Sermon Cloud

INTRO = We are meeting the Savior from the gospel of John, John wants you to know right up front in his first chapter, that in meeting the Savior, you are meeting God in Christ,

John 2, John wants all of Israel to meet the Savior – to recognize that Israel does not need to be a wedding party winding down, but that it is just getting started, because God has saved the best for last, with the fullness of Christ! – And when Jesus cleanses the temple in the same chapter– Jesus is announcing to Israel that he is here to raise up a New Temple, which is his body, and that the focus of worship will be connected to, and directed toward – HIM

In John 3, The Savior meets with Nicodemus who represents the Jewish inquirer – who knows that Jesus must be from God because he is accompanied with signs, but he needs help putting Jesus into his religious way of looking at things – Jesus tells Nicodemus that He is the one the scriptures portray as coming to bring healing, wholeness, and life as Jesus compares himself to a serpent lifted high on a stick – and those who are born “from above,” will understand that Jesus is the way of Salvation.  John 3 concludes with John the Baptist, who is the last Jewish prophet, also trying to fit Jesus into his theology; but in a trusting way, the Baptist says his mission of preparing the way is concluding, & that Jesus is the one who will bring the Spirit without measure! And from the mouth of John the Baptist, John 3 concludes with him saying, 3:36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

John 4 is a meeting with a woman at the well, but it is also the Savior meeting those beyond the scope of Israel. John chapter 4 communicates that the Savior is for everyone who wants to worship the Father, including ‘despised’ people like Samaritans.  To emphasize this point, John 4 concludes with Jesus healing the son of a Nobleman, a person connected to the evil government which is complicit with the Roman occupiers. Jesus heals the son of an unholy royal family member – Jesus even heals pagans.  This is called Jesus’ Second Sign.  What do we concluded from John 4 – that a whole Samaritan village can be evangelized rather than destroyed, and that the entire household of Jewish oppressors can believe, rather than be condemned!  Jesus is this kind of Savior.

So Jesus, as the Savior, has met those who are both friendly and hostile to the Jewish world.  In John 5, Jesus is going to meet the Jewish religion head-on.  In John 2, Jesus overthrows their view of worship, in John 5, Jesus is going to raise up their perception of how God really works in the world – And how does God work in this world?  Jesus says, that God works through His Son!  Jesus teaches this lesson because the religious leaders, who ran everything in Jerusalem central, of whom, Jesus selected not one of his 12 disciples from the religious class --  THEY needed to hear this lesson because the Jewish faith of Jesus’ day had locked up God in a box of legalism –

So John 5 starts with Jesus going back to Jerusalem again for a feast.  -           John is “feast obsessed.” 16x’s when the next gospel that mentions feast the most is a tie with Matthew & Luke = 3x’s.

Seeing as there were 3 feasts which required traveling to Jerusalem, and since we read in John 2 that he had made Passover, which would segue into the Feast of First Fruits that same week; I’m assuming that Jesus is now back for the feast of Ingathering, or feast of Booth, Tabernacles, Succhot.  (Jesus made first fruits even tho he was dead!!!)

 (Now remember, making it to Jerusalem for these feast was the LAW.  It was so important to make it to Jerusalem for the Passover, that Moses granted “Second Passover” (Pesach Sheni) a month later in case there was some emergency or obligation that kept you from making the real Passover! Numbers 9 – Maybe Jesus is in town for second Passover.)

Let’s begin by covering this long chapter in two parts (Now you have to know that I love to share all the information I can about something, but we’re going to pair it down!)  We’ll read the first 16 verses (which is actually 15 verses because of a scribal insertion which we discussed at length when we spoke on John 8 regarding the woman caught in adultery (and in a SS time) – you can listen to that message online.

John 5:1 After this 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, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.

³ In these lay a multitude of invalids- blind, lame, and paralyzed.

⁴ 

⁵ One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.

⁶ When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?"

⁷ The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going, another steps down before me."

⁸ Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk."

⁹ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.

¹⁰ So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed."

¹¹ But he answered them, "The man who healed me, that man said to me, 'Take up your bed, and walk.'"

¹² They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"

¹³ Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.

¹⁴ Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you."

¹⁵ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

¹⁶ And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

Bethesda = house of mercy  -- Again John nails the reference to 5 porches, which modern day archaeology has unearthed – another testimony of an eye witness!  Remember that this gospel is most likely being written in Ephesus, in Western Turkey, and we have a man who has first hand knowledge of a pool by a particular gate with a particular construction – and it’s all there as reported!  He even recalls the name in Aramaic – without a doubt, not the lingua franca of Ephesus!

3 = plh/qoj

5 = “But there was this one man there” The most pathetic!  And how pathetic, he doesn’t even answer Jesus’ question!  Jesus says, “Do you want to become whole?”  And he replies, “Sir, I’m so helpless, I don’t even have a friend who will help me get into the water at the magic moment, and left to myself, I have no strength!”  That’s pretty pathetic!  I think Jesus singles this guy out to represent all of us who are pathetic in our sin and brokenness.

Jesus seems to interrupt this man and his excuses with a command to “get up and take up your mat and walk” – and immediately the man is able – he has his magic moment!  But it’s on the wrong day!

9 = Sabbath (sa,bbaton) = Everything they said about the Sabbath was correct, especially when considering our OT readings this morning – you do not work on the Sabbath!  Now, the Jews had struggled with this command ever since they received it.  Nehemiah is one example of struggle that a ruler had trying to enforce this day of rest.  Nehemiah said in his day, “Do you want to know why we as a nation keep failing in our mission?  We don’t obey what God clearly says!” So he enforces the Sabbath in his day.  IN JESUS DAY, the Pharisees, for the same reasons that motivated Nehemiah, enforced the Sabbath regulations.  They could preach in their synagogues, “Do you want to know why we are being occupied by these heathen Roman’s today?  Because we don’t obey the laws of Moses!! C’mon people!!”  In fact the Pharisees, both as a religious and political movement, come out of the era of the Macabees who defeated the Greeks – and they didn’t attribute their success in battle to their military strategy, but to their zeal for righteousness.  So again, great motives, great intentions – let’s be holy so that God will bless us! 

But couldn’t they see that Jesus had come to give this man rest from his suffering of 38 years?  I don’t think I would be smart enough to figure that out!

-          the Sabbath was a gracious day of rest from God for man – remember, no ancient civilization had anything like this whole day off to pursue wholeness!  And what does healing mean = WHOLENESS!  Jesus was giving this man his Sabbath rest because all his own work was in VAIN!  When we finally give up on all our pathetic pursuits of putting confidence in what we do, in our attempts to fix ourselves, and finally rest in what Jesus has done for us, only then will we experience Healing, Wholeness – our Sabbath Rest.

To emphasize the notion of ‘wholeness’ the Greek word “Hugeis” is used in verse 6,9,10,11,13,14,15, and is the clue for understanding this< Jesus 3^rd sign.

This leads us for a moment of application:  Where are we most pathetic and in need of this kind of healing?  Maybe we are just to pathetic to figure that our too!!  So we need to ask for God’s mercy in order to receive Christ’s words, and to obey them!

HERE is the ONE place we find the wholeness we need, in the authoritative word of Jesus Christ! His word has the power to commands us to obey.  And I really like that this man makes a trip to the temple in order to make his praise offerings to the Lord!  A person made WHOLE as the Bible describes it, IS a person who acknowledges that their own efforts always fall short; IS the person who longs for Christ alone to speak to our condition in order to bring healing of body and soul, and IS the person who longs to commune with the Lord and His people.

Jesus 2^nd and 3^rd signs are signs of healing produced simply by his spoken word!  “Your son will live,”  “Get up, take up your mat, and walk”

14 = The former invalid meets Jesus in the temple (i`erw/|), not in the sanctuary, but the temple courts, and says to him, “Look! Whole you have become, do not sin, in order that no evil, to you, will happen.”

.  He tells the former invalid not to sin anymore.  Now come on! HOW much sinning can an invalid do???  Well, Jesus knows healing, and Jesus knows sickness – and to be spiritually sick is the worst of all – it has grave consequences! 

Jesus has the right to speak to our true condition – and as a good physician, this post op office visit comes with a  prescription to keep him out of the greatest danger – especially for the one who has been recently been made whole!  Jesus makes this man physically whole – But Jesus cares about the total WHOLENESS of a person – both physically and spiritually!  -- all of the Gospels make this point– we all need a healing that leads to wholeness, and spiritual wholeness is the priority -- and it takes place when we hear, believe, and obey the authority of Jesus!  There is no malpractice with Jesus!

And if Jesus has this kind of authority, this leads us to an extended monologue about who Jesus is and what he has come to do.  And as we read to the conclusion of John 5, I’m going to ask you to listen to how Jesus describes his mission.  And I want you to notice two things as Jesus is here really having his first extended conversation with the religious leadership of Jerusalem.  First, I want you to notice that Jesus will tell us all about the activity of the FATHER, and as he does so, he will also state that all of that activity is ALSO the activity of the SON. 

à The Father is…

-         Working      - doing         - loving        - raising

-         the source of  life … and so is the Son!

The only distinction is that the FATHER IS NOT judging -- yet; that will be the charge of the “Son of Man” mentioned in vs. 27 & Daniel 7.  The Son of Man is described in Daniel as having: dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him.  Jesus wants to identify with THIS Son of Man as the one who will judge the world according to their response to his mission upon the earth

And that’s the second thing for which we need to listen – identify all the witnesses that God has sent to testify to the authority of the Son:  To Israel, God had sent: 

- Whom Jesus Calls “another” I’d make the case that this refers to the HS.

- John the Baptist

-         The “works” of the Father in Christ

-         The Father’s voice (fwnh.n) same voice of the wind in John 3, same voice of the shepherd, John 10

-         The Scriptures (specifically Moses)

All these witnesses will take the stand against unbelieving Israel, and then after the resurrection, the unbelieving world, to accuse them for not believing in the Lord’s Holy One

SO you can follow this on the FAM PAGE, as we read about the work and words of the FATHER which are also those of the SON, and that the FATHER has sent WITNESSES to the Israel, and the world, testifying to the truth of who Jesus is – and these witnesses  will be CALLED on the future day of judgment

¹⁷ But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working."

¹⁸ This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

¹⁹ So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.

²¹ For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

²² The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,

²³ that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

²⁴ Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

²⁵ "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

²⁷ And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

²⁸ Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice

²⁹ and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

³⁰ "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.

³¹ If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not deemed true.

³² There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.

³³ You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.

³⁴ Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.

³⁵ He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

³⁶ But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.

³⁷ And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,

³⁸ and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.

³⁹ You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,

⁴⁰ yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

⁴¹ I do not receive glory from people.

⁴² But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.

⁴³ I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

⁴⁴ How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

⁴⁵ Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.

⁴⁶ If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.

⁴⁷ But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"

Every time Jesus takes a trip to Jerusalem, I see John replaying a scene over and over again in this Gospel (especially when comparing this healing of the invalid and the healing of the man born blind in John, chapter 9) – In doing this -- John wants the church to know that Jesus came to over turn all the perceptions that the religious class had about God, and to recognize that Jesus fulfills and raises our hopes for who God really is!  That He has an abundance healing and grace – and His powerful signs indicate this.

So this is why over and over again, we will see that it is the intent of both the Father and the Son to raise people to new life -- and to prove that Jesus can raise people, he raises an invalid of 38 years, more than that, HE himself will rise on the third day – this is the height of God’s power in Christ! 

And in this meeting, Jesus encounters a man who was stuck in his infirmity, while at the same time, Jesus meets the religious class -- stuck in their misperception of the work and word of God.  The true ‘anointed one’ is now here to raise people to new life and to a new understanding – so that they may embrace with all their hearts and minds a Savior who is the exact representation of God in their midst – here to raise all who believe in him to new life!