Healing at the Pool of Bethesda John 5:1-15 (Sept 18, 2010)

The healing of the lame man at the pool of Bethesda

Jesus is drawn to one man who had been unable to walk for 38 years. This sick man - a burden to his parents or his family members. - little sense of self-worth But Jesus had pity on him

We can learn a couple of lessons from this story. I want you to pay attention to the three Prerequisites for the man's Healing.

#1. WE MUST HAVE THE WILL FOR HEALING. [ 병 고침을 받으려는 의지가 있어야 한다.] - JESUS tried to IDENTIFY the WILL of the INVALID to be healed.

☞ In v. 6 Jesus asked the invalid, "Do you really want to get well?" ☞ There are people who might actually choose to remain sick.

☞ William Barclay said “the first step toward receiving the power of Jesus is wanting it! If in our inmost hearts we are content to stay the way we are, there can be no change.”

[ 예화 ] In the 1960s several young men had all their teeth pulled out to evade compulsory military service [ 강제 징집 회피 ]. So when they took their physical examinations, they were declared unfit for military duty because they had no teeth!

We MUST - decide whether we really want to be healed - have the will to be healed. That's a question we may need to answer, as well.

The first step to gaining something is to want it. We need to determine what we really want. As God's people, we should say with the apostle Paul, "I can do everything through Christ who gives me strength." (Philippians 4:13)

#2. WE MUST DECIDE NOT TO BLAME OTHERS. [ 다른 사람을 비난해서는 안된다.] - The INVALID stopped BLAMING other people.

There was a local belief that the waters of Bethesda had healing powers. When the waters of Bethesda bubbled up, the first one in the water would be cured.

Do you want to get well? Sir, 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

Every time the water bubbles up, no one is here to help me into the pool. It's always the stronger ones who reach the water first. It's unfair that those of us who need it the most get the least amount of help. It's been that way for 38 years.

☞ The episode at the Garden of Eden. When God asked Adam why he disobeyed, Adam explained, "The woman you gave me persuaded me to eat."

Why you permitted the Israelites to worship a golden calf? The people pressured me to do something since you were gone so long, Moses. They wanted gods like the Canaanites. I just threw their jewelry into the fire & out came the calf!!!

☞ King William of England once visited a prison. Every prisoner claimed to be innocent, and pleaded for a pardon except for one man who admitted his guilt. The King said to the warden, "Get this guilty man out of the prison before he corrupts all these innocent men!" And the man was set free.

We should acknowledge that it’s not my brother's or my sister's fault, but my own.

#3. WE MUST REACH OUT TO GOD in faith. [ 믿음으로 하나님께 손을 뻗어야 한다.]

The man at the pool thought that he could not solve his problem. Too often we labor under the false assumption that we can solve the deepest problems of our lives. That road ends in despair. We need a help beyond us.

By setting up a false source of help, we create our own pool of Bethesda. →Jesus has come to help those who cannot help themselves.

He had been lame for 38 years. He even believed in a false teaching. Yet, Jesus came to bring hope to the hopeless. →the Gospel!

Jesus did not discuss but told the man to get up. Immediately the man was healed.

When Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk," the man had a choice. He could listen and ignore, listen and hope or he could listen and obey. Don't we all have that choice?

Tony Melendez - handicapped - guitarist & singer

[ 결론 ] When things are going well in life, we say things like, "I worked hard," "I invested well," and so on.

We are all handicapped by sin. We can’t heal ourselves. But the hands of Jesus reached out to make us whole. He is reaching out to you.

Bethesda means the house of mercy or grace. But the sick man in today's passage saw himself as a victim of the “first come-first served” principle. In spite of this man's condition Jesus came to him.

There is healing power in the touch of Jesus. Do you want to get well? To all of us who need His healing touch in any part of our life He wants us to REACH OUT TO THE LIVING GOD.

- No matter what condition your life is in, you can be made whole! - No matter how helpless you feel, no matter how hopeless your situation, you have the touching hands of Jesus.

DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?