John 5:1-18

It has been previously stated in our study of John's gospel, the purpose for his writing.

We need not dig deep or postulate long on the matter because he tells us in John chapter 20, verse 30 and 31.

John 20:30

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples which are not written in this book.

But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.

And that by believing you may have life in his name.

John wants his readers to behold the miracle-working Jesus in order to understand him to be God's anointed one.

The Savior of the world as we saw him called by the believers at Sychar a number of weeks ago.

That's the point of all these miracles. We're going to look at one together this morning.

As John labors to do this, to help us believe, he juxtaposes belief in Jesus with rejection of Jesus.

We see the very first clear instance of strong oppositional resistance to Jesus in today's text.

In broad terms, the Jews of Jesus' day did not want him on his terms, but on their own.

They understood the Messiah to be a military slash political figure.

One who was going to come and deliver them from the rule of Rome.

They did not anticipate Jesus' objection to their hypocritical religious systems and traditions.

And they would eventually kill him for it.

If we are to have Jesus, and there is no greater reality than this, to know God and to be known by him,

then we must have him on his terms.

On the back of your bulletin, the historic quotation this morning is from a man named William Bates,

who once said,

Many would depend on Christ's sacrifice, yet will not submit to his scepter.

They would have Christ to pacify their consciences and the world to please their affections.

They would have Christ to die for them, but not to live in them.

May it not be so of us this morning.

Let's pray before I read the text.

Father, help us this day as we take up your word together,

this blessed and precious thing, this authoritative, inerrant, sufficient word for us.

As we do this this morning, we want to do so carefully.

We want to rightly understand it this day, and we humbly recognize that we need your help to do so.

We know that it's written for your glory and for our good,

and so help us to believe its promises and obey its commands and have affection for you, its author.

We pray, Father, that we would see Christ as he is and accept him on his terms this morning.

And we pray this in his name.

Amen.

John chapter 5, beginning in verse 1, and I'll read through verse 18.

John 5 · chapter mention

After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now, there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, an Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades or porches.

In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, and paralyzed.

One man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years.

When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him,

Do you want to be healed?

The sick man answered him,

Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up,

and while I am going, another steps down before me.

Jesus said to him,

Get up, take up your bed, and walk.

And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath.

So the Jews said to the man who had been healed,

It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.

But he answered them,

The man who healed me, the man that said to me,

Take up your bed and walk.

They asked him,

Who is the man who said to you,

Take up your bed and walk?

Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was,

For Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.

Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him,

See, you are well.

Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.

The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.

And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus,

because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

But Jesus answered them,

My father is working until now, and I am working.

This is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him,

because not only was he breaking the Sabbath,

but he was even calling God his own father,

making himself equal with God.

Now before I share with you the outline for our study,

let's take a brief look at the setting for this text in verses 1-5.

Three things I want to note about it, these five verses.

First, just note the location, verses 1 and 2.

It's at the time of a feast, and it's not a designated feast.

We're not sure which feast this is exactly.

And John's not telling us a tight chronological story here,

so we're just not sure which it is.

But because it's a feast,

there would have been a lot of people gathered in Jerusalem.

He's gone up to Jerusalem.

It's up on a hill,

and he's at a place called Bethesda,

a pool near the Sheep Gate.

It's got these five roofs around it.

And in those places, these colonnades,

there are multitudes,

and we don't know exactly what that number means,

but we have to imagine a lot of invalids.

Blind, lame, paralyzed.

People who are there taking shelter under these porches,

around this pool,

looking for relief to be healed.

And we find amongst this multitude of invalids,

one man who had been an invalid for 38 years.

So this is the location of where this is happening.

Secondly, notice that there is a multitude.

I mentioned this already,

and we're going to see down in verse 13,

there's a man healed,

and he doesn't know who it is that healed him

because Jesus had withdrawn.

And John tells us the reason for that,

because there was a crowd in the place.

Jesus is often not a fan of the crowd.

He's awaiting his time

when crowds are going to cry for his crucifixion.

And so he escapes the mob.

He goes into places,

and he ministers to the individual,

and then he escapes out of it.

And the significance of this

will come up a bit later.

Third thing I want to note about the setting,

really just as we're looking at these first verses,

you may have noticed,

if you're being astute at all this morning,

that there is no verse 4 in the text that I read.

Some of your translations may have a verse 4,

a little bit at the end of verse 3,

and a verse 4.

But the ESV, which I read from this morning,

does not have a verse 4.

I kind of wish I'd show of hands.

How many of you noticed that?

The King James Version has a phrase

at the end of verse 3,

and then a verse 4.

I'm going to read it to you,

and we're going to talk a little bit,

it's a little bit of an aside,

why?

Why the exclusion of verse 4 in my reading?

So this is from the King James Version 1900,

the year 1900.

Verse 3,

And these lay a great multitude of impotent folk,

of blind halt withered,

and here's the addition,

waiting for the moving of the water.

And then verse 4,

For an angel went down at a certain season

into the pool,

and troubled the water,

whosoever then first,

after the troubling of the water,

stepped in,

was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

Now, I think it's probable,

upon your first reading of this,

that you even filled those details in.

I did,

when I read John chapter 5,

John 5 · chapter mention

sat down this week to do it.

In my mind,

I knew the explanation for why

this healing was able to happen.

An angel stirred up the water.

That's where this comes from.

So we have a little bit of an issue

I think we should address.

It's important that we recognize

that there's some translations that include it,

there's some translations that don't.

And I hope,

in my briefest of explanations,

to give you greater confidence

in the word that we have before us.

So first,

the labor of looking at old manuscripts

and deciding what belongs in the scripture

is toiled over.

Very intelligent people across the ages,

still going on today,

do this very careful work.

We have an abundance,

an embarrassing amount,

of ancient manuscripts,

over 5,000 of them,

whole documents and fragments of documents,

more wealth of ancient manuscripts

than any other ancient writing at all.

If you have any confidence in any old writing,

you should have even more confidence

in this text.

The very words we have,

now you can decide whether or not

there's God's words to us,

but we have the words.

This is a reliable ancient document.

But,

sometimes,

there's some small discrepancies.

The earlier and most reliable

of these ancient manuscripts

do not include

the last little bit of verse 3

and verse 4.

Now you may have it as a footnote,

I do,

and my friends,

I look down,

I go,

hey, what happened to verse 4?

And you can look down at the bottom

and it tells you

what that

would have said.

And so the decision

for the ESV

was to exclude it altogether.

Sometimes you find it in brackets

with some footnoting

about how it may not have been

in earlier manuscripts.

But they're doing this

really careful work,

right,

of trying to sort out

what does

and what doesn't belong.

The very best guess

of how the end of verse 3

and verse 4

arrived

is that it was likely

a marginal note.

Somebody wrote off to the side

some explanation

like a study note

off to the side

and it's made its way

into subsequent copies.

We don't know for sure.

But

the thing that we should

gain our confidence

in these texts

is that they're doing

this very careful work,

right?

They're not renumbering it.

They're including the footnotes

down at the bottom.

And

no place,

no place,

of the few discrepancies

that there are,

no place that there is

a discrepancy

is any

doctrine

in conflict.

It doesn't change

all the things

that we need to believe

for life

and godliness.

We find

these things,

right,

these

explanations.

So,

if you

prefer to include

the end of verse 3

in chapter 4,

it opens up some

possibility here

that God has

provided

for the relief

of sufferers.

There's a,

this miraculous pool,

right,

that an angel comes down to

and stirs the water

and the first one in

is healed.

And perhaps

that's what's going

on here,

right?

If you take the end

of verse 3

and verse 4

as God's word,

then we must

come to that

conclusion.

If you don't,

which I wouldn't,

then we're just

really not sure.

Maybe that's what's

going on here.

Or,

perhaps,

some have said

that this pool

was fed

intermittently,

right,

by an intermittent

spring,

so some water

would have come

and rushed

into it.

There's some

old documents

that talk about

iron stains

within the pool,

so maybe it was

a mineral-rich pool,

and perhaps

some superstition

had surrounded

it.

But regardless,

John doesn't

work out the details

because they are

not the point

of what he's

saying.

There are

sufferers there,

clearly,

sufferers there,

and they're

looking for

relief

from their

suffering.

So,

now that we

have that

settling into

our minds,

I kind of

wonder how many

of you wouldn't

have even

noticed that

there wasn't

a verse

before.

An outline

for the rest

of our time

together.

We get to

gaze at

Jesus

in these

coming moments.

We get to

look at

the risen

Christ

before his

death

and following

resurrection.

resurrection.

In these

17 verses,

it's 1-18,

but there's

17 verses,

remember,

John is

trying to

help us

behold

Jesus

as the

Christ,

that we

would

believe in

him.

So,

first,

point number

one,

we're going

to see

Jesus as

the

sympathetic

healer,

and secondly

as the

rejected

Messiah.

So,

first,

the

sympathetic

healer.

A few

things I

think that

are important

for us to

notice,

verses 6

down and

through

verse 9.

Jesus is

omniscient,

which means

he knows

everything.

Jesus is

compassionate

and Jesus

is

omnipotent.

his

sovereign

power.

So,

one at a

time.

First,

Jesus is

omniscient.

Notice in

verse 6,

Jesus

sees this

man,

Jesus saw

him

lying there

and knew

that he

had already

been there

a long

time.

Jesus

already knew

all the

details of

this man's

life.

I don't

think we

should assume

that Jesus

knew this

by

the

appearance

of the

man.

There was

some way

that he

gathered

some

context

clues

and knew

that he

had been

there

a long

time.

But

John

has a

fully

formed

understanding

of exactly

who

Jesus

is.

Embodied

deity.

He knows

who he

is and

therefore

exactly

what he's

capable

of.

He

means

for us

to see

a word

like

new

and all

of that

comes

to life

in our

minds.

It would

be easy

at this

point

to rush

on,

to give

brief

acknowledgement

to the

fact that

Jesus

is

God

and just

move on

past it.

Of course

he knew

because he's

God.

But we

will do

well to

slow down

for a

moment and

consider

the fact

that Jesus

knew.

Just to

let it

settle

into our

hearts.

Jesus

knows

you.

Singular

man amongst

a multitude

of people.

Jesus

knows that

this man

has suffered

long.

He's been

there looking

for relief,

the text tells

it, for

38 years.

In the

same way,

Jesus

knows

you.

He

understands

you far

better than

you understand

yourself.

I think I

understand myself

better than

anybody.

Jesus

knows me

way better

than I

know myself.

All of

the complications

and all of

the intricacies

of my

heart.

There is

no sin

committed

that he is

not aware

of.

There is

no mingling

of intention

that he is

not able

to sort

out.

There is

no complexity

of emotion

that he

can't

unravel.

Jesus

knows you.

He knows

you and

it is the

unsurpassed

privilege of

the Christian

to know

him.

Incredible

thing.

An

omniscient

Jesus.

Knows

everything

at all

times.

He knew

this man

compassion.

And he

knows you.

And because

of his

knowledge of

this man,

he is

moved to

compassion

for him.

He asks

him a

question.

A question

he already

knows the

answer to.

Do you

want to

be healed?

He sets

the stage

for a

response.

A response

here in

just a

moment.

He sets

the stage

up for

him.

A

compassionate

offer of

healing to

the man.

The author

of Hebrews

says in

Hebrews

Hebrews 4:15

chapter 4

verse 15,

we do

not have

a high

priest who

is unable

to sympathize

with our

weaknesses.

The difference

between sympathy

and empathy.

I hear this

taught wrong

all the time.

So here I

am.

I'm going to

set the

record straight.

If somebody

sympathizes

with you,

it's because

they have

experienced

the thing

that you've

experienced.

If they

empathize

with you,

you're

imagining,

you're trying

to put

yourself in

that person's

shoes.

Often as a

pastor, I

have to

empathize

with people.

I haven't

experienced

everything that

you guys have

experienced.

When you go

through particular

trials or

hurts, I

empathize.

I think, oh,

that must be

hard.

I have to

imagine what

it would be

like to

live in that

circumstance

and take you

to the text

with me to

show you what

it might say.

That's different

than sympathy.

It's different.

Me too.

I've also

experienced the

very same

thing.

Jesus is

able to

sympathize

with our

weaknesses.

He is one

who is in

every respect

tempted as

we are

trialed.

That word

can also

mean difficult

circumstance

laid upon us.

And then the

author of

Hebrews says,

yet without

sin.

Jesus

understands

this man's

suffering and

he understands

ours.

He's omniscient

and he is

compassionate.

So,

the man responds

to him and

we've seen this

pattern of

misunderstanding.

Jesus says

things to

people.

The response

you would hope

of the man

would be,

yes, I do

want to be

healed.

That's why

I'm here.

But he

addresses him,

sir, not

rabbi.

He doesn't

know who

Jesus is.

It's a simple

question.

Do you want

to be healed?

And his

response is,

I have no

one to put

me into the

pool when

the water

is stirred

up.

No one to

help me.

No one to

scoop me up

and put me

in there.

And so while

he's making

the effort

on his

own,

he says,

while I am

going,

another steps

down before

me.

That's where

we get this,

I think,

marginal explanation.

What's going

on there

in that

case?

Right?

I want to be

healed.

I'm looking

to the pool

in order to

be healed,

but I don't

move quick

enough,

and so I

cannot be

healed.

And Jesus

simply responds

to him.

There's no

expression of

faith on this

man's part

at all.

In other

places,

you see

expressed

faith.

Right?

Prior,

we saw

an official

pleading

for his

son.

He knows

who Jesus

is.

He knows

Jesus is

performing

miracles,

and he

goes to

him,

and he

pleads,

and Jesus

heals

his son

of his

illness.

Here we

see none

of that.

A man

in a

crowd,

a man

amongst

many

who were

there for

relief.

The man

says,

I want to

be healed,

but I

can't be

healed,

I can't

move quick

enough,

and Jesus

simply says

to him,

get up,

take up

your bed,

and walk.

And John

is careful

here.

It's not

because the

man makes

some effort

to get up

and walk

that he's

healed.

Verse 9

says,

and at

once the

man was

healed.

This

compassionate

Christ,

this

omnipotent

Christ,

that was

that last

observation.

Right?

Jesus is

omnipotent.

Right?

He can

do whatever

he desires

to do

by the

word of

his

power.

At

once,

the man

was

healed.

In other

accounts,

people marvel

at the

healing of

lame people,

and he

does one

even

better.

He forgives

their sin.

He just

declares

it so.

He commands

the waves

and the

wind.

Jesus is

omnipotent,

and he

expresses that

here.

And we're

meant to

look at

this.

This man

is healed.

We're

meant to

see it

and go,

this is

the Christ.

And the

point is

not our

physical

healing.

That is

not the

thing that

Jesus came

to do.

He came

to preach

the gospel,

to live

the life

that we're

required to,

to die

the death

that we

deserve

because of

our failure

to do so,

to be

raised on

the third

day,

to be

seated at

the right

hand of

the Father,

to call

together the

church for

the glory

of God.

Luke 19,

10,

Jesus says

of himself,

the Son

of Man

came to

seek and

to save

the lost.

Observing

this miracle,

this sympathetic

healer,

is meant to

drive us to

think about

him as

the great

healer of

the greatest

ailment that

any of us

could ever

have.

the sickness,

the death

that our

sin brings.

Now,

if Jesus

is omniscient

and compassionate

and omnipotent,

if he is

the sympathetic

healer,

then why

not heal

everyone at

the pool?

Why not

just take care

of everybody

there?

Gather around

everybody?

He could

have just

said it.

They could

have all

gotten up

and moved.

But here

again,

our study

can be

helped

by the

literary

structure

of John's

gospel.

I hope

you don't

get tired

of hearing

about this.

We're going

to do it

the entire

time we're

in this

book.

The 17

verses

before us

are,

you guessed

it if you've

been around,

a chiasm.

They're all

over.

I will be

structuring our

study of this

following this

structure all

throughout it.

Not because I

think it's just

fun to do,

but it's

because of what

John intended

for us to

see.

We don't

think in

these terms.

If you're

unfamiliar with

what I'm

talking about,

chiasm comes

from the

Greek letter

X.

So the

idea here is

that ideas,

words,

phrases at

the beginning

of the text

correspond with

words,

phrases,

ideas at

the end of

the text,

and the

second one

to the

second to

last,

and so

on,

you can

imagine half

of an

X until

it arrives

at a

central point

of the

text.

The entire

book of

John is

structured this

way,

and it has

chiasms

within it.

And the

point,

as you bring

things to

the central

portion of

the passage,

it's not that

the central

thing is

always the

most important

thing,

but it's

meant to

help us,

it gives

us an

interpretive

lens to

use as

we look

at the

entirety

of the

chiasm.

So,

the central

portion of

this passage

is the

very end

of verse

9 and

verse 10,

which just

says,

now that

day was

the

Sabbath.

Now that

day was

the Sabbath,

and then

verse 10

says,

so,

the Jew

said to

the man

who had

been

healed,

it is

the

Sabbath,

and it

is not

lawful for

you to

take up

your bed.

So,

we take

that,

we take

that bit

of it,

that's the

way the

structure,

why did

John write

it this

way?

It begins

to answer

some

questions

for us.

It helps

us to

look at

what is

trying to

be

communicated

to us

in this

text.

Now I

do not

want to

make too

little of

the fact

that Jesus

is the

sympathetic

healer.

We should

note that,

we should

pause on

that,

right?

So it's a

significant

thing that

happens here

in the life

of this

man,

and we're

meant to

see Jesus

in this

way,

but that's

not the

driving point

of this

passage.

It's not

the one

thing that

we should

take away

from it.

John develops

the setting

of this

story in

the first

four verses,

but omits

this important

detail.

Now that

day was

the

Sabbath,

right?

He could

have said

that at the

very beginning,

but he

holds it

back.

He holds

it back

until we're

amazed at

the healing.

We're reading

and we're

going,

look at

the mercy

of this

God

to this

man,

and then

he drops

a bomb

at the

very center

of the

text.

Now that

day was

the

Sabbath.

Not

incredibly

significant to

us,

more than

likely,

but if you

understand in

any measure

the culture

of his

day,

you would

see the

significance,

and I'm

going to

try to

help you

do that

here in

just a

moment for

our second

point.

We need to

take up

this

interpretive

lens,

the

rejected

Messiah.

So we have

the sympathetic

healer and we

also have the

rejected

Messiah.

Sabbath

keeping

was a

major

deal

for the

Jewish

people.

Still is

among some

Jewish

communities

today.

Now they

were right

to have

some concern

for keeping

the fourth

of the

Ten

Commandments.

This one

especially

was an

outward

invisible

thing.

You could

tell whether

or not

somebody was

keeping the

Sabbath

or not,

but they

had just

entirely

misunderstood

its purpose.

You know,

back in my

days when I

wrote papers,

a long time

ago when I

wrote papers,

sometimes I

would read

something that

was just so

perfectly

worded that

I just

wanted to

copy and

paste it,

but I'm

not a

plagiarist,

so I

wouldn't.

I learned

about block

quoting,

which changed

my life in

writing papers.

That's

essentially what

I get to do

in sermons

for you.

So this

is so

succinct and

so well

said,

by John

MacArthur

in his

commentary

on this.

I'm just

going to

read you

two short

paragraphs

that helps

make this

point so

very,

very clearly.

So I'm

block

quoting

John

MacArthur,

a dear

saint that

we lost

not long

ago.

He's

talking about

the

Sabbath

here.

The

Old

Testament

prohibited

working

on the

Sabbath.

Exodus

Exodus 31 · chapter mention

chapter 31

and chapter

35,

but did

not specify

exactly what

kind of

work was

forbidden.

It seems,

however,

that one's

customary

employment

was in

view.

So the

thing you

did for

a living

was what

was in

view.

You worked

six days

and then

you rested

on a

seventh.

The

Israelites

were not

to participate

in their

normal week-long

occupations

on the

Sabbath day.

But

rabbinic

tradition

went far

beyond that,

listing

39 forbidden

categories

of work,

including

carrying

goods.

So what

they were

doing in

an effort,

I think a

well-intentioned

effort,

to keep

the fourth

commandment,

the Sabbath

keeping

commandment,

they added

on commandments

beyond it.

Right?

They were

often called

hedge laws.

Right?

They put

extra stuff

around it.

Let's just

be really

sure we

don't break

it by

piling up

extra

laws.

Go back

to the

quote.

The

rabbinic

prohibitions

against

carrying

loads

on the

Sabbath

was

ostensibly

based on

such passages

as

Nehemiah

Nehemiah 13:15–18

chapter 13

verse 15

through 18

and Jeremiah

Jeremiah 17:21–22

17

verse 21

through 22.

Those passages,

however,

were aimed

at individuals

who conducted

their ordinary

business,

their livelihood

or occupation

on the

Sabbath.

Thus,

they did

not apply

to the

healed man

since he

did not

make his

living

by carrying

his mat.

End quote.

The point

being,

they had

added up

a bunch

of extra

stuff

in order

to be

so careful.

And they

were just

missing

the point

altogether

of what

the

Sabbath

was

for.

So,

recall,

the center

of the

chiasm,

the interpretive

lens that

we need

to employ

for these

verses,

centers on

this issue

of Sabbath

keeping.

The Sabbath

is understood

to be

instituted

by God

in the

creation

of the

world,

and this

is recorded

for us

in Genesis

Genesis 2:1–3

chapter 2,

verses 1

through 3.

He creates,

he speaks

into existence

in six

days,

and then he

rests

on the

seventh.

He did

not do

so because

he had

exhausted

his creative

energy,

and he

needed a

breather.

So,

it would

be a

gross

misunderstanding

of God's

nature,

omnipotent.

He does

not run

out of

steam and

have to

build it

back up

again.

So,

why?

What's it

communicating

to us?

What it's

communicating

is that he

had completed

the place

where he

was to

dwell

with his

image

bearers.

I heard it

called his

cosmic

temple,

that he

was going

to fill

with his

presence

and be

with his

people.

His

work

was to

lead to

eternal

enjoyment,

life with

him.

But Adam

and Eve

introduced

death

onto the

stage.

The very

good thing

that God

had created

became

marred

by their

sin.

And a

curse,

a curse

of death

began to

reign in

his

created

world.

The

command

to keep

the

Sabbath

was

meant

to

leave

its

observers

looking

backward

to

man's

banishment

from

God's

presence

and

forward

to

an

anticipated

restoration

of

God's

presence.

Looking

towards

that

great

day

when

there

will

be

a

new

heaven

and

a

new

earth,

a

garden

remade

where

God's

people

will

dwell

with

him.

The

Sabbath

then

properly

understood

and

emptied

all of

the

challenges

that

they

found

used

as

an

interpretive

lens

employed

in

this

way

should

lead

us

to

see

that

this

man's

ailment

is

the

result

of

the

curse

of

the

garden.

You

see how

the

central

point

helps

you

to

go

oh

how

is

John

recording

this

for

us

to

see

this

man

who

is

not

whole

right?

He's

not

whole

because

of

the

curse.

We'll

talk a

bit

whether

it's

his

sin

or

sin

in

general

in

just

a

little

while.

Why?

Why is

this

man

ill?

Why is

he not

doing

well?

It's

because

sin

is

in

the

world.

If you

understand

the

Sabbath

rightly

and

then

you

use

it

as

that

lens

you'll

see

what

John

is

doing

for

us

here.

Jesus'

healing

of

this

man

is

meant

to

picture

for

us

the

great

healing

he

does