He Heals

John 4:43-5:15

Good morning, welcome.  Today, we will continue our study of the book of John near the end of chapter 4.  Before we start that passage, I thought we might take a couple of minutes to review what has occurred in the previous chapters so far.  Chapter 1 begins with the beautiful testimony of Jesus as the Word of God and that “in Him was life, and that life was the light of man.”  Then, we were introduced to John the Baptist who came “to testify concerning the light, so that through him all men might believe.”  John the Baptist is not the light and he denies openly to the people that he is not the Christ.  Then, when Jesus arrives the next day, John declares, “Look, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!  This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”

One of the attributes of the Bible which I marvel at again and again is its truthfulness.  When you read the Word of God, there is no feeling that something is being concealed about the lives of the men and women.  If I were writing a book about heroes, about the chosen prophets, the spokesmen of God, I would try to leave out their warts and weaknesses.  But the Bible seems to go the opposite direction.  It is almost as if God went out of His way to include the weaknesses of the men and women of the Bible.

Right after declaring Jesus to the people, John then says a curious thing.  “I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”  And again, John says, “I would not have known him, except the one who sent me … told me … ”  In Luke, Jesus testifies of John, “I tell you, among those born of women there is no one greater than John;”  This greatest man ever born does not even know who Jesus is … except.  Except what?  Except the one who sent me told me.  That is comforting to me because I see that we all stand together.  Even John the Baptist is dependent on God to know who is the Messiah.

The focus then shifts from the testimony of John the Baptist to Jesus and His first disciples.  Andrew, most likely accompanied by John, first follow Jesus and then Andrew goes and brings his brother Simon Peter.  The next day, Jesus finds Philip and says to him, “Follow me.”  Philip goes and finds Nathanael.  From the beginning of John’s testimony until this point, these events occur in the wilderness of Judea along the Jordan River somewhere near Jerusalem.  Jesus and his new disciples leave and go back to Galilee.

 hey attend the wedding at Cana in Galilee where Jesus, being prompted by his mother, performs his first miracle by turning water into wine.  Following the wedding, Jesus and his disciples along with his mother and brothers go from Cana to Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee.  At the Passover, Jesus returns to Jerusalem.  There, Jesus clears the money changers and marketplace from the temple.  He also performed many miracles, except that John doesn’t use the word miracle.  John (I’m talking about John the author of the book, John the apostle) says Jesus performed many signs.  Keep that in mind.  Jesus performed miraculous signs, not just miracles.

Many believed in Jesus, but Jesus did not entrust himself to them.  In other words, he didn’t let them try to establish some earthly following.  The news and entertainment industries are all about what’s hot, what’s trending now.  There are websites that track what’s trending now.  So the more people that look into something, the more attention it gets.  If Jesus had entrusted himself to those who believed in him, they would have wanted to make him into something that he was not.  Jesus came to do the will of the Father, not the will of man.  John the Baptist said rightly that Jesus was the Lamb of God, the perfect sacrifice, to take away the sins of the world.  Jesus was not some attraction destined to become part of a traveling circus.  He was not and never will be a star of popular culture.

While in Jerusalem, Nicodemus (one of the religious leaders there) comes to Jesus secretly at night.  Nicodemus tries to begin a polite conversation, but Jesus immediately says, “no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again.”  They have a stirring dialog where Jesus declares God’s love for the world by sending His own son.   (John 3:16)

Then, Jesus and the disciples go out into the Judean countryside again along the Jordan River and now they begin baptizing.  John the Baptist declares again to his disciples that things are happening just as they should.  Jesus will increase and John will decrease.  John is happy and rejoices in the arrival of the bridegroom.  John speaks humbly saying, “A man can only receive what is given to him from heaven” and “the one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth.”

As a result of the increasing number of baptisms by Jesus’ disciples, the Pharisees take notice of Jesus.  At this point, Jesus leaves Judea and heads north for Galilee.  Jesus and his disciples pass through Samaria on the way.  As Carl shared last week, Jesus encounters the woman at the well.  As a result, many believe in Jesus by the woman’s testimony alone.  Even more believe in Jesus because of his words.  Keep this in mind too, that the Samaritans believed in Jesus because of his words alone.  There are no miracles recorded here unless you count Jesus knowing that the woman at the well had five husbands.  This knowledge is miraculous, but perhaps not a miracle.  John 2:24-25 say that “Jesus … knew all men.  He did not need man’s testimony about a man, for he knew what was in a man.”

Anyway, the Samaritan people came to Jesus and believed in Him without a string of miracles as a kind of bait or as a kind of guarantee of His authority.  They believed Jesus’ words and they drew the startling conclusion, “We know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

That catches us up all the way to John chapter 4 verse 43.  Before we jump into today’s passage, let’s take a moment and pray asking God to speak to us and to feed us from His Word.

Almighty God, the events recorded in Your Word are real and they are true.  Thank You for the record of the faithful testimony of many witnesses.  Open our eyes and our ears and our hearts to “receive what has been given to us from heaven.”  Enable us to understand and retain the good news.  Not only that, but please enable us to spread the good news in every place where you send us.  We are Your people, the sheep of Your pasture.  Be our shepherd, we pray.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.

Okay, John 4:43

After the two days he left for Galilee.  (Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)  When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.  Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine.  John 4:43-46

As we already discussed last week, Jesus stayed two days in Samaria.  Then, he leaves for Galilee.  The parenthetical there, “Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.”  This is a kind of notice for us that circumstances have changed.  Jesus and the disciples were seeing amazing responsiveness among the Samaritans.  Many were coming to him.  They wanted him to stay longer just to teach them.  They wanted to know the Savior of the world.

Don’t you almost wonder why Jesus would leave Samaria?  Why not stay where the harvest was?  Why not continue to reap where the fields where white?

I think we can take a couple of clues from other passages.  Isaiah wrote,

Nevertheless, there will be no more gloom for those who were in distress. In the past he humbled the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the future he will honor Galilee of the Gentiles, by the way of the sea, along the Jordan -- The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death a light has dawned.  Isaiah 9:1-2

Jesus left Samaria and went to Galilee because it was prophesied that He would.  I was listening to a message by Jon Courson about this passage, and he shared an interesting perspective regarding what the Bible meant to Jesus while He was on earth.  The Law and the Prophets were not only predictive for Jesus, but also directive.  Jesus was not a hearer only of the Word, He was also a doer of the Word.  Think about his exchange when Satan was tempting Him.  Jesus refuted Satan with the Word.  After His resurrection, Jesus also spoke to the disciples on the Emmaus road.  Luke 24:27 says, “he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning himself.”  Jesus knew everything in Scripture concerning himself.

Jesus must go to Galilee not only because of prophecy, but also because Jesus had a purpose to fulfill.  We already talked about John the Baptist declaring Jesus “the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”  Jesus told the disciples there in John 4:38 while they were in Samaria, “One sows and another reaps” and “I sent you to reap what you have not worked for.”  What is the seed to be sown?  Is it not the Word of God which is Jesus himself?  Jesus had to follow the path which would lead him to the cross.  Without His death, there would be no forgiveness of sin.  The harvest would not be an eternal one.  Jesus did not come to redeem just our lives here on earth.  He came to save us now and forever.

[Jesus interacts with the Father in the same ways available to us.]

And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.  When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him …  John 4:46-47

In the previous verses, we read that Jesus had returned to Cana.  It’s a good distance from Capernaum to Cana.  Google maps says more than 20 miles.  The terrain is pretty rugged.  It was likely a full day’s journey.  Later on, we will read that this man spoke to Jesus in the seventh hour of the day.  That would have been just after midday.  This man who was an official in Herod’s court got up at dawn and left to meet Jesus.

 … and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.  John 4:47

Death is no respecter of persons.  It comes to every house.  Although this man was wealthy and influential, there was no hope for his son that this official’s money or power could acquire.  The man loved his son and was willing to seek out this man Jesus of whom he had heard.  Even the possibility of a miracle or healing was worth the time, effort, expense, and possible dishonor of approaching a lowly itinerant preacher who had recently been just a carpenter.

This official begged Jesus.  He was desperate for the life of his son.  How does Jesus respond?

 “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.”  

The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies."  John 4:48-49

Do you ever read the words of Jesus and think, “Wow Jesus, that’s a little strong.”?  In this case, I tended to think that Jesus must not have been talking to the official so much as he was talking to the other people around him.  Before you reach that conclusion, contrast this exchange with Matthew 8 where the centurion approaches Jesus because of his sick servant.

The centurion first says, “Lord, my servant lies at home paralyzed and in terrible suffering.”  He does not make any demand of Jesus.  He states the situation honestly.  The official addresses Jesus as “Sir” which in the Greek is the same word in both Matthew 8 and John 4.  Both men show Jesus respect.  However, the official is begging that Jesus come and heal his son.

In Matthew 8, Jesus tells the centurion, “I will go and heal him.”  However, the centurion replies that he does not deserve Jesus to come under his roof.  And then the centurion states that Jesus need only to say the word and his servant will be healed.  Jesus was astonished by the centurion’s great faith.  Jesus then tells the centurion to go that it will be done as he believed, and the servant was healed from that hour.

Do you ever set conditions on God?  Do you tell him, “I need this assurance, or I will not trust You unless this other thing comes to pass.”?  I find often that I advise God.  However, no one can advise God.  His ways are the best ways.  His knowledge of our circumstances is complete.  We certainly need to cast our cares upon Him.  He desires us to share our heart with him.  But a great faith is one which trusts Jesus implicitly and completely in all circumstances to the full extent of his power and authority.

Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed.  John 4:52

In both cases, whether with the centurion or the official here, Jesus responds with compassion.  He heals the centurion’s servant and the official’s son.  If we come to him, he will respond to us.  If you seek him, you will find him.  And after this encounter, the official who was begging for Jesus to come now takes Jesus at his word.  His faith has grown from begging to trusting.

While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living.  When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, “The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.”  John 4:51-52

It is interesting that the servants encounter the official on the way, and they say, “Yesterday, the fever left him.”  What does that mean?  The official spent the night on the way.  Jesus says, “Your son will live.”  I think I might have just run all the way back from Cana to Capernaum just to see, just to be sure, just in case my son might not live, but die, just so I could see him one more time on this side of heaven.  The official now has a patient and enduring faith.

When we encounter Jesus, we likewise can take him at his word.  We don’t have to go fighting and doubting and resisting.  We can go on our way believing, knowing that he knows best and he does best in all things. 

I cannot tell you how many times I make mistakes and it turns out to lead me in the right path.  Just this week, I had a situation where I was very firm with someone about some detailed information.  I told them the information was incorrect and it was imperative that it be corrected.  When I finally had to address the issue, I found out that I was wrong.  The problem I had thought was so important was not actually a problem.  However, there was a different problem equally important that I completely missed.  This realization happened about 5 minutes before I had to discuss what needed to be resolved.  It’s hard to retell this story, but my point is that I do my best.  I’m not trying to make mistakes, but I often find out that when I do make mistakes, God uses them in some way.  Sometimes he lets me fail so that someone else will be blessed.  Sometimes he lets me fail as a protection for me.  So I come more and more to the point that whether I succeed or fail, God is in control.  I don’t want to make mistakes.  I want to be right, and I work diligently to be right.  But, I do not need to be afraid.

Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed.  This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.  John 4:53-54

This verse really speaks to dads.  Fathers, you are crucial to the spiritual development, to the salvation of your household.  This verse is not the only place where the father’s belief results in the belief of the entire household.  Most dads want good things for their families.  The most beneficial thing you can do for your family is to seek the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind.  Because, when you are growing spiritually, then you are on a good way to ensuring your whole household is on a good way forever.

This is not to discourage families where the father is not there.  I think of Lydia who believed and her whole household believed.  But I do want to encourage dads to strive to know God more, to love Him more for the sake of their whole family.

This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.  The first miracle was at the wedding in Cana.

 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews.  John 5:1

This is likely the Feast of Weeks, the feast at the same time as Pentecost.  The last trip to Jerusalem had been at Passover and the Feast of Weeks comes next.  The purpose of this feast was to celebrate the anniversary of the Law being given to the Israelites at Mount Sinai.  Keep that in mind, it will come up in a minute.

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, the paralyzed.  One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.  John 5:2-5

We’re going to read further about this one man, but what about the multitude, the great number of disabled people.  Why doesn’t Jesus just walk under the colonnade, raise his arms and shout, “Be healed!”?  Well, for one thing, Jesus is only going to do what the Father tells Him to do.  So, we can safely assume that it was not the Father’s will that all should be healed.

Another point is that Jesus did not do miracles according to the need around him.  Sometimes he did miracles because of the belief of the ones who asked.  Jesus’ miracles were never just miracles in and of themselves, something that blesses one person.  Even in response to changing the water to wine, a miracle known only to the disciples and servants who filled the water jars, the disciples put their faith in Jesus.  Really, nothing Jesus did can be taken as an unrelated individual event.  Everything in His life is rich with meaning and purpose.  John’s common use of the words “miraculous sign” rather than “miracle” seems to capture it best.  Miracles don’t happen for the individual alone, they also magnify God.

There is another takeaway when you consider that Jesus never ministered according to need but rather in obedience to the Father.  If you take it upon yourself to try and meet every need that you are aware of, you will find life very stressful and your relationships with others will become damaged.  Jesus lived a deliberate, tranquil, and fruitful life.  Not a harried, exasperated, can’t miss any opportunity kind of life.  We can follow his example.  “Trust in the Lord and do good.  Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness.” (Psalm 37:3)  “Do not worry for who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?” (Luke 12:25)

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 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.”  John 5:6-7 

At the beginning of the evangelism class, John Bullard shared this man’s response to Jesus.  Jesus asked a clear question.  “Do you want to get well?”  The man doesn’t respond to Jesus’ question.  Instead, he responds with his own system of belief.  This is what I am doing and this is why it is broken and doesn’t work.

He also focuses his need on someone else.  If I just had someone to help me, then I would be okay.  My system of belief would work for me.  The whole time the man is making excuses, Jesus is standing there.  Jesus is always standing there, hand outstretched, waiting for us to respond.  Do you want to get well?

This is a serious question.  Do you want to get well?  There are a great many indicators that culturally, people do not want to get well.  People want to live the way they are and they don’t want things to change, not really.  We want to have our cake and eat it, too.  We want to feed our flesh and keep a hold on God.  We want to have fellowship with God and have no suffering in our lives.  We want to pray for 5 minutes a day or read a Bible verse and feel close to God.

Do you want to get well?  I don’t know about you, but people often give me praise.  Wow, you did this or you did that.  I did something this week and someone told me, you’re a lifesaver.  Really?  Seriously?  A lifesaver.  Instead, I hear Jesus saying, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these.”  Are you doing greater things than Jesus did?  No?  Can you even consider that Jesus was telling the truth when he said that?  No, then, you’re not all the way well.

But, do you want to get well?  I want to get well, so badly.  Lord, take away this decaying, deceitful flesh.  If you are willing, you can make me clean.  Yes, I want to get well.

Do you want to get well?  Maybe you feel healthy and strong today.  There are some who can say, I am not able to run, but I remember a day when I could not stand and I am thankful that I can walk.  But if you do feel lame toward God, if you feel paralyzed in your relationship with Him, what is there in your life that is causing you to be lame?  What is causing paralysis in your relationship to God?  He desires obedience, not sacrifice.  If there is some area in your life where you are not obeying God, then confess it to Him and repent, turn away from it.  If you feel a lameness or paralysis toward God but have no idea why, then confess that and ask Him to show you why.  Seek him, pray to him, talk to him.  He is waiting there beside you.

 Do you want to get well?

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.  John 5:8-9

If Jesus says to you, “Get up!”  Then, get up.  Jesus didn’t have to tell him to pick up his mat.  What does it mean if the mat is picked up?  The man no longer has a place to fall back to.  It’s time to go.  Get up pick up your mat and walk. 

If you have not trusted Jesus before, you can get up and walk with Him.  Stay close to Him like your closest friend.  Pray to Him as often as you can.  Read His word, listen to His word.  Talk to other believers about Him and pray together with them.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”  John 5:9-10

Remember when I said this could have occurred during the Feast of Weeks when they celebrated the anniversary of receiving the Law.  Now here comes this man, carrying his mat contrary to the religious traditions of that day.  The Law does not say anything about what you can and cannot carry on the Sabbath.  It says do no work on the Sabbath.  Jeremiah talks about not carrying loads on the Sabbath, but the context clearly is talking about engaging in trade, buying and selling things.   Jesus said in Mark 2 that the Sabbath was made for man, not man made for the Sabbath.  The intent was for the Jewish people to seek God on the Sabbath, not to seek things for themselves.

However, the Jews are mad at this man.  They see the man carrying something and they rebuke him sharply.  It does not matter to them why he is carrying his mat.  According to their interpretation of the Law, it is forbidden.

But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”  John 5:11

From all the verses that we cover today, this is the one that has been playing over and over in my mind.  The Jews are quick to point out that this man is a lawbreaker.  But the man replies, “The man who made me well.”  For 38 years, this man was crippled.  Now, he can walk.  For 38 years, this man could not walk and the Law did nothing to make him well.  As Romans 8 says, “For what the law was powerless to do in that it was weakened by the sinful nature, God did by sending his own Son.”  The Law is powerless to heal.  It’s only power is to condemn.

“The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”  Whatever the man who made me well says, then that is what you do.  Why?  Because that man has authority.  He has done something for you that no other person or system or religion can do.  Listen to what the man who made you well says and do that.

If the Jews hadn’t stopped the man carrying his mat, I can just imagine him walking around Jerusalem.  Up one street and down the other, all the while saying to himself, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”  I’ve got my mat, here under my arm.  I picked it up.  And now, I’m walking.  I wasn’t walking for 38 years, but today, I can walk.  I’ve been walking all day.  I couldn’t walk before, but now I can. 

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.  John 5:12-13

I have a hard time understanding the emotion of the Jews on this point.  I don’t think we have traditions so strong that we would be indignant to see someone breaking a cultural norm in response to Jesus.  It can be easy to sneer a little at their foolishness, but I mentioned earlier an observation from Jon Courson.  Here is another one.  We may not get mad at God for violating a tradition, but what happens when God doesn’t meet our expectations.  My words for it are “transactional belief.”  If we do this, then God does that.  Cause and effect.  I think this may come somewhat from our Greek heritage and somewhat from living in a “scientific age.”  We expect all things to work according to certain rules.  Do you have expectations of what God can and cannot do in your life?  Usually, when we set conditions for God, he has a tendency to break them.  God is not especially interested in our expectations.  He loves us and cares about our expectations because he cares for us.  But ultimately, He’s concerned about our eternal souls.  He wants to do the better thing.  Are we willing to trust when He doesn’t do what we expect?

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 Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  John 5:14-15

That last sentence is a bit of a cliff hanger into the next passage.  Jesus’ reputation for “working” on the Sabbath was spread.  I don’t think the healed man was doing wrong.  Jesus had given no instruction.

The first sentence is cool.  The man is healed and yet harassed by the Jews.  But, he has faith and understanding enough to continue to seek God.  He is at the temple.  At that time, this was the place of prayer and praise.  He has much to be thankful for and when Jesus comes to look for him, he is found there.  Come often to a place of prayer and praise because God is waiting to find you there.

I don’t know exactly what Jesus means by “See, you are well again.”  It seems that the man must have had some doubt, perhaps when Jesus told him to “Get up!”  Sometimes God surprises us and reminds us that we have been made well.  Taryn had a novel for one of her classes which was an optional read.  When she got done with it, she expressed that it was a very weird book.  I picked it up and read the introduction and thought it might be interesting.  It took me back to some very dark times in my life.  I identified very strongly with the main character and his way of thinking.  In the past, if I had read a book like that, it would have been very discouraging.  Almost like unlocking a Pandora’s box.  However, I finished the book last week, and it was as if I had faced demons from my adolescence, but they were locked up, like in a zoo.  I could see them, but they could no longer hurt me or even frighten me.  It was as if God said to me, “See, you are well.”  I had forgotten I was sick.  We need to be mindful that we have been made well.  It reminds us to stop sinning and pursue purity.