Just When You at Least Expected!

Just When You Least Expect It

It Was Nobody, But Jesus!

Scripture: John 5:1-13 NKJV

5 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, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 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. 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 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?”

7 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.”

8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately, the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.

Christ Heals on the Sabbath

And that day was the Sabbath. 10 The Jews, therefore, said to him, who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”

11 He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ ”

12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.[1]

In life, there will come a time when you must take the initiative to change your own life, and other people cannot always do it for you.

Jesus in the text comes to Jerusalem during the time of the feast of the Jews, and it is at this time that Jesus does something unusual. He comes to this pool called Beth-zatha, which comprises five pools.

This pool was at what is called the sheep gate, and it was this gate that the sheep were brought through for the sacrifice that gave you access to the temple during the feast. Beth- zatha was comprised of five pools.

Beth-zatha has translated in three different ways, according to scholars:

· House of mercy

· House of grace

· Or the house of outpouring water

Get this they are at the (House of Mercy) where everyone is a mess!

· They are at the house of mercy, and it does not look like they are receiving mercy!

· It sounds familiar this morning, we are at the house of mercy, but all of us here are still a mess.

· Our messes might not all be the same, but everyone here got a mess somehow.

The text says they all gathered, believing that an angel had come down and stirred the water.

· And when the water was troubled, whoever got there first and got in was healed.

· They came to this house of mercy, looking for a miracle to make them feel better.

Sad as it may be, people use the church as a place where they are looking for God to do something for them; they come with the mindset if:

· I can read the right Scripture

· Get the right book

· Throw enough seed on the alter

· Being in the right church, our problems will disappear

But the text says whoever got there first

· They had a spirit of competition

It was at this place where Jesus walked into a place where people were in need; He walked past:

· People who are in need

· People who are blind

· He walks by people who are lame, just to get to one person

· All of the other people at the pool had issues, but Jesus walks by all of them to get to this one man

So, my question is, why this one man?

· There is nothing that says he had a level of faith

· That he was a son of Abraham

· I don’t see anything in the text that says the man called out to Jesus

· He sits there just like everyone else, waiting for the water to be troubled like everyone else… Why this man?

He had been sick for thirty-eight years, longer than many people lived.

· There is something we all can learn from this man, and that is ENDURANCE

· Stay with me, thirty-eight years, and he still shows up believing that if he could just get to the pool first.

· Despite the pain

· Despite the disappointment

· Despite all these years, he hasn’t given up on getting well!

Look at vs6: 6. 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?”[2]

His answer to Jesus shows us that his confidence is low!

But at least he is still showing up:

· He hadn’t quit

· He hadn’t stopped living because when you stop living, you start dying.

Many believers fall and fail during times of disappointment and trials because they aren’t willing to push through and believe that their condition does not have the last word over their life.

· I don’t know what you are going through

· What you may be facing

· What your family is dealing with

· Or that you just may need encouragement this morning!

· But I came to let you know… Your condition does not have the last word!

Jesus shows up to let this brother know that his condition does not have the last word!

· Jesus says… He is coming for you

· You never quit

· You never threw in the towel

· You kept believing that things could get better.

· Has anyone ever been through something, and all you had was your belief that God would somehow make away?

We used to sing about it: I know the Lord will make a way, oh yes, He will

Watch this: What this text shows me, no matter how long you have been going through, it’s too soon to quit!

Can I give you some examples of people who made examples of success?

· Dr. Seuss, the author of a popular children's book, was rejected by twenty-three publishers, but when he didn’t quit, his book sold 6 million copies

· During the first year of business, Coca-Cola only sold 400 bottles

· Henry Ford went bankrupt twice in his first 3 years in the automobile business

· Michelangelo spent 7 years on his back painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling

· Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team

· Joseph had to go through a pit and a prison before he saw his dream in the palace

· Moses had to go through a desert before he saw the land of promise

· David had to go through challenges before he became king

But I don’t have to go to the Bible because is there anybody besides me who know there were moments when you could have quit, but I kept on believing that He wouldn’t bring you this far just to leave you?

· Tell somebody I know what the doctor said

· I know how you feel… But it’s too soon to quit!

I believe Jesus honored the man's faith that he could get better!

But here’s where the text gets interesting: Jesus walks past everyone else, goes to this man heals him in a different method than what they had been waiting on.

· Then he walks away while everyone else is watching and still sitting there!

· What about the folks who didn’t get healed that day?

· See, you may come to church expecting to be healed!

· Expecting an answer

· Expecting your condition to get better

· Still dealing with madness at home

· Still dealing with that crazy child

But this might be your day; you have to say that it is not my turn yet!

We are given several conditions of the people at the pool, but we are never told which one the man had:

· Look at vs3: 3. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.[3]

· I believe he was paralyzed… because when you are paralyzed, you are stuck in a situation where you can’t go any further than you currently are!

· When you are paralyzed, you want to move, but something isn’t functioning right on the inside!

You want it to be better… want it to get better… want a clear answer from God… but I came to tell you today, hold on, Jesus will honor your endurance!

· It’s easy to shout about deliverance

· But it takes real faith to walk in endurance because endurance doesn’t mean you are not going through, but endurance means you are acting like you are not going through!

· Endurance means people can’t look at you and tell how much you are struggling

· Endurance means you look better than the hell you are catching

· The man hadn’t been healed in over thirty-eight years, but he showed up believing it would get better one day!

Jesus asked the man this question in vs6: “Do you want to be made well?”[4] Look what the man says in vs7: 7. 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.”[5]

· He says I want to be better, but while I am trying to get there, someone else beats me

· He says I have no man to help, but what he doesn’t know what he needs is standing in front of him!

· This morning, I am trying to say to you that Jesus has a remedy for your situation, whatever your excuse is.

o The man said I don’t have anyone to help me get in the pool, and by the time I get there, someone else steps in before me

o Watch this: Don’t spend your life empowering your excuses!

· Because in life, there are no excuses; there only are choices!

The man is holding everyone else for what he is going through!

The man had gotten used to laying there waiting for someone else to help him. He gives nothing but excuses to Jesus.

One thing I learned in this text is when I still don’t have the faith, Jesus has the power!

That’s someone’s testimony this morning

· I didn’t have the faith… But He did it anyhow

· I didn’t have the faith to believe He was going to make a way… But He did it anyhow

· I didn’t have the faith that He was going to open that door

· I didn’t have the faith that He was going to heal me… But He did it anyhow!

· When I didn’t believe He could do it

· When I didn’t trust that He would do it… He still did it, anyhow!

God is showing somebody that Eph. 3:20 is still working today: Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,[6]

Jesus just says to the man rise!

· Watch this. Could it be that the man's problem is not his paralysis but his dependence on someone else to help him?

· This isn’t just about his legs, but it’s a miracle about his mind and his outlook!

· His excuse is he needed help to get to the pool and in the pool

· When Jesus said to arise, Jesus showed him that he could get up by himself!

Somewhere along the line, we have to stop looking for someone else to help us and just RISE

Because I remember the story of someone who went to the cross and then to the grave and he defeated the Devil when he got up on Sunday!

I remember what 1 Cor. 15:55-58 says:

55 “O death, where is your victory?

O death, where is your sting?”

56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

57 But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

58 Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. [7]

The Lord wants to show you that you have the power within yourself, don’t wait for someone to help you!

People are sometimes me… they’ll pick you up… then next week they’ll leave you… so I might as well trust in the Lord who said in Deut. 31:6: 6 Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lordyour God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.” [8]

I don’t know about you; I am just going to trust in Him!

Jesus says 8 . Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”[9]

· He tells him to pick up the evidence of the condition that you have been living with!

· I can share this with you this morning: The reason some of you should be shouting is that: The evidence that you are whole is: Here it is: You are still caring some stuff!

You thought caring it meant that God hadn’t healed you, but the fact that you are caring it is your deliverance!

· You should have lost your mind… but you are still carrying it!

· You should thrown in the towel… but you still are carrying it!

· It may have been embarrassing… but you still are carrying it!

· He brought me through my divorce… He brought me through tough times… He brought through the grief… don’t throw your mat away because it is evidence of what He has bought you threw! Oh, you ought to be shouting this morning because everything you have gone through, I am carrying it…

The brother went from the pool to the temple (now stay with me); he was by the sheep gate, and he didn’t have a sacrifice; you needed a lamb to get into the temple. But when he met Jesus, he met the Lamb of God, and because he met the Lamb of God, he had access to the temple.

Is there anybody this morning who will give God praise because of the blood of the Lamb of God?

· I hear the old mothers of the church stopping their feet to get a beat singing: I know it was the blood, I know it was the blood, I know it was the blood for me!!

· One day when I was lost, He died upon the cross. I know it was the blood for me.

Is there anyone in here who is willing to shout because:

· You know it was the blood that saved you

Is there anyone in here who is willing to shout because:

· Now I know who healed me… It was Jesus the Lamb of God

Is there anyone in here?

· Who will say: Now I know who did it for me; it was Jesus the Lamb of God?

· Now I know it was nobody but Jesus the Lamb of God

· Now I know it was nobody but Jesus who could dry my tears

· Nobody but Jesus who could restore my joy

· Nobody but Jesus who could regulate my mind

· Nobody but Jesus who could make a way out of no way

That's why joy says: Can’t nobody do me like Jesus, can’t nobody do me like the Lord!

Good-by New Beginning, may the Lord bless you real good, but before I go, will someone testify

· It was nobody but Jesus who brought me through

· It was nobody but Jesus who healed my body when the doctor gave up on me

· It was nobody but Jesus when folk thought it was over for New Beginning

· Is there anyone who will say when I look over my life and see what the Lord has done, I have got to wave my hand and say it was nobody… nobody… but Jesus… He walks with me… He talks with me and tells me I am his own

· Because when I am tired, He will restore my joy

[1] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jn 5:1–13. [2] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jn 5:6. [3] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jn 5:3. [4] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jn 5:6. [5] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jn 5:7. [6] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Eph 3:20. [7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), 1 Co 15:55–58. [8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), Dt 31:6. [9] The New King James Version (Nashville: Thomas Nelson, 1982), Jn 5:8.