Sermon Tone Analysis
Overall tone of the sermon
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Scripture Reading
Intro
How many of you have ever wanted something desperately?
I do not mean that you just kind of wanted to have something, I mean you really, really wanted something.
Not in an idolatrous or covetous manner either.
If so, that is sin and you need to check your heart there and I know it can feel like a balancing act though between contentment and idolatry in the yearning.
For example, I want a kid.
And for a long time now I have been wanting to have a child of my own and I wanted to make an announcement before all of you today.
Monica and I do not yet have kids, but believe we will have one soon.
Having desires is not something that is necessarily a bad thing.
And in today’s reading, we read of a man who had very strong desires.
He had very strong desires.
Imagine his state for a minute, an actual minute not what you millennials mean when you say a minute.
Imagine how he would have felt being sick for 38 years... 38 years of sickness.
My wife knows that when I get sick, which is not often, but when I do I am the biggest baby.
But this man, unnamed, has ben ailing for 38 years.
This is not psychosomatic or something he self prescribed to himself after checking WebMD.
No, this man was truly sick.
Body
We do not know what Jewish Festival this was that is described in verse 1, but it most probably would have been one of the three festivals that would’ve taken place in Jerusalem: Passover, Pentecost, or Tabernacles.
And Jesus passes by the pool of Bethesda or Bethsaida in some translations and sees a large crowd of sick people.
This is the place where they would get together and await for healing.
Have you ever had a moment where you are with a kid and they ask a question or says a phrase that just stops the world?
What kind?
A question that is on everyone’s mind but you know, you should never ask that question.
Well here we have to wonder why Jesus asks his question.
“Do you want to get well?”
Of course, Jesus means this in tenderness such as, “would you like to be made well?”
The answer we would think of course is a resounding “Yes!!” No need to ask him twice.
But there could be other reasons why he would not.
Maybe he had lost all hope.
Waiting for 38 years is a long time and he could have given up.
Perhaps, he did not want to get well.
And we know of people like this too, when offered help, some do not want receive it.
They want to do it on their own.
But this man does want help.
Or at least a minimal amount, just for someone to help him into the water because of his handicap he is not able to reach the water in time.
He wants to be made well is what he expresses to Jesus, in fact that is why he is there begging for money and also seeking a miraculous healing.
And Jesus asks him directly do you want to get well.
But the question, as we will see goes much deeper.
We read that this question is developed even further to mean “be made well” beyond just physical healing.
But the man does not initially understand the full meaning of the question.
But his focus is brought to the point later on.
He is sick and he can do nothing.
He cannot even get into the waters, should they be stirred.
He needs to come face to face with his need for deliverance.
This is part of the reason why we get this question from Jesus.
By no means is he being cruel, he is focusing this man on his need for a savior.
For one who can heal him, but again this is more than just physical healing.
<Comparison between him and the official in chapter 4>
Jesus then commands him to get up, take his mat, and walk.
I think it is funny that he does not tell him where to walk to and possibly after laying for 38 years, it does not really matter where you walk to, but Jesus send him on his way.
He does not need some magical wave pool.
What he needs is a miracle.
Hot Springs National Park has warm and relaxing facilities—but no ultimate cure.
Yet it has drawn millions to that site.
But God does not need “stirring pools” to work in our lives.
We do not need crosses around our necks, a saintly figurine on the car dashboard, or even oil on the head for healing.
Sometimes God wants us to ask as the royal official did.
And sometimes he asks for faith before he acts.
But God does not need our help, our permission, or even our faith when he chooses to work in our lives or in the lives of our loved ones.
And this is so controversial to the Jews.
They classify walking with your mat as work associating it with physical labor!
By no means was this defined explicitly as a being forbidden on the Sabbath and yet these religious people have added to God’s law something not found there.
Additionally, this man had been burdened by his sickness for 38 years and on the day that he is set free there is not congratulations and joy, but condemnation.
When his burden is lifted from him, they attempt to pack on more burdens.
Like in Pilgrim’s Progress, no one will find freedom in the town of Morality or the instruction from Mr. Legality.
Throughout this story, we have found that this man did not initially have faith.
He did not even know who was speaking to him or who had healed him.
He was commanded to get up and walk and so he just did it and did not think, perhaps in complete joy or because of the fact that Jesus had slipped away.
Some people will try and tell you that if you have enough faith, usually you have to express or prove it with a “love” offering, then you will be healed.
Just have faith.
Just a little bit more faith.
Well here we see this man had no faith.
No idea who Jesus was.
He was not like the blind men in Luke’s Gospel.
You see Jesus will heal you!
He will, if He wants to heal someone.
The principle we find here is obedience.
A beautiful illustration is given here about the power and love of God.
But then there is a break in the story.
We read in verses 9-13 that there are some wicked folks who wanted nothing but their self created religiosity to be followed.
They themselves show that they have rejected Jesus.
And we will see this battle rage on a bit more in this chapter as you read on and as we will see later.
But Jesus finds him a second time.
He finds him at the temple.
And here we read of the deeper meaning behind Jesus’ question to the man.
We read...
You see Jesus was looking at the real problem that this man had.
Yes he was truly sick.
And yes, he did need physical healing.
But even more than that, like the Samaritan woman, Jesus goes to the deepest need of every person that he encounters.
Whether it be Nicodemus, or the Samaritan woman, or a man lying by a pool, Jesus is concerned with their soul.
He is concerned with that person’s relationship with God.
If Jesus’ real purpose were to help people to have their best lives now, then the story would have been fine ending in verse 13.
But we read that it continues on because he had not yet completed his purpose for meeting with the man.
This man still needs to be healed.
This man still needs to be made well.
And so Jesus speak directly to this man a second time and tells him “do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.”
What could be worse than being sick for 38 years?
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