“Illegal Procedure,” John 5:1-18

Introduction:  “Do you want to be healed?”  It’s a strange question to ask a guy who has been lame 38 years.  Change is hard and maybe we don’t want to make the sacrifice.

I.        The Questions

A.     Why did Jesus tell this one lame guy to carry his mat?

1.      Jews understood this as an infraction of the Sabbath law.  Come back tomorrow.

2.      The lame guy did not know Jesus (v13), nor demonstrate any particular faith.  Why him?

B.     Why did Jesus heal only one of the many camped at the pool?

1.      (v3) Under the five colonnades “lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame and paralyzed.”

2.      They gathered here because of the legend surrounding the pool.  Imagine the smell.

3.      Did fights break out when the waters bubbled?  Did hopelessness settle in?

C.     (v10) Why did the Jews focus on the Sabbath issue rather than on the healing?

1.      Moses never gave them a no-Mat carrying law.

2.      Why we invent religious laws and how they rob spiritual lives of vitality.

II.       The Problems

A.     (v8) “Get up, take up your bed and walk.”

1.      Give him credit—the man did as told.  [Compare 2 Kings 5:10-14]

2.      He didn’t even ask Jesus, “How far?” or, “To where?”  He didn’t ask why.

B.     (v14) “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple…”

1.      “See you are well.  Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

2.      (v15) “The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus.”  Tattle tail.

C.     (v17) “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

1.      (v18) The Jews want to kill Jesus because of Sabbath infraction.

2.      The Jews want to kill Jesus because he equated himself with God.

3.      The Jews failed to ask Jesus to heal them or anyone else at the pool.  Why?

Conclusion:   Blood clots and bleeding gums motivate me.

Do we want to get into the pool or are we happier sitting poolside, making excuses?