In the Bible, we see Jesus heal people who have great faith and people with not a lot of faith at all. Jesus didn’t heal people just to reward their faith. He also healed people to prove who he was — the Messiah. It’s important to understand Jesus will heal His children. Maybe it will be in this life. Maybe it will be in the life to come. What we’re commanded to do is simply to pray. Because Jesus can, and will, heal.
Next Steps
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We begin today by reading a story in John 5, starting at verse 1. This is what John writes:
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Some time 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.
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Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been sick for thirty-eight years.
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When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
“Sir,” the sick man 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.”
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Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.
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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.”
But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
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So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”
The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
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Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Let me start with a question — why doesn’t Jesus heal everyone by the pool?
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We’re told Bethesda is an area where a large group of people were blind, lame and paralyzed. A lot of people are suffering.
There were probably people there who had been blind their whole lives — never saw their mom or dad, or brothers or sisters. They wanted badly to see.
There were people whose bodies didn’t work properly. They couldn’t walk to the temple to worship, couldn’t engage in meaningful work with their hands.
John tells us a lot of people are suffering, but Jesus only heals one person.
Why just this man?
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It’s not because Jesus doesn’t know about all the suffering. He’s standing there watching it.
It’s not because Jesus lacks compassion. John makes it real clear — he has never known a person with a heart as loving as Jesus.
Some people believe it’s because this is the only man who really has enough faith to get healed.
This is a very common teaching in our day. We see it proclaimed by high-profile, popular faith healers in the media — if you believe enough, if you claim boldly enough, you can be healed. You can expect a miracle.
And the corollary is — if individuals or a church is not experiencing dramatic healing, then it’s because they lack faith. Or they haven’t devoted themselves adequately to developing a healing ministry.
So maybe that’s what’s going on in this text. Maybe this is a story to show that miracles only go to those whose faith is strong enough to claim them.
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Let’s take a closer look at this.
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First I’d like you to notice that in verse 6 we’re told — Jesus approaches this man.
This man is at the pool every day. He would have made his living there as a beggar.
And usually in stories of healing the person who wants to be healed comes to Jesus, but not here. Jesus initiates the contact.
Then notice the question Jesus asks in verse 6:
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“Do you want to get well?”
What kind of a question is that? “Do you want to get well?”
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How many of you have ever asked a dumb question? Anyone?
One of my favorite examples was written by Ken Davis.
He said he was on a plane one time, sitting on a newspaper. He was sitting on the paper.
And someone next to him asked him, “Are you reading that paper?”
And only someone like Ken Davis would do this. He said, “Yes.” And he stood up, turned the page, and sat back down.
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We all ask dumb questions at times. It’s kind of an occupational hazard of human beings.
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Well Jesus is posing a question here that’s got to make you scratch your head. The answer seems so obvious.
Why would you ask a man who’s been disabled for 38 years, “Do you want to get well?”
Who wouldn’t want to get well? Isn’t that the whole point of laying by the pool day after day? It seems kind of insensitive, doesn’t it?
Alright, keep this in mind. We’ll come back to it.
Notice the man’s response in verse 7.
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“Sir,” the sick man 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.”
A word of background here — some Bibles have a footnote for verse 4. And you’ll notice it talks about there being a kind of spring where the water is being stirred up.
There was a spring or artesian well at this pool, and when it was bubbling, there was an old tradition or superstition that an angel was stirring the waters, and whoever got to them first would be healed.
And you need to know this is not part of Scripture.
A scribe added it to the manuscript long after the gospel of John was written. That’s why it’s in there as a footnote, if it’s there at all.
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You see, people sometimes have a tendency to want to make healing into a mechanism or a technique that they can manipulate or control.
And that may be what’s going on with this guy.
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At any rate, Jesus asked him, “Do you want to be whole? Do you want to get well?”
And the man doesn’t actually answer Jesus’ question. He doesn’t say yes.
He gives reasons why he isn’t able to be the first one to get into the water when it’s stirred up.
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And John is kind of letting us know that this guy’s excuses are not legit excuses.
This has been going on for 38 years.
In 38 years, he would have been able to get a little community of friends together to get him down to the water.
He might have saved up enough money from begging and paid someone to get him down to the water.
He could have tried to persuade people, like the persistent widow in one of Jesus’ stories or like the Canaanite woman, until people gave into his persistence.
He might have had himself laid by the water so he could be right next to it.
He doesn’t do any of these things.
What’s more amazing than his excuses is — this man doesn’t even reply to a clear offer Jesus is making him here.
Remember, this is Jesus, the healer. His healing ministry was electrifying the country.
People are approaching Jesus from everywhere, grasping at the hem of his garment, breaking through roofs to get to him.
Jesus doesn’t ask the man, “Why haven’t you gotten to the pool?” He asks, “Do you want to be well?”
And this man never says, “Yes. Could you do that? I put my trust in you.”
He just gives excuses about why he can’t make it down to the water.
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You know, it’s been fascinating this week to look at the different amounts of faith people demonstrate in Jesus in different healing stories in the New Testament.
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The Canaanite woman we looked at in the beginning of this series had unshakable faith in Jesus’ compassion.
They kind of sparred back and forth about whether or not he should heal her daughter. And then she said, “Even the dogs get crumbs from the master’s table.”
And Jesus said to her, “Woman, you have great faith!” And he healed her daughter.
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The leper in Mark 2 is much less certain of Jesus’ compassion. He said to Jesus, “If you’re willing, you could make me clean.”
If you are willing…
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The centurion in Matthew 8 has unprecedented faith in Jesus’ power. He says, “You don’t even have to come to my home. Just say the word.”
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The father of a tormented son in Mark 9 is much less sure about Jesus’ power.
He says to Jesus, “If you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”
Jesus says, “If you can? Everything is possible to the one who believes.”
And the man says, “I do believe; help me with my unbelief!”
And Jesus does.
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There are a wide variety of amounts of faith people approach Jesus with, but here in John 5 Jesus doesn’t even pursue a conversation with this man about faith.
There are no questions, no sparring. He doesn’t even ask this man, “Do you believe?”
He doesn’t even ask him a second time if he wants to be well.
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Another thing:
Jesus commends the Canaanite woman for her faith — He says, “Great is your faith.”
He commends the centurion — “Truly I have not found such faith in all of Israel.”
Question: Where does Jesus commend the faith of this man in John 5?
He doesn’t.
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There is no indication that this man had greater faith than anyone else at the pool. There is no indication that this man had any faith at all.
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Apparently Jesus does not view acts of healing, primarily, as relief from suffering to be given out to those who have a high enough level of certainty.
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The reason he performs this act of healing is to reveal his identity… to authenticate his mission as the Messiah.
The Jews believed, based on Isaiah 35:6, that the Messiah would one day cause the lame to leap like a deer.
Jesus is fulfilling this prophesy. He’s helping people to realize that he is in fact the Messiah mentioned by the prophet Isaiah.
So he cuts right to the chase with this guy. “Pick up your mat and walk.” And the guy does.
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I want to pause here for a moment.
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Now… can Jesus heal? Yes… he can.
One of my favorite writings about Jesus is written by Dallas Willard.
Listen to what he says about how powerful Jesus is:
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At the literally mundane level, Jesus knew how to transform the molecular structure of water to make it wine.
That knowledge also allowed him to take a few pieces of bread, some little fish, and feed thousands of people.
He could create matter from the energy he knew how to access from right where he was.
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He knew how to transform the tissues of the human body from sickness to health and from death to life.
He knew how to suspend gravity,
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interrupt weather patterns, and eliminate unfruitful trees without saw or axe. He only needed a word.
Death was not something others imposed on him. He explained to his followers, in the moment of crisis, he could at any time call for 72,000 angels to do whatever he wanted.
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He plainly said, ‘Nobody takes my life. I give it up by choice. I am in position to lay it down, and I am in position to resume it. My Father and I have worked all this out.’
All these things show Jesus cognitive and practical mastery of every phase of reality—physical, moral and spiritual.
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He is not just nice; he is brilliant.
He is the smartest man who ever lived.
He is now supervising the entire course of world history while simultaneously preparing the rest of the universe for our future role in it.
This is the Jesus who says, “Pick up your mat and walk.”
So could Jesus heal? Yes. Absolutely!
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John says in John 20:30 and 31:
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Jesus performed many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
I think it’s accurate to say that Jesus’ primary purpose in healing in the New Testament is not the elimination of suffering. That will come one day. He’s committed to that.
But that day has not come yet.
His primary purpose was to let people know his identity so they could trust him and find life in him.
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So can Jesus heal? Yes. He is the master over every phase of reality.
Can we make healing happen by having enough faith? No.
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Here’s a true story.
I have a friend who knows a long-time pastor who is deeply into the belief that Christians with enough faith will be healed of anything, absolutely anything.
If you have any sickness, any injury, he believes if you have enough faith you’ll be healed of it.
And ironically, this guy is bald, and he believes that if he had enough faith he would have a full head of hair. I’m not making this up.
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I talked to a number of people this week with long-term physical problems in the areas of illness or injury.
One friend has lived with paralysis in his legs for 20+ years.
He’s been in the church his whole life.
He loves God with humility and an uncomplaining spirit I can only hope I might grow into someday.
He told me how sometimes people ask him, “Have you prayed for healing?”
And he says, “Yes.”
And sometimes people will say, “You must not have enough faith.”
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Listen… teaching people that a lack of healing indicates a lack of faith does massive spiritual damage… and I believe contradicts the plain teaching of Scripture.
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It neglects the biblical record of the Apostle Paul who, despite his prayers, was never delivered from his thorn in the flesh.
It neglects the biblical record that suffering — including physical suffering — was the norm, not the exception, for Jesus’ closest followers.
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Now, don’t get me wrong here… Jesus is the master of healing.
And Jesus invites us to partner with him in prayer. He can heal… and he will heal.
But whether he heals in this life or the life to come is not always for us to know.
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And whenever healing comes… it always comes as a mystery and a gift.
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One day it came to this man in Bethesda.
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Let’s look back at this story.
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Try to put yourself in this scene for a moment.
For 38 years this man has been paralyzed, living as a beggar without help or hope.
If this was today, it would mean he was paralyzed since 1983. From 1983 until right now — day after day, month after month, year after year.
And then in an instant this man Jesus comes and heals him.
So what does this man do?
Does he bathe Jesus’ feet in tears of love like the forgiven woman at Simon’s house?
Does he run back to Jesus like the leper who was healed to pour out his gratitude?
Does he tell everyone the good news about Jesus like the Samaritan woman at the well?
No… he doesn’t say a word. He doesn’t do a thing. He picks up his mat and walks away.
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It gets worse.
In verse 12, some Jewish leaders, hostile to Jesus, ask him, “Who told you to pick up your mat?”
They look at this man… they don’t see a miracle.
They see a violation of the law… that’s all they see.
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Notice the man’s response in verse 13:
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The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
“I don’t know. I didn’t catch his name. Got away too fast.”
This man didn’t even bother to find out the name of the one who healed him… after 38 years of helplessness and hopelessness.
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It gets worse.
Look at verse 14.
Once again, in verse 14, it’s Jesus taking initiative with the man. Jesus has a kind of follow-up session with him and makes a very shocking statement.
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Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
Jesus says, “Stop sinning.” The clear meaning here being that he has been involved in some ongoing sin since his healing that Jesus is telling him must end.
This is kind of a shocking thing for Jesus to say.
What’s going on here?
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Well, there’s a good chance that this man has gone back to his old way of life.
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Jesus finds him again in this common area where people go if they want to beg.
I think it’s very possible that the sin he’s involved in is he’s trying to deceive people and pretend like he’s still paralyzed.
He’s coming to the same spot very early in the morning, laying on the same mat, trying to hustle people into supporting him.
So when Jesus comes and publicly affirms his wellness, “See, you are well again,” he’s blowing the guy’s cover.
You can picture the man saying, “Shh! Ixnay on the ealinghay, will you?!”
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He doesn’t want to go to work.
He doesn’t want to learn a trade.
He doesn’t want to have to expend the effort.
He clings to his old way of life, his old brokenness.
Now, why would he do this?
Maybe it’s because it’s easy.
Maybe it’s because he’s afraid to try something new.
This is a story of the sin of ingratitude.
This is like the prodigal son saying, “I think I’ll just stay here with the pigs and blow off my father.”
This is like the lost sheep saying, “I think I’ll hide here in my lostness and elude the shepherd who longs to bring me home.”
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Well, whatever is going on, Jesus, who cannot stand to see a human being choose to throw their life away, speaks very stern words to him:
“Stop sinning. Something worse may happen. There are worse things than physical suffering. It’s possible to choose to live with a deformed soul. Stop sinning. Something worse may happen.”
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Now this is the climactic moment of the story. This is the hinge on which everything turns… even more than the physical healing. This is this man’s moment.
And Jesus watches.
Will the man get it?
Will he fall to his knees?
Will he repent of his sin?
Will he receive healing for his soul?
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No… he turns and walks away.
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And in verse 15, he goes to Jesus’ mortal enemies and says, “I found out his name. It’s Jesus. The man you’re hunting… his name is Jesus.”
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And in the gospel of John, this is the beginning of the persecution of Jesus.
I won’t take time to read it right now, but you can look at verses 16, 17 and 18. They begin to try to kill Jesus, and they won’t stop until they succeed.
And it begins with this man.
Jesus would pay for this with his life.
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“Do you want to get well?” Jesus asked.
You understand he’s speaking not just about physical healing. He uses quite a rare word. It could be translated “whole.” “Do you want to be whole?”
Or it could be translated “sound.” It was used in the New Testament to describe sound teaching. “Do you want to be sound?”
“Do you want to leave this way of life?” Jesus asks. “Understand, there will be some changes. You won’t be seen as a victim anymore. You’ll have to embrace new challenges — new responsibilities. Do you want this… really?”
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See, there’s a kind of cost to wholeness.
Jesus’ offer to heal was not, and is not, a promise to a problem-free, suffering-free life.
You see, Jesus knew exactly what he was doing when he asked this question. He knew exactly what he was doing…
“Do you want to be known as one who is healed by me?
“Do you want to be associated with me?
“Do you want to take the heat and opposition from powerful forces that that will involve?
“Do you want to be pressured and persecuted for my sake?
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No… the man did not.
He would prefer to betray the one who healed him.
He wanted to avoid suffering, maybe.
He didn’t want to be whole.
He didn’t want to be sound.
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So let me ask you… do you want to be whole… really?
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If you do, you need to know this: We cannot fix ourselves.
Some time ago, someone in our family — I can’t remember who it was — but someone dropped a piece of jewelry down the drain in the bathroom sink.
And I didn’t have a clue about what to do to get it out.
So I humbled myself and called a friend who is a plumber.
And he described for me the way things work. He said, “Open the door under your sink and you’ll see some pipes.”
And I opened the door and there were a bunch of pipes. I got chills. It’s like he was there with me.
And then he described for me how they’d be shaped and loop around and what I’d have to do.
And I did it, and it all happened just the way he said it would. And I got the piece of jewelry out.
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But I had to humble myself first. I had to get help.
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Do you want to be whole?
If so, you cannot fix yourself.
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So today is about humbling ourselves… and getting help.
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We have a prayer team that meets almost every day… and they do the single most powerful thing that Christ followers can do… which is pray.
James 5:16 says: “Pray for one another so that you may be healed.”
And that’s what this team does every week.
They don’t use that time to give each other advice.
They don’t do planning.
They don’t do counseling.
Those aren’t bad things to do, but that’s not what they do. They just pray… and they ask Jesus to heal.
And some of you need to just ask for prayer.
Maybe you’re facing physical brokenness—an injury or an illness.
Maybe you’re afraid of what the future is going to look like.
Maybe you’re suffering from emotional brokenness—going through real deep waters of depression, sadness and can’t fix yourself.
Maybe you’re experiencing relational brokenness.
Maybe your marriage is hurting and you’re trying to hide so nobody knows, and you hardly admit it to yourself.
Maybe you’re desperately worried about one of your kids or one of your parents or a friend.
Maybe you feel so alone.
Some of you, I know, are in the grip of some pattern or habit or addiction or sin, and you keep telling yourself that it’s going to change and you keep trying to just settle for manageable.
Maybe you feel broken by failure—financially or vocationally.
Maybe you feel broken as a parent, or maybe just as a Christian.
This is real simple in Scripture: “Pray for one another.”
I’ve talked to some of our prayer team members this week about being available for anyone who needs prayer.
Some of our prayer team members are here in this service and they want to pray for you. You just need to ask them.
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The band is going to come play another song and while they do I’d like you to consider where you need healing in your life. Where do you want to be whole?
And if you’re willing to ask for prayer, come to the front and one of our team members will pray for you.
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James 5:16 says, “Pray for one another.” That’s what our team wants to do for you.
There’s just power in prayer. There just is.
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So just take the time during this song and reflect on where you need to be made whole… where you need healing. And then come forward and ask for prayer.
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After this song I’ll come back up to lead us in a prayer to close the service.
Blue Oaks Church
Pleasanton,CA
