Sermon Cloud

March 9, 2008

John 4:46-54;5:1-18 Signs 2 and 3 “Healing Stuff”

We are going to combine two signs today.  Last week we looked at Jesus’ first sign that really announced his Messianic ministry.  We’ll move pretty quickly through this second sign and settle a little longer on the third one.  I sometimes dread dealing with healing issues because I stand as perplexed as any of you in this room.  On the one hand, I’ve seen miraculous healings with no real explanation and I’ve also seen God use medicine and good doctors to bring healing the “normal way.”  On the other hand, I’ve prayed for people to get better that I felt like would honor Jesus with their lives or thinking that a miraculous healing would turn someone’s heart around or people close to them…and they don’t get better.  Some have died.  I have noticed no pattern.  God seems to be free to heal whomever and wherever He wants.  But sometimes the brokenness of this world seems to be winning out, right?

46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. 48 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” 49 The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” 50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” 53 The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. 54 This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

            Jesus hears the request for healing for a man’s son.  The request is not for anything more than healing…this is important.  Jesus states that signs and wonders will be necessary for this guy (and presumably many others) to believe.  The guy doesn’t flinch and asks for Jesus to come do something about his kid.  Jesus heals this kid at the moment of the request by the dad.  When the father finds out the kid was healed at the moment of Jesus’ response, his family believed…his whole household even!  He starts off caring only about getting his kid better and ends up looking to Jesus for more than that…we’ll see that pattern as we keep moving to the next sign. 

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. 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.”  The belief in that day was that angels sometimes would jump in the water in this certain pool/spring and that the first one in would be healed.  Anyone see the irony in saying “first one in” to invalids?? 

            This is nothing other than folk superstition.  We have things like this, too.  Like when we think that going to church after a wild Saturday makes it all better.  Or thinking happy, positive thoughts will make happy positive things happen.  Or wearing a certain stone will direct positive energy…superstition. 

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. The guy is healed!  Unlike the last story, it happens without his participation in faith which demonstrates that God can and does heal without us even asking.  We see a guy that wants to be healed, but is completely unconcerned with Jesus and God meets Him there.  But, we have a problem.  The Law said that people couldn’t do work on the Sabbath and the guy picks up his bed and walks.  Doesn’t seem like a big deal, right?  Keep reading.

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. 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. 

So Jesus healed this guy on the Sabbath and the religious leaders are saying that this guy violated the Law by carrying his mat and in so doing was the Sabbath (10).  Their intent was (16) in retaliation to Jesus, really.  His response is interesting.  He could have made a solid case that this guy didn’t carry mats for a living and wasn’t violating any part of the Law.  The reality was the he was violating some of the traditions of the day, but the guy didn’t violate the Law.  But Jesus doesn’t go there because He has a critical point to make.  He wants to talk about His activity, not the guy carrying the mat.  He points out that God continues to work on the Sabbath…how else could the universe hold together, right?  God is working in people’s soul on the Sabbath and even supernaturally heals and Jesus, too, is working to heal broken humanity on the Sabbath.  This makes sense, but it was a bold claim because it did put Him as being equal with God as v. 18 demonstrates.  The Sabbath breaking would be frustrating enough, but a guy making himself equal with God?  The miracle shows us Jesus’ nature.

Let’s move back to the healed guy.  Notice he is pretty excited about being healed, but in this case hardly notices Jesus.  He doesn’t even remember his name when questioned about it by the religious guys in v. 13.  Jesus finds the guy and encourages Him to stop sinning so that something worse doesn’t happen to him.  Jesus could mean the judgment to come which would be considerably worse than a physical ailment or He could mean that physical sickness could occur if the guy remained in sin.  On one hand, the Bible doesn’t generally teach that bad things happening to us are a direct result of our sin, but there a handful of times where that is exactly the case.  Make you uncomfortable?  Me, too.  But we do see it with Ananias and Saphira in Acts and in 1 Corinthians 11 some people have become sick and some have died from taking the Lord’s supper incorrectly.  I am not trying to tell you that you better watch yourselves or else…but, our starting point in this whole issue should be that we deserve “worse.”  In fact, we deserve hell and no comforts in this life.  And so it would not be unjust of God to judge us for our unrepentant sin and we should view it as nothing but grace that He doesn’t strike us dead right now.  But we have much more health and good things than we deserve.

What do we do with these crazy stories?

God cares about humanity and our suffering.  That’s encouraging, right?  But these two stories aren’t just random healings with no point.  Neither of the guys were looking for soul healing when they met Jesus, but He called both men to something beyond just believing in a miracle.  He pointed them to Himself in some way or another

We are a lot like the guys in the story (at least the way they start off).  Pain screams to us and we want it to stop.  We can’t imagine doing life without this person and or with our pain or our addiction or whatever and we beg for God to make it right.  But let’s be honest.  Very little of our initial request has much of anything to do with God, right? I’m not saying our requests are wrong, but they have everything to do with our pain and our desire to see it get better.  Many times we are asking not because we are acknowledging His worth.  You can know you are doing this if you make bargains.  Ever do this one?  “God I’ll start/stop _______ if you heal me/them.” You don’t already value Him much, but if God can come through, you’ll do it!  Or something like that.

            Jesus had not been to the cross yet, so there was it was not time for a sermon called “remember the cross.”  At this stage, He was inviting people to follow Him and if they did they would hear what He taught and see what He did and watch His death and resurrection.  The official believes when He sees Jesus’ power.  The paralytic man’s response is unknown, but at least He knew Jesus identity.  In both cases Jesus follows up a request for healing with a more personal interaction with each man.  No, Jesus will not be a genie in a bottle.  He cares about our affliction, but let’s not start off assuming what He must do while offering our hearts if He comes through.  Let’s quit pretending we value Him when it’s only if He comes through for us in this regard.  Fortunately, much like these guys, He is gracious to meet humanity where we live and even went to the cross to provide the full healing we are longing for!

            Let’s remember the point of Jesus’ healing ministry.  God is set on healing the world through Jesus and this will be finally complete when He returns.  In other words, physical healing right now is not the ultimate objective.  This is where talking about healing right now is incomplete.  The full healing is yet to come.  Jesus isn’t about to compromise the full deal for anything and has no intention of allowing you to settle for less, either.  This morning in hearing the stories of these two partial restorations physically.  The men in the stories have seen just a taste of the full restoration to come.  Let’s remember what we deserve and celebrate God’s graciousness in giving us some tastes of restoration to come.  This is true of everyone in this room!  Many of you have lived your life with no regard for Jesus and it was so you’d have a taste of what awaits you if you come to Him.   And the rest of you have come to Him already and I urge you to be satisfied in Him right now.  Rest in His grace towards us.