THE NOT SO CLEAR CUT PRIORITY

John 5:1-5 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

John 5:6-9 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?” “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.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

John 5:9-13 The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

John 5:14-16 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.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him.

I. This Man’s Priority was to Seek Healing. - v1-5

A. Where did he go? I. This Man’s Priority was to Seek Healing.

A. Where did he go? 1. What was so special about the pool of Bethesda? I. This Man’s Priority was to Seek Healing.

A. Where did he go? 1. What was so special about the pool of Bethesda? “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.” - v7 I. This Man’s Priority was to Seek Healing.

B. What was his condition? I. This Man’s Priority was to Seek Healing.

B. What was his condition? One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years... “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.” - v5 & 7 1. He was an invalid ( ἀ σθένεια ) = weak, feeble, someone without strength. I. This Man’s Priority was to Seek Healing.

B. What was his condition? One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years... “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.” - v5 & 7 2. He was hopeless. I. This Man’s Priority was to Seek Healing.

B. What was his condition? One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years... “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.” - v5 & 7 3. He was frustrated. I. This Man’s Priority was to Seek Healing.

I. This Man’s Priority was to Seek Healing. - v1-5 II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People. - v6-9

A. With the Lord people always came first! II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

A. With the Lord people always came first! Matthew 4:23 - Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

A. With the Lord people always came first! Matthew 8:3 - Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. “I am willing,” he said. “Be clean!” Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

A. With the Lord people always came first! Matthew 8:16 - When evening came, many who were demon-possessed were brought to him, and he drove out the spirits with a word and healed all the sick. II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

A. With the Lord people always came first! Matthew 12:22 - Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

A. With the Lord people always came first! Matthew 14: People brought all their sick to him and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched him were healed. II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

A. With the Lord people always came first! Luke 13:13 - Then he put his hands on her, and immediately she straightened up and praised God. II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

A. With the Lord people always came first! Luke 22:51 - But Jesus answered, “No more of this!” And he touched the man’s ear and healed him. II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

B. What is the Lord’s goal for you? Genesis 1: Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

B. What is the Lord’s goal for you? 1. This word image appears 19 times in the Old Testament! II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

B. What is the Lord’s goal for you? 2. Your goal is to grow back into the image of God again! Colossians 3: Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

B. What is the Lord’s goal for you? 3. You do that by making the Lord’s priorities your priorities! II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People.

I. This Man’s Priority was to Seek Healing. - v1-5 II. The Lord’s Priority was to Heal People. - v6-9 III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules. - v9-16

A. One of their favorites was keeping the Sabbath Day Law! Exodus 20: Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy. III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

A. One of their favorites was keeping the Sabbath Day Law! 1. What constitutes work? III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

A. One of their favorites was keeping the Sabbath Day Law! 1. What constitutes work? a. The Law said that carrying a burden was considered work. Jeremiah 17:19-27 & Nehemiah 13:15-19 III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

A. One of their favorites was keeping the Sabbath Day Law! 1. What constitutes work? b. These leaders defined carrying a burden as carrying anything! III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

A. One of their favorites was keeping the Sabbath Day Law! 2. The punishment for disobeying the Law of Moses was death! III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

B. Both this man & Jesus were accused of breaking the Sabbath Day Law! III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

B. Both this man & Jesus were accused of breaking the Sabbath Day Law! This man carried a burden. Jesus practiced medicine. III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

B. Both this man & Jesus were accused of breaking the Sabbath Day Law! 1. These leaders also did things on the Sabbath Day! III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

B. Both this man & Jesus were accused of breaking the Sabbath Day Law! 1. These leaders also did things on the Sabbath Day! They circumcised on the Sabbath John 7:22-23 III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

B. Both this man & Jesus were accused of breaking the Sabbath Day Law! 1. These leaders also did things on the Sabbath Day! Watered animals on the Sabbath Luke 13:11-21 III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

C. Is it possible to get too wrapped up in church work? If you forget about people - it is! III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

C. Is it possible to get too wrapped up in church work? 1. It is important what you believe. III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

C. Is it possible to get too wrapped up in church work? 2. Remember why Jesus went to the cross - to redeem people! III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

C. Is it possible to get too wrapped up in church work? 3. What should your priority be? III. The Jewish Leaders’ Priority was to Obey Rules.

A personal walk with the Lord must always be your priority! If it isn’t you’re no better off than those religious leaders!