Title: Make Us Whole Again

Text: John 5: 1-9

1
Pagkaraan nito'y pumunta si Jesus sa Jerusalem upang dumalo sa isang pista ng mga
Judio. 2Sa lunsod na ito na malapit sa Pintuan ng mga Tupa ay may malaking deposito ng
tubig na may limang portiko. Kung tawagin ito sa wikang Hebreo ay Bethzata. 3-4 Nasa
paligid nito ang maraming maysakit, mga bulag, mga pilay, at mga paralitiko.
5
May isang lalaki doon na tatlumpu't walong taon nang may sakit. 6Nakita siya ni Jesus at
alam niyang matagal nang may sakit ang lalaki kaya't tinanong niya ito, “Gusto mo bang
gumaling?”
7
Sumagot ang maysakit, “Ginoo, wala pong maglusong sa akin kapag gumalaw na ang
tubig; papunta pa lamang ako, may nauuna na sa akin.”
8
Sinabi sa kanya ni Jesus, “Tumayo ka, buhatin mo ang iyong higaan at lumakad ka.” 
9
Noon di'y gumaling ang lalaki, binuhat ang kanyang higaan, at lumakad.

1
After this there was a feast of the Jews; and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now
there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew
tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent
folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water.

4 
For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the
water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made
whole of whatsoever disease he had.

5 
And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.
6 
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?

7 
The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled,
to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before
me.

8 
Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.

9 
And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked:
and on the same day was the sabbath.
Background of the verse:
1. Feast: Feast of the Passover

2. The Pool of Bethesda was “in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate” (Lion’s gate-present time)

3. The name of the pool, “Bethesda,” is Aramaic. It means “House of Mercy.”

4. It was at this pool that Jesus performed a miracle showing that He is greater than any
human illness and that superstition and religious folklore are foolish and feeble
substitutes for faith in God.

5. Legend: had it that an angel would come down into the pool and “stir up the water.” The
first person into the pool after the stirring of the water “was made well from whatever
disease with which he was afflicted” (John 5:4, NAS). The Bible does not teach that this
actually happened

6. According to manuscript evidence, the most likely answer is that these words were not
part of the original text of the Gospel of John. They might have been written into a
margin, as a note, or a traditional explanation of the pool. At some point, the note might
have been inadvertently copied into the main body and been absorbed as part of the text
itself.

7. On the day that Jesus visited the Pool of Bethesda, there was a man there who “had been
an invalid for thirty-eight years” (John 5:5). Jesus asked the man if he wanted to be
healed. The 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” (verse 7).

8. Obviously, the man believed the urban legend about the stirring of the water. He blamed
the fact that he was never healed on his tardiness in getting into the water.

Video: video clip from “The Chosen” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMj1ggINLe4

1. Imagine this man, he’s suffering for thirty-eight years sitting on your mat.
2. Every day is the same. Waiting. Watching. Hoping. Not much changes.
3. Sitting on his mat has become a way of life for the man in today’s gospel. His life is
stagnant.
4. He’s unable to see that the deep well of life is within him.
5. He’s convinced that life will bubble up outside of him, over there, in that magic pool of
water.
6. So he sits on his mat waiting, watching, and hoping that things will change.
7. He won’t get up off his mat until he sees the first bubble. He is living an “as soon as” life.
8. “As soon as the water bubbles then I will get up off my mat. As soon as I get to the
water my life will be better. As soon as I get into the water my problems will be fixed.”
9. The pool of Bethesda is an illusion. It convinces us that our life is nothing more than our
circumstances. It deceives us into believing that life is to be found outside ourselves. It
tricks us into living an “as soon as” life. Most of us know what that is like. We say to
ourselves or maybe even out loud to another, “As soon as this or that happens
everything will be better. I’ll be happy. My problems will go away. I’ll be satisfied. All
will be well.”
10. The pool of Bethesda has a strong attraction for us. Children often say, “As soon as I get
big, grow up, am an adult ….” It continues throughout our life. “As soon as ….”
 I graduate, get a job, get a better job;
 I get married or get out of this relationship;
 I have more time, more money, a better house;
 He changes the way he acts;
 She apologizes;
 I feel better or get through this time in my life;
 They do what I want;
 I get a vacation, retire, move to the mountains;
 I get over this grief and no longer feel sad;
 I lose ten pounds, get in shape.

11. “As soon as ….” You can fill in the blank with most anything. The problem is there will
always be another pool of Bethesda. Meanwhile life has been put on hold. The pause
button has been pushed. We sit on our mat, self-imprisoned by the circumstances of our
life.
12. The imprisonment is so great that when Jesus asks the man, “Do you want to be made
well?” the man doesn’t even say, “Yes.” Instead he offers circumstances and excuses. “I
have no one to put me in the water. When the water bubbles others get there first.
They are always ahead of me.”

13. I’m not suggesting that the circumstances of our lives are irrelevant or have no effect.
That’s just not true. They do affect us. We are, however, more than the circumstances of
our life. Life is not to be found outside our various situations or circumstances but within
them. To believe something other than this is to live constantly looking for the next pool
of Bethesda.

14. Jesus does not help the man get into the water. He comes to him on his mat, the same
mat and situation the man so wants to escape, and speaks words of life and resurrection.
“Get up off your mat!” To quote Jesus a bit more accurately, “Stand up, take your mat
and walk.” The man does not leave his mat behind. It goes with him. His circumstances
are real. The difference is he now carries them. They no longer carry him.

15. Jesus doesn’t change our outer circumstances. He changes us. He calls us into a new way
of being, seeing, acting, speaking, thinking. When we stand and rise to that new life we
discover the circumstances have somehow changed. That doesn’t necessarily make life
easy or mean we no longer have to deal with the circumstances of life. It makes our
circumstances more manageable and we engage them from a different place and
position. The pool of Bethesda is drained of its power over us. There is freedom where
there was once imprisonment. Inertia gives way to creativity. Once stagnant waters now
bubble with new life.

16. Paralyzed Man = Paralyzed Christians

Mat = Situation that keeps the man from lying
Pool = Things we thought can heal us from being paralyzed
WHAT ARE THE CHARACTERS OF JESUS DO THESE PASSAGES TEACH US?

1. He is Intentional
V.5 “The paralyzed”
* Sa dinami-dami ng tao sa lugar na iyon, nilapitan Niya ang taong paralitiko.
* He is intentional with you!
* Because He knows your every pain, struggles, problems.
* What are the things that paralyzes you?
* He wants to heal you!

2. He is personal
V. 6 “Do you want to get well?”
* Now, at first, Jesus’ question seems like such an odd thing to ask: “Do you want to be
made well?” What kind of question is that? Why, of course, he wanted to be made well.
He’d been coming to the pool of Bethesda all his life. Why else would he have been
there?
* “Do you (really) want to be made well?” Are you sure of what you want?
* Jesus wants the paralyzed man reflect on his situation and tell Jesus what he really
wants.
* Jesus is asking us today.
* What do you want? What healing do you need?

3. He is in control
V. 8 “Get up, take up your bed, and walk”
* Leave this place of Bethesda, the things that we thought can heal us
* and follow the leading of Jesus
* Does the man stay faithless in Jesus? No!
* He trusts the words of Jesus and follows Him.
* What is He commanding you to do?
Conclusion:
Jesus doesn’t change our outer circumstances. He changes us. He calls us into a new way of
being, seeing, acting, speaking, thinking. When we stand and rise to that new life we discover
the circumstances have somehow changed. That doesn’t necessarily make life easy or mean we
no longer have to deal with the circumstances of life. It makes our circumstances more
manageable and we engage them from a different place and position. The pool of Bethesda is
drained of its power over us. There is freedom where there was once imprisonment.

The life Jesus offers does not happen “as soon as ….” It happens in this place, at this time, in
these circumstances. Are you sitting on your mat? Are you looking for a pool of Bethesda?
“Stand up, take your mat and walk.”