John 5:1-15

 

 

Jesus was on His way to a feast in Jerusalem.  En route to the feast, He came upon the Pool of Siloam.  It appears from Scripture that many people with disabilities were placed by the pool in hopes of being healed.

 

 

The Encounter Begins with an Unusual Question:                                                                    vv. 1-6

 

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews.  2Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades.  3Here a great number of disabled people used to lieÑthe blind, the lame, the paralyzed.  5One who was there had been an invalid for thirty‑eight years.  6When 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?”

 

1.         He         identified         his need.

 

2.         He         stretched         beyond himself.

 

 

The Conversation Continued with Excuses Being Made:                                                                 v. 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.”

 

1.         He quit         blaming        .

 

2.         He quit         complaining        .

 

 

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.  29Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.  30For my yoke is easy and my burden is light”  (Matthew 11:28-30).

 

 

The Challenge Issued to Accept an Impossible Assignment:                                                    vv. 8-15

 

Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”  9At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath,  10and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

11But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ÔPick up your mat and walk.Õ”

12So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

13The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”  15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

 

1.         Jesus is the         Healer        .

 

 

2.         Jesus deserves all         credit         and glory.