John 5:1-9 – Old or New? – Bible study

John 5:1-9 Old or New? What a powerful event! I see several great happenings: 1. A man that had been in capable of walking for 38 years was healed. 2. Jesus demonstrated His great power. The power to heal the broken, the forsaken, the helpless. 3. We get to learn some truths about sin, salvation, and the Savior. The healing took place at Bethesda. This is an area not far from the templeliterally a stones throw. It was also near one of the cities main gates, the Sheep Gate, which was used to bring the sheep into the city for sacrifices. The pool itself was comprised to two long man-made pools butted together. They had a dam between them. Porches were built around the four sides of the conjoined pools and across the dam, giving the five porches mentioned \#2\. King Herod had built a new water system for the city so this one had become a gathering place for the public. \#4\ tells us that an angel would come down to trouble the water and that whoever entered afterward was healed. For that reason, a great many of the sick gathered there. On this day, Jesus came not only to the temple but past the Sheep Gate and to the five porched pool called Bethesda. Lets consider the event by looking at Jesus three statements. I. \#6\ A Question – "Wilt thou be made whole?" A. That seems a foolish question. 1. Why bother asking a man who cant walk if he wants to? 2. Even more, why ask one who has been in the condition for most of his life? 3. Even more yet, why ask a man who is obviously waiting in that place for a miracle? 4. Surely he wanted to be made whole. B. And yet, it is not as simple as that. 1. This man had been trusting in one system to heal him, angels and troubled waters. 2. Now Jesus was asking him if he were willing to accept help from another Source, Himself. 3. The healing that Jesus was offering was much better than the healing the man had been seeking. a. As we read, Jesus was only going to speak a word to heal him. With the old system, the man was had to jump into the water at just the right time. b. Jesus was dealing with this man one-on-one. With the old system, the man was going to have to fight the crowd. c. For the old system to help this man, he had to be at Bethesda. There were no waters like this any where else in the world. But with Jesus , the two could have anywhere for this man to be healed. d. The man was incapable on his own of making use of the old system. He had to have help, but Jesus was all the help this man was going to need. 4. All-in-all, it seems that what Jesus was offering was worlds above that which the man had been seeking, but it was still his choice to make. a. He could continue to wait on an angel to move the waters or he could trust in Jesus. b. The choice was his. C. Interestingly, this was the choice that ever Jew has had to make since Jesus came. 1. The Jews had a system of worship. It was called the law, but Jesus came offering a new system, Himself. 2. The law had its short comings. a. The law could not REMOVE sins. The Bible makes that clear. Hebrews 10:4 For it is not possible that the blood of bulls and of goats should take away sins. (1) What it did was to COVER sins and the covering was at most temporary. (a) That is the root of the Hebrew word "atonement." (b) The idea of the word means to hide a thing. (c) The truth is what the old system of worship did for the Jews was neither complete nor permanent. (d) The Old Testament saints offered animal sacrifices trusting that God would one day send the supreme Sacrifice to remove their sins. (e) Had Jesus not come, that covering would have disappeared. (f) In fact, there is one sense in which the annual Day of Atonement, one of the highest and most holy days for the Jews, reapplied the covering to the sins that were past. (2) What the new, the Christ, came to do was to forgive sins. (a) Forgiveness means to leave, to let go, to put away, to yield up. (b) In short, forgiveness is removal of the sin. b. The old required a complicated network of priests, cleansings, holy days, sacrifices, and rituals. (1) I have been a student of the Bible for years and I still do not know all of their rules and what they mean. (2) In Christ, there are really just two truths we need to comprehend. (a) Repentance – Turing away from our sin and yielding ourselves to Christ. (b) Faith – Believing what the Bible says about Jesus, His death, and His resurrection. c. The old, like this poor man, required worshipers to be in a specific place and rely on specific people for the system to work. (1) This man had to be at Bethesda to be healed by the angel and troubled waters and he needed someone to help him get into the water. (a) This man was at the right place but lacked the people necessary to get him into the water. i. He probably had friends there who could help him, friends who were sick but not lame as he was. ii. But if the waters were ever stirred, they would be too busy trying to get what they needed to look after him. (b) He could have just as easily had friends elsewhere who could help him but if they were not at Bethesda, he was still left helpless and lame. (2) So it is with the Jews and the law. (a) To worship God with the law, the Jews have to be at the temple and to have God anointed priest. (b) In 70 AD, the Romans destroyed the Jewish temple. Since that time, it has been impossible for the Jews to worship God by the old system. (c) In 135 AD, Rome expelled the Jews out of the land. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_diaspora (d) As far as I can discern, over time, the priesthood was just lost. (e) No Jew has been able to worship under the laweven if they wanted to do sofor almost 2,000 years. (3) For Christians, all we need is Jesus. Any time and in any place we can enter into the presence of God almighty to worship and to praise Him. 3. I could go on but it seems to me to be obvious. a. What Jesus was offering the Jews was way better than the old system they had, but like this man, each would have to make their own choice. b. By the way, so do you. (1) Your old system of living is just as busted as this mans legs. (2) You have tried to find peace in fun, in filth, in fornication, in finances, and in fame; but it has not helped you. (3) The question Jesus asked still rings today, "Wilt thou be made whole?" II. \#8\ A Command – "Rise, take up thy bed and walk." A. Jesus gave the man a command to ignite his healing. That command did three things. 1. It tested the mans faith. 2. It tested the mans obedience. 3. It tested the mans anonymity. B. The mans faith was tested. 1. After being incapable of walking for so long, this was an immense test. 2. \#7\ called him "impotent," powerless, feeble. 3. We do not know the nature of the mans sickness or injury but it is possible that the man had not even tried to use his legs in years. 4. I do not know how long it had taken the man to accept the fact that he was lame and could not walk. I can only speak for my own stubborn self. I would not take anyones word for it. I would have to fall many times before I would accept it. 5. Jesus command was to walk now summoned him back to a door that he has long since closed and locked. a. Jesus was saying, "Trust Me above what you believe to be true, above what you experiences tell you, above what the learned have taught you.", b. Jesus was saying, "Trust Me to do what is impossible." 6. Perhaps your experiences and life has taught you that you cannot trust God, that God does not love you, that God does not even exist; but today, Jesus summons you back to that locked door and says, "Trust Me!" C. The mans obedience was tested. 1. Now, this man was being commanded to do what he had already attempted and failed to do, repeatedly. 2. This command was a test to see who would control his life from now forward. 3. Obedience is the cornerstone of repentance. a. We have all lived our lives as we wanted, as we deemed fit, but salvation and the Christian life require that we surrender control to Jesus. b. That does not mean that we will be perfect or even that we cease to make our own decisions. c. Rather, it means that moment by moment, we must choose to surrender our will to Jesus. d. Like this man, we must obey Jesus. D. The mans invisible status was about to be changed. 1. There is no telling how long this man has been sitting at the pool waiting for the angels to trouble the waters. 2. And while the Bible does not say, I suspect most people did not know who he was except that he was another man who needed help. 3. But Jesus command to take up his bed and walk on the Sabbath Day just a stones throw from the temple was about to put into the spotlight like nobodys business! 4. I do not have the time to deal with it this morning, but Jesus knew when He told the man to pick up His bed that this man was going to get caught by the Temple police and drug into a public confrontation. a. But Jesus did it anyway. b. Jesus could have healed the man without him picking up his bed but that is not what Jesus wanted. c. Jesus wanted the man to get noticed, and Jesus wanted the man to have to deal with the repercussions of meeting Him. 5. If you met Jesus in salvation, Jesus will also want you to get noticed. a. You can forget about the anonymous life! b. Those who saved by grace are expected and commanded to display that grace both by words and deeds and the only way you will live to be a secret disciple is to fail Jesus test! c. This man did not fail! III. \#14\ A Warning – "Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee." A. Jesus warning makes me think it is possible that this man may have been responsible for his condition. 1. The Bible does not make that clear but Jesus definitely associated sin with this mans condition. 2. Of course all sickness and problems are caused by the sin that Adams fall brought into the world, but God does sometimes send specific problems as a result of our deliberate sin. 3. What sin might this man have committed? I do not know and it is not important. 4. What is important is the warning. B. If you have met Jesus, do not continue to live sinfully. 1. Sin is what Jesus died to save us from. 2. If a Christian sins, God may step in to demonstrate His displeasure. 3. You ask, "What might God do?" I dont know and I dont want to find out!