Sermon Cloud

HAVE YOU BEEN MADE WHOLE?

Introduction:  One of the greatest struggles I have, as a man, is with following instructions.  Most men can relate with what I am saying.  Men, have you ever purchased an item from a store that required assembly, only to find that after you took it home, and skillfully put it together, find a few extra parts.  I have.  The, after going back to read the instructions, I realize that I had left out a few of the parts during the construction process.  I often times find myself tearing the product apart in order to install the extra parts.  Without my doing so, the product I bought will not function as it was designed.  It’s not complete.   In other words, it’s not whole.  Such is the case with a person without a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Such people are blinded to the ways of God and see His ways as foolishness.  Without a relationship with God, you and I are incomplete.  We can’t function properly due to the absence of God’s Spirit within us.  So, how can a person be made whole?  If you have your Bible with you, please open to John 5:1-16.

Background thought:  John continues to build his case in regards to Jesus being the Son of God as well as the Savior of the World.  In spite of many rejecting His teaching, those who believed in Him, Jew and Gentile, Jesus healed their life situation, giving them a new hope in life, the hope of eternity.  However, as we will see today, the passive rejection of Christ is beginning to change.  People will now become more aggressive in refuting His ministry.  Look with me at the first verse of chapter five.

Reading of the text:  John 5:1-16

Prayer

CTS:  Today I want to share with you four facts about being made whole or complete in Christ.  Look with me at verses 1-5.

YOU CAN’T MAKE YOURSELF WHOLE (VV 1-5)

Explanation:

            Verse one identifies that Jesus is entering Jerusalem during a feast of the Jews, presumably a time of celebration.  The Jews were coming together to enjoy each other’s company.  However, not everyone would be attending.    However, not everyone would be attending.  You see, though Jesus went up to Jerusalem, He did not go to the feast initially.  He stopped by the sheep gate at the pool of Bethesda, to see someone.  Verses two and three enable us to see that the location was rather large in size, large enough for a “multitude” of people to occupy.  The second half of verse three and verse four tells us why they were there.  An angel of the Lord came down at various times to stir the water of the pool, enabling the first person to enter the pool to be healed.  Can you imagine how people must have responded when the waters began to move?  It must have been a mad rush, some hurting others in the process of trying to get to the healing water first.  However, despite the effort to be healed, many missed out on the opportunity.  One man, according to verse five, had been trying for many years, but could not be healed of his infirmity, apparently, being that he was crippled and could not help himself.

Illustration: 

            This situation reminds me of how many people seek to end the sorrows they experience today.  Many don’t understand that they are in the same situation as the paralytic man spiritually, and cannot get the help they need.  One way that people try to resolve life’s problems is by acquiring money.  Many race to the local store to buy lottery tickets, hoping to win it big, hoping that they will be the one among many that will receive relief from the struggle of financial burden.  However, even if they win, according to statistical news reports, the money brings their lives to ruin.

Application:

            Just as the man in this account was one among many afflicted with illness, so are you and me.  We are afflicted with the curse of sin, and many of us are in denial that we have the problem.  The bottom line is that no matter what you and I do with our lives, we can’t escape the sinful nature that enslaves us.  If you don’t have a personal relationship with God through Christ, sin will destroy your life.  Read about it in Ecclesiastes and Proverbs.  The applicational point is to acknowledge your state before God.  You are incomplete without His power.  You cannot change your life for the better without Him.  This leads us to our next point, you can’t make yourself whole, but Jesus can.

ONLY JESUS CAN MAKE YOU WHOLE (VS 6)

Explanation:

            Verse six reveals some interesting, yet controversial factors about Jesus.  First, Jesus did not focus His attention on the multitude, but on this one man.  He could have just spoken and all of them would be healed.  Instead, Jesus attention was focused upon one man.  The text tells us that He knew about this man’s condition before ever speaking to him, thus indicating His deity.  Knowing that this man had been this way for a long time, Jesus asked him if he wanted to be made whole.

Its important that we note something specific at this point.  Jesus loves the world.  He loved it enough to be obedient to His Father, even to the point of death for the sins of the world, knowing that His Father would raise Him from the dead.  If we mesh this thought with today’s thinking among many perceived Christians, we find people thinking that because Jesus died for the sins of the world, everyone will be saved from eternal torment.  If that were true, this narrative would not make sense.  In other words, if it was Jesus’ intention to save everyone, He would have healed everyone that was sick at the pool of Bethesda, but He didn’t.  Instead, Jesus went directly to this man who had been struggling with his infirmity all of his life, asking if the man desired to be made whole.

Illustration: 

            There is a situation in the military way of life that helps to illustrate the significance of this moment.  I remember a number of times returning from extended deployments with the Marines.  As I stepped off of the bus after returning to my military headquarters, there would be a sea of civilians screaming and cheering over our safe return.  Within that see of faces I would begin to search for the one I loved most, knowing that she had chosen to love me in the same way.  Moments later my wife and I were embracing in a sea of strangers.

Application:

            Is it any wonder that Jesus has a great love and desire to heal all people of their sin sickness?  However, He also knows who desires to be healed and those who do not, and chooses to heal those who ask Him to.  The applicational point is that Jesus is calling those who will respond to His gospel, and you and I must recognize that He is the only one able to heal us of our sin, giving us a personal relationship with our Father in heaven.  There is a requirement of man for this to happen; we must choose to accept what He offers.

YOU MUST CHOOSE TO BE MADE WHOLE (VV 7-9)

Explanation:

            In response to Jesus’ question (vs. 6), the man informs Jesus that the present process wasn’t working.  Human effort did him no good (vs. 7).  With the acknowledgement that the man could not heal himself, Jesus spoke healing into him (vs. 8).  Once again, the deity of Christ is highlighted.  He spoke and healing happened, as reflected in verse nine.  Is there some possible commentary thought on this healing?

Illustration:

            Mark 5:25-34 tells us of the woman who had a blood issue for a long period of time, and thought to herself, “If I just touch His garments, I will be well / whole.”  (vs. 28).  As Jesus brings the event to a close, He tells her to “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace and be healed of your affliction.” (vs. 34).  As Jesus identified, it was the woman’s faith that made her well.  In other words, she chose to be made whole.

Application:

            I believe it is safe to imply that the man had placed his trust of faith in Jesus, thus being healed of his illness.  The application here is for you and I to choose to be healed of our sin sickness by giving our sinful attitudes and actions to God, confessing our inabilities to heal ourselves, and then asking Him to restore us that we may walk in the Light as He is in the Light.  If you don’t have a personal relationship with God, He may be calling you out of the crowd of terminally ill, desiring to permanently heal you of the sin that is crushing you.  Choose today to allow Him to change you.  You can’t do it.  He must!  The difficult thing about coming to Christ is that life will not physically be peaceful with you as a result of your decision.  This brings us to our next point that being made whole will not make all things well.

BEING MADE WHOLE WILL NOT MAKE ALL THINGS WELL (VV 10-16)

Explanation:

            One of the unique points about this healing account is that those who did not believe in Jesus as being the “Imago Dei” were focused on the breaking of the law instead of the life-changing process that Jesus had just enabled to take place in this man’s life.  Instead of focusing on what God was doing, the Jews were focused on the traditional keeping of the Law.  The result was instead of the Jews giving God praise for the miracle, they sought to determine who broke the Law and bring the individual to justice.  They began questioning the man who had been healed about who told him to carry his pallet (straw mat).  He told them he did not know who it was.  Jesus later finds the man in the temple and tells him that he has become well and to sin no more to avoid something worse happening to him than the state he was in before, thus revealing that the man had not only been healed physically, but spiritually as well.  As soon as the man had left Jesus, he went and told the Jews who had healed him.  The result is the Jews began to persecute Jesus for His healing on the Sabbath.  

Illustration:

2 Corinthians 4:4 tells us of the difficulty that the Jews had in understanding Jesus to be the Savior of the World.  It identifies that “The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.  Thus, as we heard John testify in last week’s lesson, the Jews did not believe in Jesus as Savior.  Thus, they were blinded by the god of this world to prevent them from believing.

Application:

            The god of this world is doing the same with every unbeliever in this world today.  If he can persuade you to believe that Jesus is not who the Bible teaches Him to be, then you are literally blinded to the only way of salvation.  Jesus, Himself, stated that He is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and that no man can come to God except through Him (Jesus) (John 14:6).  Additionally, when you and I respond to Jesus invitation to be made whole, people, to include family, friends, and co-workers will doubt our testimony, and in some respects, openly criticize our new found faith.  Face it.  If you have established a personal relationship with God through Christ, you will face persecution and, at times, you will feel like you are not.  However, in such moments, you and I are to trust in what we know to be true according to the Bible, not in what we feel is right.

            If you are not a believer in Christ, God may be calling you to His kingdom of light.  However, understand that your response is one that will bring rejection into your life, rejection by unbelievers.  Scripture advises us to count the cost before making the choice to follow God’s lead.  Choosing to be set free gives you the ability to overcome the rejection you will experience.  Will you place your trust in Him today?

Conclusion:

            What about you?  Has God asked you the crucial question of whether you want to be made whole?  As we have seen today, the sick man did not go to Jesus.  He couldn’t.  Jesus came to him.  The man was not forced to be made whole.  Jesus asked him if he wanted to be.  The man had to choose to be made whole.  With his trust in Jesus’ ability to heal him, the man was made whole.  He may be asking you if you want to be made whole today.  If you are not a believer in Christ, the question is for you.

            If you are a believer in Christ, God is asking you if you want to be restored.  You may be feeling sick because of the habitual sin in your life that you can’t get rid of.  Ask God to set you free through His gift of repentance and the strength to resist.  God has already made you whole.  Lean on Him for healing!

            If you don’t know Christ as your Savior, you can know Him today.  Salvation does not involve you physically doing anything.  It involves making some choices from your heart.  You must admit and confess that you, as I once was, are separated from God because of your sin (Romans 3:23), acknowledge what God has done about your sin (John 3:16, Romans 5:8), realize the opportunity you have to have a personal relationship with God (Romans 6:23), make the decision from the heart to believe what Christ has done for you, asking for God’s forgiveness, and confess Him as Lord (Romans 10:9-10, 13)

            If you are a believer in Christ, confess your sins to God right now (1 John 1:9)!  Ask Him for the gift of repentance, remembering that it is Christ who is working within you through His grace to live the Christian life.  Ask Him to empower you to live for Him from this day forward, enabling you to depart from any doubt in believing His promises for you, both now and in the future!