Are You Willing to be Healed?

Controversy Begins:
Are You Willing to Be Healed
John 5:1-9

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The “After this” in verse 1 signals the start of a new section in the gospel.
· Chapter 1 to the end of 4: Period of Consideration -what manner of man is Jesus.

We have the choice to conclude with the disciples, with Nichodemus, with the Samaritans, and with the Capernaum Nobleman that Jesus is no ordinary man; to conclude with John the Baptist that Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the World; to conclude with the Apostle John that Jesus is the eternal Logos made flesh…. Or, in spite of the evidence, we will enter this period of controversy with the Pharisees, looking for a reason to accuse him.

This miraculous healing will become the basis for the judicial case that the Pharisees are building against Jesus. They’re motivation was less for the scriptures and more for their own jealousy and ambition.

Jesus was in Jerusalem to attend a “feast of the Jews,” a religious festival that was mandatory for all Jews to attend. Most commentators agree that it was likely the feast of Purim or the Passover around April in the year AD 28. What matters to this story is that it was the Sabbath day (And Jesus spent it visiting the sick).

So Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath came one Day of Rest to the sheep gate healing a man who had been seized by paralysis and lethargy for 38 years. A lot can happen in 38 years. For us, 38 years ago was 1968; most of us weren’t alive. The world has been turned upside down in the last 38 years. The best most productive years of his life were over because men did not live long in those days. And his life had been a colossal waste- he likely spent it in poverty, begging and dependant upon the kindness of strangers, which seemed to be in short supply in Jerusalem, the center of Judaism.

It makes me glad for the social programs of our nation. Even though they are government run and have little to do with Christianity, they exist because of the Christian conscience and Christian ethics that permeate Canadian culture. Make no mistake, the social programs that the needy enjoy in Canada have their origins here, at the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem.

Verse 3 says that at this pool by the sheep gate there was a multitude of sick, blind, lame and paralyzed people lying by the pool, in essence, waiting for a miracle. Do you wonder why Jesus chose this man alone from among the multitude of sick and lame?

I was watching an interview with a Canadian man who was in one of the towers on September 11th when the plane struck it several floors below him. Apparently only about 16 people made it out from the floors above the crash site and he was one of them. The man was a Christian; he said that he felt God direct him to the correct stairwell and then as he passed through the smoke, there appeared to an air bubble that surrounded him so that he was able to actually rescue another man in the stairwell.
He attributed his miraculous escape to God. Of course that begs the question, “why him?” “Why not others?” I think the right and the safe answer is the one he gave: “I don’t know!” It dignifies the question.

After God allowed Satan to destroy Job’s family and possessions as well as inflict a skin disease on Job, Job’s wife asked him,
“Do you still hold fast to your integrity? Curse God and die!”
But he said to her, “You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?” (Job 2:9-10).

Job Recognized that regardless of the source and instrument and cause of his suffering, God is sovereign and nothing happens apart from His design. Satan can’t surprise God by doing something unexpected; Terrorists act within what God permits and the only thing that restrains our world from falling into utter chaos is the Holy Spirit.

Later in the gospel, the disciples would ask Jesus concerning a man born blind. “Was it because of his sin, or because of his parents…” They must have wondered the same thing about the paralytic (if they were there).

Jesus answered them, “Neither this man, nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed in him” (Jn 9:3). In other words, this man’s physical condition is not a curse, but the providence and grace of God, which God used to bring the man to Jesus and his mercy.

God often uses the frailties and weaknesses of sinners (whether it be disease or handicap or addiction) to draw them to Himself and to cause us to rely on Him in a saving way. When we arrive in heaven, we see those weaknesses as treasures rather then curse, so cling that hope if you are afflicted.

It troubles me when Christians make the same pharisaical assumption today as those Disciples that if someone is sick, or facing some affliction or tragedy or if they have a disease like AIDS that it is a curse from God and the result of sin. We should never say someone’s illness is a judgment from God or worse thing might happen to us, since all sin.

Jesus’ conversation with this man is pithy and to the point- he skips all pleasantries and looks into the soul of the man. In those few words, this man who had been robbed of life was restored to the hope not only of abundant life, but more importantly eternal life. It shows the power of God’s Word and especially the power of the gospel. When we preach good news, our words can be few because they are filled with power.

His command to the man to take up his mat and walk was packed with meaning. Even if the man could get to the pool in time, there was no guarantee that it could accomplish what he hoped for. And even if it were true and he were able to get to the pool in time and be healed- it could still do nothing for his soul. At best the man could hope for another 20 or 40 years of life if he were healed.

But Jesus words meant more then just that he was healed, it meant he was forgiven like the paralytic that was lowered through the roof in Capernaum; First Jesus forgave his sins and then he healed him. The physical healing was not for the sake of healing alone, but as a sign to prove that he had the power to forgive sins. That’s why Jesus tell the man in verse 14 sin no more or something worse would happen.

That forgiveness signified by the healing was accomplished at the cross. It secured for that man, and for all who would believe, the release from the consequences of sin and made it possible for us to be supernaturally sealed by the Holy Spirit who writes the Law upon our hearts and makes us holy in God’s sight.

This morning I want to ask you the same thing that Jesus asked that paralyzed man, “Are you willing to be made well?” I don’t mean just physically well (although that could happen as a sign signifying your salvation); I mean, if you have not already believed the gospel, then this morning are you willing to be made spiritually well.

Jesus said if anyone wanted to come after to me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” Are you willing to follow him and be made spiritually well, then take up your cross and follow him and then live like you have done so.

If you refuse, I warn you, do not come to the Lord’s supper. No one can carry you to the Lord’s Table, not your own goodness, not the faith of your spouse, only Christ. And there’s no angel who can stir the elements, no magic in the cup or the bread. The power is with Jesus, are you willing?