The Sufferer Made Whole (John 5:1-18)

Well, if you don't know me, my name is Gordon Pastor here at

Vita, and we're going to keep going in our series in the Book

of John. And so go ahead and grab your

own Bible. If you don't have one.

There's Bibles underneath the seat in front of you.

You can pull that out and the page number and the verses are

up on the screen behind me. We're in John chapter 5 and I'm

John 5 · chapter mention

going to start with the story. So a month ago, my family, wife

and two little girls, 2 1/2 years old and one year old, we

took a family vacation. We drove all the way to

Pennsylvania and we drove all the way back.

And on the way back, we thankfully we planned a pit stop

in North Carolina. And the youngest one year old

threw up like 3 or 4 times in the car seat, like all over her.

And then we're like 2 minutes away from the Airbnb where we're

getting ready to stop. And then our 2 1/2 year old

throws up all over herself and all over the car.

And so we pull into the Airbnb and that that's just that our

kids have been sick before, but that was kind of the worst.

And to see a two 2 1/2 year olds brain trying to process like

confused and scared and what what is that feeling inside?

And then you know what the feeling of throwing UPS like

it's awful. And so anyway, more than like

obviously we're like, oh man, we got to clean the car seats in

the car. But worse than that was just

feeling compassion for our girls.

And so then like four more times that night, our 2 1/2 year old

is like we put her on an air mattress in the room and I slept

in that room separately. And it was interesting.

I have a hard time waking up when my alarm goes off in the

morning. But when I heard the initial,

like, her about to puke again, I was up pretty quick.

But yeah, I felt a lot of compassion because my daughter

was suffering and confused and couldn't make sense of why it

was happening. And in the story in John today,

we're looking at a man who is suffering.

He's been lame for 38 years, and then he meets Jesus, and Jesus

heals him. And it's much, much more than

just a story about a lame man who gets to walk again.

The title gives it away. It's about a sufferer who was

made whole again. So there's three things that

jump out in the story as we look at it today that we'll kind of

walk through #1 Jesus did heal this man's suffering body, and

he will heal all suffering bodies of those who trust in

him. He will #2 that we'll see in the

story. He did restore this man's

suffering soul, and he will restore suffering souls.

And then the third Jesus began the work of restoring his

suffering creation and he will restore fully his suffering

creation. In the end, everything will be

made right, redeemed, made whole, complete.

There's a verse in Philippians one verse 6, Paul says to the

Philippian Christians, I am sure of this, that he who began a

good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of

Jesus Christ, that final day when Jesus comes back to make

all things right and that that word complete completion.

That's going to be a big word today.

So listen out for it, but it's a hopeful message for Christians

today and a hopeful message for everybody who is here looking to

Jesus seeking what he can offer you.

One, one thing to finish that story about our daughter who's

sick. After that story, we, after that

vacation, we started telling a story to her to help her process

what's happening about the little girl who was sick.

And she gets better each day and the mom and dad take care of her

and she feels safe. And she asked for that story 7

days in a row afterwards, she just wanted to hear the story

about the little girl who was sick.

And at the end of the story, what we started telling her is,

and then the little girl will be in heaven one day and she'll be

with Jesus where everybody's all better all the time.

And that's been a wonderful thing just for us to remember.

And as much as her little brain can grasp, everything's going to

be all better all the time. So I'm going to, before reading

the verses today and teaching, we're just going to give a

couple seconds to pause and just quiet our minds, our hearts get

our minds off of all the distractions of life, all the

busyness we feel. And so during that quiet, I'm

going to pray for me. And I would encourage you, pray

for you and ask Jesus to prepare your heart before we hear from

him. The John chapter 5 verse one.

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. 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 into the pool when the water's

stirred up. And while I'm going in, 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's not lawful for

you to take up your bed. But he answered them, The man

who healed me, that man said to me, take up your bed and walk.

They asked him, Who is the man who said that 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. Let's pray.

Yeah, Jesus, we look to you for everything.

We believe You are creator. You were there in the beginning

when creation was perfect, and you are actively restoring your

creation back to the way it was. So we pray whatever you want to

do on us today, we give you all access, our minds, our hearts,

our lives, restore us. Pray all these things in your

name, Amen. Now I forgot to mention in in

the intro some back stories helpful before we get into the

verses. If you don't know the whole

story of creation and the history of God's people, God

created the heavens and the earth and in the beginning it

was good and he made humans and they were very good, then you

could say creation was complete. It was whole, It needed no

restoration. And then when man and woman

sinned, sin came into the world and it corrupted creation.

And that's why we have Jesus working to restore.

It's not complete, it's not whole, but it will be.

And so back story to keep in your minds as we work through

the verses. So let's start in verse one.

After this there was a feast of the Jews.

We don't know which one, but there's a feast.

The Jewish people are coming to Jerusalem.

Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Verse 2.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool in Aramaic

called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.

In these lay a multitude of invalids, which the Greek word

would have just been a common word for, like disabled.

And so there's a bunch of disabled, blind, lame,

paralyzed. Verse five, one man was there

who had been an invalid for 38 years.

And so John, who's writing this book, is bringing us to a new

scene. We're in Jerusalem, and he's

introducing us to a new crowd. And one man in particular, this

one disabled man. In verse 6, it says Jesus saw

this man lying there and knew he had already been there a long

time. And so the first thing that we

see here is Jesus came into the city and he comes to an area

that was full of disabled people.

It shows the mercy and kindness of Jesus that he doesn't just

book it for the temple with his people, the religious elite.

He doesn't book it for the cleaned up people.

He goes and walks through an area that was full of blind,

lame and crippled. And while he's there, he it says

he saw one man in particular who was lying there and he had

something revealed to him. He knew that man had been here

for a long time. And I just love that word and

knew because I think it means more than just he knew that the

man had been there for 38 years. I think he knew the man.

He knew a lot about him. Psalm 13916, the psalmist writes

about God, about the Lord. Your eyes saw my unformed

substance like before we were even born in your book were

written every one of them. The days that were formed for me

when as yet there was none of them.

And Jesus knows us. And regardless of our condition,

regardless of whether we're cleaned up or not, Jesus has

mercy on us and doesn't prejudge, doesn't ignore,

doesn't write off, doesn't avoid.

He loves his people and he knows his people and he comes for his

people. So Jesus saw this one man in

particular. He walks into the pool of

disabled, singles out one. And just imagine the man who's

been there for 38 years, Most of you are not even 38 years old.

I'm not 38 years old. That's a long time.

I was thinking about it. I'm pretty sure the oldest

person in here is not above 80. If you are, I'm close.

But all that to say, half your life, half your life crippled,

cannot walk. And just imagine what what has

been spoken to this man throughout his life?

What has he heard? How has he been treated?

What's his identity? What does he think about

himself? Where's his hope?

He's just here and I'll tell you a little bit more about the pool

in a second, but he's just here hoping that something about this

pool can save him and it's vain hope.

He's stuck, he's helpless. There's no way out.

This is just, it's not trending in a good direction for the man

until Jesus comes. The verses go on.

Jesus said to him, do you want to be healed Now first, this

might seem like a dumb question. You want to be healed?

Well, yes, I want to be healed. I wouldn't see it as a dumb or

insensitive question. I would see it as a redirecting

question where Jesus is trying to redirect his hopes away from

something that cannot promise healing to something more

trustworthy or sure to Jesus. So the pool of Bethesda, it was

superstition that the waters are stirred up, and when they are

stirred up, presumably by an Angel or something with power to

heal, and the first person in the pool gets healed, that's the

superstition. And we have no record of that

being true or valid. John doesn't seem to paint it

that way. Seems like vain hope.

And so the man is so helpless. He's like he believe he's

putting all his hope in that because that's all he has left

and he's crushed because every time it gets stirred up because

of his lameness, he can't even get in the pool.

Someone else gets there first. And so he he really is out of

options. Then Jesus comes, asks him if he

wants to be healed and it says verse 7, the sick man, Sir, I

have no one to put me into the pool.

When the water stirred up while I'm going, another steps down

and Jesus says get up, take up your bed and walk.

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

and he walked. So 38 years lame, hope was

waning. Jesus comes and just says get

up, take up your bed and walk and the man's healed.

The man's not looking for Jesus. It's not a result of the man's

faith. It seems like Jesus catches him

in the midst of vain hope and looking to something else.

And Jesus just decides this man, I want to heal and he does now.

It just got me thinking about things that we put our our hopes

in that are not sure trustworthy.

And we all do in different ways. I think if we just thought about

healing, we have the wonderful benefit of living in America

where we have modern medicine, great doctors.

I've thought so many times. I am so fortunate to live close

to the University of Florida and Shan's Hospital because I meet

people that travel hours away to come here and it's 15 minutes

down the road for me now. You realize the best of modern

medicine cannot promise full restoration and full healing for

our bodies. There's lots of things that

cannot be cured. The best counselor cannot

promise full restoration and healing for our mind or our

emotions. I'm not saying those things are

bad. Don't hear me wrong.

I'm just saying the only thing that can actually promise full

restoration and healing is Jesus.

And Jesus redirects this man to put all their hopes in him.

And for Christians who know Jesus, who know what he

promises, we put all of our hopes in him.

And if you're not, I hope that today you would realize the best

world can prom. The best the world can promise

us still is vain and hopeless, and only Jesus can give us this

hope. That doesn't mean that all your

problems are going to be fixed right away or in the way that

you want them to, but it does mean they're going to be fixed

the best way in the way Jesus sees best fit.

I was really thinking about those of you that there's no way

around it, Those of you who are old trying to think of a more

gracious way to say it. Your bodies are breaking down,

you have more and more appointments, you're suffering,

some of you enduring pain. And a wonderful truth to hold

onto is that Jesus Christ will make your bodies completely

healed when He returns and we're in heaven.

You get new resurrected bodies. And I don't have to think about

it a whole lot, but I know that I will and I do believe it

wholeheartedly. And just want to remind and

encourage those of you who have bodily suffering, whatever it

is, you get to look forward to one day looking Jesus in the

face and him wiping away all your tears and all your pain is

gone. All of your pain is gone.

So that's that's point 1.2. Let's move on.

We're actually going to skip ahead to verse 14.

This jumps ahead to the next interaction Jesus has with the

man after he's healed .2 Jesus restores the man's suffering

soul. Verse 14.

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.

Jesus says see you are well. He pronounces healing over the

man. Now in a couple verses later

when the man talks about his healing, he says to the Jews,

the man who healed me, and it literally reads the man who made

me whole. And then what a wonderful way to

put it. I think.

I think for this man, it's much, much more than just his broken

legs are working again. I think it's much more than just

bodily suffering restored. I think this man's suffering

soul ends up being restored. Jesus connects his suffering to

sin when he says, see, you are well, sin no more.

I think Jesus is targeting this man of all of them because his

suffering was because of sin. And the Bible actually gives us

a category. Did you know that the Bible

actually gives us a category for some of our suffering being the

result of sin? First Corinthians 11 talks about

those taking the Lord's Supper in an unworthy manner and it

says that's why some of you are weak, ill, and even some have

died. Now I do not think that all

suffering is the result of sin, Don't mishear me.

But there is a category for suffering that's the result of

someone's personal sin. And I think that's what Jesus is

getting at for this man. Now if that's the case and Jesus

makes his body well and heals him, what is Jesus saying to

him? Forgiveness.

Forgiveness. See, you are well.

So I I think Jesus is beginning something much, much more than

just bodily restoration. Jesus goes on and he invites the

man to turn from his sin, says lest something worse happened to

you. Don't sin anymore.

Follow me, turn from your sin, listen to my words lest

something worse happens. And here I think he's talking

about hell. If you continue on sinning, you

will be separated from God for eternity and then you will be in

permanent physical, mental, emotional, spiritual suffering

for all of eternity. And that is far worse than being

lame for 38 years. So turn from your sin and live

the the other thing that helps me kind of see, I think this is

a soul restoration is simply the man starts out I outside the

city gates. An invalid or disabled man or

woman would not be allowed, especially in the temple.

But even inside the city outside the gate by this pool and the

man ends up Jesus finds him in the temple.

I I think there's some symbolism there from the writer John.

Let me just find myself placing my notes again.

So Jesus is inviting the man to turn from his sin, come to him,

and enjoy complete, total restoration forever.

If the man listens to Jesus's words and follows him, his soul

will be restored and he'll have the hope of being fully restored

forever in eternity. A couple verses later, John 5,

same chapter, verse 24, Jesus says truly, truly.

I say to you, whoever hears my words and believes him who sent

me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment,

but is passed from death to life.

So second, take away. If you trust in Jesus, He will

fully restore your soul meaning. Your soul, Think about it.

We don't see our soul, but we know it's there.

That part that when our body dies, it remains, does a little

good if your body gets healed, but your soul remains broken,

unrestored. If you thought about what a

rusty frame in a truck would mean, we don't live in the north

where there's snow and salt, but rusty frames in your truck is

bad. You can cover it up.

You can take your truck to the car wash as many times as you

want. You can take it to The Body

Shop. That will not fix the rusty

frame. The soul supports your body just

like a frame supports the truck. And if your soul is decayed with

sin, unrestored, without Jesus, you can clean yourself up all

you want. You can try this and try that.

You can try to be a good person. You can try religion.

You can try to do XYZ. If your soul remains unrestored,

you have no hope. You will remain outside the city

unless Jesus restores you. And then imagine what happens

with a new restored soul. It supports everything.

That means everything in your life bubbles out of your soul.

And so with a restored soul, your identity restored, how you

think about yourself restored, your thoughts, your thought

life, your motives restored. I'm talking about this a little.

Ideally, it's a slow, long process, isn't it?

Sometimes it takes a while. When you're saved, sin doesn't

just go away right away, but Jesus restores your soul.

You get a new frame and now you have power to fight against sin

that you did not have before. And you have a sure promise

where Jesus says it's as good as done.

I've restored you and I will be restoring you.

And it's on our end where we're walking with Him and learning

what He meant made us to live like.

So in this life, we actually get to enjoy life the way that it

was intended to be lived. And in the next life, we have

the promise of a fully restored soul.

Now Christians, think about what that means.

No more struggle with sin. You'll never have to confess

again. You'll not have that wayward

thought about yourself. Come into your mind that you

have to wrestle with for truth. All that's gone.

You won't have those temptations anymore to do what you know is

wrong, but you so badly want to do them.

No more wrestle between flesh and spirit.

Your soul will want to do everything that Jesus says is

right, and you have perfect harmony and peace between you

and Jesus. No more grieving Him.

No more feeling apathetic or far away or like trying to get back

to Him. Your soul will be fully

restored. You'll be back in the garden,

walking with him as it was intended.

That's what Jesus is saying here through the story.

It's much, much more than just the story about a lame man who

walks again. Jesus came into his creation,

God in flesh. He heals, He gives sight to the

blind, He tells the demons to go.

He sets free the oppressed. All of these things, not just as

little, acts in themselves. He's saying to creation, I came

to make it right again. I've come to fully restore.

Open your eyes and see. The man hopefully sees if he

puts his trust in Jesus, he will get to enjoy all of this and

we'll see a sad reality later. Not everybody sees it, but this

is what Jesus is doing. It's that verse I read in the

beginning. Again, Christians, he who began

a good work in you will, He will bring it to completion.

I had a story shared with me recently about a woman who is

saved by Jesus, finds the Bible in her prison cell, saved by

Jesus, and here's what was sent to me.

The woman had a court appearance.

Before court ended, the state attorney's prosecuting attorney

stood up and addressed her saying I just want you to know

how proud I personally am of you.

I had to go in to see whose case we were on because I didn't

recognize you at first. Keep doing what you're doing.

You may not see your progress day by day, but your overall

progress that we can all see is incredible.

And the person who sent it gave a little bit more background.

When this woman was picked up the last time and taken to jail,

she was barely 100 lbs, had two black eyes from being beaten up

pretty badly. She had hit rock bottom.

Hopeless. Today, however, she's living

fully, nearing completion of her GED, holding steady employment,

able to be a mother to her children the way she's always

longed for. And all of this is thanks to

Jesus's restoring work in her life.

And we forget this, but that's happening all over creation, all

throughout time, all around the room.

I could count up hundreds, thousands of stories, moments

where Jesus has restored what was broken and made it right and

new again. Now this is all building to the

last point. We're back in verse 9 B the last

point Jesus will fully restore his suffering creation.

John tells us now that day was the Sabbath.

Now I missed this at first when I was just reading, but the the

Sabbath the fact that Jesus did this on a Sabbath day speaks

volumes. This is loaded.

It's not John super clever including this detail on the

story. It's God speaking something by

having Jesus heal on a Sabbath day.

So background on the Sabbath. The Sabbath refers to the 7th

day where God's people remembered that their Creator

God worked for six days, and then on the 7th day he rested.

It was good, it was complete, and the Jewish people would have

seen the Sabbath as a day of rest.

You can't do all of these things because we're supposed to rest

and remember. They're kind of right, but

really the Sabbath is about completion.

God rested on the 7th day, not because he needed to, not

because he was tired. He got rested on the 7th day

because he could. It was all done.

It was finished, it was completed.

Sit back and enjoy the fruit of your labor.

It's done. Now again, I told you sin came

into the world and so now there's a need for restoration.

And so that's why Jesus says later, kind of at the end, my

Father's working until now. And so I am working.

OK, this is all like high level view that only that Jesus and

God knows and the Jews are confused about and even we're

confused about, but Jesus is saying, look, I'm restoring.

We're in the days of working now.

Sabbath is all about completion by Jesus healing a man and

making him whole on the Sabbath day.

It's a statement from Jesus saying I am here actively

restoring the creation and it's going to be complete again.

Heaven is going to be the Garden of Eden and everything's going

to be finished. So that's what he's saying with

the Sabbath. And this leads us to the third

take away. Jesus is actively restoring his

creation. Now imagine for a second what a

creation without suffering would be like.

Hard to imagine, huh? Second Peter 313 it says, But

according to his promise, we are waiting for new heavens and a

new earth in which righteousness dwells.

I I was reading that verse a while back and I just thought,

what is what in the world? What does that even look like

where righteousness dwells? That's so hard to fathom because

I'm only in a world full of unrighteousness.

I'm only in a body full of unrighteousness.

What would that be like to be in a world where it's only

righteousness? Like, right Living according to

God's design. If you could imagine, with me,

you and I get to walk with God. We get to walk with him.

No shame, no guilt. We see His face and we smile,

and He sees us and he smiles. We just get to enjoy living in

God's creation with God again. No more spiritual apathy.

No more unfulfilled longings to see Him.

No more as the Bible refers to as like groanings waiting for.

It's all fulfilled. It's all met.

This world will be free of sin. No more people hurting people.

No more hatred, No more division.

No more gossip. No more untrue thoughts.

No more wrestlings with sin society and the way that

society's so messed up. You look around and you see all

the decay in marriages or families.

You could look at a whole population group and see the way

that the enemy has like tricked them or lied them or pulled them

all into sin. Not none of it.

We will exist in perfect harmony, only ever building each

other up and living together in peace.

It'll be wonderful. I want to read the picture in

Revelation 21 one through 5 for us where John, same writer, gets

this vision from Jesus about what this will be like.

He says. Then I saw a new heaven and a

new earth for the 1st heaven and the first earth that passed

away, and the sea was no more. And I saw the holy city, New

Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a

bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from

the throne saying, Behold, the dwelling place of God is with

man. He will dwell with them, and

they will be his people, and God Himself will be with them as

their God. He will wipe away every tear

from their eyes. Death will be no more, neither

shall there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore.

For the former things have passed away.

And he who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making

all things new. Jesus is completing it.

Moms, you'll never have to be afraid for your kids anymore.

We'll never have to be anxious for anything.

All your suffering wiped away, all your tears gone.

This is why at the end of Revelation, the refrain is Come,

Lord Jesus, come, come. We long for this.

And the only reason it's not come yet is because Jesus is

saying I've still got more restoring to do and I've still

got more people I want to invite in.

But that day is coming soon and it's as good as done.

Now there's a twist in the story.

It ends hopeful. This is a story about a man who

was lame for 38 years and his body restored.

He starts outside the city and he's in the temple.

Now Jesus is making a statement. I've come.

This is a huge moment in redemptive history.

And then we see the Jews and the Jews find the healed man and

they are oblivious. It's the mood.

The mood just changes. And I guess I'm stepping aside

just to warn you to put it in perspective.

Not everybody's going to be open to Jesus.

Jesus is restoring work. There are some who will receive

him and there are some who will ignore it or deny.

And so verse 10, the Jews said to the man who had been healed,

it is the Sabbath and it's not lawful for you to take up your

bed. And we're like, are you kidding

me? The guy is walking.

He's been there 38 years. You could probably find a bunch

of people that would substantiate this.

We knew him, he couldn't walk, and now he's walking and you're

here arguing this little nitpicky tradition that you

made-up. God never said you can't take up

your bed and walk if you've just been healed.

But that's tradition speaking. The Jewish leaders are saying,

listen, there's this little policy we have where it's the

Sabbath, so you're not allowed to take up your bed.

And so the man is stuck in between.

Well, Jesus told me to do this and you're telling me I can't.

And so he's in an awkward position.

So verse 11, he answered them, the man who healed me, that man

said to me, take up your bed and walk.

And they asked them, well, who is the man who said to you, take

up your bed and walk? Now the man who healed them

didn't know that it was Jesus. Jesus withdrew, he went away.

We skipped to verse 15. The man went away after he had

that moment with Jesus and he goes and tells the Jews, hey

guys, it was Jesus. And I don't think he was ill

intention like trying to get Jesus in trouble.

I think he assumed that their motives would be good too and

they would probably benefit from knowing who it was that healed.

Maybe they wouldn't be so uptight anymore if they knew

that this was Jesus. Anyway, verse 16.

This was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He

was doing these things on the Sabbath.

But Jesus answered them, My Father's working until now, and

I am working. This was 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. So the Jews are hung up on

tradition. They love tradition more than

they love God. They're blinded to it.

They can't see what's going on in redemptive history.

If their eyes were open, they would look at this healing on

the Sabbath and say, finally, Messiah's here.

God's making all things right, It's happening, we get to

witness, but they're blind to all of that.

I heard a story once of a pastor who was kicked out of his church

because they baptized the black man of lower social standing,

and you'd have the same thing. You're like, are you kidding me?

Really? The Bible talks about Jesus

coming and making one new race, taking away the dividing wall of

hostility. We get to live in the day where

we're seeing it and you're seeing it and you're informed by

tradition and blinded to what's happening.

Jesus is saving every nation. Late language and tongue, it's

the same thing. Some people will see these

things and confess God is working, He's finishing his

creation, and others will see it and they'll be blinded by

tradition, they'll be blinded by independence, they'll be blinded

by what they think is right, how they see the world working, and

they will not be able to experience Jesus's restoration.

Basically it's how John starts the book in verse chapter one,

verse 11. He introduces Jesus in the 1st

chapter of this book and he says he came to his own and his own

people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him,

who believed in his name, he gave the right to become

children of God. You can come into the city and

this is telling us not everybody will come into the city.

It's interesting, the Jews started out in the city and they

end up out of the city and the man, the sufferer, the invalid,

starts outside the city and he will end inside the city because

he confessed Jesus is God and he is working now again changes the

whole mood. It brings us down, but let's not

remember this wonderful truth if you'll receive it.

Jesus is still working in creation now to make everything

right. He's going to finish it.

It's going to be completed. He's recreating with his words.

Just like in the the creation story, He spoke and there was

light, there was darkness, The expanse above, the waters

beneath, animals, birds, humans, all with the word he spoke.

And now he's speaking. Get up, take up your bed, walk,

be free of sin, Repent, believe, don't do this.

This is not good for you. Live this way.

That is what's good for you. His words restore.

They're still speaking, and one day it's going to be complete,

some final application. Next time you recognize the

Sabbath, sit back and just remember it's not necessarily

about rest, although it is. But just remember, God's working

and He will finish everything. He doesn't need me to keep the

world spinning. He's going to finish it, not me.

It's restful, relieving those of you who you find yourselves in

moments of being antsy or overwhelmed or life's a bit

chaotic. God's working.

He's going to finish everything. It'll all work out according to

plan. Parents, It'll all work out

according to plan. He's working, He'll finish it.

This should cause us to work hard, to not sit back, knowing

that our work, every effort we make for him, is not in vain,

it's purposeful. This should cause us to work

hard and to be hopeful. Piper famously says you don't

know John Piper. He says God is always doing

10,000 things in your life and you may be aware of three of

them. God's working.

So concluding thoughts. Will you leap for joy with the

man and be brought in to God's restored creation?

Or will you just stay stuck and where you're at?

Believe tradition, independence, your own way of thinking, and

reject that Jesus is God himself, restoring creation, the

only way in. And then Christians take heart.

Don't lose hope, don't lose joy. It's all going to be finished.

And also, I've just been praying for us.

I think by remembering this, it really does change our

perspective, gives us a kind of hopefulness and joy and

stability. Like we're not as tottering when

we remember that God's the one that's going to finish all the

work.