Friends, would you please stand for the reading of the Lord's Word. We do this showing respect to the Lord for his Word, following the example set forth in various places throughout Scripture. Again, we're reading this morning from John chapter 5. I'm reading for us verses 1 through 17, and we will be looking at verses 1 through 9. Again, let us listen now to the Lord's word. After these things, there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters. For an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. A man was there who had been ill for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, he said to him, do you wish to get well? The 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, others step down before me. Jesus said to him, get up, pick up your pallet and walk. Immediately, the man became well and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day, so the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, it is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet. But he answered them, he who made me well was the one who said to me, pick up your pallet and walk. They asked him, who is the man who said to you, pick up your pallet and walk? But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, Behold, you have become well, do not sin anymore so that nothing worse happens to you. The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But he answered them, my father is working until now, and I myself am working. This is the Lord's word. If you would please be seated and bow your heads, let's ask the Lord's help. Again, our Father in heaven, I do thank you for your word and pray that your blessing will be upon it. Upon it going forward, I pray that you would bless the hearts and the ears of these who sit and hear this word preached. We pray, Lord, that you would give them understanding. And I pray on my behalf, Father, that you would grant me words to be plain and to be faithful to your word, that I would not inject my thoughts, but that I would faithfully unfold what is here before us. Grant your grace to us, for we recognize, Father, of all the things, all the activities, prayer and the word would be those that the evil one hates the most. So I pray that your blessing would be upon these, and that you would set a hedge of protection around these, your people, and upon myself. I humbly ask now these things, asking again that you would cause the kingdom of Satan great injury as a result. And I humbly ask it in Christ's name, amen. I notice a lot of you are wearing red today. And it's a reminder that it's Christmas time. It's a wonderful time of year. We decorate our homes with Christmas trees, hanging ornaments of red, white, gold, silver, even green, pine cones covered in little glitters and little red ribbons, hundreds of lights, blinking, non-blinking, white, colored. We put all these lights. Presents. The festivities, the presents, the bows that are on the presents, wrapped in festive colors. Of course, not placed under the tree before the 25th, because we don't want to get ahead of Santa Claus. We want to make sure Santa has his due time in the spotlight. It's Christmas time. It's the time for us to bake our pies, apple and pumpkin. of our sugar cookies cut into shapes of trees and snowmen, gingerbread men with frosting cuffs and raisin eyes, spice ciders and eggnog and peppermint stick ice cream, ham and mashed potatoes, or perhaps you prefer scallop potatoes. It's time for caroling and yuletide favorites, old classics by Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra. It's Christmastime, and what better time to bore yourself to death with a Hallmark movie, where lonely country man meets big city girl. They kiss as the snow falls, and they live happily ever after. It's Christmastime. Did I miss anything? I missed Jesus. I missed Jesus. How often Jesus is lost in the trappings of our holidays, of our festivals. How often Jesus is forgotten. Now, I don't want to cause anyone to flap. I'm not suggesting that we bring a Christmas tree into the sanctuary. I'm not suggesting that you're a heathen if you have a Christian tree, a Christmas tree at your house. I'm saying nothing of the sort. Go home, have fun with this holiday, but remember this. We come to church, and we meet with Jesus. And we do it 52 times a year. Every Sunday, friends, we gather. We talk, or directly or by implication, we speak of the incarnation, the life, the death, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ for the Christian. Well, Christmastime and Easter and all these are very fun holidays. Thanksgiving, of course, they're fun holidays. But the reality is that Jesus Christ, we meet with him on every Sunday. We worship him because he is an ever-present and a faithful God to his people. I start with this lame example as an event that started in one way, right? Christmastime was originated because of the incarnation of Christ. And it has morphed into something totally other in our culture. In our culture, it's morphed into something totally other. The primary focus has been lost amidst the trappings. So is what we see as we come to John chapter 5. Again, you can't help but notice the contrast between what took place in Samaria for those who weren't here, I preach expositorily, so I start in the beginning, and I slowly work my way through a book. And as we've come through chapter four, remember what we have seen, the great harvest that took place in Samaria, that Jesus was welcomed in Samaria by these half-breeds, what the Jews would consider half-breeds. Even in Galilee, with the royal official and his whole household, and now what occurs in Jerusalem. In Samaria, again, we saw that Jesus was warmly embraced and believed upon. And in Galilee, though the man's faith was misinformed and he was ignorant, largely, of who Jesus was, yet he trusted. He and his whole household believed upon the Lord. But as we come here, those in Jerusalem, especially at the Feast of the Jews, Jesus is given a very cold reception, again, by his people in the midst of the types and the shadows, and they reveal that they have upside-down, twisted, bad, wrong priorities. And we look at this again, who is this Jesus and why has he come? Remember, John states his purpose at the end of the gospel. Why write the gospel of John? He states it in John 20, verse 31. He says, these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you may have life in his name. John's writing so that we would look to Jesus Christ, so that you would look to Jesus Christ. And so listen again to verses 1 through 5, and it gives us context for how these things unfold regarding Jesus Christ. After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered. waiting for the moving of the waters for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. A man was there who had been ill for 38 years. Again, this is the context for what is to unfold in front of us. And we are told by John, it was after these things, the things regarding the woman at the well, the great harvest in Samaria, and the royal official and his household. So again, we have this contrast that now is taking place between what has just occurred in Samaria where the people are treated poorly by the Jews and where they likewise hate the Jews. You would not have considered that Jesus would have had a great harvest in Samaria and yet he came to his own and his own didn't receive them. He goes to those in Samaria and what do they do? In Sychar, the village, they receive him. In fact, remember, they repeatedly are asking him, please stay, stay with us. We would love it if you moved here and lived among us. They show this warm reception to Jesus. But again, now, as John says it, after these things, he is now back in Jerusalem. There was a feast, John writes, of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. It was because of this feast of the Jews that Jesus went to Jerusalem. And we don't know what feast it was. And in one sense, it doesn't matter. And if it did, I believe John would have told us which feast. It was probably, said one commentator, one of the pilgrimage feasts that were observed in Jerusalem, either the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of the Passover, or the Feast of Pentecost. In a pilgrimage feast, understand that able-bodied people were expected to make the trip to Jerusalem to the temple. So we have three possibilities. There's this feast taking place. It is either the Feast of Tabernacles, the Feast of the Passover, or the Feast of Pentecost. And again, the bottom line is it doesn't really matter which feast it was. The Tabernacle Feast points to the truth of the feast again, of the Lord's deliverance out of Egypt. So it points to the Exodus and it was a reminder to the Jews of their wandering and dwelling in the land of the wilderness. It pointed to the fact that Israel's life rested upon redemption, which in its ultimate meaning, is its ultimate meaning being the forgiveness of sins. That's the ultimate meaning of the Feast of Tabernacles. It was to remind them of the Lord's care for them in the wilderness. Or it was the Feast of the Passover. Again, this was commemorated in Israel of their deliverance out of Egypt. The Passover lamb was slain, God sparing his people, in particular the firstborn, or it was the Feast of Pentecost, which was also called the Day of the First Fruits. It was a day of joy, of gratitude for the grain harvest. In this feast, thanksgiving and fear of a redeemed people for the service was not, this feast was not without a sin and peace offering, of which, moreover, in this feast there was a reminder of deliverance from Egypt as God's covenant people. Do you understand? So it doesn't matter which feast it actually was. My point is, is that these feasts all point back for the Jew to the Lord and his grace to them as a people in history for his provision, for his care. That's why John, I believe doesn't tell us which feast it is because all of the feasts of Israel would point the people of God back to their God, back to his historic provision and care of them as a people. And so at this time, Jerusalem would be flooded with people, all of them coming to Jerusalem from some other place for this reason, to remember what the Lord had done. This is the context of this event. There were many Jews in Jerusalem to commemorate the great things the Lord had done. And we are told further, now there in Jerusalem, by the sheep gate, a pool, there's a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered. The sheep gate was likely called this because through it many sheep were led for the purpose of being sacrificed in the nearby temple court. By this gate, we are told there's a pool, Bethesda, and it means house of mercy. This pool had five porches, porticos, colonnades, a covered porch where people could stand, walk, and sit protected from the weather and the heat of the sun. And in these porches, we are told by John, lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered. Why are all these people there? They are there because they are hoping for a chance at a miraculous healing. And we know this based on two reasons, for two reasons in this text. In verses 3b through 4, which some of you don't have in your Bibles, and some of you have it in your Bibles, and some of you, like me, have it in your Bibles, but they have brackets around it. This is what it says. Waiting for the moving of the waters, for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. And then in verse seven, from the man's words, who was ill for 38 years. 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. Now again, some of your translations have all of these verses, like the King James Version. Some put brackets around it, like mine does, the NASB, claiming that these verses are not contained in earlier manuscripts. And then some of your translations, the NIV and the ESV, exclude these verses and resume with verse 5. That's why some of you have Bibles that jump from verse 3 to verse 5. And you're like, oh, I caught a mistake. No, read the footnote in your text, and it'll tell you that this isn't in the earliest manuscripts. So here we have these manuscripts claiming that, or the text claiming that the comments of the second half of verse 3 and verse 4 were added later in time explaining what is meant by the stirring up of the waters, because it seems such an odd thing. Nobody's ever going to understand this, so we have to write a note in the text, in the margins, so that people understand. And eventually, those things were inserted. I hate these kinds of things in the Bible, because then it requires me to have to address it. Friends, what I would say is trust your Bible. That's what I would say. Personally, I'm glad for the way the NASB handled it. I want to say something about this. Does God, did he really send angels down? Others, this is a big debate. Well, God sent his angels down to stir that water, and others go, no, they just thought that God sent his angels down to stir that water. The problem is, God does many things that I can't understand. All right, we could say, Well, God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Well, no, the people just thought that God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. I'm very leery of those kinds of things when people start saying things like that, because what's impossible for our God to do if he wants to use the agency of one of his angels to stir the water and dole out healing to the first person to climb into that water, he can do such a thing. Nothing is impossible for our God. I will say, however, that this verse, whether it remains in the text or doesn't remain in the text, touches on no major doctrine, because we know from the writer of Hebrews that some of you have entertained angels unaware. And so God does all sorts of things that we don't quite understand. I will point out too, that this verse 4, 3, B and 4, the early church father, Tertullian, who lived between 145 and 220 AD, he knew of this passage. So it's very old. It's very old. It's not like it was inserted back in the 1960s. It was inserted back in the first or second century. in order to be an explanation. I do want you, and I think we can get sidetracked, and I really don't want to become sidetracked with this, what I would like you to notice is that this pool, Bethesda, means house of mercy. While many were looking to the stirring of the waters to bring about healing, it was in no way certain that you would be healed. You would have to be the first one to jump into the pool to get the healing. If you can think back to Black Friday purchases, right? We all hate those things, right? You're camped out at 4 in the morning waiting to get the best deal on a giant television set. And you're sitting there at 4 in the morning, and you're waiting like, they're going to open that door. And when they do, I'm going to get in there, and I'm going to get my television. If you've ever experienced that, you can imagine if you're not talking about cheap electronics, you're talking about your life, and you would say, What are the chances that I'm going to be the first one out of all of this multitude of people? What are the chances that I'm going to actually be in the pool first? And so if you look at this, it's kind of a dire, dour situation that these people are facing. It's nothing certain. It's like trying to draw an elk tag in Wyoming. You're likely not that do it. And so here they are, all at this pool, hoping to be the fortunate one to be able to get to the pool first. And here's this man who had been ill for 38 years. 38 years, friends. Where were you 38 years ago? I was 20. I was living with my parents. I was between my junior and senior year of school. Remember 1987, the year Reagan challenged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down the wall? It was the Black Monday. The single biggest stock market dropped 22% in one day. Get this. Bacon was only $1.69 a pound. And coffee, 11.6 ounces, was only $1.99. That tells you how long ago it was. 38 years is a long time. It's a long time to suffer with anything. And this man and a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered waited at this pool to be healed. Friends, they're desperate. They're hoping for a miraculous healing should an angel come and stir the waters. However, remember this. They're in the shadow of the temple. This pool was just right there. They're watching the sheep go in and out of the sheep gate for the sacrifices. So they're constantly reminded of what's taking place in the temple. And every day, they are reminded of their afflictions, that they live in a fallen world, a sad world, a hurting world with no hope or prospect of real deliverance. And I say this because of their focus. They're sitting there, camped out at the pool, waiting that they could somehow get in that water and be delivered from their illness. And what are the chances? Because you're waiting for an angel to come down and stir the waters. You're just waiting. You don't know if there's anything certain. We may say that they were there for the feast, but what did they forget? in the festivities, they lost sight of the Lord. That's why I brought up that stuff about Christmas. Because in the midst of all of the festivities, we lose sight of Jesus Christ. In the midst of the festivities, they're losing sight of something so much bigger, so much greater. Their focus is not on remembering the Lord, but their focus was on getting healed. And I don't want to sound harsh with these things, but there is something better than physical healing, and there is someone greater. The Lord is able, friends, through any means he chooses to deliver us from our infirmities, he can do it. And I really believe that. I have told you, some of you know this, my nephew was not supposed to see four years old. removed a portion of his brain. He had a brain bleed. He had a hole in his heart. He's just a mess. The doctor said he's not going to see the age of four. Well, he's now 24, 25 years old. He has a job. I think he's even got a girlfriend. But you see, we say, man says, this is what's going to happen to you. This is what's going on. And the Lord says, I have other plans for you. Hear these trials. The Lord, be they physical, mental, emotional, they are given to us for our good. And it is more necessary for our good so often that we have the trials we have than we be delivered from them if the Lord should choose to heal us. Remember what he told Paul, my grace is sufficient for you for power is perfected in weakness. Hear me when I say this in our afflictions, we should be looking to Jesus Christ. In our afflictions, we should be looking to Jesus Christ, not primarily for getting better, but for the greater things he has already done for us. And that is our redemption. And I draw that from this text where the festivities are going on. The festivities are all pointing to the great deliverances that have taken place. And where do we find the multitudes of these people? And where are they sitting? They're sitting around a pool waiting for an angel to come and stir the waters so that someone could be first to jump in the pool and get better. They're missing the point. They're missing the point. Jesus Christ came to redeem his people. This world and everything in it will pass away. Hear me. In this world, everything will pass away. And these broken down bodies, these bodies that are breaking down, will one day be made new. We're focusing on the wrong thing when we merely focus on getting better and getting through our sicknesses. Do you understand what the Lord has done for your soul? And do you understand that wherever your soul goes and spends eternity, there your body will be too. And in heaven, your body will be made new and you will have no more suffering. Here, they should have been focused upon Jesus Christ because Jesus Christ came to heal. And I want to be clear with this here. especially in our times of the culture in which we live, the church culture, which says it's not God's will for you to be lame. It's not God's will for you to suffer. Really? Is that true? Does that square with scripture? how many servants of God, and I'll just bring one, and it'll be obvious to you, Paul praying three times, Lord, remove this thorn from my flesh, and the Lord said, no, my grace is sufficient for you for powers, as I mentioned, powers perfected in weakness. Why did God do this? And is Jesus here teaching us, is John here showing us that what we should do is if you just trust and have strong enough faith in Jesus, he will make your problems go away. I don't think John's teaching that at all. And you know why? Because there was a multitude of people sitting around these pools and there was just one man that Jesus said, get up and walk. He doesn't do it to the others. There's a lesson here for us. Listen to verses six through nine. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, he said to him, do you wish to get well? The sick man answered him, sir, I have no man to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, get up, pick up your pallet and walk. Immediately the man became well and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Here, this miracle is not to teach us that it is God's desire to make you walk, or to make you see, or to make you hear, or to make all your physical problems go away. The point of the miracle is to demonstrate who Jesus Christ is and who you should be looking to for deliverance. This man, in this multitude, this random man, is not looking for Jesus. This man is oblivious to Jesus. He is watching the pool. He is waiting for it to stir. Having long ago, no doubt, figured out his strategy to get into the pool, hoping perhaps that no one else notices the water before he does, Jesus Christ is not on his radar at all. It is Jesus, however, who notices this man Jesus saw the man lying there and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition. It is Jesus who has chosen this man to receive healing. Jesus is the one who heals. Jesus asks the man, do you wish to get well? He asks so that the man knows and those multitudes around this man know that Jesus himself is the source of healing. And it is not an accident. It is not a coincidence that this man should get healed. So we don't know how many days he's been or how many years he's been around this pool. We are told that he's there all the time. And we're told that he's had this sickness for 38 years. This man, I would guess, is just about as close to a landmark as you could have next to the pool. They recognize this man. And you should know that commentators are divided on this man. And this threw me off a little bit, because I came into the text thinking, here's a man who's very grateful, and he's happy. Jesus bestows a miracle upon him, and he's just a grateful recipient. And it didn't jive. I was like, something's not working out here. And then I read one man's comments, commentator's comments, and I thought, this makes a whole lot of sense. Most of the time, people want to look at this man with charitable eyes. like he's the Galilean royal official in chapter four, but others don't. And I'm one of those who doesn't view this man in such a charitable light. Remember, Jesus is in Jerusalem. Remember that the Jews didn't receive Jesus. Remember he's there during the time of the feasts and multitudes of people are there. Jesus questions the man, do you wish to get well? And the man's answer is what, 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." It's a bit of sour grapes, actually. D.A. Carson said this, John's deft portrait of the invalid throughout this chapter paints him in far more dour hues. He tries to avoid difficulties with the authorities by blaming the one who has healed him. Why are you carrying that mat? Don't ask me. The guy who healed me told me to carry it. He's so dull, he's not even discovered yet his benefactor's name, verse 13. Once he finds out, he reports Jesus to the authorities, in verse 15. In this light, verse 7 reads less as an apt and subtle response to Jesus's question than a crotchety grumblings of an old and not very perceptive man who thinks he is answering a stupid question. Do you want to get better? Please, what do you think I'm sitting here for? That's more, I believe, what we see going on. That the man is there. He's not concerned about the Lord. He's not concerned about the festival. I'm concerned about getting better. That's why I'm here. That's why I've been here for years. And I can never seem to get a break. Everyone beats me to the pool before I get there. And you have the gall to ask me, do I want to get better? Duh. What do you think? In terms of initiative, quick witness, says Carson, eager faith and a questioning mind, this invalid is the painful opposite of everything. the wonderful character in John 9 portrays. Remember the man in John 9, the man who was born blind, who when he was healed, what did he do, friends? John 9.38, we're told that he would believe in the Lord, and he worshiped him. And there's no such hint of anything like this from this man. Nothing. We see no gratitude. We see no thanksgiving. We see no worship, no praise, no adoration, nothing from this man. And nonetheless, Jesus takes pity upon him. The man is focused, I would argue, embittered by his condition. He is soured by it. There's nothing anyone can do. I've been 38 years in this condition. His focus is upon his illness, upon his being lame, of his legs being atrophied. He's the man who says how unfair life has been to him, rather than the grace of God revealed in the temple and through the feast of the Jews. He's missing the point. His focus is upon the here and now, and it's not upon the God who saves, the God who has delivered Have you read recently the first 39 books of the Bible? And God's dealing his faithful, dealing time and time and time again, how he provided for them, deliverance from enemies, harvest, how he blessed them repeatedly and how they shook their fists at a God who was so gracious and kind. And what does this man do with the knowledge he has? He stays focused on his bitterness and his anger and on his dilemma. and he has no focus upon the Lord. He doesn't recognize who Jesus Christ is. He doesn't recognize who he is. Notice, however, that this does not keep the Lord from being gracious to this man or from demonstrating his power to heal. Jesus said to him, get up, pick up your pallet and walk. Immediately the man became well, picked up his pallet and began to walk. Jesus speaks the word. He gives a command. Who can do this, friends? Who do you know who can do this? A man who's been lame for 38 years. Get up, and the man gets up. Pick up your pallet. It's a mat. It's made of straw. It's light. It can be rolled up. The man can heave it on his shoulder, and he can walk away. And then he says, walk. In the original, it would read something like, go on walking. This isn't just a one-time stunt where adrenaline is going to carry you. Everything that's been taken away from you in the past 38 years, I'm restoring it immediately. And you will get up and you will walk." And he did. It's in an instant. Everything is made right. Everything bad that had happened to this man had been undone. The man's legs are healed. He is strengthened. He is revived. who was able, by the Lord's doing, to get up without any assistance to pick up his pallet and to walk again and to continue to walk. Again, who is this man? What has Jesus Christ come to do, friends? To what did these feasts point? To what were they looking? They should be looking to Jesus. You and I should be looking to Jesus Christ, who is the one who came and has come to put all the sadness to an end in our lives. That's why he's come. All the festivities, all the feasts that Israel would have to go to Jerusalem for, what did they point to? The one who cared for them and came into their world and cared for them in the midst of all of their hardships. And what are these men doing? What are these multitudes doing? They're looking, gazing upon their own problems and they're missing Jesus Christ. Isaiah wrote this. Say to those with anxious hearts, take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. The recompense of God will come, but he will save you. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy. This man, this Jesus is the Messiah. that the Jews knew about was supposed to come. Isaiah foretold that these multitudes witnessed a sure deliverer in Jesus Christ. Jesus showed himself to them. The multitudes are all around, they're all seeing, they're all experiencing this man. Jesus says, do you wanna get well? What do you think? Get up. walk, pick up your pallet and walk. And the man did it. Here is Jesus Christ. Here is the true hope. Not one based upon the random stirrings of waters, but one based upon the goodness and grace of the Lord. And you understand, my friends, that that goodness and grace is available to us in Jesus Christ today. I know this is a congregation of affliction. You have your afflictions. I have my afflictions. But we have a God who has overcome, and he has come to deal the death blow to death. He has come to bring life to the weary, to the worn, to the broken. He has come to bring life. And that's what we see in this table before us. This is what Jesus Christ came to do. And if you lose focus and if you stay focused upon all of the things that bring you great sorrow and hardship, you will miss the joy of knowing Jesus Christ. And that's what the Lord calls us to look upon him and be saved. Look upon him and be saved. Jesus came to deliver the sinner. Let me pray. We thank you, Father, again for this time and for your word, and pray that your blessing will be upon this word as it rolls around in our minds and in our hearts. We pray that your blessing be upon this supper as we partake of it. Bless these, your people, and strengthen our faith, for often, Lord, it is weak. We pray that our focus again now would be lifted upon Jesus. We ask it in his name, amen.