Encounter with a Hopeless Man

Use these materials to dig deeper into the sermon message throughout the week:
Sermon Guide

Classic Service | Modern Service | Sermon Audio

Good morning Chapel family! Good to be with you all today. There are so many voices competing for our attention, aren’t there? TV news and radio news and online news and sports news and social media—it’s constant. Last week Facebook and Instagram went down for six hours, and some of you had a hard time with that. You felt a little empty—you know who you are. Because you’re so used to the constant noise and stimulation. So the level of distraction has never been higher.

But sometimes, above all that noise, you hear something different. It’s truer and stronger and sweeter than any other voice out there. It’s the voice of Jesus. So this fall we’re looking at six different times when people heard that voice—they encountered Jesus personally. And that encounter became the turning point in their lives. So as we look at each one, I’m encouraging you to ask yourself two questions: First, is Jesus speaking to me personally through this encounter? And then second, does Jesus want to speak through me to someone I know, through this encounter? So whether it’s for you or for someone you love, the voice of Jesus has the power to change us.

So today, we’re going to look at an encounter with a hopeless man. Let’s look at the Scripture together—John chapter 5, starting in verse 1. I invite you now to hear the Word of God…

1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. 5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”

8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.

16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the

Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. This is the Word of the Lord.

The man in this passage was hopeless because there was something broken in his life that desperately needed healing. But so many years had gone by that he had given up hope that the healing would ever come. So let’s talk about three things today: The Need for Healing, The Miracle of Healing, and The Uniqueness of the Healer. The Need for Healing, The Miracle of Healing, and The Uniqueness of the Healer.

So, first: The Need for Healing. Jesus shows up at this place in Jerusalem that was sort of a gathering place for disabled people—the blind; the lame; the paralyzed. And they’re all gathered around this pool. Why? Well, apparently, every once in a while, the water stirred. Probably because there was an underground spring, or maybe there was another pool that drained into it. So every once in a while, the water would stir. And over time, a legend was developed. They said an angel was stirring the water. And that legend became a superstition that said this: First one in when the water bubbles gets healed! And some people claimed that it worked: “Last Tuesday I was the first one in, and I feel so much better! I think I’ve been healed!” And the stories spread, and the legend grew. Not hard to imagine that happening, right? That kind of thing happens today—superstitious legends. So this became a gathering place for disabled people, hoping for a miracle.

And Jesus shows up at this pool, and one person in particular catches his attention. A guy who can’t walk. Let’s think about this man for a minute. It’s challenging enough to have a disability in the 21st Century, right? But in the 1st century, there were no wheelchairs; no ramps; no Americans with Disabilities Act. So this guy would have been completely dependent on other people to get anywhere. He probably survived by begging, which puts you in a certain social category, so he was probably avoided and excluded by the community.

And we don’t know how, but somehow he would be carried, or maybe he would crawl or drag himself to the pool of Bethesda, where at least he’d be surrounded by other broken people. And that had been his life for 38 years. 38 years.

In a room like this, in a comfortable suburb like this, it’s almost impossible for us to relate to this man’s life. But I believe there’s something very basic that we have in common with this guy: we all live in the same broken world that he lived in. See, we live in a world that was designed to be perfect. But as soon as people decided to rebel against God and sin, it was like a disease that infected the system. Romans chapter 8 says that all of creation is in bondage to decay, and this world groans under the weight of that brokenness. That was true for the guy at the pool, and it’s true for us. Let me just mention three ways we feel that brokenness:

First, physical. In 2 Corinthians four, it says that because we live in a broken world, outwardly we are wasting away. If you ever question that, go to CVS and walk through the aisles. And you’ll realize that entire stores like CVS exist because our bodies are wasting away. Right? I mean, yeah, they have some greeting cards and a really lame grocery section. But they have aisle after aisle of pain killers and allergy pills and eye drops and rash ointment. If your nose isn’t working right, and you’re tired of blowing it, you can use allergy pills or allergy sprays or decongestant pills or you can dump salty water through your head with a Netti-Pot or if you get desperate, you can show them your ID at the drug counter and they’ll give you the good stuff: Sudafed. And that’s just for noses! And all I’m saying is this is not how God meant our bodies to work. Not to mention things like diabetes and dementia and cancer. We are physically broken.

And then there’s emotional brokenness. Phobias…anxiety…OCD. Do you know what the leading cause of disability is for Americans between the ages of 15 and 44? According to the Centers for Disease Control? Leading cause of disability for younger Americans? Depression. Not the way it was meant to be.

And of course there’s relational brokenness. Think of the important relationships in your life. And think of how they’ve been affected by lack of trust. Anger. Unforgiveness. Misunderstandings. Envy. Insults. Abuse. Lack of respect. Those people that you don’t talk to anymore. Not to mention larger, systemic things like prejudice and injustice.

I probably don’t need to convince anyone that we are broken people, living in a broken world. And the brokenness in your life might not look the same as the guy by Pool of Bethesda. But it’s no less real. And when that brokenness piles up over the years, it can lead to hopelessness. So just like the guy at the pool needed a healer, so do we.

So let’s talk about The Miracle of Healing. Look at verse 6: When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” Isn’t that a cruel question? I mean, isn’t it obvious the guy wants to get well? Well, let’s think about that. Isn’t it possible to get comfortable in your suffering? Isn’t it possible to get so used to living in a certain way, it’s almost scary to think about living any other way?

In the great movie Shawshank Redemption, there’s a character named Brooksie. Remember him? Older guy serving a prison sentence—he’s actually the prison librarian. He’s had several opportunities to get out on parole, but every time, just before his release, he intentionally commits some offense—and they slap a few more years on. And Morgan Freeman, who plays a fellow prisoner, explains it like this: “Ain't nothing wrong with Brooksie. He's just institutionalized, that's all…Man's been here fifty years. This place is all he knows…Believe what you want. These walls are funny. First you hate 'em, then you get used to 'em. After long enough, you get so you depend on 'em. That's ‘institutionalized.’”

As strange as it sounds, you can get “institutionalized” in your suffering. You can get so used to a bad situation—because you’ve been in it for so long. And you learn how to live life around it. It becomes strangely comfortable. And the thought of leaving it can be scary.

And that might have been the case with this man. Because yes—on one level, his life was miserable. But there was a predictability and a familiarity to his misery. He could probably beg and make enough money to survive. Maybe he could even look out, from his shaded spot by the pool, and he could see people working and sweating out in the hot sun. And he knew that if his life ever changed, he’d have to take on larger responsibilities. So Jesus challenges him to consider whether he actually wants to leave this life for that different kind of life.

Think about it: is it possible that you’ve been trapped in a habit, or an addiction, or a phobia, or some dysfunctional approach to life—for so long, you’re not sure you would know how to live without it? Is it possible that deep down, you prefer the known pain of your current life to the unknown pain of a different kind of life?

So whatever your brokenness may be, Jesus looks at you, and he says: Do you want to get well? Probably one of the most important questions you could answer.

So here’s the conversation that happens next—verse 7: 7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.” 8 Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” 9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. No angels stirring the water. No scrambling to

jump in the pool. Just a word from Jesus. And everything changes. He picks up his little straw mat, rolls it up, and he walks! He had no idea that day would mark a turning point in his life…but it did. Because Jesus loves to intervene in our lives and make our future very different from our past.

Now: all through the Gospel of John, when it talks about miracles, it calls miracles “signs.” Signs. When you’re driving around and you see a sign on the side of the road, you don’t stop and admire how pretty the sign is, right? Because the whole purpose of a sign is the thing that it’s pointing to. So as we think about this miracle, let’s allow it to point us to The Uniqueness of the Healer. Three things this miracle tells us about Jesus.

First, He is better than religion. He’s better than religion. Look at verses 9 and 10: The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” Now: Now, it’s important to realize: the Old Testament does not prohibit carrying your mat on the Sabbath! That’s not in the Hebrew Scriptures! But, the religious leaders had come up with all kinds of things you couldn’t do on the Sabbath! For example, you couldn’t look in the mirror on the Sabbath day. Because if you looked in the mirror and you saw a gray hair, you might be tempted to pull it out…and that’s work! That’s actually what they said. Or how about this: you could spit on the Sabbath. But if you spit on the dirt, and then scuffed it with your sandal, that was cultivating the earth—and that’s work.

Do you see how crazy it got? It probably started with good intentions, but something had gone horribly wrong. The religious leaders had become so obsessed with the rules—and making sure they kept them—and especially making sure other people kept them…that they had lost the heart. They had lost the real meaning of the Sabbath. Like Jesus said in Matthew 15: They worship me in vain; their teachings are but rules taught by men.

So it’s the greatest day of this guy’s life—after 38 years, he’s walking. Actually, he’s probably running—or skipping! If I got healed like that, I would probably skip, in public. And he gets busted on a technicality: “Hey! No mat-carrying on the Sabbath!”

So here’s the point: the brokenness in our lives will never be healed by religious rituals and traditions, or by keeping religious rules. And when Jesus showed up, a big part of what he did was to show the emptiness of religion, and offer himself instead. So if the brokenness in our lives is going to be healed, it will be through a relationship with Jesus himself. He’s so much better than religion.

Here’s the next thing about the Healer: He is equal with God. That’s kind of a big thing to say! Look at verse 16: 16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. This is hugely important—that Jesus claimed for himself things that are only true of God. So, for example: he’s the one who gets to say what you can and can’t do on the Sabbath. Only God can do that! Exactly.

In the Gospels, you see Jesus forgiving sin. But only God can forgive sin! Exactly.

And think about this: every time Jesus performed a miracle, he did something only God could do. Somebody who hasn’t walked for almost four decades obviously would have serious muscular degeneration, right? Even if they were healed, they would need months of rehab to re-learn how to walk. I mean, the laws of human physiology just dictate that. But Jesus was able to reach in and

suspend those laws. How? Because he designed those laws in the first place! Because He’s equal to God.

The reason that Jesus is totally distinct from any self-help program; any philosophy; any psychology… is because he is equal with God. And that puts him in a class by himself.

He’s better than religion; he’s equal to God; one more thing: He was broken for our healing.

About 700 years before Jesus showed up on earth, the Prophet Isaiah predicted what the coming Messiah would do. Look at Isaiah 53:5…But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. It doesn’t take a Bible scholar to see how those words were fulfilled by Jesus, right? His hands pierced by the nails as he hung on the cross. He was crushed not for his own sins, but for our transgressions. Our iniquities. This is an amazing Old Testament preview of the gospel.

And here’s one of the biggest questions people ask when they read that verse. They say, Okay, “by his wounds we are healed”— does that mean that Jesus will heal our physical sickness? It’s a legitimate question, right? He did it for the guy by the pool in John chapter 5. So can Jesus heal me like that?

And the answer is: Yes he can. But…it’s very possible that he won’t in this life. And I know that’s incredibly hard to understand when you’re suffering physically. But here’s what I can tell you: ultimately, God is interested in a healing that’s deeper than physical.

Tony Campolo once spoke in a church in Oregon, and when he was there he prayed for a man with cancer. A few days later, he got a call from the man’s wife. And she said, “You prayed for my husband—he had cancer.” And when she said “had cancer” instead of “has cancer,” he was expecting to hear great news. But then she said, “He died.” And Campolo’s heart just sank.

But then she said, “No, no—don’t feel bad. When he came into church that Sunday he was filled with anger. He knew he was going to die soon, and he hated God. He was 58 years old, and he wanted to see his children and grandchildren grow up. He was angry that this all-powerful God didn't take away his sickness. He would lie in bed and curse God. And the more angry he got at God, the more miserable he was to everybody around him” But she said, “After you prayed for him, a peace came over him like I’ve never seen. Tony, the last three days have been the best days of our lives. We've sung. We've laughed. We've read Scripture. We prayed. They've been wonderful days. And I called to thank you for laying your hands on him and praying for healing.”

And then she said something so profound. She said, "You know, he wasn't cured, but he was healed."

I don’t know what kind of brokenness you have in your life. But I know that Jesus knows, and he cares. So if you’ve given up hope, I want to invite you to hope again. If you know someone who’s given up hope, I want to challenge you to help that person to hope again. Not just to get a better attitude; not to become more optimistic; I’m talking about a hope that comes specifically from trusting in the living Jesus Christ. He’s way better than religion. He’s actually equal with God! And he was broken on the cross so we could be healed—maybe physically, but definitely emotionally and relationally; and most of all, spiritually.

So the question is: do you want to get well?

Let’s take a moment and prepare our hearts for communion.