QUESTIONS FROM JESUS PART 2

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Last week we kicked off a brand new series titled question’s from Jesus

And Wade talked about how a lot of questions Jesus asked you’ve probably asked of your kids.

Like “do you not yet understand”

Why do you make trouble for the woman?

Do you even realize all the things I have done for you?

But Wade has some older kids right.

I have younger kids and so I’m not gonna lie when we decided to do this series “questions from Jesus” as I guy with younger kids all I could think about was “please not anymore questions!”

And maybe you can relate?

I have 3 little girls and so the questions are endless.

They all have questions all the time.

Essie is the worst. She’s the queen of questions!

She’s my detail girl like her momma and so she needs every detail of everything

And I’m like “I don’t know what color shirt the clerk at the store was wearing, I wasn’t really paying attention.”

It’s question after question after question

And you throw a lot of “well because God made it that way” but nothin ever seems to satisfy the endless pit of questions

You see Wren will ask questions but she really just wants to talk

If I could create a hologram of myself nodding in agreement she would probably sit there and talk to it for a couple hours

But Essie will ask the same question over and over until you answer and it’s so much more draining right?

Why though?

Well I have to really pay attention to what Essie is saying and then I have to work to respond to her.

I have to listen, I have to think, I then have to communicate it in way that she will understand

It’s just exhausting!

So when we decided to do this series I thought, no please! Not another question!

But then I realized. What Essie wants from me as her dad Jesus wants from me as His child

He wants me engaged

He wants me thinking

He wants me responding

So you can see why Jesus then asks over 300 questions throughout the gospels

Because this is what He wants from us

And so maybe you’re a parent of small kids who ask a lot of questions

Or maybe your in a position at your job where you get asked lots of questions

Maybe you’re just tired of answering all of the questions

Let me encourage you here. When Jesus asks a question it has a specific purpose and it is important.

And so, if we are to give any thought any energy to any questions it should be the ones that Jesus is asking.

so let’s dive in this morning and see what question Jesus has for us

We are going to be in John 5 this morning but I want to give a little context because it starts with “some time later”

So chapter 4 starts with the woman at the well

Where Jesus greets essentially the last person you would expect him to and He preaches the kingdom of God to her and many of the town believes because of it

Then a royal officer has a sick son that Jesus heals and we are told it is the 2nd sign that Jesus performed after coming to Galilee

Which leads us to our text this morning

John 5:1–15 NIV

1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 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. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 4 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 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?” 7 “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.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 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.” 11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” 12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” 13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 14 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.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

We are told that Jesus in Jerusalem for festival.

John 5:1 NIV

1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.

We are unsure which festival it is

It could have been the passover

some believe Rosh ha-shanah

But for us this morning it doesn’t make much of a difference

We just know he was in Jerusalem

Now what is of importance is that He is near the sheep gate at a pool called Bethesda

John 5:2 NIV

2 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.

Bethesda is the Greek transliteration of a Hebrew word that meant, “house of outpouring” or “House of Grace”

We are told in vs 3 that this is a place where many disabled people used to be

John 5:3 NIV

3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.

And this is where Jesus goes

It’s here at the Sheep Gate we see the Great Shepherd’s heart

It says there was a man there that had been ill for 38 years

John 5:5 NIV

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

A long time!

I’m not even 38 years old so this dude had been this way longer than I’ve been alive

Now, you may have noticed something, and it really depends on which Bible translation you have but verse 4 may be missing in your Bible

Anyone see that?

It goes from 3 to 5. If you are using NIV or ESV.

It’s probably in there if you have a KJV or NASB

This is called a textual variant

And if this is new to you or you want to know more we can go have coffee some time but for this morning and this text it really doesn’t change much

Especially considering vs 7 tells us some of what 4 does

The New King James Version Chapter 5

4 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.

more than likely this was not in the original text but a belief that there was an angel that would stir the waters and the first in would be healed

So the scene is set.

So, there’s a man here that’s been sick for 38 years

he's waiting by a pool that seemed to have the ability to heal people

So Jesus asks this question. You ready?

“Do you want to get well?”

Seems like a pretty simple question right?

Like this is an easy one

Jesus just lobbed him one up

All he needs to say is “yes!”

you ever been in a situation where you someone asks you a question and the answer is super obvious?

like it’s really just a statement in the form of a question.

‘it’s like when you get in trouble and your parents ask you if you’re gonna do it again

what are you supposed to say?

Yes I actually love being beaten for my disobedience

all this guy had to say was yes Jesus please

But he does not say that.

What does he say?

John 5:7 NIV

7 “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.”

Here we see what I’m dubbing as the problematic progression

All the dude needed to say was, yes Jesus I want to be healed, I want to get well!

But he doesn’t. He immediately goes into all of the reasons he is not well.

he see Jesus’ question as an accusation instead of an invitation

The problematic progression

You ready for the progression?

Problems reveal our futility

When problems arise they show us our inability.

When terrible things happen we realize how little control we have over things

This man had sick for 38 years and up to this point there was nothing that he could do to save himself

He was broken, hurting, sick, and unable.

Problems heighten our loneliness

When problems arise in your life, you find out who really has your back and who really loves you

now we normally like to point the finger at everyone else when this happens but most of this is on you

how much are you investing into good people who will be there for you?

how much are you allowing people into your life So that they are there when you need them most?

Now we don’t know if this man had family

Maybe he had some golfing buddies

Maybe he had a wife, kids, we don’t know

All we know, is that in the middle of his problem, he had no one.

Problems reveal our pride

Sometimes no one else will help because we won’t let them.

I’ve got this! I don’t need anyone else! I can take care of myself, fend for myself, fight this myself

This man says I have no one but I have me and while I am trying someone else goes ahead of me.

If everyone else would just cater to me then I would be ok

Problems display our hopelessness

When you are unable, alone, and prideful you are hopeless.

What else can you do?

Where else can you turn?

It’s hopeless just as it was for this man.

Problems blind us from grace

When we get so caught up in our problem we lose sight of God’s grace

Remember that this place mean “an outpouring of grace.”

This place is a place where grace happened

And in this moment this man was looking grace in the face and he still couldn’t see it.

this man had a poor view of God’s grace.

Over the long period of time of living with his problem the man had seemingly become convinced that God operated on the basis of “first come, first served.”

He has lost sight that God actually operate in “all who come will be save.”

Remember, Jesus did not ask a complex question. A simple “yes” or “no” would have sufficed

It is as though he had been asked this before. There is a casual discarding to his tone, possibly even shame.

If only he had some help, if only he were able enough, fast enough, strong enough, he could be healed.

But Jesus the Healer

Don’t miss the good news of Jesus' response here. He could have left. He didn’t.

Instead he replies with “Get up. Pick up your mat and walk.”

John 5:8 NIV

8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

What Jesus offers He can provide.

The Lord healed him through the power of His spoken word. He commanded the man to do the very thing he was unable to do because Jesus was able.

In His command was the power of fulfillment.

But then what happens?

We are told this is done on the sabbath day and the law forbids this man to carry his mat on the sabbath.

John 5:10–12 NIV

10 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.” 11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” 12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

The Jewish leaders hear of a healing and someone who broke one of their religious rules and all they can focus on is the latter.

If we are not careful our religious endeavours can hinder our spiritual eyes

We can get so caught up in the rules of God that we lose sight of the heart of God

This is a blatant reminder that Jesus does not save us for our religious feats.

If we get out of a wordly rat race only to get into a religious one then we are no better off than we were before.

Religion would have us keep our eyes on rules and have us miss out on grace

And the result is, it puts us in the same problematic progression that sin does

The Jewish leaders miss the result because they were fixated on the rules and this is what religion does.

May it not be so for us.

What does this mean for us?

No matter how you look at this miracle, it is an illustration of the grace of God.

It was grace that brought Jesus to the Pool of Bethesda, for who would want to mingle with a crowd of helpless sick people!

It doesn’t say that Jesus healed all of them; He singled out one man and healed him. The fact that Jesus came to the man, spoke to him, and healed him is proof of His wondrous grace.

But what we have to realize is that the question Jesus asks the man, he also asks of us.

And the deeper question Jesus asks is, “Do you really want to be changed?”

If we are content to stay as we are — no matter how miserable that may be — there can be no change, no possibility of healing for us.

As Mr Gary would put it, “take another lap and see how that works out for you.”

Keep spinning in circles going no where

Keep going through the same things getting the same results

It can be far easier than we realize for us to get complacent in our brokenness and sin.

We get comfortable. We really don’t want to change.

But there is a major problem we face today.

It’s the problem of wanting to be healed but not wanting to change.

we want to be forgiven but not have to change

Because isn’t that the game we try to play?

Like Jesus I want you to forgive me and I want you to heal me and I want to go to heaven

And I want all the benefits without having to really do anything.

I don’t want to change anything.

And here is what we must realize

FORGIVENESS DOESN’T COME THROUGH CHANGE, CHANGE COMES THROUGH FORGIVENESS

Don’t let the good news of this scene slip by.

Each of us has sat beside our own pools in the hopes of healing, paralyzed by our circumstances and self-pity.

We have looked to that which cannot save, cannot heal and cannot change.

As we enter this week leading to Easter Sunday we are reminded of another progression

We have the problematic progression

But we also have the progression of the cross

You see Problems may reveal our futility but,

THE CROSS REVEALS OUR STRENGTH IN CHRIST

Problems may heighten our loneliness but,

THE CROSS REVEALS OUR UNION WITH CHRIST

Problems may reveal our pride

THE CROSS REVEALS OUR NEED FOR A SAVIOR

Problems may reveal our hopelessness but,

THE CROSS REVEALS OUR ONLY HOPE

Problems may blind us from grace but,

THE CROSS IS GRACE ON GREATEST DISPLAY

As we are dead in our sin, slaves to our flesh, without hope, without life

Our gracious God has drawn near through the death and resurrection of His Son.

And even now, He asks, “Do you want to be healed?”

Do you want to stop going through the motions

Stop taking another lap

Stopping struggling through life

Without hope without a point without a purpose

Because Jesus is the one who heals

Isaiah 53:5 NIV

5 But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed.

By the cross of Jesus we are healed.

Healed from sin

Healed from loneliness

Healed from hopelessness

healed from pride

Healed from eternal damnation

And so I will leave you this morning wrestling with the question that Jesus asked.

Do you want to get well?