"Healed…Wrong Day"

February 10, 2014

“Healed...Wrong Day”

Blessings folk!

It “natural in the flesh” to desire to received glory.

From the moment that man rebelled against God, humans have sought the glory that belongs to the Most High.

Yesterday, we saw this statement from Jesus…

John 5:44
How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?


Let us back up and look at the context/situation of the statement.

John 5:1-10
5 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.
10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed.

Even when backing up a bit in the text we see that we are joining an account…”after this”…

It was feast time for the Jews.
One of three times a year that the Jewish man was required to attend Feasts in Jerusalem.

Therefore, Jesus went.

We read the account.
We see that the people had no problem whatsoever with accepting the reality that an angel would, from time to time, trouble the water with healing power. The first infirmed person that entered would be healed.

They readily accept this.
They apparently had seen it occur on a regular basis.
Many were the people gathered around awaiting an opportunity.

Jesus saw a man.
Jesus knew that he had been there a long time.

Jesus asked him a curious question, “Wilt thou be made whole?” Do you desire to be healed.

The obvious answer would be “yes”, since the man had been there a long time.
Yet, Jesus asked.

What was Jesus seeking?
Had the man lost faith?
Did the man believe?

The man then explained the reason it was taking so long.
Others would step in the troubled pool ahead of him.

Jesus simply told him to rise, take his bed and walk.
He did.

Waters troubled by angels carrying healing power.
A man healed of a decades-long infirmity.

Did the religious rulers rejoice?
Did they proclaim the glory of God?
Did they rejoice in the work of the Kingdom manifest before them?

No.

They were immediately correcting the man.
It was the Sabbath.
He could not carry his bed on the Sabbath.

We begin to see the cold heart of religion.
The conflict between the religious and the Lord is building.