Gospel of John - Do You Want to Be Well?

 

Do You Want to Get Well?

John 5:1-15 

It is amazing that God searches out the hearts of people, especially for healing, salvation, and deliverance.

This question “Do you want to get well?” seems redundant except it is Jesus who is asking it. Let’s look at the first part of the text, “Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 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. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 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?” “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.”  Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.          

John has given us another glimpse of Jesus’ innate spiritual discernment to glorify God in the healing of a man invalid for thirty-eight years. He must have been laid as near the pool as possible. The pool was the Pool of Bethesda (house of mercy). 

https://www.land-of-the-bible.com/The_Pool_of_Bethesda

The pool was surrounded by five covered colonnades which provided some shelter. Those who came to Jerusalem during the feasts would have used the pool as a mikveh for ceremonial cleaning to enter the temple, also since the Greek occupation of Jerusalem, it was believed that the waters in the pool had supernatural healing abilities. The pool is also near the site in Jerusalem where king David entered to conquer Jerusalem, “The king and his men marched to Jerusalem to attack the Jebusites, who lived there. The Jebusites said to David, “You will not get in here; even the blind and the lame can ward you off.” They thought, “David cannot get in here.” Nevertheless, David captured the fortress of Zion—which is the City of David. On that day David had said, “Anyone who conquers the Jebusites will have to use the water shaft to reach those ‘lame and blind’ who are David’s enemies.” That is why they say, “The ‘blind and lame’ will not enter the palace.”

(2 Samuel 5:6-8) So Jesus was again fulfilling his messianic purpose, but instead of conquering the ruling authorities of Jerusalem at the pool of the lame and blind, he heals the lame (the invalid man) and the blind man, (Jn.9:1-12) at the pool of Siloam.

Now as Jesus approached the pool that was probably packed because of the feast, he saw the man lying near the pool, and since Jesus came only to do the will of the Father (Jn. 5:19), he knew that God wanted to heal this man. Jesus poses the question to the man, “Do you want to get well?”  It was the response of the invalid man that seemed illogical. Instead of saying yes, he goes into the elucidation of the pool medicinal qualities after being stirred from historic lore. “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.” Jesus, again knowing the Father’s will, said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 

Imagine the surprise and emotions as his body begins to work, bones, muscles, and nerves all strengthening and for the first time in thirty-eight years, He is able to stand, and not only stand, but to bend down and pick up his mat and walk, which will be a point of contention with the religious rulers. “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”

Application - Imagine being paralyzised for thirty-eight years. Each day you are placed by the pool, not really able to move much. You believe your only hope is in the legend of the healing properties of the water in the pool. You may have given up on God healing you or getting healed because of the irony of the need to move in order to be healed. Then one day a man from a crowd of people shows up for the feast. They stop by the pool in order to cleanse themselves in order to enter the temple for the feast ceremonies. The man picks you out of a crowd of lame, blind, and paralyzed people. He walks over to you and asks you the most obvious question, “Do you want to be well?”

You then go into the lengthy reasoning why you can’t get the help you need. You unload on him about your medical disabilities, the hopelessness of living in a body that doesn’t work, that no one really cares because if they did they would have helped me by now. The man listens with earnestness, and you can’t really understand why he is talking to you. Then with a voice of authority that you have never heard before, he says, “Rise up! Pick up your mat and walk!” Your body begins to twitch; muscles, nerves, bones, and tendons begin to develop and you have this energy to move. One leg, then the other. Your arms are able to push you up from the ground, your neck straightens and you first kneel on all four like a baby. You raise up to your knees and finally you are able to raise yourself to your feet. Unsteady at first, with each motion your balance builds and maybe for the first time you are standing on your own, looking at the man who had spoken to you. Exhilaration doesn’t begin to explain the emotional and physical exuberance you are feeling as you bend over to pick up an old sleeping mat you have been on for as long as you can remember. As you straighten up, you look around and the man is gone, as quickly as he came he has disappeared. 

You are free from the horrendous disability of paralysis. With your mat under your arm and a smile on your face, you walk home for the first time.

Today, we have hundreds of thousands of people who are invalids or infirmed because of various diseases and even from the pandemic. Some are bound in their bodies to addictions, others to injuries from war or accidents, still others to mental issues brought on by trauma. They rest in hospital beds, others in therapy centers, and others at home. They are waiting in hopes of a cure. Possibly from an experimental vaccine that had never really been tested properly, an untested cancer therapy someone heard about, or left to see if they will recover on their own. Life seems to go by day by day, and like the invalid man, you can’t reach out for life like you want to do. Then, someone tells you about Jesus, the one who can heal you. You hear how he came to heal and set free those who have been held captive by horrendous disabilities. Here is the hope that you have been longing for, He speaks with the authority of the one who created all things. He has always told the truth, for he truth, and nothing is impossible for him to do, if you would only believe.

     Next, Jesus knew the true significance of the Sabbath better than anyone, but the invilid man seemed to be negligent of what the day of the week was. Let’s look at the text, “The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 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.” As the man experienced his new found freedom, Jesus slipped back into the growing crowd. The religious leaders cornered the man who had been healed because of the oral law's requirement of not working on the Sabbath, (the carrying of the mat). 

The man not yet accustomed to walking, let alone working, must have been confused because his answer again eludes the statement spoken. “But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” It must have been apparent from his clothes and appearance that this man's conditions were extraordinary. For the religious leaders to forgo the punishment against breaking the Sabbath law was unusual. They asked a question of the man, “So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. 

If there was one thing about this man’s simpleness, it was his apparent lack of understanding or knowledge of who Jesus was. All he could say was “I don’t know.” He might have pointed at the crowd, and not seeing Jesus, reverted back to the command by Jesus to pick up the mat he had been lying on for many years. The religious leaders were probably unnerved and perturbed with the healed man, and his testimony of his healing, but they must have let him go home to put away his mat.

Application -  Imagine, you have just been healed from years of pain and suffering, and people place stipulations on your life, mandates and regulations.  You say, “I don’t know how I was healed, but that I’m healed, just let me live!” Now the Sabbath was established to give man rest from his labor and revere God who gave him everything. Like the man, you don't know what a Sabbath is, all you knew was pain and suffering. You may have been resting on your mat of illness for many years in pain and suffering, and never knew about a Sabbath. In your flesh you hoped to be healed by any means, only to be frustrated by the ironies of life by mandates and laws. 

Today, God is healing many people, even those who do not know him, and are still living a sinful life.

I was one of those who was healed by God due to a praying family. I had broken my back from a fall off of a two and half story roof, I also had a broken wrist with six pins holding it together. My doctor told me I would be wearing a body brace for a while and that my arm would be in a sling. I didn’t know Jesus, all I knew was I had a home that needed to be finished for winter in Alaska. I had no knowledge that God was my healer, I was trusting science and medicine. In answer to my wife’s prayer and her family, I was allowed to go home to heal. After a month, I could go back to work with my body brace on. I still didn’t know God, but he was speaking to those around me, for people came around with the skills to finish the house in time for winter. It was two years later, I was fully healed, and now going to church with my wife and kids because she asked me. It was later that I came to know the God who healed me. 

Today, there are many people God is healing from Covid and other physical infirmities, and they can’t tell you how they were healed but they received the healing. And many of them don’t know the God who healed them. Like the paralytic man, they enjoy the blessings of good health but have yet to know the God who healed them. Remember, God loves everyone, even those who do not acknowledge him.

Last, Jesus again finds the man, but his exhortation is at a more spiritual level. Let’s look at the text, “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.” The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.” 

Jesus may have been attending the ceremonies of the feast at the temple, when he again comes in contact with the healed invalid man. It is apparent that the man now has become accustomed to walking, and using his newly healed body, but it is his spiritual ineptness that Jesus addresses. Jesus draws the man’s attention to his spiritual deprivation. He has never repented of his sins, and his sinfulness was inherent since birth like every man. For Jesus now confronts the man with the seriousness of sin. “Stop sinning!” This must have been an astounding moment in the man’s life. He has now learned three new things: not to work on the Sabbath law, the ritual cleaning rules before he can enter into the temple area, but more critically, he has learned his need of dealing with sin in his life. Jesus then says something that must have seemed strange to the man who had been suffering for thirty-eight years as an invalid, whose only ironic hope had been to race to a pool being stirred by an angel before others invilid, lame, and blind people could get there. Jesus said, “or something worse may happen to you.” The man had no idea he needed to repent, and Jesus came to finish the work that he started in this man’s life. Jesus didn’t come to just heal him, he came that he may have life, and that eternal. There is no mention of the man repenting, but he went to the religious leaders and pointed Jesus out. “The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.” 

Application - Again, like me, God is healing people, even though they have not repented of their sins. Many have no concept of sin. They have been blinded by the god of this age. When the Holy Spirit confronts and convicts them of sin (Jn. 16:7-9), they need to repent and believe in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior.

  Many today are praying for those who have received the blessing of healing but do not know Jesus. They also need to ask Jesus to forgive them of their sins and follow him. We don’t know what will happen to us the next day. As Jesus said, “...something worse may happen to you.” You see, without Jesus, we are still lost for eternity. Many are healed by God-sent people gifted in knowledge and prayer, and the healed go on trying to live by the laws of man, instead of by the grace, mercy, and wisdom of God. They choose to answer to men instead of to God. One day something much worse will happen, the judgement of God. 

I’m reminded of a story. A lady called me to ask if I could drive out a spirit from the apartment building they were living in. I told her Jesus gave authority to his disciples to deliver people from evil spirits. She seemed happy, so I met with her. I discussed with her that she needed to ask Jesus to come into her life and that all those who were in the apartments also needed to ask Jesus into their lives. I wanted her to know the instruction that Jesus gave about casting out evil spirits (Lk. 11:24-26). He taught that once the spirit has left, and the house (body) has been cleansed, Jesus needs to be the Lord and Savior in the house. If the house is clean, but without Jesus, it will come back and bring many more with it. It will be far worse than before. The response of the lady and others in the apartment complex was that they would live with the one evil spirit. They didn’t want Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives and homes. God desires for all to come to Him through His Son Jesus Christ, but there is a god of this age who still blinds and controls the lives of those who don’t know Jesus as Lord and Savior of their lives, who have not repented of their sins and are not fully yielded to following him.

I’m again including the ABC’s of salvation (JD Farag). Please, Jesus, God the Son, came to this world to save all who would believe and trust in him. He desires to reveal himself to you, He is the Light that overcomes the darkness of this lawless world. He hears your prayers, and all authority in heaven and earth have been given to him. He will answer you if you will truly believe. If you haven’t asked him to be your Lord and Savior, today could be that day.

 First, A - Admit that you are a sinner. This is where that godly sorrow leads to genuine repentance for sinning against a righteous God and there is a change of heart, we change our mind and God changes our hearts and regenerates us from the inside out. Romans 3:10 - As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one." Romans 3:23 - For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. (We are all born sinners which is why we must be born spiritually in order to enter the Kingdom of Heaven). Romans 6:23 - For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. The bad news is that the wages of sin is death, in other words our sin means that we have been given a death sentence, we have the death penalty hanging over our heads, that's the bad news. But here's the good news: The good news is that the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord. Ephesians 2:8-9 - For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith —and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. Second,

 B - Believe in your heart that Jesus Christ died for your sins, was buried, and that God raised Jesus from the dead. This is trusting with all of your heart that Jesus Christ is who he said he was. Romans 10:9-10 - That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Third, 

C - Call upon the name of the Lord. Every single person who ever lived since Adam will bend their knee and confess with their mouth that Jesus Christ is Lord, the Lord of lords and the King of kings. Romans 14:11 - For it is written: "As I live, says the Lord, Every knee shall bow to Me, And every tongue shall confess to God." Don't wait until later — do this now. Romans 10:13 - For "whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved." "O God, I am a sinner. I'm sorry for my sin. I want to turn from my sin. I believe Jesus Christ is Your Son; I believe that He died on the cross for my sin and that He was buried and You raised Him to life. I have decided to place my faith in Jesus Christ as my Savior, trusting only in His shed blood as sufficient to save my soul and to take me to heaven. Thank You, Lord Jesus, for saving me. Amen."

Please share this with someone this week, the Lord knows that we and they need it.

If you would like other lessons, please go to http://pmdinhisservice.blogspot.com 

Until next week, In His Service Mike Davis

 

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