Let's turn in our Bibles to John
5. Let's begin in verse 1. It says, After this there was
a feast of the Jews. And Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which
is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda. having five porches. And in these lay a great multitude
of impotent folk, of blind, haught, withered, waiting for the moving
of the water. For an angel went down at a certain
season into the pool and troubled the water. And whosoever then
first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made
whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there
which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. And when Jesus
saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that
case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent
man answered, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled,
to put me in the pool. But while I am coming, another
steppeth down before me. Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take
up thy bed, and walk. And immediately the man was made
whole and took up his bed and walked. And on the same day was
the Sabbath. Christ went up to this feast
because he came to fulfill the law for his people. It doesn't
really matter what feast this was because Christ is the fulfillment
of the whole law of God. He was pictured in every one
of them. And he is the fulfillment. It
was love for God. and love for His people, that
righteousness of the law, love thy neighbor as thyself. That
was the love wherewith Christ came down and laid down His life
for His people. In love He bore the shame of
our sin, the shame of it. He bore that for His people,
the sin that causes our disease. And in love he bore the curse
of that law for us. He bore the hell of separation
from God for his people. And what we see here is, another
time we'll see this, that in love he bore Satan's accusations
and the contradiction of sinners against him. After he heals this
lame man, the Pharisees accused him of breaking the law. But in this passage what we see
here is the love, that perfect righteous love in coming to those
he redeemed and making us whole. Freeing us from the bondage of
our sin and our curse by his perfect love. Now first let's
look at the pool. This pool was by the sheep market,
verse 2 says. This is where the farmers came
and put their sheep in this fold, and it's where they would buy
and sell sheep, probably for the temple, where they were making
it convenient for folks to come there. Historians say that this
pool was used to wash the sheep. That's what it was originally
there for, was to wash the sheep. And that's a beautiful picture.
Christ is the pool in whom his sheep are washed. Scripture says,
in that day there shall be a fountain open to the house of David and
to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and uncleanness. That
fountain is Christ. He said, come now, let us reason
together. Though your sins be as scarlet,
they shall be white as snow. Though they be red like crimson,
they shall be as wool. Snow white sheep by His blood. Bethesda means house of mercy. Wherever Christ is, That's the
house of mercy. Wherever he's established his
gospel, that's the house of mercy. He's mercy. And right with that,
you see there were five porches around this pool. And we know
there's five books in the law of Moses. So right here mentioned
side by side, you have mercy and this five number that points
us back to the law. And in Christ is where mercy
and truth are met together. Now let's look at the people
that were there. They represent all sinners in
this world. He says, verse 2, there were
five porches around the pool and in these lay a great multitude
of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving
of the water. Now the whole humanity of Adam,
from the first to the last child, born of Adam, is represented
here by these impotent folk. We're all impotent, powerless
sinners, blind, halt, and withered. You just think that they're kinfolk. There was nothing they could
do for these folks. We're talking about terrible
diseases and crippling cases where they just brought them
there and left them there because there was nothing else to do
for them. They couldn't help themselves. No man could help
them. And they were no benefit to society. That's a good picture of us by
nature. This is an example of every sinner
born of Adam. Those five porches, thinking
about the five books of the law of Moses, they were bound to
those five porches that surrounded this pool. They were bound to
them, they were there. And we were bound under the curse
of the law. The law said we're guilty, we're
condemned because we sinned in Adam. And the sin nature we got
from Adam makes us impotent, totally impotent, blind with
no spiritual sight, halt, unable to walk, withered so that our
members are of no use to earn a righteousness or make us holy
and can't contribute to this work of salvation. All have sinned
and come short of the glory of God. That's what we see in these
impotent folk around this pool. If there was no sin, there wouldn't
be any hospitals. That's what we see in these people.
We see an outward display of what we are in our heart and
under the law in Adam. As by one man's disobedience
many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many
be made righteous. Now here's the love of Christ.
Think about this. Jerusalem was full of people
that come up for this feast. And the Pharisees are in the
temple and the majority there are lost sinners going through
the motions of religion. And they're in the temple going
through their form of religion, exalting themselves by their
works, looking down upon others, and having nothing to do with
that pool of Bethesda. That's where that the refuse
are. That's where the worst of the
worst are. That's where Christ was. That's where He came. He went up there to Jerusalem
to fulfill the law. That's why He was at that feast.
And we see how He did it. We see His love in coming to
these impotent sinners. That's what He did when He came
down for His people. He came down to save the worst
of the worst. He said, I didn't come to call
the righteous, I came to call sinners to repentance, those
who are impotent, powerless, powerless. Now let's see why they were at
this pool. Verse 4 says, For an angel went down at a certain
season into the pool and troubled the water. And whosoever then
first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made
whole of whatsoever disease he had. Now whether this happened
really or whether it was superstition, I don't know. It seemed like
it probably was something that happened, but I don't know. But we see some positive and
negative things in this. Let's look at the negative first.
These lame folks were waiting for a sign. They were waiting
for a sign. They were waiting to see those
waters troubled. That's what they were waiting
for at a certain season. They were looking at this carnal
pool and waiting for this visible sign at a certain season. And
because that's what they were looking for, they didn't even
know the great physician was walking right past them. Didn't
even pay him any attention. Christ is the physician who heals
spiritually, who heals us all together. He's the cure. But they were waiting for a certain
season. Christ is the sign in the seasons
now. This is a day of grace. Can you
imagine how they felt when the Lord healed this man? When they
see this man has been there for 38 years and the Lord heals him
and he stands up, takes up his bed. Can you imagine how they
felt? He was right here and we paid him no attention. We didn't
even call on him. There he was right here. We should
call on Him now. Call on Him now. Here's the positive
we can see in this. Christ is the Lord that healeth
thee. He's the cure. He's the angel
of the covenant who came down. And He comes in the season appointed
of God. In the fullness of time, Christ
came down and He bore the trouble that was troubling His people.
He bore the trouble. to take the burden off his people.
And in the season of his love, he comes down and he troubles
us with the water of the word, making us see our need of him. And he keeps doing it, keeps
doing it, keeps doing it. Here's another positive. When
they saw that water trouble, can you just imagine how, I mean,
these folks were having to crawl, whatever they could do to get
to that pool, but can you imagine when they saw that water trouble,
how they were just to get to that pool and be the first one
step in there. I just see it just a clamoring
and whatever to get to that pool. Scripture says, The law and the
prophets were until John. And since that time the kingdom
of God is preached and every man presseth into it. That's the urgency Christ gives
us. When He comes and speaks in the
first hour and All our days, when He would turn you to Him,
that's the urgency He makes you press into Him. When He speaks
and says, strive to enter in at the straight gate, there's
many that won't enter. But when He says, strive to enter,
He makes you strive to enter. Now, look at this next thing. We see He is the Lord that heals
His people. Verse 5 says, A certain man was
there which had an infirmity thirty and eight years, and when
Jesus saw him lie and knew, he had been a long time in that
case. Now this was a certain man. When we see that, we see
God's elect are certain men. God's elect are certain men.
There was a multitude of impotent folk there, just like there's
a multitude of impotent sinners in this world. Christ passed
them by and He came to this man. He was a certain man. He came
to Him. Christ came to save His elect. And the Lord saw Him there. He's seen His elect from eternity. He's seen His people from eternity.
He knows His sheep, He said. And He knew him. He knows the
condition His people are in. He knows where they are. What
have we seen from the beginning since He entered His ministry
in this Gospel of John? What's He been doing? Coming
to His lost sheep and seeking out His lost sheep, bringing
them to Himself and giving them faith to believe. He finds His
sheep. He knows where His sheep are
and He brings them to Himself and He never stops. keeping us
and calling us and drawing us and bringing us. You think about what all has
happened in your life in 38 years. There are some here that aren't
even 38 years old. Think about all the things you've
done in 38 years. This man lay impotent. unable to do anything for 38
years. Couldn't the Lord have healed
him sooner? Yep. But the Lord had a set time
when He would come to him. You remember when they came and
they told him, Him whom thou lovest is sick. And the Lord
waited until Lazarus died. He waited a few days. Why? The Lord is going to, He's
going to wait when He comes. He's going to wait until He makes
us well acquainted with our stink and with our impotency so that
we know He's the Lord that heals, He alone. Now get the question
he asked this man, verse 6. He saith unto him, Wilt thou
be made whole? Wilt thou be made whole? Now, he didn't ask him, Are you
willing to meet me halfway? He didn't say, Are you willing
to help me? Are you willing? He didn't even say, Are you willing
to be whole? Of course the man wanted to be whole. He wouldn't
have been there at that pool if he didn't want to be whole.
Of course he wanted to be able to walk. Nobody wants to go to
hell. Everybody wants to go to heaven.
But here's the question. Are you willing to be made whole? Are you willing for Christ alone
to make you whole without any assistance from you? That's the
question. Are you willing for Christ to
get all the glory in this and do all the saving beginning to
end? To be the author and the finisher
of faith. And listen to his answer, verse
7. The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man. when the waters troubled to put
me into the pool. While I'm coming, another steppeth
down before me." The others had someone to help them, or they
at least had some ability to get to the pool. They could, as bad as their condition
was, tell me if this is not a picture of us, as bad as their condition
was, I could look at this man and say, well, at least I have
use of my limbs from the waist up. I'm not bad as he is. But he said, I have no man. I have no man. I have no man
to put me in the pool, and I don't have the ability to even put
myself in the pool. Isaiah 59, 16 says, he saw, the
Lord saw that there was no man and wondered that there was no
intercessor. Therefore, his arm brought salvation
to him. Don't you know that would have
been a scripture that impotent man would have loved to have
heard? He would have delighted in that. He heard it because
he didn't have an arm that could work salvation. Lord said, my
arm brought salvation to me and his righteousness sustained him. And that very first moment when
Christ comes to us, he finds us dead in our sins with no power. And every hour after, if we start
thinking that we're able to stand, The Lord tells him later, he
says to him, now go and sin no more, lest a worse thing come
upon you. And when he works in us, in the
first hour, when he brings you to repentance, in the life of
faith, you think, I'm not going to sin. I'm not going to sin. I'm not doing this anymore. easily, when we go along and
we don't sin outwardly, how easily we start thinking, I'm standing
pretty good. I'm able to walk. And the Lord keeps showing us
this work over and over and over, making us say, I have no man. I don't have the power in me
and I don't have anybody else that can keep me standing. Christ
alone is the power of God unto salvation, beginning to end. He keeps His child knowing we
have no man. He keeps you remembering, take
heed. Any man think he stands, take
heed lest you fall. But He's that friend. He's the
man. He's the friend that sticks closer
than a brother. He's the brother made for adversity. Why does the Scripture refer
to Him as a friend and a brother? He's the King of kings and Lord
of lords. He's God Almighty. The Trinity
is manifest in Him in a body. Why does He call Him a friend
and a brother? That's not to That's not to diminish his glory
at all. That actually exalts his glory
because it teaches us something about his lowliness and his meekness
and his willingness to help us impotent, powerless sinners. Come unto me, you that labor,
you that are bound to the five porches of the law. You that
are bound to these slabs, these cold slabs of concrete, come
to me. I'll give you rest. My yoke's light and it's easy. Believe on me and trust me to
carry you. Trust me to be the power to make
you walk. Trust me to deliver you into
God's presence without spot, unblameable, unapprovable in
his sight. and you can come because I'm
meek and lowly in heart. I'm a friend, I'm a brother,
and you'll find rest for your soul. He's that power and wisdom by
which we are made willing and by which we stand. He said to
him, verse 8, rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately
the man was made whole and took up his bed and walked. Faith
cometh by hearing. and hearing by the Word of God. That doesn't merely mean by hearing
a sermon preached. That doesn't merely mean by reading
the Bible. That doesn't mean one time and
it's done. Faith cometh beginning to end
by Christ the Word saying unto us personally. Him speaking personally
into our heart. It's how He sustains us in faith. It's how He renews us continually
to mortify our flesh. It's Christ's Word of power that
makes us rise up out of our dead body the moment we draw our last
breath. Beginning to end, it's Christ's
Word that's going to make us live. his power. When was this man made willing?
The Lord asked him, are you willing to be made whole? And the man
really didn't answer the question. He said, I don't have any man.
That was a hopeless reply. I have no hope. When was he made
willing? When Christ said, rise, take
up thy bed and walk, immediately, before he moved a muscle. Before
he moved a muscle, he was made whole. Christ makes us willing in the
day of His power. And if you find yourself willing
to believe on Him, He's already made you willing. He's already
made you whole. Whatever it is Christ would have
His child to do, If you find yourself willing to do anything
that the Lord would have you to do, and you find a willingness
in your heart to do it, there's one reason. Christ has spoken
and given you a willingness. That's where it comes from. He
speaks. He told the man, Rise and walk. And until he rose,
he took his bed up and walked. And look, and on the same day
was the Sabbath. And the Lord told him, Rise,
take up your bed and walk. Now remember, Christ was at that
feast. Why? He's fulfilling all righteousness
for his people. Remember when he told John the
Baptist when he was baptized, and John said, I have need to
be baptized of you. suffered to be so now, thus it
behooves us, it becomes us to fulfill all righteousness. He
was doing that for us, not just for himself, for us, his people.
So he was there at that feast fulfilling all righteousness
for us. And here he comes now, picture
of him coming to one of his powerless, impotent, redeemed vessels of
mercy. And when He speaks and says,
rise up, He says, take up your bed and walk. He wasn't supposed
to do that on the Sabbath. Why did He say that? Because
He's the rest. And when He gives you faith to
enter into Him, He gives you rest. Think of this man for 38
years. Now, you know, he probably went
home or whatever. Somebody, I don't know. But anyway,
for 38 years, every day, this man was bound to those five porches. He's not bound to them anymore.
Think of the rest. Think of the rest. He can get
up. He can walk. He can carry his
bed. He's not bound. And when Christ speaks and brings
you to Him, you're not bound under the curse and condemnation
of the law anymore. You have Christ, our Sabbath
rest. He frees you from that impotency
of your flesh and keeps sustaining you in faith and keeps you walking
by faith, looking to Him alone. And anytime we try to turn back
to the law or back to our sin, He keeps saying, arise, Take
up your bed and walk. And He keeps you walking by faith,
looking to Him, trusting Him. That's freedom. That's rest. Knowing you're complete in Him. And brethren, He'll keep doing
that work for His people until that last hour when this body
proves to us how useless it was the whole time we walked this
earth. And we draw that last breath and Christ says, rise
up, take up your bed and fly away. And he'll bring us home. And we'll know he was the power
of God the whole way. Let's stand together. Father, we thank you for this
word. We ask you now to Come and speak and speak in power
and make us rise up by faith and walk after You. Thank You, Lord, for this day.
Thank You for this time together. Lord, we ask You now to continue
to speak to our hearts and keep us looking to Christ. Bless Your
Word, Father. We pray that You'd send the Spirit
of God and bless it, increase our faith, and help us now truly,
truly worship You. Lord, forgive us our sin, forgive
us for being like those apostles that day with the woman at the
well and looking at others rather than Christ. Lord, speak your
word. Make us look to you. Keep us
looking to you. Forgive us, Lord, our sin. We
need you. We need you every hour. Thank
you for your righteousness. Thank you for full, complete
salvation. It's in the precious name of
our Redeemer we ask these things. Amen.