1 After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in [a]Hebrew [b]Bethesda, having five porticoes. 3 In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, [[c]waiting for the moving of the waters;|
4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]|
5 A man was there who had been [d]ill for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He *said to him, “Do you wish to get well?” |
7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus *said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” 9 Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. |
10 So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”|
11 But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?” 13 But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. |
14 Afterward Jesus *found him in the temple and said to him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.”
From July 1976 to August 1977, for almost a year, David Berkowitz terrorized New York City. Claiming to be commanded to kill by a demon demanding the blood of girls, he would approach women sitting in parked cars and shoot them dead. During this time, he killed at least 3 people and injured at least 2 others. In a letter he left for the police, he wrote ”I am a monster…I am the Son of Sam.”
Almost 2000 years earlier, by the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, there lay a man sick and immobilized for 38 years. Will there be hope for him? Will there be hope for a monster like David Berkowitz?
Today we will be reflecting on john 5:1-14, and taking a look at the following:
· What is faith? How are we saved by it?
· After being saved, now what?
What is faith and how are we saved by faith?
This whole story paints a picture of our salvation by faith. In verses 1-4, John paints a picture of the natural human condition. The sick man represents us. We might not be physically sick, but deeply rooted inside of us are brokenness, selfishness, and an inability to be good all the time . People might not think they are bad, but when we do bad things, when we hurt others, we feel bad and our hearts tells us that something is wrong,. We try to fix this brokenness, trying to be a good person, but we don’t have enough strength to go deep enough, to fix our broken nature at it’s root, so poverty, war, racism, and human trafficking still remains despite the tremendous effort and money we spend to solve these issues.
Just like the sick man trying to obey the rules of the pool, we can’t quit meet the standards set by God’s law, which is represented here by the rules regarding healing by the pool. Nobody wanted to help the sick man. Until he met God.
When Jesus met him, he knew exactly his need. And Jesus did not see him as disgusting, but stooped down to meet his need and deepest desire to be made well. Jesus asked him :”Do you wish to get well?” Notice the sick man’s attitude, he did not try to put up a front pretending everything’s ok.
Like Nicodemus, the Samaritan woman at the well, and the father whose son was healed in previous chapters of john, by God’s grace the sick man had a very meek and honest attitude towards Jesus. He did not try to play the tough guy and say “I can get into the pool if I tried hard enough” but recognized his brokenness and need for help, and God does give grace to the humble, but opposes the proud. He longed to be made well, and Jesus met this need. Deep inside of us, there is also the same longing. When we look at the world with all of it’s poverty, war, crime, pollution, and corruption, we know that something is wrong, and we want to be made well, and only Christ can do that for us, as he did for the sick man.
But at this point the man was still placing his hope in the pool. As seen from his response in verse 7. “I want to be healed, but nobody’s there to put me in the pool!”. Jesus does something very profound next, and it gave the sick man faith in the right place, so he can be healed. People would have expected Jesus to put the man in the pool, or touched him or did something to him. But he did not do anything physically spectacular, he didn’t even touch him. Jesus just spoke to the man. Commanded him to get up and walk! This is amazing! God’s wisdom is so different from men! People want to seek huge marvelous signs and miracles, and wonder why God does not just make every problem in the world go away? But God chose to do it differently, in a way unnoticeable to the eyes of flesh! He saves us by faith, our assurance in things hoped for, our conviction of things unseen. No flashing lights or fireworks, no sudden doing away with all the chaos, but with just spoken words. When His words hits the deepest parts of our being where all the brokenness and evil of this world stems out of, just like how he spoke the universe into creation, something new is created inside of us. A child of God is born! “My sheep hears my voice and follows me!” For those who are Christians, God told us:”Wake up!”, just like how the man believed Jesus’ command, we woke up!
Such a beautiful act of grace and mercy! I imagine the man skipping gleefully as he went his way. Then he met the Jews. In contrast to the sick man’s attitude of humility, the jews were blind to their need to be changed spiritually. They were still there, lying by the pool, trying stubbornly to get in. and Jesus here sets up a meeting with them, and we looked at part of that controversy last week. The Jews did not care about the miracle that happened to the man. They were more concerned about keeping the law. That was the way to salvation for them. They even condemned the man for carrying his bed! The world runs on the principle of morality, of what is right or wrong, but God saves by grace. He shows mercy to anyone who is willing to come to Him, even for a monster like David. After David was apprehended in 1977, he tried to apply for parole 5 times in the last 34 years, but was denied every single time. When the time for parole application came this year, he wrote in a letter to FoxNews :”I have no interest in parole and no interest to seek release. If you could not understand this, I am already a free man. I am not saying this jokingly, I really am. Jesus Christ has already forgiven and pardoned me, and I believe this. He has given me a whole new life, which I do not deserve. And while society will never forgive me, God has. I am forever grateful for such forgiveness, too.” Now David spends his time in prison leading bible studies and serving his fellow inmates. No one is good enough to be saved by their own efforts, nor should we push God away because we are bad, but salvation only comes when we embrace Him.
The dialogue between the man and the Jews continues in verses 11 to 13. The man ignores their previous attempt to condemn him. He knows Jesus has greater authority, I don’t care what you guys say about the law, I know he who healed me is greater. The Jews now seeks to persecute who was responsible for telling this man to break the law. But he still doesn’t know Jesus’ name! and Jesus slips out of the crowd, for the time was not right to confront the jews, he wanted to meet the sick man one last time.
Now verse 14 is the main application portion of this passage. Jesus found the man later in the temple. He was truly thankful for what God had done for him. Therefore he went to worship. Jesus gives him a stern warning, “Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you.” Which leads us to ask the question, what is really God’s purpose for saving sinners? And the overarching answer would be to make a group of people who are set apart so that we may bear witness for God.
What do we do after receiving this faith?
Jesus here gives the man a motivation not to sin. And that motivation is fear. It may seem weird, but God loves us enough to tell us the truth. He did not save us so we can do nothing, but in order that we can be set apart from the world to bear witness of Him. It is written in Proverbs “ the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.“ John himself writes in 1 John 3, whoever is born of God does not sin. This does not mean a state of perfection, but a desire to be far away from sin, to be righteous to obey God and not our own ways. And Paul also writes in Galatians, those who walks in the way of the flesh will reap corruption. This will probably make the Calvinists cringe, but we do have to make and decision to be holy! God is sovereign but not a puppeteer. Even Paul calls us again and again in his letters to beat our bodies, to work out our salvation for it is God who works in us. As Christians we ought to strive for holiness. Here are some points of application on striving for holiness:
· Learn to obey God by faith. Sometimes we have to take risks. Faith helps us to believe that God commanded us to do something for good, even though the circumstances don’t seem like it. The sick man could have easily refused to stand up, the man whose son was healed could easily have not believed and fell into despair, the Israelites could very easily have not stepped into the red sea a second time because Moses wasn’t there. But God’s blessing comes AFTER we act in faith. Then we truly learn and understand the wisdom of God in His word
· Motivate yourself with Scripture to cultivate holiness, and led them guide the way we think and act. Read God’s word, especially his warning against sin and unholy living, and ask God for change.
· Examine oneself. Are you becoming developing the fruit of the Spirit? Are you developing characters of love peace patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control? Or are you walking in the opposite direction?
