Finding True Healing

We are talking about Jesus healing the man at the pool on the sabbath. As we get started I want to talk about some important details of the setting and how the setting relates today.

What city was Jesus in? Jerusalem.

Jerusalem serves as the religious center for the Jews.

God’s word would have been well known around there and even people not in the word would have some familiarity with it.

Jesus was there during a feast time. it does not specify what type, but that a feast is going on.How would you imagine the atmosphere to be? Festive. Lots of excitement. Lots of distractions. Time of enjoyment.

What part of Jerusalem were they in exactly? The pool at Bethesda. What is so significant about this place in particular? If we read into the text we see what the local beliefs about this place was. It was believed when the waters were stirred the first one in the water would be healed of whatever sickness they had. Was this truth or superstition?

Then what were the others like? It was a bunch of outcast. Blind, lame, paralyzed. The man Jesus interacted with had been among them for 38 years.

Setting for the passage: Their is a very crippled man is in the most religious city waiting to be healed by a local legend.

Our setting: We are in a very religious country surrounded by spiritually crippled people waiting to be healed by false beliefs.

Out of 326 million, 230 million people in the United States claim to be Christian. Does not seem like it does it? People in our nation very seldom act very Christian, but as we see in this passage many did not have a very godly attitude in this religious city.

So often these religious have left the hurting, hurting even more. Some of us may have been hurt by the “religious.”

Also something to note Jesus did not let the excitement of his time distract him for ministering to the needs of the people.

It is easy to get caught up in the excitement of culture and neglect our spiritual worship or have a placebo-spiritual worship.

Do You Want to be Healed?

These are the first words Jesus spoke to the man.

How has Jesus prodded him to recognize the vanity of his hopes? Imagine someone happening upon a child huddled over a mud puddle, Matchbox car in one hand, washcloth in the other. He dips the washcloth in the mud and furiously scrubs the car. One might ask, Are you trying to clean that car? The question is both an inquiry and an invitation to the child, asking him to examine his actions and evaluate whether they will be effective. The question indicates there are better ways to clean toys. In this way, when Jesus asks in verse 6, “Do you want to be healed?”, it seems to indicate that Jesus is not impressed with the method of waiting by the pool, seeking to be first into the water when it ripples.

Jesus words spoke conviction and offered invitation.

Jesus was pointing out the faulty beliefs in the man while at the same time extending an invitation to be shown the true way to healing. Think about it, when we read the Bible throughout it the words work like that.

Where are you searching?

This man was searching among the religious but looking at religious folklore for healing. He was so close to the answer for peace, but being close does not bring healing.

Our nation has many searching among the religious looking among religious folklore. Many are so close to the right answer, but yet they miss it.

In Clarke County many will say that they are a good person and believe in God. But will not set foot in a church this year, will not open the cover of their Bible, cannot even tell you one of the disciples, cannot tell you how to biblically define good and bad. James 2:19 tells us even the demons believe. Congratulations you realize something spiritual beings in hell recognize.

Is your definition of good your definition or a Biblical definition?

Romans 3 says:

Romans 3:10–12 ESV

as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

In our natural human state it is not in us to be people who naturally do pure good. Our good only becomes pure through the blood of Jesus.

1 Corinthians 10:31 tells us:

1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

Apart from Christ people do perform relatively good deeds, but not pure good. Everything we do is to be done to the glory of God.

Relatively good deeds become corrupted because of the misplaced glory.

Being a good ole southern boy or gal does not get you into heaven. Grandma does not get you into heaven.

And just like the man in verse 7 people can always be so full of excuses why they have not been healed.

People give plenty of reasons of why they do not go to church. Often it is others did this or that. Shane Pruitt said:

The other 11 disciples did not stop believing in Jesus, because of the actions of Judas. If the actions of others wreck your faith, then you have to ask yourself, “Was my faith in Jesus or people?”

Where should you be searching?

The words of Christ. This cripple did not begin looking in the right place until he truly listened to the words of Christ. I think this is why Jesus chose him because He saw his heart was ready to truly listen.

We should be looking at what Christ says, not what society says.

Get up, Take up Your Bed, and Walk

Did the man have to get up? No, I believe it was an invitation. The man could have chosen to stay cripple. But he chose to respond in faith and step out to walk in the newness of life.

How many people do we know who have heard this call to get up? Or how many of you have heard this call? But choose to ignore the call and chose to stay spiritually crippled.

I think of my grandpa. My grandpa is missing a leg. Sometimes on that leg his foot will start to itch… But what is the problem their? Their is not a foot their to itch. So my grandpa knows the difference between a real foot and a mind allusion. Spiritually when we are lost you could say we are walking one legged. We can walk a long with the right prosthetics and look almost natural, but yet still slightly miss the mark. We can have some mind allusions of that spiritual foot itching. But since you don’t truly have that foot you cannot satisfy that itch, just mentally you know something needs to be satisfied but you have no means to satisfy it. Now if a miracle happens and that leg is restored you have the ability to itch life from the heart is now pumping through it.

If we could choose to be one legged or two legged we are going to chose two, but yet so many chose to be one legged spiritually.

The take up your bed step can be a scary step. This man for 38 years (13,870 days) had been incapable of walking correctly. After that long he would have kind of gotten use to the low. At this point false hopes have probably let him down plenty of times.

I am going to tell you something. You get use to the low point because it is all you have ever known. I promise their is so much more to life than you could imagine. Solutions to your problems have been presented time and time again, but have never offered lasting change and hope. Christ offers lasting change and hope.

The take up your bed and walk moment for salvation is accepting Christ as your savior and Lord. You got to actively believe, not just say you believe. Step out in faith even though you may not completely see or know how God is going to work but you step out because you have faith he will. That leg will form as you respond, but you got to respond for it to form.

And among all this talk the idea of I have a relationship not religion comes up. That saying drives me crazy it is bologna. And has came out of new age thinking of feeling spiritual. I have a relationship with Christ and religion.

True Christians have a relationship with Christ that motivates them to be religious.

Relationship. We have to be connected with Christ on a very intimate level. We have to dialogue with him.

Religion. Oxford defines it as, “a particular system of faith and worship.” What do we see in the Bible? Specifically the OT? A system. A system of righteous living or living in a restored identity. If someone does not live by the system we see laid out here, do you call them a Christian? No.

The question is do you follow religion out of obligation or appreciation? Or is it work or worship?

Now living a Bible based faith walk is radical and is going to turn heads and get people’s attention and at times make people mad.

Here Come the Haters

How did the religious people respond? Did they rejoice? Did they encourage? No they saw true lasting change and they hated. They hated on it because Jesus healed him on the sabbath. They were hating on Jesus because not only did he talk the talk, He walked the walk. They just knew how to talk about it and how to judge how others do it “wrong”. In other words they were very religiously opinionated.

We are not called to be religiously opinionated people, but disciples of Christ grounded in His facts.

That is the world we live in today. A very religiously opinionated world Who do they always face judgment on first? The Christians living true to the Bible.

We got to be prepared to stand steadfast on two legs (if you faking you want stand on your one leg). Know the word. Grow in your knowledge of Christ as the crippled man did. When he first was healed did he know the name of Jesus? No, but he could tell by what he was hearing this was a man worth putting faith in. he could tell he had the power to change his life. Now as the passage goes on his knowledge grows. He becomes more intimate, he learns the name of Jesus. His knowledge of the effects of sin grows. He learns the importance of testifying.

As we grow we should learn deeper who Jesus is, how image has been shattered, and our desire to testify should grow. As we grow we will be better equipped to stand against the haters.

Living the Christian life will not make you popular, but will cause many to oppose you simply because of your faith.

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