prove this point, we automatically think of other people that this list applies to. A friend, a co-worker, a family member, definitely people in church, but it’s never me. Yet if we are truly honest with ourselves, some of these symptoms apply to all of us. And the reason is that sin makes a victim of us all and from the time Adam blamed God for creating Eve who made him eat the forbidden fruit in the Garden, we have all fallen into the trap of these sins. As the book of Romans tells us “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.”

One of the best things that ever happened early in my twenties as I was starting ministry was a friend who told me that I had a problem taking responsibility for my actions and shifting the blame onto other people or the given situation at hand. There are a lot of people including many Christians who are stuck in this cycle of sin in their life. In fact, some people can come to church for years and years and never receive the healing that they need because they are stuck blaming others or the unfortunate events of their lives.

There are a lot of people including many Christians who are stuck in this cycle of sin in their life. In fact, some people can come to church for years and years and never receive the healing that they need because they are stuck blaming others or the unfortunate events of their lives. If that is you, Jesus may be asking you the very same question, “Do you want to be healed? Do you actually want to be healed?”

This where Thomas Jefferson was so wrong in his assessment of God, not only does he see and know but He cares and He is more than willing and able to take action. This is what separates our God from the god of the Deist. Out of His infinite love, he steps into our pain and takes action. You can call this a miracle, divine intervention, or a set of coincidences for all I care. What I know to be true is that our Father in heaven is always at work! These are not my words but the very words of the Son whom He sent.

And this morning, you might be thinking to yourself, “Pastor, I believe God’s at work but He’s not going to work in my life?” You do know what you have just done there? You are playing the victim card again. We’ve just gone through how sinful, selfish, ungrateful this invalid was but guess what, Jesus still healed him. If Jesus can work in this man, he can work in anyone. That is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Over the years, I’ve shared with this congregation the many miraculous things that God has done in my life. I’ve seen prophetic dreams about where to live come to pass, I’ve seen someone’s hearing restored, I’ve been reunited with my mom after 43 years. These are all miracles, God at work. But if you knew me, like I know me, I’m the last person who deserves such incredibly good things to happen but God has shown me mercy and love that I don’t deserve. If you don’t think you are worthy of a miracle, I need you to consider and reconsider who the healer is and if you’ve never experienced his grace, you just simply need to open your heart.

Conclusion

In fact, some people can come to church for years and years and never receive the healing that they need because they are stuck blaming others or the unfortunate events of their lives. If that is you, Jesus may be asking you the very same question, “Do you want to be healed?”

When we think about miracles, we assume that physical miracles, the ones that are the most visibly spectacular are the most important. So miracles of healing are usually at the top of the list . But as we examine this miracle more closely, we realize that this is not always true. In fact, what we see is that this miracle of physical healing actually exposes this man’s need for a different sort of healing that goes far deeper than what is on the surface.

The miracle of physical healing actually exposes this man’s need for a different sort of healing that goes deeper than what is on the surface.

The miracle of physical healing actually exposes this man’s need for a different sort of healing that goes deeper than what is on the surface.

It is my firm belief, that everyone in the church needs some sort of encounter, some moment in their life when God intervenes supernaturally in order for them to become Christian. This may look different for different people but in everyone that I know who has any sort of relationship with God, there is at least one story, one moment in their life when God became more than a doctrine, more than philosophy, more than a religion, he became real. This requires the miraculous, the supernatural, a divine intervention because nothing else can change the hearts of people. If you have never experienced the love of God and the power of His Spirit, chances are you are not a Christian even if you have spent all your life in the church. As the old saying goes, if you find a mouse in a cookie jar, it doesn’t make that mouse a cookie. Being in the church, does not automatically make you a Christian. For this particular group of people, Jesus is not that far from you and perhaps you’re already sensing his presence now. That is the work of God.

But the real challenge is for those who have experienced the miracles, had an encounter with Jesus, and can even recount the great things that God has done but somehow your life remains the same, your sinful habits instead of getting better are getting worse. You’ll notice that this man doesn’t even praise God once after being healed. It is like the world owed it to him. Unfortunately, we can often act this way even as we are being healed. To this group of people, Jesus’ words are firm and direct: “Stop your sinning, lest something worse happen to you!” Those are not the words I would choose but I don’t love you as much as Jesus does, so those are His words for you. I don’t know about you but I can’t even anything much worse than being unable to walk for 38 years and I am not about to test Jesus’ words here.

Greater than the miracle of physical healing is the miracle of our forgiveness and the transformation of our lives through the eternal work of Christ.

Psalm 65:3 ESV

3 When iniquities prevail against me, you atone for our transgressions.

Conclusion

Perhaps this morning, Jesus is asking you the very same question, “Do you want to be healed? Do you actually want to be healed?” Are you willing to do whatever it takes to be healed inside and out. Now what may help you answer this question honestly for yourself is to consider the nature of the healer. In the passage we’re told that Jesus saw the man out of the hundreds of others who were there. Even before the man saw him, Jesus gazed upon him first. The man didn’t even know who Jesus was. You may be here this morning and have no idea who the Son of God is but He is looking at you. He sees you personally, he sees your pain, your needs, and anything else you’re trying to hide. As the Son of God, Jesus knew this man, knew what was keeping him from being healed. But Jesus didn’t just know the man, He cared deeply for him, just as he knows and cares for each and everyone of us in this room.

This where Thomas Jefferson was so wrong in his assessment of God, not only does he see and know but He cares and He is more than willing and able to take action. This is what separates our God from the god of the Deist. Out of His infinite love, he steps into our pain and takes action. You can call this a miracle, divine intervention, or a set of coincidences for all I care. What I know to be true is that our Father in heaven is always at work! These are not my words but the very words of the Son whom He sent.

And this morning, you might be thinking to yourself, “Pastor, I believe God’s at work but He’s not going to work in my life?” You do know what you have just done there? You are playing the victim card again. We’ve just gone through how sinful, selfish, ungrateful this invalid was but guess what, Jesus still healed him. If Jesus can work in this man, he can work in anyone. That is the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ. Over the years, I’ve shared with this congregation the many miraculous things that God has done in my life. I’ve seen prophetic dreams about where to live come to pass, I’ve seen someone’s hearing restored, I’ve been reunited with my mom after 43 years. These are all miracles, God at work. But if you knew me, like I know me, I’m the last person who deserves such incredibly good things to happen but God has shown me mercy and love that I don’t deserve. If you don’t think you are worthy of a miracle, I need you to consider and reconsider who the healer is and if you’ve never experienced his grace, you just simply need to open your heart.