The Powers at Bethesda
Notes
Transcript
ANNOUNCEMENTS
Dec 18th is our Caroling night and finger foods
INTRODUCTION
This sermon is going to be like a shot gun blast. We are back in the gospel of John, and at the pool of Bethesda.
Here we find a multitude of things working almost invisibly but directly impacting people’s lives.
The sermon title is: “The powers at Bethesda” and that is because I could not think of anything better under the theme of power. We are going to see four powers at work in this scene. And they are powers dominate peoples lives.
And I am going to get right into it because I have much to cover and I don’t want to keep you here for two hours.
The power of Superstition
The power of Superstition
John 5:1–4 (NASB95)
After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters; 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.
Explanation: We come to another section in John’s gospel where healing is a need. But instead of an acute illness, these are people who are suffering from chronic illnesses. And what these people do in desperation is lie around this pool and wait for the water to be stirred up, because they believe that these are angels stirring these waters up and whoever gets into the pool first gets healed.
I want you to notice that I have the end of verse and verse 4 underlined. That is because those verses do not exists in the earliest Greek manuscripts. And your Bible either has omitted those verses or has some kind of marking indicating that to you. The NASB has these verses in brackets.
What this likely means is that copyist added this as a comment on these verses at some point when copies were being made that eventually was just added in as Scripture.
How do we to handle verses like these when we find them in Scripture? We should not consider them as part of the authoritative Word of God. What is the authoritative Word of God is what was penned by the apostle John under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Some translations even omit these verses causing accusations that they are taking things away from the Word of God. not true, they are actually preventing people from believing something that God has not said.
Why were these verses added to the Greek manuscripts? Because this was the popular belief of that day. Because the water became stirred up occasionally (v 7) this superstition was circulated around that it was angels stirring up the water, and after something is circulated long enough it becomes true and eventually someone included it in this story.
Superstitions are man made ideas eventually believed by people yet have no power because they originate from man and not from God.
I want us to think about some superstitions we find in the church today that really have no substance:
Speaking things into existence. There are many people who believe that if you speak positively about circumstances then nothing bad will happen to you. There is nothing wrong with positivity, but to think that if we just stay positive then nothing bad will ever come is simply not true. This has no substance in the Word of God. This is a “name and claim it” kind of faith. And what that implies is that man has the ability to speak things into existence, yet Only God can speak things into existence.
What if I say today that we will baptize 25 people next year and we are beleving God for that. There is one problem with that. God has not said we will baptize 25 people next year and so who are we believing? We are believing ourselves and there is no man on earth who knows the future!
God wants you to be happy
It is common especially for new believers to think that God is here to make them happy. And so coming to Christ is about the sorrows leaving and the good times coming: health, wealth, and happiness.
God is far more concerned with our spiritual maturity than He is with our happiness. God is not our to make us unhappy, but His aim is to make us mature.
James 1:2–4 “Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Why is that? Because trouble draws us close to God. Difficulties draw us close to God. People who are without difficulty or trouble become blind to their need of a Savior.
Don’t fall for the lie that God is out to make you happy or give us what we want. If we got everything we wanted we would not want what we got and we would be mad at God for giving it to us. And don’t make your decisions based upon what you think will make you happy.
Everything is from the devil or demons
I hear this all the time. I am in full agreement that Satan and his demons are alive and active upon this earth. But 1/3 of the angels fell, meaning there are twice as many angels as there are demons. But yet we never hear of the work of angels, only the work of demons.
Bad things happen because people have a sinful nature, and do sinful things. And I think we give too much credit to the devil for things people choose to do on their own.
PRINCIPLE: Superstitions have the power to control our lives! People believe they can take control of their lives by following silly superstitions but really these superstitions take control of their lives. Look at these sick who spent their entire lives laying around this pool wasting their lives waiting for something to happen that was a superstition circulated by the people.
I just heard someone say over the last two weeks that they will not take a certain medicine to make them healthier because they claimed it was rom the devil. On what basis was that claim made? There are things that I will not take, but not because the devil made them up in his big black pot.
So what do we put our faith in? We put in the words of God. Principles from God’s Word is what we can stand upon and know that there is an all powerful God who will do what He says.
The Power of God
The Power of God
A man was there who had been ill for thirty-eight years. 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?” 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.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.” Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.
This man had A lifelong Illness
Scripture goes out of the way here to say, that this man had a lifelong illness. It says he was ill for 38 years and then in the very next verse it says that Jesus knew he had been ill for a long time.
Now we are not told what kind of illness this man has, but it must have been debilitating because verse 7 says the man would have to be picked up and put into the pool so he could not walk.
Then he had an encounter with Jesus
Jesus sees the man laying there, knowing he was been sick his entire life and asked him if he wanted to get well. The man obviously didn’t know whom Jesus was, nor his capability to restore the man’s health but Jesus still reaches out to help him.
I think this is so important because in the last healing the man came to Jesus and believed in Jesus’s ability and because of that man’s faith his son was healed. But here the man has no faith at all and Jesus simply chose him to be healed.
Then the man is healed with a simple command to get up and walk
That’s it. He does not touch him, he does not pray for God to touch him, He speaks with His great authority and the man’s life is changed forever.
This is what we see throughout the whole Bible. From Gen 1 when God said, “let there be light”, to the battle of Armageddon when Jesus gives the command of victory and defeats the evil of this age . God’s Words carry great power.
The point of this is the contrast between the the power of superstition and the power of God.
What the man had wait for his entire life, Jesus did with with one sentence! And that same power that Jesus demonstrated here is still at work today!
Bridge:
I heard a portion of a sermon given by Andy Stanley the other day on miracles. Here is what he said: “the only two miracles we need to believe to be a Christian are the creation of the earth and the resurrection”. In other words what he is implying is that there is no need to believe in this miracle, or any other miracle in Scripture.
Now I am no Andy Stanley fan at all, in fact he should not be in a pulpit. But, I think a doubting of miracles is common today. It is probably much more common than we think, most people just doubt it their hearts.
And why is that? Because we do not see miracles happen much today, or at least not like this happened. And when we do see something like a lame man regain his ability to walk we say it’s science or medicine that made that person well, we contribute it to science, medicine, or the human body’s ability to heal itself.
Application
Why do we not see miracles like this today?
Jesus’ miracles on earth were for a purpose to show the world that He truly is the Messiah, God in the flesh
Jesus could speak a word and someone be healed 20 miles away. Or touch someone and make them whole, or give a command and bring someone back to life. And this is a specific fulfillment of prophecy given to identify the Messiah when He came.
Then the eyes of the blind will be opened And the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, And the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. For waters will break forth in the wilderness And streams in the Arabah.
If you look closely at Jesus’ miracles, you will see that healed the blind, the deaf and the lame.
In fact when John the Baptist had questions about Jesus, this is what Jesus told his disciples to tell him: Luke 7:22 “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, and the deaf hear, the dead are raised up, the poor have the gospel preached to them.”
Jesus did miracles so that people would know that He is God
John 10:37 ““If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me;”
Jesus is saying that He does what only God can do so that people will put their trust in Him because only He is worthy of it.
But that does not mean God is not able to heal today and does not heal people today.
God has always worked miracles in Scripture, before the incarnation of Jesus and after the resurrection of Jesus. And if we knew all the miraculous things that happened today around the world our minds would be blown!
You can read about countless miracles happening in the presence of missionaries in 3rd world countries where God is doing miraculous things. We have documented in church history periods called the Great Awakenings where God miraculously saved thousands of people in a short time.
Jonathan Edward’s led the first Great Awakenings and testifies that while he was preaching to an ordinary crowd on Sunday, six of his people were saved. And I don’t mean professed faith, but born again.
Here’s the point: God’s power overrides everything and even the laws of nature, but it will alway be according to His plan
Does that mean God will heal you? I don’t know, But it does mean that God is ABSOLUTELY capable of healing anyone from anything.
But if He does not, then His grace is sufficient for you. He will give you everything you need upon this earth to please Him, to bring Him glory, and that is all that truly matters
Joni Erickson Tada:
At age 17, she dived into the water, hit a rock and broke her neck making her a quadriplegic for the rest of her life.
I can’t imagine how many times she prayed to be healed. Over to years she has been bound to a wheelchair and will likely be there until she dies.
But because of that wheelchair, her life has been used tremendously for the glory of God. She has written several books, encouraged people, and demonstrated great faith in our great God.
And that is a miracle. And she often talks about the day when she receives her new body, and that wheel chair will be sent to hell, but how grateful she is for it Because of what it did for her faith.
The Power of Legalism
The Power of Legalism
John 5:9b-10 (NASB95)
Now it was the Sabbath on that day. 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.” But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.’ ” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?” 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.
The Jews
When John speaks of the Jews, he is talking about the religious leaders who are opposed to Jesus. This not encompass every Israelite, but mainly the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Scribes.
And when they saw this lame man walking, knowing he has been lame for 38 years, they were appalled not because the man was healed but because he was carrying his mat on the Sabbath.
It is amazing to me that instead of recognizing in their hearts that a miracle that only God could do has happened, they were appalled at this man not following the rules they had created.
What is legalism?
It is often believed that people who follow the principles or commands in Scripture closely are legalistic. But that is not what legalism is. Jesus Himself said, John 14:15 ““If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” Jesus never opposed being obedient to His words, He praised it.
Legalism is when we take man made rules and impose them on others as if they were the commandments of God.
The Jews had an oral law that was passed down that, which Jesus called the “traditions of men” that they lived by. It was a set of manmade rules that they followed to help keep them from breaking God’s commandments.
This is not a bad thing, except they held these oral traditions above the laws of God which is a problem and is legalism
Legalism is still alive and well today
Some churches have legalistic leadership and create legalistic people.
Example:
I had a lady one time tell me that unless I preached from the KJV of the Bible that the Holy Spirit would not be present in our church. This was her reason for leaving the church because she claimed the KJV is the only inspired version of Scripture.
I reminded her that the only real inspired “version” of Scripture is Greek Hebrew, and Aramaic. Every bit of Scripture translated into English today is a translation of the original. No where in the Bible do we find God saying that only the King James translation made in 1611 will be the only version that I affirm.
Some other things may be the way you dress, or that you cannot wear any makeup, or the Amish community that say you cannot drive and must wear black. All of these things are a form of legalism and if you depart from them then you depart from faithfulness to God.
The power of legalism
What did legalism do here?
It blinded these men to the power and the work God was doing. They were so fixated on their rules being broken that they could see the mighty works of God!
When we become so fixated on what others are doing, we completely miss out on what God is doing.
Isn’t it amazing that they were standing right in the very manifest presence of God yet they could not see it themselves. They looked right past the miracle to see this man carrying his mat on the Sabbath and the violation against their traditions.
Christianity becomes a mechanical form of law-keeping instead of an intimate relationship With God. It goes from exciting to drudgery, from life giving to life draining. Legalism has the ability to enslave us.
Does this mean we should not ever say anything to anyone about anything? NO
But it does mean that if it does not come from a place of love and Scripture, then we should probably keep it to ourselves
Jesus said, “do not judge, so that you will not be judged. for in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you” (Matt 7:1-2)
It is a warning of receiving what we are giving. I would much rather receive grace than judgement.
The Power of Sin
The Power of Sin
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.” The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
We think about sin as a wrong doing that we commit. Sin is not just a transgression against God or an offense against another Christian, but is a “destructive evil power” that has entered the world through Adam and demands allegiance.
Paul tells us that “that both Jews and Greeks are all under sin” (Rom 3:9). The reference to “Jews and Greeks” is another way of referencing all people in the world. Everyone with human DNA regardless of the race, gender, or family tree are all “under the power of sin.
People serve sin (6:6), are enslaved by it (6:17, 20), sold into its service (7:14), set free from it (6:22), it is a law in itself (7:23), it has the power to become alive (7:9), and it dwells within humans like a plague (7:17, 20), and it has the power to afflict us physically.
Notice here the final word Jesus leaves with this man: “do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you”.
It is best to understand this to mean that the cause for the man’s physical illness was a result of his sin. That is the reason he suffered for 38 years and what prompts Jesus to address this man’s after he is healed.
But is that interpretation biblical? Yes
Ananias and Sapphire died because of their sin
Paul says that many of the Corinthians were sick and dying because they abused the Lord’s Supper
The letter of John says there is sin that leads to death
Principle: Sin has the ability to inflict our physical bodies with sickness and even death
Some ailments people have are the direct result of sin in their lives.
POINT: Sin can make people physically sick or cause death
BUT not every sickness or tragedy is a result of sin. Later on in Scripture
Jesus clarifies this in chapter six with the blind man. He says the man’s blindness is not because of his sin or the sin of his parents.
The point I want us to see is sin’s power to afflict 4
When Jesus tells the man to stop sinning He is stressing an urgency in this man’s life!
There was no time to think about whether or not something actually worse would happen, it was coming!
And that could mean some other kind of physical affliction worse than what he had already suffered AND it most certainly the judgement he would experience at the end of his life.
The consequences of sin at the end of this life are much worse even being paralyzed for 38 years.
And the fact of being healed physically is only temporary for all of our bodies will one day die.
But to come under the judgement of God by continuing in our sin lasts for eternity. And the two cannot even be compared.
Maybe God is saying to someone this morning, to stop sinning so nothing worse happens to you.
We must Never underestimate the power of sin in our lives and its ability to bring judgement upon us both in this life and in the life to come.
CONCLUSION
I know this sermon was like a short gun blast. But many of Jesus’ miracles conveyed a spiritual meaning under the physical demonstration of power.
Here a man is caught by the power of superstition, ridiculed by the power of legalism, afflicted by the power of sin, and set free by the power of God.
God’s power transcends all powers and only God can give the man the ability for a man to do what he himself is not capable of doing.
The power of God saves, it delivers, it transforms, it renews, and it is still at work today.
If you need God’s power in your life, then come to Him, cry out to Him, trust Him, and give it all to Him.
~PRAYER~
