Bible Message/Preaching : The Prayer of a hopeless man
This origin of this message or the stoy behind the story is intresting. I was a bit too much occupied in the work of the Lord one day and was in bed sick & tired the next day. I felt hopless in the quest to help the hungry.
5Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?" 7The 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." 8Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk." 9And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. John 5:1-15
- The man has no name - it could be you & me!
- His problem lasted too long - 38 years!
- His hope was lost- infirmity has become a way of life for him!
- He stayed at the pool with his bed-mat, not a nice place to live!
The Pool of Bethesda: (House of grace/mercy)
The description of the Bethesda Pool as having five porticoes-five sides, an unheard-of design, an unusual five-sided pool, led scholars to believe that the story was fiction. which most scholars dismissed as an unhistorical literary creation. Yet when this site was excavated, it revealed a rectangular pool with two basins separated by a wall - which made the fifth porch.Between 150 BC and 70 AD a popular healing center (asclepieion) was developed east of the twin pools. They were used for medicinal and religious purposes, mostly by invalids which were barred from the temple. Evidence of a pagan healing sanctuary has been found east of the pools, including marble representations of healed organs, such as feet and ears. The text do not confirm the authnticiy of the power to heal histoically- its associated with Roman medicinal-pool
Jesus enters the scene
Why did Jesus came to this scene (v5)
Jesus knew his condition, yet he asked the question - do you want to be made well?! (v6)
He has been there for a long time - 38 years! Everytime he tries some one else will get in first, but now with the extra crowd from the feast, his hopelessness hits rock bottom! But we can learn from this man!
Rise up & walk was the reply Jesus gave. He did not hesitate! why? - Till this time his focus was on the pool, - but for the 1st time his attention turned to the one Who has the power to heal! - Somehow his eyes were opened on the words of Jesus! Regardless of the historicity or authenticity of the healing properties of the pool, the paralytic placed his faith in the wrong place- in a pool with mystical powers Do we put our faith in the wrong things/place? Wouldn’t a person's life be totally consumed by the false promise of healing? When the Lord ask us, lets stand so we may receive mercy & grace in our times of trouble! There was no one to help the man at pool, so Jesus went to him!
help for another paralytic
Lets look at another hopeless person we find in Luke 5:17-25 Its not clear if his paralysis was from birth or due to sickness/accident - but the man was dependent on others for everything now. His friends see that he needed a "new body" or a miracle to heal his condition. We also dont know if he believed that Jesus could heal or not! Its a fact that we cannot make someone believe, but we can love then enough so that their life will be changed! - Our faith will affect others!'How far are we willing to go - say to walk the extra mile to see lives changed? Look at the situation: mostly, people come and tell esus that their is some one who needs help and call him there. But his friends or family carried the man to the house where Jesus was, but couldn't get in. They could've given up telling that they've done their part, but this didn't stop them. No one would've blamed them for stopping. Yet, they went another extra-mile! Look at the risk they took - carrying him to the roof, destroying part of the roof, despite possible hostility from house owners and then dropping him down the roof by ropes on his bed!
When Jesus saw the faith of these men (v20), He said "Man, your sins're forgiven!" His friends wanted him to be healed on the outside, but Jesus gave a complete healing - not just physical (temporal), but spiritual (eternal). They expect Jesus to treat the outside since its what they see, just like us. But Jesus see the man & not just his body / troubles! He gave him grace so that he can live & not just walk!! Jesus gave him what he needed & not just what was asked for! Has this happened to us too? He always give us what we needed not that we deserve or wanted! In this case Jesus went to the cross that moment!
Think about the cross: do we ever dare to ask God to hang Jesus on the cross and die a brutal death as substitute for all the mistakes we have ever commited? After that would we add, please come & live within me so as to protect & guide me?! We would normally be asking for a long life with healthy body & good finances! But Jesus gave Himself on the cross for more than these little things!
V23 which is easier? To heal the body by a command or heal the soul by His blood? When one take one word the other takes His life! He knew the cost of grace, but He offered it freely anyway!
Coming back to bethesda / the house of mercy, the Lord came to him in total grace - undeserved mercy! V14 Jesus gives internal healing to this paralysed man at the pool - the forgivenss of sins! Like wise Jesus is asking us Do you want to be made well? What is our peculiar infirmity?
Are we weighed down by our own issues
Rise up & walk was & is also now the reply Jesus giving. He gives us internal healing from sin, abuse, maipulation & the like! And our Lord is an unchanging Jesus! He does the same today! Lets go near to Him and plead that He may change our lives!!
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Delivered 13 Mar 2016
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