Jesus Can Really Heal

I don't know about you folks, but I get excited when we can sing a hymn that's almost 400 years old.

I just think that's so wonderful. St. Francis of Assisi wrote that, you know, not the music, but the words.

And I sing it and I think, wow, it's just so great to be part of a church that just extends back in time

and is ultimately founded by Jesus Christ, who isn't just a dead person,

whose teaching we admire, but as the banner on the outside of our church says, Jesus is alive.

And we believe that he's present amongst us today and that we can know him personally.

Today, we're going to be looking at what happens when Jesus meets a grumpy, dull, superstitious, backstabbing, ungrateful person.

So, we're going to see what happens when Jesus meets somebody like this.

And, you know, it's one of the funny things about the Bible.

I talked about this a little bit last week.

But in our culture, it's as if we're schizophrenic.

Or no, I guess it wouldn't be schizophrenic.

Well, we are schizophrenic.

But we're sort of more like bipolar in our culture.

And that it's as if, on one hand, the Bible is this toxic document that is filled with all types of evil things that oppress people.

Or if we don't sort of think of it as being this toxic document, we think of it as being this pious document.

And, you know, as if it's going to be more similar to a hallmark greeting card, very syrupy and filled with syrupy thoughts.

And it's because we're sort of locked in this bipolar type of mood that we can't sort of see that the Bible, the Gospels tell us, the Gospels say, you know what?

The Messiah of God, God's very Son, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, He walked amongst us.

And He walked amongst grumpy people, angry people, arrogant people, poor people, rich people.

He walked amongst ordinary people like you and us.

What happened?

And the Gospels tell us what happened.

And the Gospels constantly are inviting us to respond, even though, in a sense, we come to Jesus as a grumpy person or an arrogant person or a kind person or a religious person

or a thoroughgoing, violence-loving person.

The Bible says these are the way these types of people come to Jesus.

And Jesus' desire for you and me is that we come to Him and be changed.

And that we come to Him.

And no matter where we've come from, that we might know Jesus and know His healing power, know His saving power, and be changed.

And so turn with me in your Bibles to page 922.

I, like Dave, I'm using a different version today, and I'll make that clear why I'm doing that in a few moments.

And I specifically asked Dave to read the Gospel text using a version other than the Pew Bible.

And it's page 922.

If you're using your Pew Bibles, most of the time you'll be able to follow along quite simply.

I'm using the Today's New International Version, the TNIV, is what I'm using as I read.

And we're going to read along.

You should be able to follow.

And the first place where you have a bit of a, you know, things just don't seem to match,

I'll pause there and comment on why there seems to be a difference between my Bible and yours.

And here's how the story begins.

Sometime later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.

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.

Here a great number of disabled people used to lie, the blind, the lame, and the paralyzed.

Now just sort of pause there for a second with your Bibles.

In your Pew Bibles, those of you who are using it, you'll notice that I didn't read the same words as you.

The first verse and the second verse, well, you know, they used different slight words,

but it's obviously clearly the same.

But all of a sudden, you're reading along, and you have a whole extra verse than I do,

and you might be wondering a little bit about why that is.

And maybe it worries you a little bit.

It should excite you that your version is a little bit different than mine.

It should be, whoa, that's fantastic.

And here's why.

One of the things about the Gospels, the New Testament, which is so amazing is this.

There is no book that we hold in our, there is no ancient book that we can hold in our hands

that has more ancient versions than the Bible.

That, you know, any old text, there can be questions about what the wording of that text is,

but in the case of the New Testament, there are literally thousands and thousands of ancient manuscripts

in many languages, in Latin and in Greek and in Coptic, in a variety of languages.

And, in fact, you know, one of the things which is so cool,

I can't remember if it's in Cambridge or Oxford, but there's a library in England,

and they have part of John's Gospel.

And by carbon dating and other methods,

they're able to know that that piece of the document is from 110 A.D.,

like maybe 20 years after John first penned his Gospel.

We have a fragment that goes that far back.

And lots of other ancient texts that we have,

there's hundreds and hundreds of years gap,

but because there are literally thousands of versions,

old, old, centuries and centuries and centuries,

these millennium, over-millennium-old versions of the Bible,

there's a whole school of scientific study

where the scholars can look at all of these different manuscripts

and trace them back and trace them back and trace them back

so that today, when we read the most modern version of the Bible,

you can be 99.999% sure

that what you're holding in your hand

is a translation of what John wrote

or what Matthew wrote

or what Mark wrote

or what Luke wrote.

And because of that,

they're always getting this better and better and better and better.

And so sometimes versions of the Bible,

which maybe were translated 100 years ago

or 500 years ago,

their knowledge of what that original text

that John wrote

wasn't quite as complete.

They maybe only were 99% sure.

We can be 99.9999% sure.

And so what that means is that,

you know, we can, you know,

we shouldn't be afraid of scholarship or learning

or the study of the Bible

because when the Bible is studied,

even scientifically and honestly,

and when you look at archaeology,

time after time after time,

the New Testament is shown

to be completely and utterly truthful.

That it really was something

that John really was an eyewitness

to what Jesus did.

And he really did write,

you know,

it was John who wrote it.

And we can trust

that this is what John actually wrote.

We can trust that.

And the other thing

which is so amazing

about the Christian faith is this.

You know,

I said that there's some little differences

in the text

that maybe,

you know,

when the King James Version was written,

it was only 98% sure

that what they translated

was actually what John wrote.

And today it's 100%.

Well,

what happened with that 2%?

The thing which is so neat

about the providence of God

is that no doctrine

was based on any of those parts

that we got wrong.

Like,

that's really cool.

You know,

it's not like,

oh gosh,

here I am believing

in the divinity of Jesus

and it shows that those are parts

that John didn't write

but were added by some half-crazed monk

400 years later.

Or,

oh gosh,

I was believing this

and now I see that it wasn't.

As scientists

and as scholars

get more and more accurate

as to what John actually wrote,

we see that no doctrine

of the Christian faith

was based on something

that shouldn't be there.

And,

you know,

all you can say for that

is praise God.

I mean,

we just have something

which is so dependable

and we don't have to be afraid

of a scholarly study

or examination

because the word of God

stands true.

And so this little part

that my version didn't have

and that your version has,

that's based on something

that was probably added

by some scribe

200 years

or something

after John wrote it.

And so the most modern versions

of the Bible

have just omitted it,

maybe with a little bit

of a note,

but it's omitted it.

So now that I've had

this long aside

on why you can trust the Bible,

let's start reading the story

again from verse 5.

So remember,

he's here at number,

verse 4,

here a great number

of disabled people

used to lie,

the blind,

the lame,

and the paralyzed.

One who was there

had been there

an invalid for 38 years.

When Jesus saw him

lying there

and learned that he had been

in this condition

for a long time,

he asked the man,

do you want to get well?

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.

Now just sort of pause

there with your Bible

for a second.

I'm sort of cheating

a little bit.

You did hear

the whole story

when David read it

just a few minutes ago.

If you look

at the whole story

as a total,

you realize

that the man's

not being polite.

And in fact,

in the original text,

in the original language,

there's a curtness.

He is,

okay,

it's an old word,

dour.

You know,

I have university degrees.

Occasionally,

I have to use

an obscure word

just to sort of,

you know,

justify the tens

of thousands of dollars

I blew in my education.

And this guy

is dour.

He is grumpy.

He is short-tempered.

His answer is as if,

I'm not very,

you know,

he's acting as if,

you know,

I'm in sort of a bad mood

and somebody

who I don't think

is very bright

asks me an obvious question,

like,

are you standing in the pulpit?

And you go,

yeah,

I'm,

yes,

I'm standing in the pulpit.

Like,

I mean,

it's,

the man gives an answer

as if,

well,

Jesus,

like,

I'm paralyzed

and I can't get in the water

because I don't have anybody

to help me

and if I had somebody

to help me

to get in the water,

I mean,

why do you think

I'm here,

Jesus?

Of course I want to get well

and I'm just hoping

that maybe someday I'm here

and nobody else shows up

and I can crawl in by myself

and finally get healed

and the man is sort of

impatient with Jesus

and all the way through the story

you see that this man,

I mean,

what's he like?

When the Jewish officials

get a bit,

get crossed with Jesus,

with the man

for doing something,

the man doesn't say,

well,

listen here,

guys,

like,

why are you so uptight?

Jesus healed me,

you should be excited.

And rather than having

any type of backbone

in defending Jesus,

he says to the religious officials,

hey,

don't get mad at me,

it's all his fault.

And the guy is,

in a sense,

so clueless

that even though he's healed,

he's so clueless

and ungrateful

that after Jesus heals him,

he never even says to Jesus,

by the way,

like,

who are you?

So I can thank you,

like,

what's your name?

So he never asks Jesus' name.

When the people start to give

the man a little bit of grief,

he says,

it's not my fault,

he turns it all on Jesus

and then later on,

when he finally finds out

what Jesus' name is,

to curry favor with the officials,

he seeks them out

and tells them that it's Jesus

so they can get mad at Jesus.

He's not a nice guy.

And you see,

here's the very first thing

that we have to understand.

Everything about this miracle

is it shows that Jesus

takes the initiative.

And here's the wonderful news.

I mean,

the wonderful news is this,

that nothing that we can do

can stop Jesus being Jesus.

That nothing can stop

Jesus being kind.

Like,

nothing.

I can be grumpy,

I can be angry,

I can be undeserving.

In fact,

I am undeserving.

I am undeserving.

And Jesus doesn't relate to me

in terms of how

I deserve to be treated.

Jesus comes to me

only with kindness.

In fact,

if you read through

John's Gospel,

John's Gospel wants us

to understand that

Jesus is the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

That Jesus is the Messiah

promised for centuries

by God himself.

That he is the one

who has come to deliver us.

That he is the one

who has come to deliver us

when we cannot deliver ourselves.

That he is the one

who has come

to bear our sins

in his body

that we might be able

to be born from above.

Born by the Holy Spirit.

That Jesus is the one

seeing our need,

does not despise us

or mock us

or hate us

or annihilate us,

but he instead comes

to be the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world.

And that is not just something

which is just some

theological truth

at the end of Jesus' life.

It is all the way

through Jesus.

Jesus' DNA

is kind.

Jesus' DNA

is merciful and loving.

And Jesus responds

to no one

according to how

we deserve

to be treated.

He only responds

to us with kindness.

That is such

a comforting thought, folks.

Nothing can stop

Jesus from being kind.

Even this

grumpy,

superstitious,

backstabbing,

ungrateful individual,

Jesus is kind to him.

And folks,

day by day,

I need the kindness

of Jesus.

Let's continue on

with the story.

Verse 8.

Then Jesus said to him,

get up,

pick up your mat,

and walk.

So even though

the guy's been

a dour,

grumpy guy,

Jesus doesn't say,

well,

I'm going to pass

this guy by

and pick somebody

that I like a lot better.

He says,

get up,

pick up your mat,

and walk.

At once,

the man was cured.

He picked up his mat

and walked.

You know, friends,

one of the things

you see time after time

after time in the Gospels

is that Jesus can heal.

And this healing of Jesus

is a deep healing.

The text says

that he's had this problem

for 38 years.

And so it's not something

which is psychosomatic.

And it's something

which involves

not him just sort of

vaguely getting better

so he can crawl better.

It means that he's healed enough

that he can actually

stand up and walk

and carry his mat.

And it means

just to be as outrageous

as we possibly can

because science helps us

to know now

how deep the healing is.

If this is a real healing,

it's a deep healing

because it means

that atrophied muscles

have grown.

It means that muscle memory

which has been lost

has been restored.

It means that there's

a whole range

of nervous healing.

I mean,

healing of the nervous system,

healing of the mind,

healing of the muscles.

This is a deep healing.

And, you know,

the wonderful thing

about science

is that as we learn

more and more

and more science,

it means that we have a choice

when we read the Gospels.

We can either say,

wow,

or we can just sort of

disbelieve it.

I mean,

science helps to increase

the wow factor

of reading the Gospels.

Wow,

Jesus can really heal.

Jesus can really heal.

And all the way

through the Gospels,

you take healing

out of the Gospels,

you take healing

out of Jesus' life,

you have no Jesus left.

He's not,

he's not just a teacher.

So,

verse 9,

once the man was cured,

he picked up his mat

and walked.

To the day on which

this took place

was a Sabbath.

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,

by the way,

friends,

that's not true.

The man

hasn't broken

a single Old Testament law.

You know what

he's breaking?

They've taken

one of the Ten Commandments,

you shall do no work

on the Sabbath,

and they've invented

39 categories

of human action

that describe that.

And the man is not,

Jesus didn't tell the man

to break the Ten Commandments,

and the man is not

breaking the Ten Commandments,

the man is breaking

human rules.

And just as,

I mean,

we're a congregation

that are trying

to be biblically faithful,

and this is,

in a sense,

a warning to us

that,

you know,

we might sort of

try to pride ourselves

in looking down

our noses.

Not that we do that,

but there's always

this temptation

that we can sort of

look down our noses

at people who take away

texts of the Bible

and deny the Bible

and despise the Bible,

and we should never

deny the Bible

or despise the Bible

or any of those things,

but the Bible says

just as much,

in fact,

maybe even more,

about the human problem

of adding to the Word of God

and mistaking our thoughts

and our rules

for what God

has actually said.

And so the text warns us

the conflict

which Jesus is having here

is Jesus is not doing

anything against

the Old Testament law.

He is doing something

against religious rules.

So verse 11,

the man replied,

the man,

you see what he passes the buck,

the man who made me well

said,

pick up your mat and walk.

So they asked him,

who is this fellow

who told you

to pick it up and walk?

And friends,

here's where we're going

to end the text

because remember I said

that the text,

the text,

the whole gospel say,

the Lamb of God

who takes away

the sin of the world

walked among us.

God's Son

walked among us.

The Messiah of God

walks among us.

And the question really

is not who is he

but how do ordinary people

like us relate to him?

And here we see

the danger

of a religious spirit.

You know,

one of the problems

with religion,

friends,

is that religion

can immunize us

against God.

That religion

and a religious spirit

can immunize us

against God

and what God

is doing in our lives

and wants to do

in our lives.

So you think about it

for a second.

The men,

these religious leaders,

they meet this guy

and they get mad

at him first.

They have a conversation,

obviously more than

just recorded here

in the text.

And as a result

of this conversation,

they find out

that this guy

has been healed

after being ill,

having some type

of paralysis

for 38 years.

Okay,

now,

here's the choice.

They could have said,

wow,

that's fantastic.

Praise God.

Hallelujah.

He healed you.

You should be

so fantastic.

Do you have family

you can tell?

Wow!

Could have been

their response.

And their response

is,

he's breaking

our rules.

That's their response.

You see,

the choice is there.

Do we say,

he's breaking

our rules

or do we say,

wow!

And religion

can sometimes

so harden us,

bend us,

deform us,

make us

like fossils,

make us something

that's like a mushroom

dark and buried

in the ground

and make us

in the midst

of us thinking

that we are

so self-righteous

and so spiritual,

but all our religion

is doing

is hardening us

and hardening us

and hardening us

from the action

of God

and so the choice

before us

is always this.

Do we hold on

to our rules

and our way

or do we say

to God,

God,

help my life

to be one

wow

to your working,

open to your working.

Let's pray.

Father,

we acknowledge

before you

that it could

have been our hands

who put the crown

of thorns

upon Jesus' head,

that it could

have been our hands

that nailed

your son

to the cross,

that it could

have been us

who asked

these

anger-driven

religious-spirited

questions

of your son.

Loving Father,

we acknowledge

before you

that we are

just as prone

to a religious spirit,

to adding

to your word,

to hardness

of heart,

to hatred

and envy,

to grumpiness

and backstabbing,

that Father,

we are just as prone

and live with

just as much

of this

as the people

who are talked

about here

in the gospel.

Father,

we acknowledge

before you

that the people

in the gospel

are us.

Father,

may your Holy Spirit

fall with fresh

power upon us

that we might trust

in the kindness

of your son,

that we might trust

in his healing power,

that we might trust

in his saving authority,

that we might be

delivered from

hardness of heart,

from a religious spirit,

from vanity

and pride.

Loving Father,

we cannot do this

by our own power.

We cry out to you

for mercy,

that your Holy Spirit

would deliver us

from such great

spiritual dangers,

that our hearts

would be softened

to be turned

towards your son,

Jesus Christ,

and may your word

so penetrate our lives

and your Holy Spirit

so move and work

within us,

that everything

that is about us

might be one yes

to you.

This we ask

in the name of Jesus,

your son,

and our savior.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.