John 5:1-18

To turn with me to John's Gospel, chapter 5.

John's Gospel, chapter 5.

If you've got a church Bible, that's on page 890.

John chapter 5 begins a new section.

John 5 · chapter mention

In the Gospel of John, chapter 10.

John 10 · chapter mention

Those first four chapters have all been about newness, haven't they?

What Jesus brings, you remember, in eternal life.

That Jesus is not just shuffling things around, the things of our lives.

He's not raising what is natural to a new level.

Jesus brings an entirely new life.

Jesus brings a different kind of existence.

He changes water into wine at a wedding.

He offers Nicodemus, that religious leader, new life.

He gives to the woman at the well, living water that satisfies.

And that's what Jesus has come to bring.

But from chapter 5, there's a switch from newness to the work of God.

There are signs and miracles throughout this section.

And after each miracle, Jesus gives an explanation of what he's doing.

Just in case you miss it.

And so here as we begin this section in chapter 5, Jesus returns to Jerusalem, the capital city.

Where he performs a remarkable healing on the Sabbath day.

And Jesus walks headlong into a storm of controversy.

He doesn't seek to avoid it, which is very interesting.

He seems to be deliberately provoking a fight.

Deliberately provoking the religious authorities of his day.

So much so that by the time you come to the end of our section this morning,

in verse 18, can you see?

The Jews were seeking to kill him.

There are three moments in this passage.

Three disconcerting but wonderful moments.

Each moment is wonderful and yet deeply uncomfortable.

Each of these three truths are beautiful yet unsettling, comforting and alarming.

The first is a challenging question.

Can you see it in verse 4?

What's the challenging question there?

Jesus goes to a man who is severely disabled.

And he says to him,

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to literally be made whole?

He goes to a disabled man who's been wanting to get well for 38 years.

And he says, Do you want to be healed?

I was recently, a few months ago, in that massive DIY place on the A40 B&Q.

Do you know it?

Other DIY outlets are available.

But those places, they're like aircraft hangars, aren't they?

And I was looking for some light bulbs, a specific light bulb.

And I walked into the store and I walked round and round, down each aisle, getting quicker, looking on each shelf.

And I just couldn't find the lighting section or any lights.

I went round again, but I couldn't find it.

So I waited in line at the customer service counter.

And I stepped up to the counter and I asked the young woman,

Do you sell lights?

She gave me a very strange look.

Her eyebrows lifted.

And she pointed behind herself and there were three 20 foot shelves of lights.

With a neon light at the top saying,

Lighting specialists.

So obvious, isn't it?

Surely, it's really obvious, isn't it?

This guy who Jesus speaks to, the one thing that the guy wants is to be healed.

Why does Jesus ask him this question?

It's feast time in Jerusalem.

The city is full and jam-packed.

And where does Jesus go?

Jesus goes right to the inner city.

He goes to the place, really, of degradation and desperate need.

It's the kind of place where all tourists are warned on websites,

Don't go there.

You don't need much imagination to imagine that there would be hundreds and hundreds of people there.

History books tell us that this pool was actually a pool of raw sewage and deep suffering.

The disabled were there.

Invalids.

The poor, the blind, the lame, the paralysed.

All of them beyond help.

All of them desperate.

And Jesus chooses one man.

And he goes to this one man.

And just as he saw in chapter 1 into Nathaniel's heart, he knew Nathaniel.

And he knew Nicodemus in chapter 3.

And he knew the heart of the woman at the well in chapter 4.

And just like he knows your heart and my heart, he knows the heart of this man.

He sees that he's been disabled for 38 years.

Which was about the average lifespan.

He knows his life has been reduced to begging.

There's no hope of cure.

He's been there for such a long time.

And Jesus walks up to him in the middle of terrible need.

And he says to him, do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be made whole?

I mean, is there anything else that he would have wanted?

And this fellow's answer to the next sentence is not very promising.

It's kind of odd, isn't it?

He's lying beside the pool because of some kind of superstition.

This idea that when the waters rumbled, when they got churned up,

the first one into the water gets healed.

And so the man complains to Jesus and he says, I'm all alone.

I'm all alone here.

I've got no one else to push me into the pool.

And when it gets stirred up every time someone gets in first,

he's completely missed Jesus' question.

He's completely missed Jesus' request.

And he's doing exactly what all of us do.

Because Jesus comes to us in our need

and we limit Jesus to the solution that we think we need.

We often don't have any inkling

that what Jesus is willing and able to do for us

is something utterly impossible for us.

This guy has been lying by the water for years.

He can't see past the water.

His hope and his focus, they're on the pool, on the pool, on the pool.

And he wants Jesus to help him throw it in next time it gets stirred up.

But when Jesus comes to us, the word of Jesus comes to us

and he is calling us to something far bigger,

far more almost unimaginable,

far more challenging that we can imagine.

And we think Jesus' purpose is to help us to get into the water

so that we can get on with life as usual.

Jesus, give me a nudge into the water, will you?

Let me get the thing that I want.

I don't want you to disturb my equilibrium.

But what we'll see in this passage as we go on

is what Jesus wants and what Jesus gives is beyond belief.

And it's lovely.

Because at the end of that paragraph,

in his kindness and goodness,

Jesus completely ignores this self-focused and clueless response.

And he simply says to the guy,

get up, take your mat and walk.

And he does so at once.

And I don't want you to miss this.

Jesus says, get up.

Jesus says it.

And the guy does it.

And it is completely, humanly,

impossible and unimaginable.

And inconceivable.

38 years he's been lying there.

Think about it.

What has happened to his muscles?

His tendons.

They've gone hard, haven't they?

They've atrophied.

His bones will have gone into different shape.

His lungs, his knees, his ankles.

But the man doesn't need any physiotherapy.

Just the simple command of God the Creator.

Jesus doesn't invoke the name of God.

There's no water involved.

It's a simple command.

And the magnificent, sovereign grace of God.

And Jesus finds him unasked.

And he heals him unasked with a single command.

And the physical healing is unasked for.

But if you ask yourself, why did Jesus ask that strange question?

And we've not got to the bottom of it.

You're right.

So we need to go on to the next section.

Because there's a second very challenging thing.

And it's not just a challenging question this time.

But there's a challenging command.

Which is this, isn't it?

Afterwards, Jesus found him in the temple.

And said to him,

See, you are well.

Sin no more.

There's the command.

Sin no more.

Stop sinning.

That nothing worse may happen to you.

There's no gratitude from this guy towards Jesus.

He doesn't even bother to find out what Jesus' name is.

He just gets up, picks up his mat and walks off.

And later on in that day, Jesus finds the same guy in the temple.

And he says to him,

See, you're well.

Sin no more.

Stop sinning.

That nothing worse may happen to you.

Now don't you find that's a very strange thing to say, isn't it?

Literally, it doesn't come out in our versions.

But literally, it's very fierce.

You are sinning.

Stop it now.

So that nothing worse will happen to you.

Now we need to take a step back from this and say,

Well, why is Jesus saying this?

Why is this so strange?

It's strange because the Bible does not teach karma.

You know the cruel doctrine of karma?

That we suffer in this life for sins in the past life.

Nor that we suffer in this life for sins in this life.

Jesus doesn't believe in what goes around comes around.

Jesus himself breaks that connection in John 9.

There is no direct connection between getting sick and our sin usually.

So why does Jesus command him to stop sinning?

The man is in the temple.

He doesn't seem to be doing anything wrong.

How does Jesus know that he's sinful?

There's no indication that this man is aware that he's particularly sinful.

He doesn't seem it.

For 38 years, he's been absolutely preoccupied with getting through the day.

He thinks of himself as a victim, as would I.

But he's no worse than any of the rest of us.

What could possibly be worse than 38 years stuck in a body that put him in a situation with all the humiliation of begging and loneliness?

Jesus is not warning him that if he doesn't stop sinning, he's going to get sicker.

Jesus is saying here that there is something worse.

There is something worse than any sickness.

There is something worse than any loss.

There is something worse than any deprivation.

It is being separated from God forever.

And you see that in this searching and challenging command.

Something deeper is going on.

This healing.

This healing is something that points to something much more comprehensive.

It points to a healing and work of God that Jesus brings.

And so if Jesus heals him physically, this guy will have a perfect body for maybe the next 38 years.

But Jesus is saying there's something deeper in you that's going to keep you from enjoying the full blessings of God.

There's something in him that is going to disqualify him from eternal life.

And it is simply in Jesus' words, sin.

This man has been healed outwardly in his body but in his heart there's no real change.

And that is the point.

That the work of God is more wonderful, more vast than we can imagine.

Imagine God could give you a perfect body for 100 years or 1,000 years or 10,000 years or 100,000 years.

That would be great but your selfishness would not be cured.

And the sinful rottenness that lives in me and lives in you would not be cured.

And it is that sin that separates us from God in this life and in the life to come.

And what Jesus is offering and what Jesus' work is not just the restoration of our bodies.

It is the restoration to God from sin.

It is the receiving of eternal life.

And so when Jesus went up to the sky and commanded him to stand up, it was unimaginable and it was impossible.

And when Jesus goes to him in the temple and says, sin no more, it is equally unimaginable and utterly impossible.

And that's what's behind that amazing question.

Do you want to be made whole?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

Do you want to be healed?

want to be free from sin but I also don't want to be free from my sin we love our favorite sins

even after we've been forgiven and filled with the spirit for years and years and years we still

don't we love our sins too much despite the misery it causes my inner life despite the pain it causes

to my family my city I still love my sin and Jesus comes to us and says sin no more do you want to be

made whole because we desperately need his ongoing work in our lives I read a preacher this week who

said this I am driven by my desperation from time to time and I cry out to God to deliver me from all

my sins he says I get up in my room and it's like I drive my sin out of the window and I say to them

and I say to God go forever sin go forever and then I go back to my chair and think again and quickly

say before my sin disappears around the corner I call out and say um would you leave me a telephone

number I don't want to be completely out of touch it's too hard for me to think about never again

being untruthful or unfaithful or cruel I want you gone but not forever it's what's called cheap grace

it's thinking I can have the blessing of eternal life thinking I can have what Christ offers but

continuing to live as I want and new life new life means I can't go on as before

if God is saving me and delivering me from evil and sin now that will have an effect

but if God is not and is not healing me and not delivering me from sin now I've got no confidence

he will save me in the end so what is the work that we so desperately need that Jesus comes to bring

and we need to move to the third searching question the searching issue we've moved from the searching

question to the searching command and now we've got this challenging and searching claim it's in the

last line look at verse 17 Jesus answered them my father is working until now and I am working

Jesus actions have been deliberate

did you notice when he chose to heal this man he chose to heal this man on the sabbath day

he didn't have to he could have waited 24 hours no controversy he said to the guy take up your mat

the guy didn't actually need to take up his mat did he could have just broken up could have just walked off

of course picking up your sick mat is not breaking the old testament law but it was breaking the kind of

presbyterian tradition of the time it was breaking the kind of religious polices interpretation of the law

now why does Jesus escalate this conflict

and we'll see very quickly that Jesus wants to reveal that he is the son of God

and that he is working the work of God

because when the authorities confront Jesus for what he's doing look what Jesus does

he draws a line between God and humanity and he places himself on the God's side of the line

do you see that phrase that my father is working up until now

and I am working

what's the response look at verse 18 with me they grasp it don't they

this is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only was he breaking the sabbath

in their view but he was even calling God his own father making himself equal with God

they grasped exactly what he meant

but they refused it as a remote possibility

it was better to kill Jesus than to accept his claim

of course the sabbath day is a big deal for the Jewish people

the sabbath day goes back to the very creation of the world

it's the Christian view as well

but the sabbath was built into this very nature of reality

and the sabbath day is part of our self-identity as the people of God

so you remember the start of the bible God created the world in six days

and then he took one day and he rested on the sabbath day

he rested from all the work that he'd done in creation

and the Hebrew word for rest is shabbat

it is sabbath

it's not that God was tired after six days

God is not weary

God does not need a break to recharge like you and I do

no it's not like that

God doesn't get to a Saturday evening and think oh it's so hard

rest in the biblical view is stopping one kind of activity for a different kind

and so God stops the creating of the world

and he enters into the perfect enjoyment of it

and the pleasure of it

and the delight of it

the delight of all that he has created

that is what the sabbath is for

he stops creating

and now he starts delighting

in a world with no defect and no defilement

he walks with men and women in the cool of the day in the garden

and in the greatest disaster in history

do you remember what takes place in the garden?

the man and the woman they refuse the word of God

they reject the authority of God

and they ruin the garden

and that is where sin and evil and death and suffering

enter into our world

staining our lives with sin and shame

spoiling the perfection of creation

and opening the door to selfishness and cruelty

and hatred and violence and decay and death

but right there in the garden

God commits himself to his second great work

not a work of creation

but a work of recreation

and he commits himself to the work of restoration

and of renewal and redemption

and he promises that he will restore this creation

and he will redeem men and women and boys and girls

to share his life

to share his joy

to enter into his rest

he will re-establish paradise

where he will live with his people

but to do that

God has to deal with the evil

and the sin that has entered into our world

and to deal with all the sin and evil

that is in you and I

which means he not only has to pay for it on the cross

but he then has to begin a work

where he eliminates sin from our hearts

and that is why Jesus not only heals the guy's body

but he addresses his inner life

he addresses his heart

and that's a far more difficult thing to heal isn't it

that is why that first question

do you want to be made whole

is so searching

and that is why the command

sin no more

go together

because Jesus must both

raise us up to new life

and remove our sin

and he says to us this morning

as he said to this man

do you want

to be made whole

sin no more

and you listen to me as I say that

and as I say it

we think that is impossible

and it is impossible

unless

God the Father is working

and Jesus you are working still

this is the second great work of God

this is why Jesus has come

this is why he is the Lamb of God

it's why he is the Word of God

the Bread of Life

and this is his work of restoration

and it has an end date

it is a temporary work

because we are told later on in the New Testament

that this world will one day be replaced

with a new heaven and a new earth

in which righteousness will dwell

and the garden will be transformed

and the water of the river of life

will flow through that place from the throne

and on both sides of that river

the tree of life will constantly bear fruit

it will be Eden restored and reimagined

and at the heart of that new world

is face to face fellowship

between God

his son

and the great number of those

who have been redeemed

from every tribe and tongue and nation

whom God has eradicated

all sin and evil

whose lives have been cleansed

and they have been given new hearts

and so you see

when Jesus says to these authorities

my father has been working

and I am working still

he's not trying to calm them down

he's raising the stakes

it's an astonishing claim

he's saying

I'm not breaking your rules about the Sabbath

your do's and your don'ts

who do you think I am?

I am God

what God does

I do

what God says

I say

what I do

God does

I'm working

in tandem with God

to bring about

this great purpose of redemption

I am the Lord of the Sabbath

I am the one that the Sabbath was made for

I am the one who gives life to the dead

I'm the one who takes away sin

I'm the one who determines

how the Sabbath should be used

and it drives the Jewish authorities crazy

we'll look at it next week

but just look how Jesus ramps it up

let me read to you from verse 21

for as the father raises the dead

and gives them life

so also the son gives life

to whom he will

the father judges no one

but has given all judgment to the son

that all may honour the son

just as they honour the father

whoever does not honour the son

does not honour the father who sent him

this is the challenge of Jesus' claim

he is the one who is put forward

to do the work of redemption

he raises the dead

he judges the living and the dead

he is the one who gives life and salvation

and God has handed all judgment to him

and so the question Jesus asks

on that day to that man

he still asks to us

do you want to be made whole?

do you want it?

and it's a question that only your heart can answer

and then he commands us

sin no more

and both of those things are impossible

unless Jesus continues his work with us

in us

it's a lifelong process

with the same sovereign power

and the same sovereign God

that Jesus continues to work in us day by day

through his goodness

and to trust Christ

so trust Christ

to continue his work in your life

and in the lives of those around us

to bring us to that place of rest

as we come

to the Lord's table this morning

Jesus asks us that question

he asks us

do you want to be made whole?

and to come to the Lord's table

and to eat of the bread

and drink of the wine

is to say yes Jesus I do

to receive him

to trust him

to come to him

again and again

as we receive his word

and the bread and wine at the table

it is saying yes to Jesus

Jesus says sin no more

and we come to the table

and we say Lord Jesus

I know I will fail

and I know I will stumble

but I know you will continue

to forgive me

but I wish

I so wish

that I could never sin again

I wish I could never sin again

and at this table

Jesus meets us

and he enables us

to grow in obedience

and likeness to him

and this table

this bread and wine

is a foretaste

it is a taster

of that desire

of every believer

that will come

in fulfilment

when we will be saved

to sin no more

and so as the bread

and the wine

are passed to you

this morning

hear the question

of Jesus

do you want to be

made whole?

go and sin no more

but