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to John's Gospel, John chapter 
5. John 5, I'll pick up reading 
at verse 1. We'll read just about to the half mark of this chapter, 
but our focus this morning will be on verses 1 to 15, the healing 
at Bethesda. So beginning in chapter 5 at 
verse 1. After this, there was a feast 
of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in 
Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, 
having five porches. In these lay a great multitude 
of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving 
of the water. For an angel went down at a certain 
time into the pool and stirred up the water. Then whoever stepped 
in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of 
whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who 
had an infirmity 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there 
and knew that he had already been in that condition a long 
time, he said to him, do you want to be made well? The sick 
man answered him, sir, I have no man to put me into the pool 
when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another 
steps down before me. Jesus said to him, rise, take 
up your bed and walk. And immediately the man was made 
well, took up his bed and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. 
The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, it is the Sabbath. It is not lawful for you to carry 
your bed. He answered them, he who made 
me well said to me, take up your bed and walk. Then they said, 
or then they asked him, who is the man who said to you, take 
up your bed and walk? But the one who was healed did 
not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being 
in that place. Afterward, Jesus found him in 
the temple and said to him, See, you have been made well. Sin 
no more, lest a worst thing come upon you. The man departed and 
told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this 
reason, the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him because 
he had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, 
my father has been working until now, and I have been working. 
Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because 
he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his 
father, making himself equal with God. Then Jesus answered 
and said to them, most assuredly I say to you, the son can do 
nothing of himself, but what he sees the father do, for whatever 
he does, the son also does in like manner. For the Father loves 
the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself does. And He 
will show Him greater works than these that you may marvel. For 
as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even 
so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges 
no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all 
should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who 
does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 
Amen. Well, let us pray. Our God and 
our Father, we thank you for the written word of the living 
and true God. We thank you that you have not 
left us as orphans in the world. You've given us the Holy Spirit, 
and you have given us this sure guide. And we give praise to 
you for all of the Bible, from Genesis to Revelation. And we 
pray now that the Spirit who gave it would lead us and guide 
us as we consider the Lord Jesus and his glory and his power and 
the man... a manifestation of His sovereignty 
in this passage. As well, God, help us to see 
the gravity of our condition does not militate against the 
power of our blessed Savior. Your strength is made perfect 
in our weakness, and we rejoice in that. Forgive us for all of 
our sin and unrighteousness. We ask, God, that You would encourage 
and strengthen each of our hearts We ask for those who are still 
dead in their trespasses and sins to be awakened by the powerful 
voice of the Son of God as it comes through the gospel. And 
we ask this in the name and for the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
amen. Well, in chapter one at verse 
19 and continuing to chapter 12 and verse 50, we have the 
public ministry of our Lord Jesus Christ. Some have called this 
the book of the signs, and there are seven things recorded for 
us by the apostle, the evangelist, John, to demonstrate the glory 
of our blessed Savior. Now, chapters 5 and 6 are similar. Both begin with a miracle, and 
then there is opposition by the Jews, and then there is Jesus' 
self-revelation given. In chapter 5, he reveals himself 
as the Son of God. In chapter 6, he reveals himself 
as the Bread of Life, things that the prologue has already 
introduced in terms of who Jesus Christ is. As well, John is also 
introducing another theme that will fare large in the narrative, 
and that is opposition to our Lord Jesus Christ. You'd think 
that the man who brought life and salvation, the man who brings 
healing, the man who gives this a lame man, the ability to walk 
again, would be received with open arms. But the fact that 
he is opposed demonstrates what John makes clear in the prologue. Jesus came to his own and his 
own did not receive him. Rather, they rejected him. They 
refused him. They engage in opposition against 
him. And of course, in the gospel narratives, it culminates in 
the crucifixion of our Savior, which was the plan of God all 
along. So they thought they were actually 
acting against the Savior. They were acting in conjunction 
with the decree of God to save us men and to provide us with 
that great salvation. So Jesus faces opposition here 
in chapter 5 from the Jews. In chapter 6, we see from professed 
disciples. Chapter 7, from his earthly brothers. Chapter 7, from the people. And 
chapter 7, from the religious leaders. So they did not embrace 
him, they did not receive him, they did not believe on him. 
So again, that's a theme that looms large in the rest of John's 
Gospel. Well, this morning I want to 
look first at the glory of the Savior in verses 1 to 9a, and 
then secondly, the opposition of the Jews in verses 9b to 15. And as we look at the glory of 
the Savior, we'll notice three things. First, the setting of 
the sign, verses 1 to 5. Secondly, the condition of the 
man in verses 6 and 7. And then thirdly, the power of 
the Savior. You see that littered throughout 
this particular narrative. But notice the time in verse 
1. After this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up 
to Jerusalem. So after this means his ministry 
in Samaria according to chapter 4 verses 1 to 42. and then his 
ministry in Galilee that we see in chapter 4 at verses 43 to 
53. It indicates that there was a 
feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. This is the 
only unnamed feast in John's Gospel. We see Passover referred 
to, we see the Feast of Weeks or Pentecost referred to, And 
most commentators, at least a lot of commentators, think that this 
is the Feast of Pentecost, and we also see the Feast of Dedication. But it was a feast time, and 
Jesus did what obedient Jews were supposed to do. Remember, 
Christ comes as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the 
world. But Christ also comes in order to fulfill all righteousness. See, with reference to our depravity, 
with reference to our sin, with reference to our condition, we're 
in a bad state. We have sinned against a thrice 
holy God. We have transgressed His law. 
We have lacked conformity under that law. We have disobeyed Him. from the cradle to the grave, 
that's us, apart from redeeming grace. We need to be forgiven. But we not only need to be forgiven, 
we need a righteousness by which we can enter into the presence 
of God. Well, in the gospel, God takes care of both aspects. 
He brings the blood of Jesus Christ, his son, to cleanse us 
from all sin. But because of Jesus' active 
obedience to the law, because he always does what pleases the 
Father, when sinners by grace believe on Jesus, they're not 
only forgiven of all their sins, past, present, and future, but 
they receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ such that they'll 
be able to enter into the presence of God Most High. It is better 
to obey than to sacrifice. God has never relaxed that requirement. God demands absolute perfection. And in light of who we are in 
Adam, That's bad news. But in light of the last Adam 
and the glory of Jesus, both in his death and in his life, 
sinners have great hope and great encouragement. We're not only 
forgiven, but we've received the righteousness that avails 
with God Most High. So something as incidental as 
after this, there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up 
to Jerusalem, when read in its larger biblical context, indicates 
that, that Jesus is obeying the Father. In Deuteronomy chapter 
16 and verse 16, three times a year, all your males shall 
appear before the Lord your God in the place which he chooses, 
at the feast of unleavened bread, at the feast of weeks, or Pentecost, 
again, which many think that this is. And then it goes on 
to say, "...and at the Feast of Tabernacles, and they shall 
not appear before the Lord empty-handed." So Jesus, every step of the way, 
obeys His Father. Jesus, every step of the way, 
does that which is pleasing to the Father. Jesus, every step 
of the way, says, "...my meat is to do the will of Him who 
sent me." We rejoice in that. J. Gresim Major, that theologian 
in the 20th century, on his deathbed, it is reported that the last 
thing he said, I think it was by way of telegram, is that, 
I'm so thankful for the active obedience of Christ because there's 
no hope without it. If you understand your condition, 
if you understand that you are a sinner before a holy God, that 
you understand that you not only need to be forgiven, but positively 
given a righteousness so that you can enter into the presence 
of God, you should rejoice in the Son of God because that is 
precisely what He accomplishes. It is illustrated for us in the 
prophet Zechariah. We see that Joshua, the high 
priest, not Joshua, the military leader that vanquished the Canaanites 
and led the children of Israel to victory. But later on in redemptive 
history, there was a Joshua who was the high priest, and he represents 
all of Israel, and he's standing before the throne of God Most 
High, and he's filthy. He is undone. It's not that his 
garments are a little bit soiled, but the language suggests that 
he's covered with feces and vomit and every bad thing. Again, as 
a representative of Israel, that's who stands before Yahweh. And 
the devil is right there, ready to accuse Joshua. but the Lord 
rebukes him. And the Lord commands that those 
dirty garments be taken off of him and that clean and glorious 
garments be placed upon him. That's justification by faith. We're forgiven of our sin and 
we receive the righteousness of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Paul 
says in 2 Corinthians 5.21, God the Father made him who knew 
no sin, that's Jesus, God the Son, to be sin for us that we 
might become the righteousness of God in him. We are not holy 
people. We are not righteous people. 
We are not obedient people. But because of God's grace, we 
receive that righteousness, those robes, that crown by which we 
get to enter in. to the new Jerusalem because 
of what Christ has secured on behalf of his people. So now, 
or after this, there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up 
to Jerusalem. The city of Jerusalem, this is 
probably just north of the temple itself. We see in at least the 
King James tradition, it is referred to as Bethesda, which means house 
of mercy. And the five porches were covered 
areas where the sick people could sit. And then we see attending 
that particular pool or that particular body of water were 
sick people. Look at verse 3a. It says, In 
these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed. Think about that for a moment. 
There was a great multitude of people there. What does Jesus 
do? Does He come and just wave His 
hands and heal the entirety of the great multitude? No! There's 
one man among them that He seeks out. There's one man among them 
that He shows initiative with. There's one man among them that 
Christ's sovereignty is clearly displayed. He doesn't go to the 
great multitude, but at that pool, there was a great multitude. 
Now, if you're using a non-King James tradition Bible, you don't 
have 3B and verse 4 in your text. It's probably relegated to the 
margin. Notice what 3B and 4 says. in the King James tradition. 
I'm using the New King James. So verse 3, in these lay a great 
multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for 
the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain 
time in the pool and stirred up the water. then whoever stepped 
in first after the stirring of the water was made well of whatever 
disease he had. So that's a variant reading. 
That means that in the textual transmission, something was either 
A added or B omitted. I think there's good reasons 
for its inclusion in this particular section of Scripture. But it 
does seem odd, doesn't it? It seems odd that Jesus doesn't 
go there to rebuke all these fools who are looking superstitiously 
to this pool of water to bring them medicinal healing. He doesn't 
do that. A belief in magic along with 
God was not incongruous in this particular time frame. Neither 
Jesus nor John, the evangelist, tried to correct the thinking 
of the people at that particular time. Rather, Christ goes into 
the midst of these people in order to minister to them. The 
tradition was that the waters were medicinal, and at certain 
times, at the bidding of an angel, not physically, but an angel 
would come and stir up these waters, such that the first person 
that went into the waters after they were stirred by the angel 
would be the person that got the healing. The statement of 
the man in verse 7 reflects the validity of the tradition. Look 
at what he says in verse 7. After Jesus says, Do you want 
to be made well? The sick man answered, And sir, 
I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred 
up. But while I am coming, another steps down before me. That reflects 
3b and it reflects verse 4. So again, the evangelist and 
Jesus don't try to correct this practice. It does seem to be 
a bit superstitious. It does seem to be a bit odd. 
It does seem to be a bit misplaced, but people are odd. People are 
superstitious and people are misplaced. And God in His goodness, 
God in His kindness, God in His mercy comes even into the midst 
of that confusion and He saves His people from their sins. That's 
what we should take away from this beautiful encounter of this 
particular man with our Lord Jesus. Now notice the condition 
of the man. I'm just going to summarize. 
He's a mess. He is in bad shape. Notice in 
the first place the duration of his illness. Verse 5, now 
a certain man was there who had an infirmity 38 years. The Geneva Bible here is beautiful. 
There is no disease so old which Christ cannot heal. The fact 
that this man had this malady for 38 years was no match for 
the Lord God Most High. It was no match for our blessed 
Savior. It is no match for that Word, the Word that speaks and 
the Word that enables compliance with that speech. Notice the 
severity of his illness. It doesn't tell us specifically 
what his problem is, but the text certainly suggests that 
he was paralyzed. Kids, that means he couldn't 
move. He couldn't walk. He couldn't put himself into 
the pool. He couldn't pull himself over 
and just sort of fall in. That's what I think I would have 
thought to do. Maybe, you know, at some point 
he would have or had thought that, but he was so immobilized 
by his illness, he couldn't even do that. Notice specifically 
he is like a paralytic in verse 6a, when Jesus saw him lying 
there, who typically lies there, sleeping persons and ill persons 
vis-a-vis those who are paralyzed. Notice in verse 7, he needed 
to be put into the pool. Some have read verse 7, not as 
a statement of the meek and lowliness of this particular man, but that 
he was kind of old and crotchety. Almost complaining, there's nobody 
around here to sort of pick me up and put me into the water. And while I'm trying to find 
something like that, somebody else comes and snakes me and 
gets right into the water before me. I don't think we need to 
read him that way. I think though, what he is showing 
or what we are seeing in the text is that he's bad off, he's 
in a bad condition. And then notice that the word 
of command by our Lord Jesus in verse eight, rise, take up 
your bed and walk. So, as a paralyzed man, he's 
in a bad state. So, the duration of his illness, 
the severity of his illness, and I think that J.C. Ryle comments 
well on the gravity of his situation. Think about illness. Now, I'm 
not a health, wealth, prosperity guy. I'm not going to throw the 
whammy down on anybody who might have the Wuhan today and heal 
you from all your maladies. I don't believe that sort of 
a thing. But we have to appreciate and understand that in paradise, 
there weren't viral contagions. In paradise, there wasn't paralysis. In paradise, there weren't the 
maladies and the illnesses and the sicknesses and the death 
that punctuates life now. Paul treats this in Romans 4. 
The wages of sin is what? It's death. Death is unnatural. That's why death in 1 Corinthians 
15, 28 is seen, or 27, is seen as the last enemy to be vanquished. That's why when new Jerusalem 
comes down out of heaven, adorned like a bride for her husband, 
we see that there's no more sorrow. There's no more pain. There's 
no more sickness. There's no more death. That last 
enemy is vanquished by our Lord. But listen to Ryle concerning 
the gravity of this man's situation. He says, we are taught for one 
thing in this passage, what misery sin has brought into the world. We know this experientially, 
in terms of our relationships, in terms of our place before 
a holy God. We know all of this. But we don't 
always ponder it in terms of infection, in terms of illness, 
in terms of disease, and in terms of the eventuality of death itself. He says, we read of a man who 
had been ill for no less than 38 years. For 38 weary summers 
and winters, he had endured pain and infirmity. He had seen others 
healed at the waters of Bethesda and going to their homes rejoicing. 
But for him, there had been no healing. Friendless, helpless, 
hopeless, he lay near the wonder-working waters, but derived no benefit 
from them. Year after year passed away and 
left him still uncured. No relief or change for the better 
seemed likely to come, except from the grave. When we read 
of cases of sickness like this, we should remember how deeply 
we ought to hate sin. Sin was the original root and 
cause and fountain of every disease in the world. God did not create 
man to be full of aches and pains and infirmities. These things 
are the fruits of the fall. There would have been no sickness 
if there had been no sin. Again, not health, wealth, prosperity, 
not everybody should live their best life now, but the reality 
is that we live in a sin-cursed world. The reality is, is that 
we reap the consequences of having, in Adam, rebelled against the 
living and the true God. That's what makes the prospect 
of that new Jerusalem even more sweet. It makes it even more 
encouraging. It makes it even more glorious. 
I hope you spend time reading Revelation 21 and 22, often meditating 
upon it. contemplating it, considering 
it. When you lose loved ones that are believers in Christ, 
flip to the end of the book and see how they're treated in terms 
of reception by our great God. It says that God himself will 
wipe away every tear from their eyes. I see the imagery that 
is blessed in that passage. When you are parents and your 
child hurts themselves, unless you're a ghoul or a monster, 
you try to alleviate their pain. You try to remedy their situation. 
You wipe the tears from their eyes. You put a Band-Aid on their 
cut. For me, when I was a kid and 
I'd come in with a malady or a pain, my mother would hand 
me an Oreo and it would make everything just beautiful. Why? Because she was maternal. She 
was loving. She was caring. She was kind 
and concerned. You see, the Bible shows us the 
grim reality of sin. It shows us the sickness associated 
with sin. It shows us the death associated 
with sin. But it shows us the champion 
over the grave. It shows us the one that has 
rendered the grave victoriousness. without victory. Grave, where 
is your stink? Where is your victory? Christ 
has taken the fangs out of that for all of the people of God. 
The apostle Paul says, for me to live is Christ and to die 
is gain. What do you do with Paul? He's 
a threat to the empire. If we let him live, he'll continue 
to preach Christ. But if we kill him, he's rejoicing 
in that. He's happy to go. He wants to 
be with his savior. He's a guy you can't punish. 
Christians ultimately are persons you can't punish. They may throw 
us in the gulags. They may put us in the boxcars. 
They may have some horrendous things for us in the future. 
But one thing they can't do is to take Jesus from us or to pluck 
us out of the hand of Christ himself. Jesus specifies that 
in John 10, it's an impossibility. There's no way anybody can strip 
you out of the hand of almighty God. You are in the grip of triune 
grace. There is no going for you but 
heavenward. So brethren, be encouraged in 
the midst of sickness, in the midst of calamity, in the midst 
of affliction and trial and hardship and even death itself, Christ 
has vanquished our foe. And then the helplessness of 
his condition. The helplessness of his condition. Verse 5, the duration, the severity 
of it, the gravity of it. But verse 7 is pathetic. The sick man answered him, Sir, 
I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred 
up. But while I am coming, another 
steps down before me. There's a hopeless man. Here's 
a man that has despair. Here's a man that has great misery. Here's a man that, humanly speaking, 
there's no hope. There's no help. There's no remedy. 
There's nothing for him. So it's a very wretched condition 
portrayed for us in the space of a few verses by the evangelist. And on the heels of that, we 
ought to recognize his character. It's not just his infirmity, 
it's not just the physicality of his condition that is at odds 
with God, or that has a reference with reference to not only God, 
but himself. Look at what Jesus says in verse 
14. Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, 
See, you have been made well. Sin no more. When we get there, 
brethren, I'm going to try to distinguish that not all sin 
is directly responsible for all disease. Indirectly, yeah. In 
Adam all died. If Adam hadn't taken the fruit 
and rebelled against God, we wouldn't have the Wuhan. We wouldn't 
have cancer. We wouldn't have the grave. We 
wouldn't have all of those particulars. So indirectly, sin is responsible 
with reference to all sin. But in Scripture, you have a 
man like Job. It wasn't because of his sin that this happened. 
You have a man like John 9. Jesus says, it wasn't this man, 
it wasn't his parents. But it's that the glory of God 
may be displayed. So not all suffering is the direct 
result of sin, but some is. And in this man's instance, it 
was. That's why Jesus tells him in 
verse 14, sin no more. It's not a call to perfectionism. 
It is a call to repentance. So this man, with reference to 
his condition, he not only was miserable physically, but he 
was miserable spiritually. The two were intertwined, and 
arguably, he was laying on that mat, trying to get into that 
pool, because he was a wretch, because he sinned, because he 
transgressed God's law, because he lacked conformity unto it, 
and he was feeling the punitive repercussions of rebellion against 
the Almighty. So the man's a mess. Now guess 
who comes to fix everything? The man who's not a mess. The 
man who for us men and for our salvation came down from heaven. Let's look at the power of the 
Savior. Notice his sovereignty. I've 
already alluded to this in verse six. Notice Jesus initiates this 
encounter. It's not the man. The man doesn't 
say, hey, there's a fellow that may be able to pick me up, hoist 
me up and throw me into the water. No, it's Jesus that initiates 
that. We need to understand the Bible 
that way. It's not man that initiates salvation. It's not man when he rebels against 
God in the garden who runs to God. It's God that comes for 
him. Man tries to make a tower in 
Genesis chapter 11, to make a name for himself, to rise up into 
the heavens. What does God do? He confounds 
their lip. He disperses the nations and 
on the heels of that, he calls Abraham. out of her the Chaldeans. And he says to him, that in you, 
all the nations of the earth will be blessed. So in Genesis 
chapter 12, God corrects man's mess ups. And here we have the 
same representation of our blessed God. In Luke's gospel, Jesus, 
at the time of his dealing with Zacchaeus, when the people are 
grumbling and they're murmuring that he wants to go eat dinner 
at Zacchaeus' house, Jesus says, I've come to seek and to save 
that which was lost. In the fullness of the time, 
God sent forth his son, born of a woman, born into the law. 
Brethren, we weren't seeking God. We were the Romans three 
sinner, none righteous, no not one, no fear of God before our 
eyes, none of us were seeking after Him. He sought us, He found 
us, He initiated with us, He opened our hearts, He called 
us out of darkness into marvelous light, He gave us the graces 
of faith and repentance, He made us alive by the power of the 
Holy Spirit in regeneration. Any good thing that you experience 
now, it's not because you're wise, it's not because you're 
good, it's not because you're noble, it's because God is all 
those things. And we see the sovereignty of 
Christ in initiating this encounter. The Lord seeks the man out. And 
again, He seeks the one man out and not the great multitude. 
Turn to Luke chapter 4. We looked at this passage a couple 
of weeks ago. Luke chapter 4. See the shift 
among people when they're confronted with the sovereignty of our God. 
Luke 4.16, he came to Nazareth where he had been brought up, 
and as his custom was, he went into the synagogue on the Sabbath 
day and stood up to read. And he was handed the book of 
the prophet Isaiah. And when he had opened the book, he found 
the place where it was written, the Spirit of the Lord is upon 
me. because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, 
he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives 
and recovery of sight to the blind, to set at liberty those 
who are oppressed, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord." 
So Isaiah 61, 1 and 2. Then he closed the book, gave 
it back to the attendant, and sat down. And the eyes of all 
who were in the synagogue were fixed on him. Of course they 
were. He's just read one of the most 
glorious prophecies contained in the prophet Isaiah. Now notice 
in verse 21, and he began to say to them, today this scripture 
is fulfilled in your hearing. Could you imagine that? It's 
kind of like at the end of the Sermon on the Mount. He taught 
them not as their scribes, but he taught them as one having 
authority. The one whose voice is able to crush the cedars of 
Lebanon is the one who speaks in the synagogue in Nazareth 
and reads the prophet Isaiah. So notice in verse 22, Saul bore 
witness to it and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded 
out of his mouth. And they said, is this not Joseph's 
son? He said to them, you will surely say this proverb to me. 
Physician, heal yourself. Whatever we have heard done in 
Capernaum, do also here in your country. Then he said, assuredly, 
I say to you, no prophet is accepted in his own country. But I tell 
you, truly many widows were in Israel in the days of Elijah, 
when the heaven was shut up three years and six months, and there 
was a great famine throughout all the land. But to none of 
them was Elijah sent except to Zarephath in the region of Sidon 
to a woman who was a widow. You see what God's sovereignty 
is about? He's not obliged to us. He doesn't 
get demands placed upon him and say, oh yeah, I need to fulfill 
that. God is sovereign. God is supreme. God owes no man anything. He's 
able to bypass all those widows, go up into Philistine territory, 
into Baal worship territory, and there have dealings with 
the widow at Zarephath. Notice what he goes on to say 
in verse 27. And many lepers were in Israel 
in the time of Elisha the prophet, and none of them was cleansed 
except Nahum and the Syriac. Very similar to our passage. 
There's a great multitude there, but he seeks out the one man. 
How do people respond to sovereignty? How do people respond to this 
reality that God is obliged to no man, that He owes no man anything? Well, you'll see it right here. 
So look at verse 22 again, just to remind yourself. They're really 
happy when He says, I'm fulfilling Isaiah 61, 1 and 2. So all bore 
witness to Him and marveled at the gracious words which proceeded 
out of His mouth. And they said, is this not Joseph's 
son? Now after declaring God's absolute sovereignty in the bypassing 
of these several widows and the healing of the widow at Zarephath, 
in the bypassing of all the lepers that Israel had at the time of 
Naaman the Syrian, but it's Naaman the Syrian that God is going 
to heal through the ministry of the prophet Elisha. How do 
men respond to sovereignty? Verse 28. So all those in the 
synagogue, when they heard these things, were filled with wrath. 
and rose up and thrust him out of the city. And they led him 
to the brow of the hill on which their city was built, that they 
might throw him down over the cliff. Then passing through the 
midst of them, he went his way." John 6 is going to evidence the 
same thing. Again, starts with a miracle 
of provision of bread. And on the heels of that, there's 
opposition, and then Jesus' self-revelation as the bread of life. But when 
Jesus starts to lay heavy on the sovereignty of God, we see 
that those who were following, those who were professed believers, 
they didn't wanna follow him anymore. Insofar as he gives 
us bread for our bellies, we're good. But when he tells us that 
God is sovereign, when he tells us that no one can come to me 
unless the Father who has sent me draws him, no, we're done. The point is, brethren, you're 
not the first person on Facebook that's had issues with Arminians 
who reject the sovereignty of God. It is an age-old and perennial 
problem. Man doesn't like the Godhood 
of God. Man does not like the sovereign 
authority of our blessed Redeemer. They do not like the crown rights 
of Jesus, and they'll say, instead of submitting to him, away with 
him, away with him, if not crucify him, at least we'll have nothing 
to do with this particular man. Back to our passage, the Lord 
seeks the man out, the Lord seeks this one man out, even though 
there was a great multitude, and the Lord knew that he had 
been in that condition for a long time. Was it according to the 
humanity or the divinity? If it was the divinity, obviously 
John won. If it was the humanity, he asked 
somebody, how long has that man been laying there? And then the 
Lord Jesus asks him if he wanted to be made well. This wasn't 
a search for information. Obviously, the man wanted to 
be made well. He's laying there next to the 
pool. He's laying there in a wretched condition. But what Jesus does 
here is increases the man's expectation. He casts this upon the man to 
arrest his attention and then to have these dealings with him. 
So notice specifically his mercy. He says in verse 6 at the end, 
do you want to be made well? The man again, verse 7, the sick 
man answered him, sir, I have no man to put me into the pool 
when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another 
steps down before me. Jesus said to him, rise, take 
up your bed and walk. So the Lord Jesus articulates, 
or here's the articulation of the man's problem. And then the 
Lord Jesus addresses it specifically. It's very clear, very simple. He doesn't have to say, well, 
you know, I got to kind of work this up to get this healing out. He's very God of very God. He has absolute authority and 
power. So when he says, rise, take up 
your bed and walk, Gil is right on. As soon as ever the words 
were spoken by Christ, such power went with them as restored the 
man to perfect health. There's no process. There's no 
incantation. There's no meditation. There's 
no consultation. There's no, well, if you will 
it hard enough, if you have enough faith. That's how you know these 
health, wealth, and prosperity guys are fake. They are charlatans. They are snake oil dealers. They 
are bad men. They're not a little misguided. 
They're not a little off. They're not a little wrong. They're 
heretics. They should stop. They should 
shut up. They should go do any other thing 
than stand in pulpits, confusing the professing people of God. 
The Lord Jesus has power. The Lord Jesus has authority. And notice what happens. Well, 
in chapter four, at verse 50, Jesus said to him, go your way, 
your son lives. Notice in John 5 at verse 25, 
most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming and now is 
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who 
hear will live. I think he's talking about regeneration 
there. I think he's talking about the 
work of the Spirit that he expounded in chapter 3 of John's Gospel. But then notice in chapter 5 
at verses 28 and 29, do not marvel at this for the hour is coming 
in which all who are in the graves will hear his voice, his role 
as judge at the judgment of the last day. Verse 29, and come 
forth those who have done good to the resurrection of life and 
those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. 
Later on in John's gospel, John chapter 11 at the gravesite of 
Lazarus, what does Jesus say? He says to a dead man, come forth. How do we explain the fact that 
Lazarus came forth? Was it his free will? No, he 
was dead. Was it his lawful law keeping? No, he was dead. Was it the card 
that he signed, you know, when every head was bowed and every 
eye was closed and he raised his hand to receive Jesus as 
Lord and Savior? He was dead. But the Christ who 
issues the command to come forth is the Christ who enables the 
dead sinner to arise and comply. He made us alive, Paul tells 
us in Ephesians chapter two, that God who calls upon us to 
believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is able to enable compliance 
to us. That's why when we come together 
on Sunday, we pray for the ministry of the Spirit. Notice that we 
don't pray in our church. Oh God, we hope that all those 
people with their free will will exercise it today toward you. 
No, that's not what we pray. We know that John 6, 44 is a 
reality. No one can come to me except 
the Father who sent me draws him. So we pray in our church, 
God, send the Spirit. God, awaken dead sinners. God, 
give the graces of faith and repentance. God, enable compliance 
on the part of those you command. That's the emphasis in the passage. And notice again, according to 
the passage, immediately. There's no process. He didn't 
get a little better day by day. We've all experienced this. Last 
week, I mean, our church has doubled or tripled since last 
Sunday morning and Sunday night. We all had a process over the 
last little while. We took our vitamin C. We took 
our zinc. We took our vitamin D. We ate 
our chicken soup. We did what you do when you get 
a cold. Notice it's not shut down the 
economy, fire everybody and close churches. We did what they used 
to do. We ate saltines and we wind on 
the couch. But there was a process involved. When the son of God tells you, 
rise up, take your mat, and walk. There's no process. Look at verse 
9. Immediately the man was made 
well, took up his bed, and walked. Barrett says, just as the 38 
years proved the gravity of the disease, so the carrying of the 
bed and the walking proved the completeness of the cure. Christ healed this man. Christ blessed this man. Christ 
restored this man. As Ryle said, 38 summers and 
winters as a paralyzed man. As Ryle says, many times having 
come to that pool at Bethesda, seeing his fellows go into that 
water and being affected and healed by that. All those years 
he had seen the hopes come and go. He got to the point in that 
miserable condition where he said, I don't even have anybody 
around here that'll sort of push me into the water. That's just 
not my lot. Christ issues the command to 
rise up and walk, and immediately the man rises up and walks. The power of Jesus is glorious, 
and the power of Jesus not only pertains to the physical condition 
of man. That Christ tells him in verse 
14, sin no more indicates that it wasn't just the problem of 
paralysis dealt with by the Savior. But more, more to the point, 
it was the problem of sin that the Savior dealt with in this 
man. You may not be paralyzed this 
morning. You may not have gotten the Wuhan. You may be pretty 
healthy and well. But you, if you are not a believer 
in Christ, are in a worse condition than this wretched man. But there's 
hope in the Savior. There's the glory of Christ. 
There's the sovereignty and mercy of God. There is this grace available 
for needy sinners. It is a most blessed thing. And 
of course, the people standing by saw that and praised God as 
a result. No, that's not what they did. 
Look at the opposition by the Jews in verses 9b to 15. 9b is crucial for what follows. 9b tells us, and that day was 
the Sabbath. That day was the Sabbath. So here come the Jews without 
any regard to the fact that this poor guy had been paralyzed for 
38 years. Brethren, if you find yourself 
like these Jews, please repent, because you're miserable to be 
around. If you don't acknowledge the kindness and the goodness 
of God before you start shaking your finger at somebody's Sabbath 
ethic, you need to get it right with our blessed God. Look at 
these cretins. Look at how they respond to this. 
The response of the Jews in 9b to 13. Again, the occasion is 
absolutely imperative that we understand. And that day was 
the Sabbath. Drop down to verse 16. We'll see this God willing 
next week. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought 
to kill him because he had done these things On the Sabbath, 
you see Jesus with his confrontation of the Jews. These are probably 
religious Jews. These are probably, you know, 
sort of leadership type Jews. But you see very often they butted 
heads on the Sabbath. And that's what's happening here. 
So notice the accusation by the Jews in verse 10. The Jews therefore 
said to him who was cured, it is the Sabbath. It is not lawful 
for you to carry your bed. So the Jews accused the man of 
Sabbath breaking instead of rejoicing in his healing. Again, if you're 
inclined to educate somebody on their Sabbath ethic, at least 
first stop to praise God that they've been raised up from a 
miserable condition by His glorious power. I think that's just incumbent 
upon you before you launch on your tirade. Matthew Poole says 
their cattle argued their want both of faith in Christ and charity 
also toward their neighbor. See, brethren, it is the case 
that in religion, we can get narrowly to the point where we 
neglect that charity is something we should practice as well. In 
fact, the Geneva Bible glosses here, true religion is no more 
cruelly assaulted by any means than by the pretense of religion 
itself. Now, their question assumes something 
that Jesus combats in Mark's gospel. You can turn there, Mark 
chapter two. Mark chapter two, it's almost 
as if the Jews thought that man was created by God in order to 
obey the Sabbath. Man was created by God in order 
to obey the Sabbath. Now, there is a general sense 
wherein God created us so that we would obey him, that we would 
glorify him and honor him. But in this particular instance, 
Jesus is trying to defang that position that is consistent among 
anti-Sabbaterians that see the day as a burden, They see the 
day as a grievous thing. They see it as bondage. They 
see it as something that really we have to spend a whole day 
in the service of God. You mean I can't do whatever 
it is every moment of every day? That's kind of the prevailing 
attitude among anti-sabbatarians, and these Jews intriguingly manifest 
that. Interesting. Hyper-sabbatarians, 
they are not. They're anti-sabbatarians. They're 
caught up in all of their details, they're caught up in all of their 
legislation, and they've missed the point of the law. Notice 
in Mark 2.23, it happened that he went through the grain fields 
on the Sabbath, and as they went, his disciples began to pluck 
the heads of grain. And the Pharisees said to him, 
look, why do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath? Think 
about that, brethren. In our parallel passage, the 
claim isn't completely outlandish. In the prophet Jeremiah, chapter 
17, verses 21 and 22, with reference to Sabbath ethics, they were 
told not to carry their burdens out of the house. They were told 
not to carry their burdens around Jerusalem. So, at least in the 
realm of possibility, they might find some purchase. but that 
Jesus told him to do this undermines their claim. Just because they 
claim it's Sabbath breaking, doesn't mean it's Sabbath breaking. Jesus, get this, is the Lord 
of the Sabbath. It's not that he's suspending 
the law. It's not that he's removing the 
law. It's that he's telling us the law was never given to paralyze 
you. The law was never given to restrain 
you. The law was never given to keep 
you down. The law was given as an expression 
of God's will. The law was given as a blessed 
revelation of who God is. The law was given in such a context 
that we should see it as the gift that God intended it to 
be. We should say with the psalmist, 
oh, how I love your law. It is my meditation all the day 
and night. But back to our text. Look, why 
do they do what is not lawful on the Sabbath? They assume it, 
just like they do with reference to this man carrying his mat. Look at Jesus' answer in verse 
25. He said to them, Have you never read what David did when 
he was in need and hungry, he and those with him? How he went 
into the house of God in the days of Abiathar the high priest 
and ate the showbread, which is not lawful to eat except for 
the priests, and also gave some to those who were with him? Are 
you ready and prepared to look back into redemptive history 
and castigate David? In parallel passages and other 
Sabbath wars in the gospel narratives, Jesus said, look at the priests, 
they labor on the Sabbath. That obviously doesn't violate 
the law. There is obviously provision 
in the law for the works of mercy and necessity. Jesus upbraids 
the synagogue leader. He says, which of you, if you 
had an ox or a donkey that fell into a ditch on the Sabbath day, 
you wouldn't leave it there. There's no way you would leave 
it there. You would see that as an act of necessity or mercy, 
and you'd fetch him out of the ditch. And your conscience wouldn't 
bother you for a moment that you had broken the Sabbath. Back 
to Mark 2, he said to them, the Sabbath was made for man. Adam, 
it was made for man in general. It's not saying it was made for 
Israel. It was made at Sinai. It was 
simply for the Jew. It's made for man as man. It's 
made for Adam and his posterity, whether Jew or Gentile. And then 
notice, the Sabbath was made for man and not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is 
also Lord of the Sabbath. Kids, can I encourage you? We 
teach Sabbatarianism in our church. It's not to keep you down. It's 
not to bind you. It's not to make you miserable. 
It's not to make you on Friday or Saturday say, oh, Sunday's 
coming, and what a miserable day that is. Focus on the positives. You get to come to church. You 
get to hear the word of God read and preached. You get to see 
the people of God. You get to go home and have a 
nice bowl of soup or whatever it is your mother or father prepares. You probably get to have a rest. 
Now, as children, you don't see the value of that. But when you're 
up there, you're gonna love that. You're gonna look back in history 
and say, why did I ever miss all those naps that were offered 
to me? What a rich mercy from God Almighty. You get to come back to church 
that night. It is a blessed thing. Parents, train your children 
that the Sabbath is a delight. It's not, oh, the consternation 
of God's law, the miserableness of God's law. Oh, we can't do 
this on Sunday. Oh, we can't do that. No wonder 
people are anti-Sabbatarian because the professing Sabbatarians make 
it look miserable. What are we told in the prophet? 
Call the Sabbath a delight. God says, I will cause you to 
soar on the mountaintops. It is a most blessed thing. But 
back to our text in John 5, you see what they're doing. These 
are miserable people. Actually, on your way to John, 
stop at Luke. Look at Luke chapter 13, another 
Sabbath war incident that does reveal the same sort of a mindset 
that we find with this wretched man in Bethesda that is beautifully 
and miraculously healed by our Savior. Luke 13.10, now he was 
teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath and behold, there 
was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity 18 years and was 
bent over and could in no way raise herself up. Think about 
this just for a moment. She has this infirmity for 18 
years, not the 38 years, but I think we'd all argue 18 years 
is a long time. Look at the gravity of her condition. 
She's bent over. She can't even stand up. But 
where is she on the Sabbath day? Is she in her living room whining 
and moaning and grumbling and complaining? I understand we're 
in a viral situation. I understand that it's easy to 
pass. I understand staying at home 
if you've got a sniffle nowadays. I get that in this current situation. But there is this prevailing 
attitude among the people of God that it's pretty easy to 
miss church every now and then. You start missing church every 
now and then, and those parameters get extended. Those boundaries 
grow. Well, you know, I haven't gotten 
struck from God. I haven't died from a lightning 
attack. It must not really. Brethren, it's right to be in 
your church on God's day with his people. It's a good thing. 
So this poor, wretched woman, 18 years, bent over, spirit of 
infirmity, can't even stand up, is in the house of God on the 
Sabbath day. Now, let's see what happens. 
But when Jesus saw her, verse 12, he called her to him and 
said to her, woman, you are loosed from your infirmity. He laid 
his hands on her and immediately she was made straight and glorified 
God. You think that would be a cause for rejoicing, don't 
you? You think that the ruler of the synagogue would say, brethren, 
everybody fall on your faces and let's praise Yahweh of Israel 
for his goodness to us. No, not these guys. Verse 14, 
but the ruler of the synagogue answered with indignation because 
Jesus had healed on the Sabbath. And he said to the crowd, there 
are six days on which men ought to work. Therefore come and be 
healed on them and not on the Sabbath day. You've ever heard 
that Jewish word chutzpah? This is chutzpah. He reproves 
the people. He reproves the woman. He is 
castigating and chastising a woman who for 18 years has bent over 
with a spirit of infirmity. Guess who his target is? Just 
like this man at Bethesda. They use them to get to the Savior. But let's look at this just to 
see the conclusion. The Lord then answered him and 
said, Hypocrite, it's not each one of you on the Sabbath lose 
his ox or donkey from the stall and lead it away to water it. So ought not this woman being 
a daughter of Abraham whom Satan has bound. Notice that next little 
phrase, think of it. Some translations leave that 
out. Oftentimes it's translated as see or behold. I think Jesus 
is doing that right here, right now to exacerbate their wretched 
attitude of expressing indignation at what just transpired instead 
of praising Yahweh. whom Satan is bound, think of 
it, behold, see, listen, pay attention. She's been bound for 
18 years and she's loosed from this bond on the Sabbath. And 
when he had said these things, all his adversaries were put 
to shame and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious 
things that were done by him. This is the attitude expressed 
in Bethesda. You see the rising opposition 
to our Lord Jesus. Notice again in chapter 5, specifically 
at verse 10. The Jews therefore said to him 
who was cured, it is the Sabbath, it is not lawful for you to carry 
your bed. Verse 11, notice the response 
of the man. He never asked Jesus his name. That's intriguing, isn't it? 
When Jesus said, rise up, take your bed, and he was healed immediately, 
he didn't say, what's your name? Who are you? Again, he's probably 
just blown away that for 38 long years, he's had to lay on this 
mat and now immediately he's got strength in his legs and 
he's able to pick up the mat. And this first encounter is with 
these unhappy Jews that want to shake their finger at him 
and accuse him of Sabbath breaking. So he doesn't ask his name, that 
leads us to verse 12. So they asked him, he answered 
them, verse 11, he who made me well and said to me, take up 
your bed and walk. Then they asked him, who is the 
man who said to you, take up your bed and walk? So get it, 
just like they do in that synagogue in Luke 13. The man wasn't reproving, 
he was. The synagogue official was reproving 
the woman and everybody else. Six days you come and get your 
healing there. His target is Jesus. His target 
is the one who did this horribly offensive thing that healed this 
woman who was bound, think of it, for 18 years. These Jews 
had an ax to grind with our Lord Jesus Christ. So they ask him 
that. The Jews move their accusation 
to the man who told the man to take up his bed and walk. Klink 
says this, the Jews move quickly from the healed man to Jesus. 
There is a surprising irony surrounding this scene. The healing of a 
man lame for 38 years is eclipsed in the mind of the Jews by the 
Sabbath. One day drowns out 38 years. The Jews see a violation, not 
a miracle. Again, if you're going to upbraid 
somebody or correct somebody's Sabbath ethic, at least praise 
God that they're no longer paralyzed, having been for 38 years. It 
lends a degree of humanity to your chastening that comes. Now, 
Jesus explains to us why he's not there in the in the pool 
anymore. So verse 13, the one who was 
healed did not know who it was for Jesus had withdrawn a multitude 
being in that place. It was easy for him to get lost 
among the crowd. He leaves the pool and then he 
comes to contact this man again. So verses 14 and 15 are now in 
the temple proper. Why do you think the man went 
to the temple proper? because the man praised God, because 
the man was healed, because the man was rejoiced. The man knew 
guilt, he experienced grace, and now he's responding with 
gratitude. That's what you do. This man 
is where he ought to be because God had had saving dealings with 
his heart. So Jesus contacts him, verse 
14. Jesus rehearses that he's been 
made well. And then Jesus tells him, sin 
no more. Again, there are persons in the 
Bible whose sickness or affliction or hardship or tragedy is not 
directly connected to their sin. Look at John 9. John 9 at verse 
1, as Jesus passed by, he saw a man who was blind from birth, 
and his disciples asked him, saying, Rabbi, whose sin, this 
man or his parents, that he was born blind? Jesus answered, neither 
this man nor his parents' sin. He's not denying the doctrine 
of total depravity. He is saying there is no direct 
correlation between this man's sin and the parent's sin or the 
parent's sin with reference to this current malady. Notice that 
he says, verse 3, but that the works of God should be revealed 
in him. When God made that man, God made 
him blind for such an occasion as this. so that persons could 
see Jesus heal him, so that this guy could see, no pun intended, 
Jesus heal him, and so that the works of God could be manifested 
and demonstrated among all. So there are sins or there are 
afflictions or hardships, Luke 13, remember the Tower of Siloam 
fell? And the people are asking, were 
they worse sinners than everybody else? He says, unless you repent, 
you will likewise be destroyed. So the generic sense, but in 
terms of a specific correlation, were those Jews worse because 
the Tower of Siloam fell on them? No. The blood that was mingled 
by Pilate with the sacrifices? No. But unless you repent, you 
will likewise perish. But there are sins that are connected, 
or rather, there are afflictions that are connected with sin. 
Paul treats this in 1 Corinthians 11 at the Lord's Supper. For 
this reason, what reason? For taking the supper in unworthy 
manner. For this reason, many are sick 
among you. Many have issues, many have problems, many even 
sleep. But even in this, God has his redemptive benefit included 
in it, so that we may not be judged with the world. You see 
that sin leading to death in 1 John 5, verse 16. You see the 
call to the church with reference to sick people. If you are sick, 
call the elders of the church. And if he has committed sin, 
what's James saying? That there's persons out there 
that maybe hadn't committed sin? No, James is saying that if the 
affliction he is experiencing presently is connected specifically 
to his sin, then God will heal him of even that. So as we survey 
this particular context, we have to conclude, based on the Savior's 
words, sin no more, that this man's problem, again, wasn't 
simply the physical, it was rather the spiritual, and it was manifested 
in the affliction given him by God Most High. And Jesus issues, 
yeah, a threat at the end of the verse, sin no more, lest 
a worse thing come upon you. Brethren, that's reality. That 
is God's moral universe. That's what happens. You offend, 
you transgress, you sin, and there are consequences associated 
with that. I know we live as if there shouldn't 
be any consequences associated with sin, but there really is, 
and we need to take heed to that. And then notice that the man 
goes and he tells the Jews that it was Jesus. Some read this 
as if he's ratting him out. I don't think he's ratting him 
out. He's simply telling him, hey, by the way, I found out 
the name of that fellow who healed me. His name is Jesus. But that 
sets the stage for what follows in terms of his interaction with 
these opposers and then leads us to that revelation of who 
Jesus is. He is the Son of God. He is to 
be honored just like the Father. If you don't honor the Son, you 
don't have the Father. So in conclusion, we see the 
gravity of the man's condition. Easy to read passages like this. 
Easy to read Matthew 9 or Mark 2. That scene where there's a a household of people, and four 
guys bring their friend, and they open up the roof, and they 
lower him down. Jesus said, son, your sins are 
forgiven you. And these scribes and Pharisees 
are scratching their heads, and they're saying, who does this 
man think he is? Only God alone can forgive sin. Jesus says, 
so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth 
to forgive sins, he says to the paralytic, rise up, take your 
mat, and walk. You see, it wasn't the rise up, 
take your mat and walk that should blow us away. It's the fact that 
his sins were forgiven. There is a problem worse than 
paralysis. There is an issue that is far 
more concerning than your physical maladies. And it is your rebellion 
and transgression against a thrice holy God. Secondly, let us not 
be these Jews. Not just in the general sense 
of rejecting Jesus, but being so fastidious that we can't acknowledge 
the work of God if it doesn't fit our preconceived notions. Brethren, life is messy. We saw 
that in the healing of Naaman. Naaman says, I know when I get 
back to work, I'm going to be in some compromising positions. 
See, my boss, who happens to be the king of Syria, is an idolater. And me being his close attendant, 
me being his sort of minister of war, I sort of have to be 
there when he goes into those temples. And so could you fetch 
out from Yahweh a bit of grace, a bit of mercy, and a bit of 
forgiveness for me before I get into that particular situation? 
We read that, and again, we say, oh, that doesn't teach a lot 
of stuff about what we can and can't do. No, it doesn't. But 
it teaches us that Naaman had a sensitive conscience, and it 
also teaches us that God was okay with it, because Elisha 
told him to go in peace. Naaman says too, can I take a 
couple wheelbarrow full of dirt, Israelite dirt, back to Syria? Because when I remember Yahweh, 
I want to do it on Israel dirt. What does the prophet say? Oh 
no, that's outside the boundary of true religion. Go ahead, take 
some dirt. Now again, I'm not saying we 
can do whatever it is we want. I am saying, however, that there 
are times and instances in God's working in our lives or in the 
lives of others where it may not meet with what we think it 
should. We're not God. God is able to 
do things and we should acknowledge His work and then have a instruction 
session on Sabbath ethics. And then finally, the glory of 
Christ, His sovereignty. See, when I make that contrast 
between the great multitude and the one, I'm not doing that to 
bring discouragement. I'm not telling you that so you'll 
despair. I am telling you he is a seeking 
God. He is an initiating God. He is 
the one who finds and he is the one who redeems. That is to instill 
in you hope. It is to instill in you encouragement. If Jesus found this guy at the 
pool of Bethesda and engaged in this kind of action with him, 
there might be hope for me. That's absolutely positively 
true. But I would take out the word 
might. There is hope. The Lord God Most 
High has sent his son that whosoever believes in him will have everlasting 
life. We see the power of the Savior. 
He saves immediately through the word. We see the divinity 
of the Savior. The prologue has made this clear. 
But we see it in his life and ministry and that divinity expressed 
here, not again, just in the healing of his outside of his 
physical calamity, but in the healing of his soul, the forgiveness 
of his sins, the bidding him to go and sin no more. Again, 
not perfectionism, but repentance. And then we see the glory of 
the Savior. If you've ever evangelized or 
you've gone door to door, you've talked to people downtown, sometimes 
you'll meet that poor soul that says something like, there's 
no hope for me. There's no hope. I mean, I know 
my history. I know what I've done. I know 
how bad I am. I mean, many of us probably say 
the same thing on Tuesday too. We get that, right? We understand 
that, the hopelessness of the condition. But brethren, Jesus 
is bigger than our hopelessness. Jesus is glorious. Jesus is able 
to not only heal this man of his paralysis, but to heal him 
of his sin. There is hope in Jesus. I love 
the saying of John Newton. He says, I'm a great sinner, 
but Christ is a great Savior. The church doesn't preach help, 
the church doesn't preach possibility, the church preaches salvation 
in and through the Lord Jesus Christ, such that everyone who 
believes in Him will have everlasting life. Let us pray. Our Father, 
we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for this display 
of the glory of our blessed Savior in Bethesda. and God help us 
to see the beauty and the glory and the majesty of our blessed 
Christ. And may we stand in awe, may we marvel, may we praise, 
may we worship, and may anyone here that is still in their sin 
see, hopefully, the hopefulness that is to be had in our blessed 
Savior. And we ask this in his most wonderful 
name, amen. We'll take your hymn books, we'll 
close our service by singing 568. 5, 6, 8, we'll stand as we sing together. ♪ The rich material love ♪ ♪ Makes 
him a hearty melody host ♪ ♪ When it's father, son, and holy host ♪ ♪ Ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah, ah ♪ May the grace of the Lord Jesus 
Christ and the love of God and the communion of the Holy Spirit 
be with you all. Amen. Father, thank you for your 
goodness to us. Thank you for your graciousness. 
May we enjoy the day. May we celebrate the blessed 
realities of our true religion. And may you be glorified in your 
churches all over the world today. And we ask in Jesus' name. Amen. Well, please be seated for a 
brief time of meditation.