May 25 – Sermon
John 5:1-9
Almighty God, please help us to focus our lives on You so that we might love what You command and desire what You promise. May our hearts be fixed on the everlasting joy we have in Jesus. Amen
We all know that things will eventually need to be “replaced”. A new toaster, new television, new light fixture. This “replacement” idea is exactly why John tells us that Jesus healed people on the Sabbath. Jesus was replacing Jewish rules that they believed would earn them entrance into heaven with almighty God.
Jesus was in Jerusalem during one of the yearly feasts. While He was there, He paid a visit to a place called Bethesda, “the house of mercy.” Close by was a pool near the northeastern gate of the city where the Jews believed an angel would come and periodically stir the waters. The first person to enter the water after it had been stirred would be healed of his/her diseases.
So hundreds of sick people gathered around the pool. But on the day that Jesus passed by, He saw a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus found out how long the man had been paralyzed, he asked this question, “Do you want to be well?”
At first it seemed like a ridiculous question. Why else would the man be there? Of course he wanted to be healed. But Jesus was asking a very serious question.
This was the man’s reply: “Every time the water is stirred, somebody else beats me to the water. I’m never able to get in the pool first …It isn’t my fault; I don’t have any one to put me in the pool.” Poor me, poor me.
Jesus’ question, “Do you really want to be healed” really meant: do you want to change? If the answer was yes, then a miracle could take place. If the answer was no, then even Jesus couldn’t help him.
Change can be scary. It takes a lot of faith to truly want the change Jesus can give us. Just ask anyone who attends an AA or “Celebrate Recovery” meeting.
Jesus was telling this man: “If I make you well, you can’t be a beggar anymore. If I make you well, you can’t use your illness to get special treatment. If I make you well, you won’t get all that sympathy anymore. Do you really want to change?
It’s scary because people often get comfortable with their compromised life—even knowing that the way they live is not good or pleasing to God. It’s interesting that John’s Gospel only records three healings by Jesus–and Jesus healed countless people. So why does John only tell us about three? And two of the three happened on a Sabbath.
John’s point is this: Jews were very serious about keeping the ten commandments, so much in fact, that they developed 613 other rules to help them keep the ten commandments. They believed that by keeping the rules they earned points with God—allowing them to earn salvation. It’s still a prevalent belief today when we hear someone say: “He or she was such a good person.”
Well folks: God is the judge of humanity and He requires absolute perfection, which can come only through Jesus.
So Jesus decided that healing the man was more important than letting him suffer–even though it was the Sabbath day.
The religious types seeing what happened, went ballistic.
“It is the Sabbath! You can’t do that!” Then they jumped on the man healed: “Our laws forbid you from carrying your mat on the Sabbath!”
It is true that God wants us to rest on the Sabbath. In fact, the Sabbath was created just for us. We are to set aside a day each week to join together to worship our Lord and Savior. We worship on Sunday rather than Saturday, to recognize that Jesus rose from the grave on Sunday.
The healings recorded in John’s Gospel; each have a clear message. When Jesus healed the son of a non-Jewish official in Capernaum, His message was that God loves all people, Gentiles as well as Jews.
In today’s Gospel Jesus replaced the 613 Jewish rules plus the Commandments as a way to earn God’s love.
In John 9 when Jesus healed the man born blind, He also forgave the man His sins. The Jewish theology was clear. No one could forgive sins but God alone. Forgiveness of sin came only through shed blood. It was God who told Moses to create the tabernacle and make daily sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. It was God who promised Solomon that he would always reside in the temple in Jerusalem, the place where the forgiveness of sins was granted. Jesus replaced the temple with Himself on the cross. The Jewish religious leaders wanted Jesus dead because He was making Himself equal to God.
Throughout His life Jesus kept all the commandments we have broken. The prophecy of the Old Testament has been fulfilled through Him. Jesus resisted the temptations we face. He carried our sin to the cross. Jesus took our punishment and transfers His righteousness to us by faith.
God’s rescue of humanity began with Adam and Eve after the fall. All illness, sickness, physical birth defects; pain, suffering, sadness, anxiety, worry, are the result of sin. Humanity needs a Savior– for the invalid at the pool of Bethesda, for Adm and Eve, for you and me.
Broken commandments ruin our families and ruin our friendships. Broken commandments can destroy our careers. In other words, we all need to be rescued. That’s what Jesus did. He is our substitute. He is our hero.
Faith in Jesus means more than “sins” forgiven.
Faith in Jesus means more than “broken promises” forgotten and erased.
Faith in Jesus means: whoever hears His word and believes in Him who sent me, has eternal life.”
We should eagerly await our Savior who will transform our bodies to be like His glorious (resurrected) body.
Jesus is our ultimate “replacement”. Your health and mine will not hold out forever. Age will conquer. One by one our friends and family slip from our grasp. Our work will remain unfinished.
The Good News is that eternity has been placed in your heart and mine. Jesus has opened the doors to eternal life. The question Jesus asked the paralyzed man is the one each of us must answer: Do you want to be healed from sin and eternal death?
