John’s gospel has a different nature to it than the other three gospels. It looks at the Lord Jesus from a somewhat different perspective. John shows to us Jesus – the eternal Son of God – in both His earthly and heavenly glory. I wouldn’t say that the others don’t also, but they don’t seem to have the same divine intensity as the Gospel of God. John has selected seven miracles which he called “signs.” John used these “signs” as illustrations or proofs of Jesus’ deity. And then when he was finished he wrote, “And many other signs truly did Jesus in presence of his disciples, which are not written in this book: but these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing ye might have life through His name” – John 20:30-31.
Our scripture for this morning describes John’s third sign. And the conclusion here is the same as it is elsewhere – bow your knee to Christ. Here we bow before the Creator/Saviour and before the Lord and King. We don’t honor Him as a moral philosopher, or presidential candidate, or great physician. Here we are forced to bow before the Sovereign God with absolute omnipotence and grace.
Although there is some debate about the details, we’re talking about one gates of Jerusalem. It was on the north side of the Temple. It may have been used to bring sacrificial animals into the Temple. And just outside that gate was the Jerusalem Cattle and Livestock Market. Inside the gate and close to that market was a pool – 300 feet long and 130 across. It was roughly twice the size of our church property, and 75 feet at its deepest point. The only real information that we have about this pool is what we read in the Word of God, because the landscape around Jerusalem has changed over the years. Some experts think that it was a stagnant pond – unfit for drinking. Whether that was true or not, there was a periodical upsurge of water from deep under ground. And perhaps it was smelly sulphuric water or some other mineral water. Around this pool developed a tradition of healing – MIRACULOUS healing. The Jews believed that an angel stirred the waters, and when he did, the first sick person into the pool was healed. Do I believe that people were actually healed? Many commentators don’t, but I do. The fact that certain diseases can be cured or ameliorated in mineral water is well-known. But were many healed? I seriously doubt it! And the text bears that out.
The people believed that only the first person into the water was healed. And so you can imagine that when the water started to bubble and churn many dove, fell or were pushed in – all in an a matter of a few seconds. Likely some felt relief from their sickness, or at least they thought so, while others had no relief at all. And naturally, the explanation was that those who continued in their pain, just weren’t quick enough
Do I believe that an angel of God performed the healing? Despite what was customarily believed at the time, I have serious doubts. And my grounds are Biblical – this kind of miracle doesn’t fit the pattern we find in the Bible. In the Word of God, miracles are not performed indiscriminately or randomly. In the Bible, miracles were performed to authenticate God’s message. Miracles weren’t sent by God simply to make people feel good. On the other hand, it is kind of refreshing to see that those religious-minded people rightly thought that, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.”
Along the sides of the pool there were five covered porches. And under them lay a great number of sick people. At times there were hundreds of sick folk there. Until they grew too tired, their eyes were firmly fixed on the surface of the water. Many also had loved ones available to help the infirm into the pool. I have to wonder if anyone was ever drowned trying to be healed, or crushed by others falling on top of them in the heat of the moment. Could it be that more harm than good was done by this tradition?
Into that scene of suffering came the Saviour with His disciples. John was there, and the things he relates, he saw with his own eyes – this was not hearsay. Jesus stepped over people and around others, until He came to an apparently impossible case. Then he looked down, probably with a smile on face, and asked: “Wilt thou be made whole?”
I’ve entitled our message: “A superfluous question.” The word “superfluous” means “useless, unnecessary, or extravagant.” And that APPEARS to be exactly what we have here: “Of course I want to be healed.” But my title is facetious because the question was not least bit unnecessary.
It points out the man’s utter IMPOTENCE.
That great multitude around the pool possessed representatives from every walk of life. There were men, women and children there; grandmothers and grandfathers. There were city people and country people who had hobbled into Jerusalem to be healed. There people who were once rich, but who because of their disease had been leveled to the same poverty as everyone else. There were Levites, Kohathites, Pharisees, Sadducees, Herodians and maybe even foreigners. We see illustrated here what great misery sin has brought to this planet. Here we read of a man who apparently had partial or complete lower limb paralysis. Perhaps we’d call him today a paraplegic. His life had become a living death; and at this time he lay in a cemetery among other semi-corpses.
I can tell you with authority exactly why he was there: The cause of his malady was sin. Despite the danger being misquoted, I will repeat myself – it was sin. There are people who might accuse me of saying that if someone has sore throat he or she must be living in sin. I believe that is a wicked and sinful thought, and I’ve often tried to say so. But the fact remains, there would be no pain, no death, and no suffering if there were no sin. There wasn’t a minute of illness in Eden; and not a single living thing died there. But once sin was introduced into creation there has been nothing more sure than pain and death. “The LORD God commanded (Adam), saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.” “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.” Oh, how deeply we ought to hate and fear sin in every one it’s forms. In all the sickness at Bethesda we see the effects of God’s curse against sin and sinners. And among its ultimate effects, we see man’s IMPOTENCE against disease.
But there is an illustration of even greater impotence found there. Greater than the impotence of the body against some illness and injury – is the impotence of human spirit. I believe and preach the liberty of any soul to come to Christ. I believe that whosoever will may come to the Lord, and that they should come. I plead with souls to repent and believe on the Saviour. But I also know that no one will ever turn to the Lord until the Lord first turns to him. I believe that in Jesus was power to heal every single body and soul at Bethesda that day. Furthermore, I think that if anyone had asked Him, they would not have been denied. There was not a single person at poolside that day who was absolutely incurable. If dozens, no matter what their sin or sickness was; if 50, or if 250 had asked Him, He would have healed them. But not one person asked. It was contrary to their nature, and to their upbringing, to ask.
Christ Jesus wasn’t checking social security cards, insurance papers, skin color, or church membership as He walked along. Christ has no respect of persons in such a way. But the fact is that not a single soul even looked in His direction. Not even the man who was eventually healed. Their attentions were firmly fixed on the possibility of angelically-stirred waters. They were more interested in made-fired superstition than in the Creator. What is more, there is no word that anyone sought the Lord after He healed the paralytic man. In verse 40 Jesus said, “Ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.” The quip is true – the problem is not “whosoever will” it is “whosoever won’t” They’d rather “search the waters; for in them they think have eternal health.”
When Jesus asked that superfluous question He was showing that man does NOT WANT salvation. Yes, the Bible teaches, and I believe, that whosoever will to the Lord may come. But the fact is – man’s free will is not truly free; it is blinded by Satan and dead in sin. Only the direct intervention of Christ can open the heart and give life to soul.
Jesus asked that question to show us all how misdirected man is by nature.
Do you know the meaning of “Bethesda”? It comes from the word for “house” and another word translated “mercy.” There are a few hospitals around the country that are named “Bethesda.” But it is actually a better name for a a church than a hospital. And there are a few churches around the country which are called “Bethesda.” But that is a misnomer without the blessing of the presence of Christ. There are thousands of people who go to church, thinking that by sitting close to the waters, the altar, or the pulpit, they will be somehow miraculously healed. But their eyes are all turned in the wrong direction. Some them are looking at preachers and priests with long, flowing robes, appearing almost angelic. Multitudes are waiting the stirring of the baptismal waters, or the offering of the mass.
Some scholars think sacrificial animals were washed in Bethesda. Is there any cleansing from sin in a stock tank? What if we call that stock tank a baptismal pool?
Jesus’ question has to be asked and re-asked today, “Wilt thou be made whole?” Nearly everybody would say, “Certainly,” but actually they are not being fully honest in their answer. Many mean, “I want to be rid of effects of my disease, but not necessarily rid of the cause to my problem.” They want to go to heaven and escape hell, but they do not the Saviour. There have been only two men who were perfectly whole. Adam and Jesus Christ. Christ was never stained by sin, and Adam wasn’t either – for a short time, until he was. They were PERFECTLY whole. Wasn’t that the intention of Jesus’ words? This question is not just: “Do you want to go to heaven?” but “Do want to be whole?” Jesus’ question for us all is: “Do you want to be united to Christ?” That is entirely different from just: “Do you want to escape Hell?”
When this man was healed, Christ was walking down the path toward Calvary. This healing was performed on the Jewish Sabbath, and that will be charged against Him. It will be said that He was a sinner – essentially a rebel against the Jews interpretation of the law. When the man picked up the mat or blanket on which he was laying, he was taking sides with the Crucified One.
THAT is the meaning of the question, and it still applies to all of us: Why are you here this morning? “Wilt thou be made whole?” Really? Do you want to be free from the corruption of your sin? From the power of your sins? Do you want to be free from the pleasures of your sin? To be honest, most people do not want that kind of wholeness. There is too much fun in telling a lie; too much titillation in steamy story. There is so much I might do with my ill-gotten gains. This is why some who profess to follow Christ drop out of sight? There is too much pleasure in sin during this season while my health is good. When I get sick enough, weak enough, old enough – then I will consider Christ’s question.
When Jesus asked that question, He was telling the man that he was not wholly whole. Do you mean that I am not whole? Of course that man well knew that his BODY was broken down. But what about his soul? We’re being told today that our handicaps are only what we allow ourselves to accept. That may be true in some physical areas, but exactly the opposite in the things of Spirit. It doesn’t matter what you might think, you are not whole. But will you admit it enough to turn to Christ as Lord and Saviour?
When Jesus asked this question, He was prompting the man to EXAMINE HIMSELF.
“Are you ready to be whole?” “Are you willing to do everything necessary to have my eternal blessings?” My theology lies in this: If the Lord is asking you that question, and you hear it down in the depths of your heart. If you will say “Yes” to the Lord, then wholeness will be given to your. Christ was speaking to this man and saying, “If you want it, really want it, you may have it.”
What was required of him? Simply to submit to Christ. Don’t worry whether there is anyone available to baptize you in that pool. Simply, get up and take your bed home. Salvation from sin, as illustrated in this man is a matter of trusting Christ. Just as the fall into sin was instantaneous, so is deliverance from that fall. Deliverance from the penalty of our sin is not in something we do or even in something we believe. Salvation is in Christ – Salvation IS Christ Jesus.
Was the man healed by standing and walking, or was he healed before he stood? He was healed the moment he believed Christ, and then he proved it by his effort to stand. It was not his act of faith so much as it was what he believed the Lord was doing. It was the grace and power of Christ which healed the man. And so it is in redemption from sin; believe the promise of Christ – the work is finished. Now quit your sin, take up your bed and walk home without leaving any excuse to come back.
Is this a superfluous question? No, it is an absolutely essential question. Wilt thou be made whole? Then turn to Christ right now. “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved.”