DO YOU WISH TO GET WELL?
John 5: 1-9
Before we get into the passage that was read I want to remind you again why John wrote this gospel. In chapter 20:30-31 John says, “Many other signs (or attesting miracles) therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
When John wrote his gospel most people saw Jesus primarily as a “miracle worker” and that is why they followed Him. (See Mark 1:38)
- That holds true today. People follow Jesus today because they see Him primarily as a “miracle worker” and the two most common miracles they want Jesus to perform is healing or make them rich; and if He doesn’t they think He doesn’t love or care for them; or their faith is severely damaged.)
But Jesus was not primarily a “miracle worker” and performing miracles was not the primary purpose of His ministry.
- Jesus came to “seek and save the lost” and the miracles were “attesting miracles” that “attested to who He claimed to be”; that “attested to what He taught”; and they were and are intended to convince us that “Jesus truly is the Son of God; and by believing that we may have life in His name.”
And once again, that is what we have here in John 5; another miracle intended to convince us that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
Here in chapter 5 Jesus comes to Jerusalem; and there by the “sheep gate” is a pool called Bethesda.
- And there is a multitude of people who are sick, blind, lame, and withered.
- And the reason they are there is because they believe that occasionally the water is stirred by an angel of God and whoever got in the water first would be healed.
Now some dismiss the idea that an angel stirred the pool because some of the ancient manuscripts do not contain the end of vs. 3-4.
- But vs. 7 indicates that the waters did stir; so it is possible that an angel did stir the waters.
So Jesus comes to this place and in vs. 6 Jesus asks a question to a man that the passage says had been sick longer than Jesus had been alive! This man had been sick for 38 years.
- John does not tell us specifically what the man’s illness was; the indication from vs. 8 is that the man was lame.
- And verse 14 implies that his sickness was the result of sin.
- And in verse 7 the man tells Jesus how “hopeless and helpless” he is because of his illness; which again is evidently the result of sin.
Now, do not think that you or anyone else is sick because of some sin you have committed. These bodies are flesh and blood and they simply get sick.
- So, if you are sick or suffering from some other infirmity, do not conclude that you are being punished for sin.
But, sin can and sometimes does cause illnesses and injuries; (drunkenness, STD’s, outbursts of anger; greed; – we seldom if ever realize how damaging sin is; it destroys lives; it destroys marriages; it destroys families; it destroys health; and ultimately it condemns one to be lost eternally).
- We all need to understand that sin always has serious consequences and that seems to be what happened to this man.
So Jesus seeing this man lying beside the pool asks the man “Do you wish to get well?”
- And it seems that this man did; he wanted to “get well” because here he is staying close to this pool; what he believed was his only source of healing; and from what he says in vs. 7 he had evidently tried to get into the water before others only to fail.
- So, it seems he wanted to “get well.”
And you would think today that most people whose lives have been wrecked by sin; who have lost years of their life due to the consequences of sin; who are condemned eternally because of sin, you would think they would want to “get well” also.
- But tragically, for many, the cost of getting well is too high for them.
- Because look at vs. 14.
In vs. 14, if this man “gets well” it is going to require some changes because Jesus says, “Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may befall you.”
- Multitudes of people want to “get well” but they don’t want to and will not make the changes in their life that they need to make to be “well.”
They want to “be well” but they won’t leave the drugs behind; they won’t leave the alcohol behind; they won’t leave the immorality, the sensuality, the love for money, the lust for worldly pleasures; the desires of the flesh; the impurity; the hatred; the strife; the jealousy; the idolatry; and the coarse jesting behind.
- They won’t leave those things behind or get the help they need to leave those things behind, and then can’t understand why things only get worse.
If you or I or anyone else decides to “get well spiritually”; if we decide to leave the sinful life behind; things will be much different; but just like for this man, things will be immeasurably better.
For some they may think, like this man, that they are “helpless” and their situation is “hopeless.”
- “I have done some really bad things in my life and I have done them for so long and no one can help me.”
Listen, the word “unable” is never found on God’s lips.
- In fact, in Heb. 7:25 we are told that “God is able to save forever (completely, no matter what you have done or how long you did it) those who draw near to God through Jesus.”
In 1 Cor. 6:9 the apostle Paul says this: Do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor the covetous, nor drunkards, shall inherit the kingdom of God.
- These are some serious sins!
- But look at the next verse.
11 And such were some of you; but you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and in the Spirit of our God.
- There has never been a sinner that God has looked at and said, “I can’t help them; it is beyond Me to save them; they are hopeless.”
- There is no one that Jesus can’t help and make spiritually well.
- That is of course, unless you do not have a desire to “get well”; He cannot help anyone who refuses to let Him.
And whether or not you “get well” does not depend on what anyone else does. In vs. 7, every time the “water stirred” and this man tried to get in the water there was “no one to help him” or when he was trying to get in the water, “another stepped in before him.”
- That is not a problem with Jesus.
- “Getting well” or “forgiveness of sin” or salvation is not dependent on, or determined by what someone else does or doesn’t do.
In some religious circles “getting well” is conditional on whether or not a member of the clergy prays for you; or whether or not a member of the clergy takes your confession; or whether or not a member of the clergy says the right words.
And it makes no difference what your parents, or other family members may or may not have done; Ezekiel 18:19-20 makes it clear that you are not held accountable for the sins of your father, and your father is not held accountable for any sins you may have committed.”
- The apostle Paul says in 2 Cor. 5:10: For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may be recompensed for his deeds in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad.”
Jesus is not constrained by time; He is not limited by crowds; He does not work on a first come first saved basis; and He is not influenced by what someone else may or may not have done.
- He is always willing and ready to make you/I/ or anyone else “well” when we are.
- The only time that someone else can keep you from being made “well” is if you let them talk you out of it.
So, Jesus asks this man, “Do you wish to get well?”
- Evidently the man did and so in vs.8, Jesus tells the man, “Arise, take up your pallet, and walk.”
- And vs. 9: “And immediately the man became well, and took up his pallet and began to walk.”
- When no one else could help this man; when no one else would help this man; Jesus did!
- And when sin has crippled you/me/or anyone else; when no one else can help; and no one else will help; Jesus can; and will, but only if you and I let Him.
So, Jesus asks us today, “Do you wish to get well?” Has sin crippled your life?
- “Do you wish to get well?”
- If so, are you willing to do what He says to get well?
- Jesus told this man to “Take up your pallet, and walk.” Are you willing to do what Jesus says?
- Are you willing to learn what He says you must do to get well?
Most people today see Jesus as a “miracle worker.” Well, that is true, not in the sense that most people think; He may not make you rich and He may not make you well physically.
- But Jesus can and will perform a miracle this morning by washing away all of your sin with His blood that was shed on the cross when in obedience to His word you are baptized into Him.
- “Do you wish to get well?”
And if you have already been made well by the blood of Christ; well remember what Jesus said in vs. 14: “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may befall you.”
Let’s close with these words from John.
Many other signs therefore Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.