Do any of you know who Joshua Bell is? He is a famous Grammy Award winning violinist.
The Washington times recently did an experiment to see if dressed in everyday clothes, and playing in the subway, if people would recognize him. They had him show up at a Washington DC subway stop and asked him to play some of his music.
The first song he started playing (at 8am, during rush hour) was a piece that only about 5 people in the world are able play. He literally whips out this 3.5million dollar violin and starts going to town- he plays up to 25 mins and no more than 4 people even stop to watch him. Only a few dollars were dropped into his case. Of these 4 people, not even one seemed to know who he was; they were just simply enjoyed the music for a few seconds and then went about their business.
Real beauty and greatness had descended upon the subway, and nobody knew it! They were so focused on their own tasks, too concerned with their own business, so they completely missed it. Greatness was right there with them, and they had no idea.
As we have been going through the book of John- this really is a great illustration of Jesus Christ. That Greatness, God himself, takes on flesh and so many people miss who he is! When we get to today’s passage, in John 5, Jesus performs his 3rd miracle. He has already performed two others in chapters 1-4, does anyone remember what those were?
1) Turned water into Wine- ch. 2
2) Heals the royal officials Son- ch. 4
And in Chapter 5. Jesus makes a lame man walk. This miracle was done out in public for all to see; but still, people miss who Jesus is!
How in the world can so many people miss Jesus Christ? Most of us, myself included, are also guilty of missing the beauty and greatness of Jesus Christ!
**Prayer- Lord we thank you that your beauty and greatness really did come to this world in order to save us. Father we ask that you would renew us through your word and open our eyes to you. It would be such a shame to miss you and misunderstand the magnitude of what you have done for us! We want to know you so that it would be impossible to miss you!**
Turn to John 5:1-29;39-40
Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 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 porches. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 4 From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease they had
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.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 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.”
11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.14 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.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.
The Authority of the Son
16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
v. 39-40 You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
If you are like me, with a short attention span, the thing you remember is Jesus just healed a man. But the meat of this passage and what it is really about is the controversy Jesus creates by healing a man on the Sabbath.
He is picking a fight with the religious leaders of the day because they don’t know who he is. So Jesus is probing so they will be exposed to their sin and see their need for a savior!
How in the world can they miss Jesus when is literally right before their eyes? Hopefully you will ask, am I missing Jesus too?
One way we can miss Jesus is by Misunderstanding the Law (v.1-17)
We will see their misinterpretation as we walk through this miracle real quickly. As the text mentions, there is a pool where apparently, according to rumors and superstition, could heal the sick. So therefore, a large crowd of sick people would gather at this pool hoping to be healed.
Even though there are several sick people at the pool, Jesus approaches 1 man who had been sick for 38 years! He is in a desperate position and Jesus approaches him. And thinking about it, Jesus kind of asks him an offensive question in V.6- Jesus asks: “do you really want to be healed?”
Umm duhh- of course the man by the pool wants to be healed, he has been sick for 38 years! The man was probably thinking seriously, why else would I be lying by this healing pool?
But what he doesn’t realize is that he is looking at this pool hoping for some magical, healing, and meanwhile, Jesus Christ, the ultimate healer, is standing right in front of him! The man is so focused on a superstition that he doesn’t recognize Jesus.
Jesus wasn’t asking- “do you want to be healed,” because he was confused whether the man did or didn’t want to be healed- the answer is obvious. Jesus asked this question to get the man’s eyes off a “silly solution” (off the healing pool) and turn his eyes to the true healer- Jesus Christ himself! Jesus was forcing the man to see that true Healing can only happen in Christ.
So he tells the man- “take up your bed and walk.” And instantly this man begins to rise for the first time in 38 years. Jesus spoke and he was healed! Wow- 38 years of silly solutions when all he needed was to look to Christ.
Before we continue on with the story, I want to make sure I point out the significance of Jesus asking the man to carry his mat, or some translations say his bed.
In the past, we have mentioned this continuous cycle of highs and lows, ups and downs. In our spiritual lives, these low times are used to grow and strengthen our faith. When Christ helps us out of dark times, he gives us a similar command- “stand up, take you mat, and walk!” He wants us to remove our “bed” from that pit so Satan cannot tempt us to go back there. When we remove our bed, we are removing strongholds.
If you have issues with alcohol it is the same thing as getting rid of every bottle in your house, if you struggle with porn it is maybe going as far as trashing your computer, or whatever you are tempted by- Christ is tell us to remove it!
But what I really want us to look at this morning is the fact that Jesus could have picked any day of the week to heal this man, and he purposely picks the Sabbath in order to pick a fight with the religious leaders of that day. He forces them into a situation where they have to either persecute Him or bow down to Him.
So you ask, what is the controversy and fuss about? Why is it such a big deal to do this on the Sabbath?
The religious leaders of the day had taken God’s law and surrounded it with a ton of religious regulations. I believe these regulations were established to help them feel better about themselves. By putting enough detailed regulations around the law they could, at the end of each Sabbath day, feel good about themselves thinking: “you know, I didn’t walk that far or carry anything- I really kept the Sabbath, I really obeyed God’s law- Go me, I did it!”
The rabbis had carefully spelled out 39 different ways by which the Sabbath could be violated by work. One way was carrying any kind of a weight. So no one is carrying anything and here is this man carrying his bed.
Their reaction, which you think would be, "What? Somebody healed you? Who is the man who healed you so we can go meet him!" was instead, "Who is the man that told you to disobey?"
That is crazy- as I read this story I was thinking A) why would anyone create such silly laws and B) why would they not make an exception for this… did they not see or hear what had just happened?? Jesus healed this man and simply asked him to carry his bed away from the pool.
But I got to thinking, do I; do Christians today also have “silly rules”?
I know American’s sure have some odd rules: as a side note and to make my point, here are a few interesting rules I found that are still effective in America. (Keep in mind I found these on Google- so the validity of some of them… I am not sure of haha)
Ridiculous American Laws
· In California, It is a misdemeanor to shoot a living animal from an automobile, unless the target is a whale.
· In Georgia, It is illegal to change the clothes on a storefront mannequin unless the shades are down.
· In Joliet, Illinois, women are not allowed to try on more than six dresses in one store. (well this one isn’t ridiculous- full disclosure- I have spent hours in a dressing room)
· In Chicago, it is illegal to fish in one's pajamas.
· Michigan law once required taking a census of bees every winter
· In Chicago, it is illegal to take a French poodle to the opera.
· In Kentucky, It is illegal to remarry the same man four times
· A Minnesota law requires that men’s and women’s underwear not be hung on the same clothesline at the same time
So what is the point of all these ridiculous rules and guidelines? For the Jewish leaders in Jesus’ days, I believe-by putting all these detailed regulations around the law, they could look at their own performance and actually rest in that and feel pretty good.
But this is not the role of God’s Law
Romans 3:20- Therefore no one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin.
Paul tells us that the purpose of the Law is to make us aware of our sin- far from making us feel good about our performance, the purpose is to show how broken and sinful we really are. The law isn’t a set of detailed regulations for us to keep, but rather- Jesus sums up the law with two principles:
1.) Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, and mind.
In all things, all situations, and all times we are to love the lord. The core of who you are is to be submerged in who God is!
Archbishop William Temple- “religion is what you do with your solitude.”
Where does your mind go when nothing is districting you? What do you really think about when you are alone? That is what you really love!
If I am honest, my mind usually goes to- how can I be better, how can I squeeze in time with person A, B, C, and D today? Or when I am in the shower it is usually- what am I going to wear today- omg I have no clothes, where should I go shopping this weekend.
And again if I am honest, my mind is not going to God- who died for me, who saved me, and who has beyond blessed me! And that is the Law of God. So I am kidding myself if I think I am fully obeying His Law.
The only way anyone can fully obey it, is if they minimize it like those religious leaders.
2.) Love your neighbor as yourself
This is saying that we have to be as concerned with the needs of others as our own! I have to be as excited when a friend gets a new job, a new house, is recognized for an award, or when a girl friend of mine gets engaged- even when there are 8 at once!
No matter what good things happen to my friends, I have to be equally as thrilled for them, as I would be for myself. THAT IS THE LAW OF GOD. But nobody really does this. You are lying if you say you would be equally as excited for these things to happen to someone else….
But God is equally if not more excited, he is the only one capable of loving this much- because the Law is a reflection of His character, not ours.
So when we minimize the law, and fix our focus on our own performance- we too will miss Jesus! In John 5, Jesus purposely broke “their Law,” to force them, and force us, into asking:
1. First: What/who’s law do you follow?
Do you find yourself repenting more and more? Asking Him to help you keep His Law? Or are you bending the law, minimizing it to feel good about your performance?
Maybe you have even twisted His law into your own. As I was preparing for this lesson, I realized I am guilty of doing this.
Laura’s Law says: “Love others so they will love ME.”
God’s Law says- No Laura: “Love others so that they will LOVE JESUS! - it is not about you.”
But yet I still somehow think ohhh yah ok- I will do nice things for people so they will see that I love Jesus- but then they will love me to, duh. And it seems near impossible for me to stop thinking this way!
I am not in control, I can’t change my way of thinking, I can’t change my selfish motives, but I sure act like I can sometimes.
This shouldn’t surprise anyone, most people feel that they are in control of something, but really that something has control of them! It is kind of like hearing people say… "It's easy to stop smoking. I've done it hundreds of times!"
Many Christians, like the sick man in our story, are spiritually lame. So Jesus first asks us- “who’s law are you following?” and if it is not His, then Jesus asks-
2. Do you really want to be healed?
What silly solution are you holding on to? Is there someone, something or something’s (plural) that you believe will make your problems go away or situation better?
Like the lame man by the pool, do you think there is some solution other than the Lord? We need to ask ourselves, “what do I day dream about? or What am I hoping will fix my problems?”
Some things I could think of that many of us hold on to, believing they will fix our problems:
· A Spouse or Marriage
· A happy or normal family
· A new Job or Promotion
· Status, Money, or wealth
· Awards and recognition
· Material possessions (new car or house)
· Busyness/ adding to the social calendar
· More and more friends
Some of these things can even be good things. Some of them blessings from the Lord, but they will not heal us. Only Christ will heal!
We were all created with a void that only Christ can fill and unfortunately many of us fill it with “magic pools” and “silly solutions.”
For me, my “silly solution” is the acceptance and love I receive from others- along with some of the other things above, but I focus way to much on what others think.
Jesus is asking us: Do you realize, you have to let go of these things!!!
You need to take your eyes off the “magic pool”- dream man/woman, dream job, dream car, or that picture perfect suburban family you one day want to have. These things can be great but they are “silly solutions” compared to JESUS!!!
Some of us are just stuck in a rut and we don’t know how to get out. The beautiful thing about this story is that Jesus will come to us- just like he approached the lame man first! He comes exactly where we are. Even if we are sick, sitting by a “magic pool,” Jesus will meet us.
But first, you must decide for yourself- Do you really want to be healed?
