The Healing Power of Jesus: A Deep Dive into John Chapter 5

Join Reagan as he explores John chapter 5, focusing on the miraculous healing at the pool of Bethesda. In this sermon, Reagan draws fascinating parallels between the broken man's misplaced faith in superstition and our modern-day struggles. Delving into the biblical text, Reagan emphasizes the need for spiritual healing offered through Jesus, contrasting it with the false promises of worldly solutions. This thought-provoking session encourages reflection on our personal response to Jesus' offer of spiritual renewal and highlights the importance of living a life rooted in faith and submission to Christ.

00:00 Introduction and Opening Prayer
01:32 The Story of the Pool of Bethesda
04:00 Jesus' Question: Do You Want to Be Healed?
06:02 Worldly Healing vs. Spiritual Healing
15:25 The Choice to Follow Jesus
18:36 Living a Life Transformed by Christ
23:18 The Obvious Response to Jesus' Healing
30:00 Conclusion and Final Thoughts

Transcript

Good morning, would you take out your Bible please and turn to John chapter five, the fifth division of John's Gospel, John chapter five, and we'll begin reading in verse one. John chapter five and verse one here in just a moment. I, I saw news blurb this past week that was kind of shocking to me. Disney.

The company spent between 100 million and $200 million to promote the new Fantastic four movie. Now, who's heard of that Fantastic four movie. I guess it's money pretty well spent, but not everybody's raising their hands. I, I'm just blown away by that. I'm not talking about to make the movie. Just the promotional materials and tour and commercials and all those sorts of things just to promote.

The movie was between 100 million and $200 million. And I'll be honest, it kind of made me want to see it a lot less. I mean like if you have to try this hard to get me to see a movie, maybe the movie's not very good to begin with. But there are some stories, be they movies or otherwise. There are some stories that are just so good that you don't have to build them up, and I love a good introduction as much as the next guy, but John chapter five is one of those kinds of stories.

It does not need my promotion at all in order for us to be interested in what happens here. It is a fascinating account, and so I want us to read that. At least the beginning part of that together. And I wanna point out what I think to me is the most fascinating thing about this account in John chapter five, beginning in verse one.

After this, there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate, a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porches. Some believe that this should be five sides, a five-sided pool with a division in the middle. Either way, this was a well-known pool there in Jerusalem in these porches, or on these sides, it might be lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.

Verse four 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. Now, it's interesting to me that the textual evidence there for verse four, that is not in our best and earliest manuscripts.

It's possible it's original, but it's more likely that this was something written in a margin and then accidentally copied. In other words, somebody said, this is what the text means by this stirring of the water, that the common belief at the time was. An angel came down and stirred the water somehow, I don't know, like a witch's brew or with his hand or whatever.

But when the water got stirred up, like what you see here in this picture, whoever got there first, they got to be healed of whatever it was that was their disease. Verse five, now a certain man was there who had an infirmity 38 years. Jesus saw him lying there, apparently lame or paralyzed, and knew that he had already been in that condition a long time.

He said to him, stop right there. I mean, if you've never read this before, hadn't read it in a long time, what would you expect Jesus to say? If I had never read this before, I could probably have a hundred guesses and not guess what Jesus was gonna say next. Jesus said to him, do you want to be made? Well?

Do you want to be healed? Now, Jesus', spoiler alert, Jesus is gonna heal this lame man in this story, but he starts with this question, do you want to be healed respectfully? That seems like a silly question. It's one that Jesus himself asked Why of all of the things that this man wanted in the world.

Surely it was healing. What was Jesus up to here and asking this man who's had infirmity for 38 years, who is waiting beside this water so that he might be healed. Why is Jesus asking him, do you want to be healed? Well, among other things. This question highlights the contrast between what Jesus is about to do and the misplaced faith this man has in superstition and human wisdom, even if it is wrapped up in a religious package.

Jesus today has the power to heal all sorts of ailments, to solve all sorts of problems. And so I ask you this morning. Do you want to be healed? Do you really want what Jesus offers? I'm so glad that you're here with us this morning, especially those who are visiting. But that is a question for all of us, whether we're Christian or not, whether we know Christ or not.

That question, do we really want what Jesus offers is a question that we all need to answer in our minds and in our hearts, but even more importantly, we need to answer in our lives. And am I willing to live as Jesus asked me to live in order to receive this healing from him? So I want you to notice three truths, three points from our text this morning as we continue reading.

The first thing that I want us to see there in verse seven is this, that worldly healing is always just out of reach. It looks like we can reach out and grab it. It's right there, but it's always gone. The moment we think we're going to grab it, verse seven. The sick, 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, that is why I'm trying to get down there to the water.

Another steps down before me. Now again, we're not told with certainty if this actually worked. I'm kind of inclined to believe that this was superstition, that there was no real healing taking place in this pool. But even if there was occasionally healing that took place, this man never got any of it because he couldn't get there in time.

And it seems as though that you would sit right there on the edge of the pool and at some point when the water stirred up, you would be the first one. But he says, I don't have any help. There's nobody here that can get me to the water, and so I'm always there just too late. And the reality is, is that the world offers false promises to us that are always just out of reach, that always seem close, that seem attainable.

But then when we try and reach out and grab them, they're gone just in the moment we thought we had them. If you mark your spot there in John chapter five, would you turn to James chapter four and I'll ask you to mark these two openings. We're gonna turn back and forth for just a little bit. James chapter four in James chapter four.

Likely the brother of our Lord is, is writing on this occasion in James chapter four, beginning in verse one. And again, he's writing to Christians. But this would apply to all those who are seeking healing of various kinds in their lives. James says in James chapter four, starting in verse one, where do wars and fights come from among you?

Do they not come from your desires for pleasure? That war in your members? You lust and you do not have you murder and covet and do not obtain you fight and war? Yet you do not have, because you do not ask. That is you do not ask. The one who can really give you, you ask that is maybe you even ask God and do not receive because you ask amiss.

You may spend it on your pleasures. This is the way the world works. We, we fight and we work and we covet and maybe we lie, cheat and cheat and steal even in order to try and receive the things that, that this world tells us we need in our life in order to find peace and hope and commitment and purpose.

And we desire as all people do, to feel good, to, to be fulfilled, to fix all of our problems. But if we try and do it ourselves or if we try and follow the formula that the world gives us, it will never work. Why? Because like this lame man, we need the help of Jesus. I saw a funny video recently. The, the scene starts in a medical waiting room and there are several patients who are there in the room and they're all.

They're on their phones, they're scrolling on their phones, and so the doctor walks in and we find out that this is like a sleep clinic of some kind, and the doctor says, I think I know how to fix your sleep problems for the last hour. You are awake. Don't use your phones. Is that something you can try?

And the quick response from all of the patients is, no. And so he says, well, how about the last 20 minutes before you go to bed? There's head shakes and a that's even worse, one of them says, and so the doctor replies, so it seems like sleep isn't really important to you and one of the patients replies No.

Sleep is the most important thing in my life. I would take any pill, I would have any surgery for a better night's sleep and others chime in. Same. I would definitely do that. The doctor encouraged says, okay, well how about just the last five minutes you're awake? And they all instantly shake their heads and discuss saying, no, I'm not gonna do that.

I wonder how Jesus feels when we treat the healing he offers. Just that way. God, I would do anything, anything. In order to have this problem fixed in my life in order to receive this healing from you and Jesus through His word says, okay, here's, here's the path. Here's how that can be done. And we say, well, no.

Now I would do anything, but, but not that Jesus puts an end to all the nonsense of how we think we should fix ourselves and asks us directly. Do you really wanna be healed or just sit around waiting for something that's not ever going to happen? Now I need to be careful about what we're talking about here.

What problems does Jesus help us with when we ask? Well, we are not promised the removal of suffering in this life. No promise of riches. Not the alarm of power, not the assurance of a perfectly functioning body or totally harmonious relationships. None of these strictly physical external things are promised by Jesus.

What then is Jesus offering to heal, to be made well of? Well, Jesus offers healing of all the things that sin has done to us. This is not an exhaustive list, but. I sat down and, and meditated and thought about it. Here's what Jesus offers. You ready? Jesus offers peace, purpose meaning joy and hope. Jesus offers a spiritual family, a new eternal perspective.

Jesus offers real forgiveness, both for ourselves and in our hearts toward other people. Jesus can give us a clear conscience, an objective standard by which to live our lives, a source of knowledge and wisdom for all things that relate to life and godliness, and we are promised by Jesus if we come to him for healing.

We are promised a life that is watched over by the creator of the universe who promises to be working actively for our ultimate spiritual good. In a word, healing we can be made. Well, do you want to be?

Sometimes I wonder, is your life any different because you're a Christian? Intangible, powerful ways. I, I wrestled a lot with the right way to put this. As Christians, we should not be struggling in the same way that the world is struggling. We have time and chance that happened to us just like them.

Sure. We, we get sick, we have bad things happen, but we don't struggle with those things that happen to us in the same way. And as a general rule, we don't have as many of those struggles because we don't have the same amount of fallout from sinfulness in our lives because we're living after the way of Jesus and as Christians.

People should be drawn to our lives. They should see a difference between how their life is going and how our life is going. Others should recognize that our lives are better, even as we pursue different things than them because of Jesus. Our lives should be well, we should be made well. We should be healed.

So if you're here this morning and you looked at your life and you say, this is no different than than when I was not a Christian. This is no different than all of the people that I work with who don't know Christ. This is no different than others in the world who are living a sinful life. Something is missing, something is wrong, and that something probably is Jesus full-hearted devotion and submission to him.

A full invitation for him to come into your life and to heal you as only he can. Because of Jesus, you and I have a choice to be made. Well, a choice that would not be possible without him. And that's the second thing that we see here in our passage, that Jesus gives us the opportunity to choose that healing.

Again, if you're marking your spot there in James chapter four, go back to the gospel of John. In the fifth chapter, read verses eight and nine, Jesus said to him, rise, take up your bed and walk. And immediately the man was made well. Took up his bed and walked, and that day was the Sabbath. Here's, here's the choice.

You say, well, what choice is there? Well, I guess he could have chosen right, to just stay sitting there. He could have chosen to not rise, take up his bed and walk. I mean, Jesus healed him. Jesus had the power to do that. But the choice for us is a life of self-reliance and false hope where we say, yes, Jesus can heal, but I'm gonna choose something different or the life that he offers.

And we can't really have joy and peace and purpose and hope outside of Christ. It isn't sustainable, but those things really are possible. As a Christian, we have a choice. Not. If we want to serve Christ, there is a choice, but not if we wanna serve Christ. The choice has been made already in our minds and in our hearts.

If you turn back there to James chapter four, James chapter four, and let's keep reading what he says, beginning there in verse four. Sometimes we ask and do not receive because we ask for the wrong reasons, for the wrong motivations. Addressing that. He says in verse four, adulterers and adulterer boy sugar coat it, coat it for us a little bit.

James, do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God? Or do you think that the scripture says in vain, the spirit who dwells in us yearns jealously? Jesus is asking us to make a choice, a choice between his friendship or the friendship of the world, and it is a choice that we all must make one way or the other.

What is the big choice? What are we giving up? We're giving up our own will in order to receive his grace, as he says there in verse six, but he gives more grace. Therefore he says, God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, submit to God, subordinate yourself, enlist in God's army.

Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts. You double minded. We, we can't have two minds. A mind that wants to do things Christ's way and a mind that wants to do things the way of the world. We have to be fully and wholly given to him, but let's not, I know I can be dramatic, but let's not be overly dramatic about this, right?

The choice that we are making here is what we are choosing to give up. I want you to turn to Galatians chapter five if you would. What are we choosing to give up by coming to Christ and choosing him? Well, if you turn back to Galatians chapter five,

start there in verse 19. Galatians chapter five and verse 19. Now the works of the flesh are evident, which are adultery, fornication. Uncles, lewdness, idolatry, sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath, selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders, drunkenness, revelries, and the like.

Other things that are like this, of which I tell you beforehand, just as I told you in time past, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Are those things and the like, the things that are like them, are those the things that we want? Well, I will tell you that is the bubbling pool of, of disappointment.

It is the bubbling pool that lacks fulfillment and purpose. Instead, this is what Jesus offers to us. What are we choosing to receive? Who are we choosing to be? Verse 22, but the fruit of the spirit. Here's what's produced by a spiritual person. His love, joy, peace, long suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control against such.

There is no law. Well, obviously, because everybody acknowledges that those are good and great things. Those who are Christ's, verse 24, have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. We live in the spirit. Let us also walk in the spirit. These things are the natural fruit produced by walking in the spirit, being led by the Spirit and living in the spirit.

If we do not have this fruit, there's something wrong with our perspective. And even worse, there's likely something wrong with our relationship with Christ. We can choose joy, peace, love, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, and self-control because of our relationship with Christ, because he allows that to be possible by his spirit, and we have to choose.

We are going to be in Christ to receive those things. Maybe think about Jesus's question this way to the man at the pool. I, I always think it's, it's helpful maybe to just simplify things down to their most common element. You know, just, just absolutely as simple as we can put it. Think about the choice this way.

Check the box that, that applies. This was the choice in front of this guy. I want to rise, take up my bed and walk. Or I want to continue to wait by this water and paralysis. Those are my choices. Which one will this man choose a hundred out of a hundred times? You say, Reagan, okay, we get it. Well, maybe we need to check the box that applies.

I want love, joy, peace, patience, meekness, et cetera. Or I want fornication, envy, hatred, revelries, and the like. That's the choice. Before each one of us, and so as I've asked you to do in times past, if you want the first box, give me a number one. If you want the second box, give me a number two, we all know the choice because the choice is obvious to us.

It should be obvious to us. The choice is that simple, not in a check the box kind of a way, but in, in a daily living kind of way. We can't be back there waiting for the water to bubble when Jesus is offering us the real thing, real healing. And some Christians seems to have missed the memo of what being a Christian is supposed to do in their lives, that it changes us from the inside out to where our life does have all of these fruits, the fruit that comes from the spirit.

And so the third thing that we see. Both intellectually reasonably common sense wise, but also in our passage is this, the response is obvious to these things. Read verses 10 and 11 with me, please. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, it is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry your bed.

Now, that's not really what the law said, but that's what they interpreted the law to mean. And so they were like, whoa, dude, stop with the bed. You can't be carrying your bed on the Sabbath. That's work. He answered them. I love this response. He who made me well said to me, take up your bed and walk. Love you guys.

I know y'all are supposed to be in charge of all this lost stuff, but he who made me well told me to do this and I'm gonna listen to him instead of you. That's how obvious it was. And again, as we think about these boxes, I know it's not that simple when we live it out in our lives, but it should be that obvious to us.

This should be the sound reasoning in every one of our minds, that one of these things is better than the other. And like this man who reasoned in his mind that this person who he did not know, apparently at this point, he didn't know who he was, but he knew this person had the power to heal him of his infirmity.

And if he had the power to heal him, that meant he had the power to command him. Jesus had the authority to command if he had the power to heal. And the same thing is true for us. He has the power to command us because he has the power to heal us. And because he has that power and authority, we should obey him if we wish to seek the healing.

If you want Jesus to solve your problems in life, he can. And if he can, shouldn't you trust and obey his commands and submit to his will for you. Follow Jesus. Submit to his will. That's the road to fulfillment. Have faith in the purpose that he gives you in life. Not your physical purpose, not not your job, or things along those nature, that nature, but your spiritual purpose.

Prioritize the things related to him, because how we should respond to Jesus is obvious, but how we do respond to him is usually obvious too. It's seen in the way we live our lives. Others know whether we're really following Jesus or not. Our fruit is clearly seen. So how have we chosen, how have you chosen as individuals who know Jesus?

Have you really chosen him as parents and his families? We had our VBS this past week. That was just this week, wasn't it? We had our VBS and that was a lot of fun for the kids and everybody else. But in the auditorium there was three, there were three lessons that were given by some of our, our good fathers about preparing our children for Babylon, preparing our children to face the world, and, and I was teaching high school and junior high and the back, and so I had to go back and listen to those.

Those are. The audio of that is recorded on our website and on our, the podcast that we put out on Apple Podcasts. I would encourage you to go back and listen to that if you haven't yet. But can I just read to you an excerpt from Monday Night that I think puts into perspective this idea of, okay, the response is obvious, but am I actually living according to the obvious response quote?

Our children need to see that we believe what we're teaching them. They need to hear the Bible talk from our mouths. They need to hear us talk of spiritual things in our home. And when we are out and in the morning and at night, they need to see reminders of God's word posted in our house and on our refrigerator and on our mirrors, and, and in our hands and on our minds.

They need to see that we have a personal relationship with God as parents, that we pray both privately and together, that we value worship and see the importance of it and that we participate in it. We don't just go through the motions. Brethren, it's hard, very hard, if not impossible to spend as little as one hour a week with the brethren.

To be the last one in the building and the first one out of it. To never open our Bible at home, to never pray with our children, to never speak of God and his word, to never discuss the meaningful things in the context of scripture, and then try and impress upon our children the importance of serving God.

The response should be obvious. This is what I need to do, but make no mistake, the response is obvious. To those who know us best, to those who know us worst, to our children, to our spouses, am I really as committed to serving God as I need to be, as he calls me to be, as he offers healing to me? Jesus'.

Final instructions to this man are found there in verse 14, after this interaction with the Pharisees. The one who was healed did not know who it was for. Jesus had withdrawn, but afterward, verse 14, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, see, you have been made. Well, sin no more list, a worst thing come upon you.

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had paid him. Well, I know who did it. Now. It was that guy, Jesus. It's interesting to me. A worse thing comes upon you. What's, what's worse than having an infirmity for 38 years that's so bad, so degenerative that you find yourself at some pool and you can't even beat the other cripples down to the water.

One who's dead in sin? Sin no more. Jesus says there are always consequences to sin. Don't repeat the same vice, because I promise you there are things worse than 38 years of paralysis. There's separation from God, from our creator and a life lived without the healing that he offered. Well, it's an interesting story, at least it is to me, hopefully to you too.

There's some fascinating things to be found in it. This was not recorded by Jesus. In fact, the miracle wasn't even worked just because it was interesting and it wasn't even worked just for the benefit of this one man who had this infirmity Jesus' point in this section here is to prove his power to prove the authority that he has to do even greater things.

If you drop down there to verse 20 of the same chapter for the father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel greater than healing this man for as the father raises the dead and gives life to them. Even so, the son gives life to whom he will for the father.

Judges no one but has committed all judgment to the son. That they all should honor the son just as they honor the father. He who does not honor the son, does not honor the father who sent him. I am proving who I am. Jesus says by these things, and you're gonna marvel at greater works than these greater miracles are coming.

I'm gonna be raising people from the dead. Most assuredly I say to you, verse 24, he who hears my word and believes, and him who sent me. Has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death unto life. I have the power to judge him, but if you believe and do my words, you're gonna pass from the death of judgment into the life of salvation.

Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming and now is when the dead. Those who are dead spiritually will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live. And there is a great day coming. He goes on to talk about when all who are in the graves will hear his voice. But what applies most to you and me this morning, the reason for this miracle is to confirm these ver verses that Jesus says afterward I have the power.

To move you, to heal you from spiritual death to spiritual life. And so I asked this morning, do you want to be healed? How do you respond? Do you want the spiritual healing Jesus offers? You can be healed even better. You can be raised from the dead. You come in humble submission saying, I want Jesus to heal me by putting off my old man of sin.

Go by going down into a watery grave. He can raise me from the dead that I might walk in newness of life, having peace and power and purpose. And if we can help you with that even this morning, won't you come while together? We stand and while we sing.