1997-10

SERMON NOTES

1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews.

2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.

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

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

6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."

8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." (NIV)

INTRODUCTION: What was Jerusalem like on this day long ago? First, it was crowded; people had come from all around the country to celebrate the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai. They were holding the Passover, the Feast of Tabernacles, or the Feast of Pentecost; excitement filled the city as plans were made for the celebration and as people met old friends again.

But not all was pleasant in the city. There was still a place called the Pool of Bethesda, a spring-fed pool on the northeast side of the city. Its name meant "House of Mercy", but there was nothing about it to make one think of mercy. It was rather a place of heartache and misery, for all around this pool were a great multitude of people. They were the sick, the blind, the lame, the withered, all waiting for a miracle to happen. An angel would at times stir the water in the pool, and the first one in would be healed. Some had waited for days, some for months, some for many years.

In the crowd that day was one man who had been waiting for 38 years for his miracle to happen. He is on the verge of his miracle, but does not realize it. Today, he will meet Jesus Christ, and will walk again. But as his day begins, it is much like an other. Today he will have his sins forgiven by the One who specializes in the helpless and hopeless, yet he begins his day just as hopeless and helpless as ever.

In this picture of misery, we can see a small version of the condition of the world today. It is a world which is lost, which is spiritually sick, dying in sin, unable to help itself out of its problem. There are four significant things we can learn from this man's situation at the Pool of Bethesda which apply to the world today.

I. The world is full of people who are diseased with sin, helpless and hopeless, who cannot save themselves, just as the man at the pool of Bethesda could not help himself. The plight of the world today is mirrored in the plight of this man at Bethesda.

1. This man had been waiting a long time to be delivered, to see his miracle happen. In his case, he had been waiting for 38 years, about the productive span of a man's life. In the same way, the world has been held captive by sin, sickness and darkness for a long time, and is still waiting for a miracle. Millions have lived out their productive span of life without a miracle, and millions are still living today without seeing the miracle they need.

2. This man dreamed many times of the time he would walk again, but would awaken and realize that he was still crippled; he may have had thoughts that the angel might not stir the water again, or even if he did, this man could not get there in time. Likewise, the world today dreams of freedom from sin, freedom from sickness, freedom from fear, freedom from bondage and darkness, but may not believe that it could ever happen. People all over the world awaken daily, still in the bondage they were in when they went to sleep. They even believe that if God moved to break the bondage of the world, He might not get there in time for them.

3. This man was on the brink of a miracle, but did not know it that day. Today, as revival is breaking out all around the world, the world is on the brink of a miracle, but many do not know it. Like this man, the world, though on the brink of deliverance, has resigned itself to its present condition. Like this man, they are helpless to solve the problems themselves. Like this man, they are unable to lift themselves out of the pit in which they have found themselves. They sit around, like he did, with idle dreams and false hopes. Their dreams and hopes, like his, are useless because they are focused on something which cannot solve them. He was unable to deliver himself; today, the world bound by Satan is unable to deliver itself; government cannot do it; social programs cannot do it. Only God can, but many in the world have not yet seen God, just as this man had not yet seen the Lord.

II. This world is issued the same challenge by Christ today that He spoke to the man by the pool of Bethesda. Suddenly, the Lord was present and working. In our day, He is also present and working. We need to be telling people what Christ is doing, and point them to the solution to their problem. It is not up to the news media to announce that God is moving; it is up to the church to do so. It is not the responsibility of the television to show to the world examples of changed lives; it is the responsibility of the church, the body of Christ on earth, to live victoriously before the world as an example.

Let's note some things about the Lord's dealing with this man.

1. Jesus issued a challenge to the man. He asked, "Do you want to get well?" In effect, Jesus asked him if he wanted a complete, full life, or an abundant life. And He asks the world the same question today. He has said that He came that we might have an abundant life, rather than a life of misery and bondage. But do we want that kind of life? We may criticize the world for its failure to come to Christ and find freedom. Yet at the same time, too many who have come continue to live as if they have not been freed; they continue to live as slaves.

2. Jesus addressed this man with love and concern. He still does so to the world, to us today, with words such as these found in Isaiah 1:18, "Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool." Or perhaps like these found in Revelation 3:20, "Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me." Or perhaps He would say, as recorded in Luke 4:18-19, "The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." Or perhaps He would repeat the offer made in1 Pet 5:7, where it says, "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." (NIV)

3. Jesus question to the man at Bethesda was answered with excuses. Listen to the man. "I have no one to help me, so I cannot get into the pool; everyone is too busy to take time for me." This is an answer the world gives today. Let us hope that it is really an excuse, and not a valid reason. Never let the church (that's us) be too busy to help people.

The man also said, "Someone else is quicker than me; while I am trying to respond, they get there before me." He was putting the blame for his condition on someone else, and it appears a valid reason. Yet today, many people do the same thing. They blame others for their crippled lives and condition spiritually. They blame their condition on the fact that they have met a hypocrite; on the fact they have not met a good example of Christianity. But in effect, they are trying to excuse themselves because they have not responded. There is one notable difference here. In the case of the man at Bethesda, there was only one healed when the waters were stirred, but today, Christ has issued an invitation to "all who will, come and drink of the water of life freely." There is adequate supply; the water will never run out; there is enough for everyone, and no one will be turned away, for Jesus said in John 4:14, "whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." And in John 6:37 He said, "All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never drive away." (NIV)

4. Jesus knew the man had not lost his will to be healed, for he was still staying around the pool, waiting. His problem was that he had not yet found the right Source of help. Likewise, the world today has not lost interest in being saved, in having its problems solved, for most are willing to listen if we are willing to tell. Most of them have just simply not yet met the Source of the answers, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom we are to be proclaiming to them. Jesus was the only remedy for this man's problems, and is also the only remedy for the problems of mankind today.

III. This world will still be delivered today if they obey His Word like the man did at the pool of Bethesda. On this long ago day, Jesus brushed aside all the man's excuses, and said the words he needed to hear; words which tested his faith. "Get up. Pick up your mat and walk." This command involved things the man was not used to doing. He never got up, he never picked up his own mat, and he certainly never walked. All of these things must be done, in order, and by faith, if his miracle was to arrive that day.

1. Jesus may have chosen the most helpless case at the pool of Bethesda that day. He does specialize in the impossible. Today, He may chose to send the Holy Spirit to work in the life of the most helpless person we know. The person who is the most bound; the person who has the most serious illness or handicap may be chosen, so that His glory can be shown. He specializes in the most helpless and hopeless.

2. Jesus cut short the list of excuses the man could have made by His command to "get up." This man likely had, like most in the world today, an arsenal of excuses for not responding.

3. Jesus was likely the only One there who was not surprised when the man obeyed, got up, picked up his bed, and walked. The man had come to the pool with his back on his bed, but he left with his bed on his back. Many times today, we are surprised when a person comes bound by sin and walks away free; we are astonished for sure if someone comes sick and gets well; we would likely faint ourselves if one came crippled and left walking.

4. Jesus had commanded, and had been obeyed; then the power of God healed the man. The man was not healed by his own power, but as he obeyed, the power of God healed him. Today, we are many times given a command, by God directly, or by God's man, but we either refuse to obey, or obey only in part. Many times, we are like Naaman, who questioned why he had to obey the man of God to be delivered. After all, were not the rivers of his own country more clean and pure than the Jordan. Yet when he obeyed, he was healed.

IV. This world still has those who will try to hinder the move of God, and who will criticize when absolute faith in Jesus is shown, just as they did in the case of the man at the pool of Bethesda. On that long ago day, there were likely those in the crowd who heard what Jesus ordered the man to do. They knew the man, knew he had been there a long time, and how helpless he was. They likely thought, or perhaps even said, "If Jesus only knew who He was telling to get up and walk. Why, that man has been here longer than any of us, and he has never been healed." But their unbelief did not keep the Lord from acting. Note also that the miracle did not still the critics.

1. Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath, which prompted the Jewish religious leaders to criticize. They were so religious they even quoted to Jesus from Scripture in their criticism. They were not interested in the fact the man had been healed, had been changed. Much like them, when God saves someone, or perhaps fills them with the Holy Spirit, we question the manner in which it was done, or the time, etc. We may be critical, just as the world is, of the way God chooses to move. Is all that noise necessary? Do you have to fall on the floor? Must you shake like that? Can't you just act normal and allow God to quietly change you? You see, we are not all that different from the religious leaders of Jesus' day.

2. Jesus faced a crowd full of people who wanted only to criticize, rather than to rejoice. Today, we are often in the same boat, along with the rest of the world. Rather than rejoicing in what God has done, we want to analyze it, tear it apart, see what we can find wrong with His way of doing things.

3. Jesus was persecuted because of this event, as verse 16 tells us. In the world today, when God begins to move, when people begin to be saved, delivered, filled with the Holy Spirit, and made whole, both physically and spiritually, persecution comes from the world. We must be on guard that it does not come from the church as well. We must rather praise the Lord for what He is doing, get into the river ourselves, and learn to flow with the Spirit of God, rather than criticizing those who are in charge.

CONCLUSION: Most of us have been saved; we have been touched by the Lord. The Bible says we are to be new creations. Yet many of us, after God has touched us, forget about the lost world about us. We forget that even today, in the family of God, there are those who still need a miracle; there are many who are still bound by habits they want to be rid of; there are many still sick or crippled. Too often, after we receive our own miracle, we wander away to enjoy it, rather than seeing what we can do about the needs of others.

Did not Christ say to us, "Freely you have received, so freely give." We are to be salt in a decaying world, in a sinful world. We are to show the light of Christ to this darkened generation. Truly, we are to offer them the possibility of receiving their own miracle.

We must get up and be about the Father's business. We must begin to point people to the Author of new and abundant life; we must direct them to the Great Physician; we must introduce them to the Holy Spirit, the Counselor who has come to guide us, to be in us. We have much to do.

Here, we are on the verge of a miracle. But we are going to have to listen to the word of the Lord, to His directions to us. We are going to have to quit making excuses, and learn rather to just simply obey Him. As we do, He will still bring deliverance to those needing it; He will still work miracles. As we learn to obey and cooperate with the Spirit of God, rather than sitting around hindering and criticizing those who are trying to be His servants, we will begin to see the miraculous happen.

Osage Gospel Lighthouse, Linn, MO 3-2-97 pm