The Miracle at Bethesda - John 5:1-9

1:30You know, our Lord makes a very curious statement. It's always troubled me. In Matthew chapter 10, verse 34, he makes this statement. Do not think that I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword. And he goes on: for I came to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law, and a man's enemies will be the members of his household. And I often wondered: how is such a statement consistent with the one who is called the Prince of Peace?

2:12Well, if you continued reading in Matthew 10, he provides an answer there. But John 5 also gives us an answer to the very same question. We're going to look at that as we go. I want to just bring you up to speed to where we've been geographically. Just look at chapter 5, verse 1. First three words, after these things, circle those words. Look over to chapter 6, and it begins with the very same words, after these things, circle those words. Go over to chapter 7, verse 1, after these things, you can circle that. You see this markers in the narrative. John has changed. Pace. We've just been through John chapters 1 through 4, and then he sets a different tone, starting in chapter 5, that's going to go all the way to the end of chapter 12, and that is the theme of opposition. The theme of opposition, and we'll first encounter that here. He takes us from different geographic locations, different confrontations with the ultimate rejection section coming to a conclusion, of course, with his crucifixion. But where we've been so far in John chapters 1 through 4, got a little map on the screen here that will show you. We started over here at Bethany beyond the Jordan, where John was baptizing. And behold, the Lamb of God, he makes that testimony. Then we go all the way up into Galilee to a little place called Cana, and we sat in on a wedding feast. There was a wedding there, and we saw Jesus change the water into wine and perform his first miracle there. Then he goes over to Capernaum for a couple of days. Narrative doesn't tell us very much about that, but just that he was there with his family for a couple of days. Then he goes down to Jerusalem to a Passover, and there he cleanses the temple, makes a big scene, and then he has that wonderful conversation with Nicodemus about being born. Again. From there, he goes up to Anon near Selim, where there was much water, and John was baptizing. And remember, there was a dispute there between the, not so much a dispute, but the followers of John say to Jesus, this one is increasing. And John says, he must increase and I must decrease. Such is the way it is. So then Jesus has to go to Galilee, but what does he do? He goes through, he goes back tracks and goes through Samaria. We spent some time there at Jacob's well. If you will remember, there he goes on that beautiful discourse about living water. And then from there, we go up back to Cana. And you remember what happens again at Cana is a man from a Herodian official from Capernaum comes over and has his son healed by the word of Christ. And then, chapter 5, verse 1, he goes back to Jerusalem. And that's where we're going to spend our time today as we're going back to Jerusalem for a feast. So just looking at this, we'll just pick up the narrative. After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Not sure what feast. The narrative doesn't tell us.

6:01Some think that this is the Passover. And if so, then Jesus has about a three and a half year ministry. The fact that it says a feast and doesn't say the Passover has led some to believe that it's another feast. Even some manuscripts say it's the feast, which would lend credibility to it being tabernacles or Passover. Regardless, it doesn't say, and all the other Passovers that Jesus attended were clearly marked. John tells us which feast. So we're not sure. We're not sure which one this is. But it is a feast. It was one of the occasions that Jesus went to Jerusalem. So he goes up to Jerusalem in chapter 2. We pick it up. Now there was in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool. Now, if you spend some time in Nehemiah 3, it talks about the sheep gate, a place for the sheep that would be brought onto the temple. So there's a gate there. And by that gate, there is a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticos. And Bethesda is an Aramaic term that can either mean the house of outpouring or the house of divine mercy. House of mercy, house of outpouring. In fact, if it is very appropriate, given the fact that there were so many desperate people there lying there. In hopes of a miraculous healing, the house of outpouring, the house of mercy, two springs. In fact, archaeological evidence has really found this place. It found the areas of the porticos, just like the scripture says here, a couple of pools, an upper and lower pool, probably about the size, each one about half the size of a football field, somewhere in that area, so pretty large bodies of water. That would be there. But the point that John brings out is this pool of Bethesda, this place of divine mercy, this place of the outpouring, was the place where Jesus's powerful mercy was put on display. He literally pours out his mercy upon an individual and he sets it out there for everyone to see. It's interesting that the other miracles that John has emphasized so far have been largely private in this gospel. Now, John has acknowledged that Jesus has been doing many public miracles, but this is the first overt public miracle that John writes extensively about. And he has a reason for doing that because it sets the tone for what happens in the next number of chapters. So I plan for us to spend several weeks here at the Pool of Bethesda. We've been all over Galilee and in Jerusalem, and now we're going to spend some time at the pool. Of Bethesda.

9:03Well, this section opens with this scene of mass disability. Look at verse 3. In these, that is, under these porticos, around these pools, lay a multitude, a multitude. That's lots. That's a lot of people. It's not just a few. A multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered. So think about this scene. Go there in your mind's eye. Imagine these porticos. Imagine these waters. Imagine a multitude of these severe, disabled, and sick and lame people.

9:50The question is: why were they laying there? Well, it's clear that they were from verse 7 that they're waiting for the moving of the waters. But there is a textual issue here. In fact, if you have an ESV, when I was reading, you don't have a verse 4, do you? In fact, other verses, other translations may not have that verse either. It appears that a marginal note may have made its way into the text, because it's almost certain that verse 4 was not part of the original.

10:30But you can see how this happens, and there's a couple of reasons why it's pretty clear that it wasn't in there. Number one, there's seven words that John doesn't use anywhere else in his gospel that show up in one sentence. That's number one. Number two, the manuscript evidence is strongly in support that this wasn't there. Number three, it's easier to understand why a strain of manuscripts would include it. It's difficult to understand if these words were there in the originals, how so many different textual families left it out. You might can account for it in one or two times, but it's very difficult to understand. So it's almost certainly not there in the original. But that doesn't mean that this doesn't give a good explanation as to why they were sitting there. In verse 7, it says, the man, look down at verse 7, the sick man answered, Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred, but while I am coming, another steps down. So it's clearly that he's there, and that there is no textual contesting there, that the waters are stirred, that he's waiting for them to be stirred, and he is associating him being in the water as. What's necessary for healing? So that's evident, that's plain. And maybe it was an angel that came down and stirred it. Just because there's a marginal note there that someone felt they needed to put in there doesn't mean that it was untrue. But some commentators have said, well, it was superstition. The angel really didn't do this. Some commentators say, yes, it does. It doesn't really, John doesn't give us anything. One thing's for sure: the man associated, people were there, and they were hoping to get into the water, and the first one in would be healed. That was certainly the understanding of the man that was there. And so we have no reason to believe that that wasn't the case.

12:49But whatever the case may be, it's clear that the multitude was there hoping for a miracle when the waters were stirred. So you can think about this place. Maybe this place was an area where people dropped off their disabled relatives for a period of time while they're in the city. Maybe it's those who are residents, some may be there more permanently. Perhaps the stirring of the waters was something that would certainly give hope to those who were there around. Here, go sit by the pool, stay there. But whatever it was, this routine stirring. Of the waters, and there was historical evidence they were routinely stirred. The source is what's disputed. But they were routinely stirred, and people would move, and it would give them a lot of hope, something to live for to get there. And that's the scene. If you think about this scene, if you're there, just think about the sanitary conditions. Probably, it's probably, it doesn't smell real nice.

14:01But anyway, it's at this place, against this backdrop of this scene of mass disability, that Jesus' mercy is poured out. And that's what John wants us to focus on and see this. It's in the house of this divine mercy, this house of outpouring, where Jesus' powerful mercy is set on display. And I want you to see that this morning so that you will seek his mercy. I want you to see the powerful mercy of Jesus. So, first of all, I want you to see to whom it came. I want you to see to whom this powerful mercy came. Look at verse 5. A man was there who had been ill for 38 years. 38 years. And John wants us to see a particular man. The text draws our man, there was a man, it's a certain man. Or a certain particular individual. So out of this multitude of sick people, there's one that comes into view. One. So Jesus wants us to see this particular man.

15:16John wants us to see this particular man. John also wants us to see a powerless man. Look at this. The text tells us that the man had been ill for a long time. Long, long time. And the word for ill is variously translated, but it basically boils down to a state of incapacity. It's whether that's an incapacity because of bodily sickness or disease or infirmity, it describes inability, weakness, the very opposite of strength, weakness. In fact, it's the word that is in Judges 16, 17 that Samson says, if I am shaved, then my strength will leave me, and I will become weak, without strength. That's the idea. It's Daniel 8, after he sees this dream, he is exhausted, or after he sees this vision. In chapter 8, he is exhausted, as he says in verse 28, without strength. So the point of this is that the man's illness and what John is bringing to the forefront of our mind's eye. Is that this man is physically without strength? He is incapacitated. He is extremely ill. And he had been that way for quite some time. In fact, he gives us that he had been there for 38 years. That's a long time, 38 years. How many of you are 38 years or younger? Can you imagine? Now, you think about everything that you've experienced in life, that's less than what this guy has actually was in this state of virtual incapacitation. Now, even if you're over 38 years, you really know how long 38. You can think back 38, nearly four decades. You can think back. That's a long, long time that this guy has been there in this condition, or he's been in this condition.

17:28But that's what John wants us to see: this powerful mercy comes to powerless people. I think we can identify with that, or at least I hope. I mean, how do you see yourself? Do you see yourself in need of God's mercy and powerless to obtain it? Or do you see yourself as sufficient to control your own destiny? I hope you've lived long enough to realize you do not control your own destiny. That's not a very hard one to figure out if you live any kind of time on planet Earth.

18:00Right? But I hope in some way we will all see ourselves like this powerless man in need of Christ's mercy. Isaiah 66, 2 says this, this is the one that God looks at, to him who is humble and contrite in spirit and trembles at my word. This is the one that I look at. So powerful mercy comes to the powerless. So that's to whom it came. Second, I want you to see the manner in which it came. Look back at verse 6. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, he said to him, Do you wish to get well? So Jesus, compassion, there's a manner of compassion here. Jesus took notice of him. And I appreciate the fact that Jesus went there in the first place, right? Many of us, I think, would feel very uncomfortable in a place like that, right? Mass deformity, mass disability. And that wouldn't be a place that we would ordinarily go. It would make us feel a little uncomfortable, perhaps. But Jesus went there. He came into a broken world, and he goes to broken people. Listen, he understands. This guy comes from another realm. He's not part of the realm of fallen men. He understands we are condemned. And here is this one that comes from another land, another world. He says, you don't have to live this way. I come to save.

19:43He comes to a broken world and he goes to a broken people. But something about this man caught Jesus' eye. Why, of all the multitude, why this guy? But the reading is, if you do a little more literal reading, it goes something like this. Jesus, upon seeing this particular one. In fact, in the Greek, this particular one is in the place of emphasis. It's at the very part of the first part of the sentence. This particular one, upon Jesus seeing and having to lie there, I'd say he's passively, he's having to lie there. And Jesus, having known how much time he had been there, he speaks to the man. He comes up to the man and he speaks to the man. Why this man caught Jesus' eye and not others, we don't know. But we're left to conclude that it was something out of Jesus' own heart about this particular individual that moved him. Jesus simply had compassion on this particular one. And John brings our attention to him.

21:00You see, acts of mercy say much more about the one showing mercy than the one receiving mercy. The one receiving mercy, all we know is they need it, right? But the very fact of this act of mercy that says so much about Christ says so much about this one who has come from this other realm to our realm to speak to us. What a beautiful person he is. So, this mercy that's going to be outpoured sprung from within Christ's own heart and from there alone. That's the source of the outpouring of divine mercy. Jesus was and is a fountain of compassion. You need to know that about him. He's wonderful, okay?

21:54He is a fountain of compassion, and it shows itself in acts of mercy. So he comes. He comes compassionately. He takes notice of those in need. And he comes gently. I'm impressed with his gentle approach. He comes up to this man and he speaks kindly to him. Now, this man, remember, would have been considered an outcast by Jewish leaders. They would have seen his condition as a punishment from God, probably for sinful behavior or some kind of. Getting what he deserved. But nobody, get this, nobody of any spiritual significance would have even spoken to this man. And yet, alone, here comes Christ, and he speaks kindly to him.

22:46You serve a wonderful Lord, a wonderful Savior. So he comes in this manner of compassion and gentleness, but he also comes directly. He speaks directly. Look at this. Jesus speaks directly to the main issue in this man's life. However, he may have opened the conversation as Jesus made his way over to this particular man and he begins conversation with him and he's talking to him. He quickly moves the conversation to the main issue. He speaks to the main manner.

23:21You have a debilitating condition, don't you? You're sick. You've been here a long, long time, haven't you? Do you wish to get well? Or do you wish to keep living like this? That's how he brings the conversation. He does the same today, doesn't he? He comes into our lives, and when he speaks into our lives, he speaks upon the main issues. I mean, sometimes we'll be in a room, and there may be an elephant in the room. You may have heard the conversation. There may be a great big issue that nobody wants to talk about. And we, as people, sometimes like to navigate around those and avoid. Those, not Christ. He comes right to the main issue and he gets there and he gets there compassionately and he gets there gently, but he gets there directly.

24:09But Jesus, he wants, he notices the obvious and he directs this man's attention to his condition and the fact that it's never been solved. He wants the man to understand that the power of healing is not a property in the water, but a property in a person, a divine person, Jesus, who was standing right before him. Well, look at the man's response. Verse 7. The sick man answered, Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool where the water is stirred up. But while I am coming, another steps down before me.

24:54So the man's answer is an emphatic, yes, yes, I want to stop living like this, but I can't. Someone always beats me to the water. Could you imagine the frustration? The water is stirred. This guy, however feeble he is, he somehow starts to try to make it only to just see somebody else jump in. You know, I'm reminded of a story that I'm sure many of you have heard before, but there were these two guys, and they were going to go. Hunting in bear country.

25:33And one of the guys says to him, Are they just going to go camping? I'm sorry, go camping in bear country. And one of the guys says, Aren't you a little afraid to go camping out in bear country? Because we can't outrun bears. To which the other guy says, I don't have to outrun the bear. I just have to outrun you. Heard the story, right? Well, that's kind of the idea here. In fact, did you know that there is a Black Friday death count web page? Do you know what Black Friday is, by the way? That's the Friday after Thanksgiving. And it is the biggest shopping day of the year. And a lot of stores put on all these advertising, they really drop some of their prices and merchandise to the lowest level, probably all year. And so a lot of people, right after Thanksgiving, something wrong with our country on this, but anyway, but something seems, I don't know, out of whack. But anyway, right after we're thankful, we go and have this great big day. So anyway, people will line up just to get these special deals. And sometimes it is pretty intense. In fact, if it wasn't so tragic, it would almost be funny. But it's tragic.

26:58But just, let me just. So far, since 2006, there have been 10 deaths and 105 injuries on people shopping. Let me just read you a couple of headlines. 2006, 10 injured in Southern California, Black Friday mall stampede. They're all trying to get good deals. 2008, worker dies at Long Island Walmart after being trampled, four injured. In other words, he's opening up the gate to let the people in and they run over him, kill him. 2012, two people shot at a Tallahassee Walmart over parking space.

27:362013, man stabbed during Black Friday event at Carlsbad Mall. 2016, shopper open fire, killing one over Walmart parking space in Reno. 2016, Black Friday kicks off with deadly shooting at New Jersey Mall. I mean, think about this. These people are just after a little merchandise, a good deal, and the carnage of people getting excited about $50 off a TV or something like that. Well, now come back to Bethesda and imagine what happens when the waters are stirred. Imagine what takes place. There is going to be a mad dash to the water, right? This is not a time for mercy. This is not a time to hell. Help the fellow next to you. You've got to get to that water. It's your time to just aggressively compete against and stomp upon, if necessary, even your closest mat buddy to get to that water.

28:47Quite a state of pandemonium that would take place. Get to the water. The point is, it's not a time for mercy. But by talking to this man, Jesus takes the time to show this man that he cares for him. I mean, no one else around him was compassionate. I mean, he said nobody else was willing to stay with him to make sure he got into the water. He didn't have anybody. He says, I have no man, no one to help me get into the water.

29:19No one was there to help him get into the water first. No one was there to help him even to get into the water at all. 38 years without such mercy. Think about it. Even the religious establishment is not going to show him any mercy. Not only will they not celebrate his healing, but they will label him as a lawbreaker for carrying his mat around as the chapter goes on. But now, for the first time, this man has somebody who really cares about him. It's a stranger, someone that. This man doesn't even know, and he pities him. This is our Savior. Come into our world.

30:08A stranger, Christ extends kindness and extends kind conversation to this man. This is the compassion of Christ. He speaks compassionately. He speaks gently. He speaks directly. And he still does today. He still does. He speaks through the means of his word and those who communicate his word. In fact, he even speaks gently to you today and kindly. He doesn't come in holy glory like he did on Mount Sinai. If you were to stand before his glory, you would tremble as that generation did, asking to give a mediator. Let us speak to Moses. Let us not speak to God. He comes. In fact, I am always amazed at the humble manner in which glorious truth is communicated. He has entrusted the communication of his truth through broken, limited people whom he has saved and who have experienced his grace. That's how he comes so that you can hear. Well, I'm going to keep moving. So Jesus' powerful mercy, we see to whom it came, the manner in which it came. And I want you to see the effect it produced. Look at verse 8. Jesus said to him, get up. Pick up your pallet and walk. Immediately, the man became well and picked up his palate and began to walk. There's three commands and three effects here. First command, get up. That is, arise, get to your feet, pick up. That is, reach down, lift up your mat and hold it. Three, walk around. That is, carry your mat or your pallet, your bedding around with you.

31:54Three commands, three effects. Look at the first. The man became well. Look at what he did. He got up. He became well. He got up. Complete healing of this condition. But not only that, he infused him with strengths to overcome the muscle atrophy that would have taken place over 38 years. I mean, you know what happens in just a little bit of time. You know, just this guy's been there 38 years, no rehabilitation program. And yet, Jesus gave him the ability to carry out his command. Get up, pick up. So when you hear God's voice calling you, you can be sure. You can be sure that whatever he calls you to do, he is going to equip you to obey. When he says, follow me, he is going to enable you to follow him if you will follow. But whatever he communicates, whatever he asks us to do, he is going to enable.

32:57But remember, remember the miracle. Miracles here in John's Gospel. We spent all time last week looking at this. They're simply signs that point to a greater reality, right? Now, think about this. What doctor knows the human body so well and has the power to instantly mend it like that? If you've got a watch that's broken, who knows more how to fix that watch and has the resources to fix that watch than the one who built it in the first place?

33:28So, who has not only the knowledge but the power to heal the human body? There's only one: the Creator, the one who created the human body. Jesus is Lord over the human body, and that's what he's demonstrating here. But we must go beyond that. The same one who knows how to fix the human body also knows how to fix the whole man, including his soul, and knows how to do that for eternity. He knows what man needs.

34:04You see, we must see that Jesus is much more than a temporary fix to our temporary circumstances, right? He is Lord, and He has greater objectives than just solving our temporal problems, though He's not too low to stoop to those, right? We saw that at the miracle of when He turned the water into wine. But many times, our temporal hardships can even be, can even play a role. Role in his greater objectives. But the man became well. Second effect, the man picked up his own palate for the first time in 38 years. Third effect, the man began walking around. And the verb tense tells us that the man began walking around and he kept walking around.

34:57So when Jesus' powerful mercy shows up, a life is transformed. God's mercy transforms those who receive it. So Jesus' powerful mercy, I want you to see to whom it came, the manner in which it came, the effect it produced. Now I want you to see the conflict it created. This is the last part of chapter 9, or verse 9. Look at that last phrase. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. It was the Sabbath that he did this. And this statement sets the stage for the rest of the chapter. Jesus wanted to confront the false religion of his day. And he does so by healing this man, telling him to pick up his mat and start walking around. Jesus knows exactly. What he is doing. He healed this particular man because he wanted other people to take notice, and he knew a man walking around carrying a load in his arms would catch the attention of the Jewish authorities. You could say Jesus was the one stirring the waters. He came and he, on this occasion, he purposely stirred the waters. Why? Why?

36:27So that they would understand who he was, what he was like, what he is able to do, and what he is willing to do for all those who will acknowledge him and come to him. That's the collision he's wanting, he's setting this man on to reveal about Christ. He came as Israel's Messiah and He offered him as such. So Jesus' powerful mercy comes to powerless people. It comes compassionately and it comes with transforming power, but it comes to confront our false ways of life.

37:05And this is where we need His mercy the most. When we can get so bent on pursuing our own way to our own destruction that it takes somebody who loves us enough to thrust themselves into our path, and sometimes that can be very costly for the one who thrusts themselves into the oncoming path. Of a destructive person. I read an article recently about a story of a young man in Florida who loved his friends. His name was Joey. Some of his friends came home after being at a concert, came to his house. One of them was too drunk to drive, and so Joey wouldn't let his friend drive. So his friend tried to get in his car and drive off. Joey took his car, blocked the road, or blocked the driveway, so his friend couldn't get out and drive. Well, the man or his friend wouldn't stand for it and somehow maneuvered his way around the parked car, got near the open street, and Joey ran out there and grabbed the spoiler on the back of his car and said, stop. Stop. You're going to kill yourself or you're going to kill somebody. You're too drunk to drive. At that point, the man, his friend, punches the gas, takes off down the road, and goes about a half a block with Joey holding on, runs into a tree, and in the damage, he hits another three cars. And the bottom line, when the smoke clears, Joey's laying dead in the middle of the street. The only one. The only one the report says was injured. He threw himself in the path.

39:00Of his destructive friend who was going to on a path of destruction. And in a sense, this is what Jesus did, not only for the religious establishment of his day, but for all of humanity. He came and he thrust himself. The false religion of the day was broken. It was leading people to hell. And he came to address that. And it cost him his life. Jesus came into a broken world. He went to broken people. He confronted broken religion. And the broken religion crucified him.

39:46Well, this miracle sets the stage for everything else that's going to happen in the book. Or it happened in chapter 5 and then all the way to chapter 12, really. It's the controversy and the witness discussions that will take place. But I wanted you to see this morning, before we get into all of that, is just Jesus' powerful mercy on display. I wanted you to see to whom it came, the manner in which it came, the effect it produced, and the conflict that it created.

40:21I want you to let this reality sink in. Those that were there that day that looked beyond the miracle and understanding. Understood the reality to which it testified, are in paradise today. Those that didn't read the sign correctly are suffering in hell today, awaiting the final judgment. That's how important the signs in John are. He's saying, understand who this is. Understand the reality to which this miracle is pointing to. So, why would the Prince of Peace say something like this? I do not think I came to bring peace on the earth. I did not come to bring peace, but a sword?

41:07Well, look at verse 34 for a second. In Jesus' banter, discussion, he says this: But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things to you that you may be saved. You know why I'm stirring the waters? You know why I'm inserting myself and colliding with your false religion? Is so that you will see who I am, understand what I have to say, and you will turn from your way and be saved. I have come from another world. I am not from your realm. And your realm is under condemnation. It will be destroyed, and you along with it. But I'm coming to you so that you do not have to perish.

42:00You know, that's what he does, isn't it? Why does he utter something like this? It's because he is the prince of peace. And he wants us to have peace with God and peace with his people. You see, he inserted himself into our path. He inserts himself into your path today. And he will put his finger on the thing that hurts the most, the thing that you don't want to give up the most. He'll put his finger on it in order that you might be saved. Puts his finger upon our sin, and he invites us to come. And then what he'll do, what does he do with people that he pours out his divine mercy on? He sets them on a collision course, right? To stir the waters so that others might have to interact and relate to who Christ is and hopefully turn and be saved. You see, he came to reveal himself, confront our false ways, so that we might be saved. And then he sends us to testify to him and confront the false ideologies of our times.

43:20You may have somebody in your life right now that's speaking hard things, confronting you with the truth. But listen, do not testify or do not despise. Those who testify to the truth, they may be the very people who love you the most. But let us respond. Let us see ourselves as this powerless person in need of God's mercy, and let us come to Him. He is rich, He is a spring of compassion. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we give you thanks for the truth of your word and for what happened that day at Bethesda, where your mercy was poured out upon a completely undeserving person. Father, and we recognize that that is us on so many levels. And we ask that this be a body and a collection of people here who have experienced your mercy and who are willing to make your mercy known, to testify to your grace. We thank you for it all in Jesus' name.