By The Bethesda Pool: Keeping The Sabbath

The apostle John gave an important detail to this story,

...Now that day was the Sabbath. [John 5:9b]

All this happened on the Sabbath. Jesus must have gone to the temple to worship, and as He walked out, He saw that great colonnaded Pool of Bethesda and was drawn to all those in need there. What He did was completely in keeping with what God said pleases Him in keeping the Sabbath, as you can see in how the prophet Isaiah described God's idea of the perfect Sabbath.

But keeping the Sabbath had undergone a huge overhaul since the days Isaiah had written those words. Here's how it all began:

(1)After creating all that is, God rested, back in Genesis chapter 2, which is where the law of the Sabbath was established, the oldest law in human history.

(2) In Exodus God explained that the Sabbath was to be set aside as a holy day, for worship, not for work. But the Israelites had ignored God’s Sabbath laws, and were sent into exile because of it, so the land could have all the Sabbath years the people had robbed it of.

(3) Seventy years later, the Jews returned to Jerusalem and fell into their old habits almost right away, doing commerce on the Sabbath with the surrounding pagans. The people were carrying loads into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day in preparation for their work on the next day.

Nehemiah, the leader at that time, said they were not to carry loads on the Sabbath. They were stop thinking that the Sabbath day was prep day for another work day. Nehemiah appointed the priest Ezra to teach the people all of God’s law on a regular basis, and help them to keep all the law.

(4) Their legacy, four hundred years later, were the scribes and teachers of the law in Jesus’ day. But they had since added on 39 exhaustive, complicated chapters to the Mishnah on how to keep the Sabbath.

Here’s one example. If you spit on the ground and it hit the dirt, that was work. A furrow would form, so it was called plowing. But if the spit hit a rock, then no furrow, so you were safe. They had made the Sabbath a burden for the people.

The religious rulers were busy making sure people were keeping the rules, instead of ministering to the ailing people at the pool, within view of the temple mount. Instead of asking where they could meet this man who could heal people, they wanted to know who was the man who had broken one of their Sabbath rules. What “rules” do you and I allow to get in the way of compassion?

Shortly thereafter Jesus found the man at the temple, probably giving his thank offering to God, according to the Law, for being healed, and Jesus explained to him that he had to stop sinning so nothing worse would happen. Somehow the man knew this was Jesus Messiah, and for whatever reason, went back to the Jewish authorities to tell them

Jesus has the power to restore

* What is weakening your emotional life, or enfeebling your spiritual life?

* How willing are you to get well?

* Willing enough to turn to Jesus, Who knows your whole story, and obey what He tells you to do?

You won’t know what Jesus can do for you until you obey His commands.

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By The Bethesda Pool: Get Up And Walk

Jesus didn’t offer to help the man get more comfortable!
--> He didn’t encourage him to hang in there, maybe he could get to the pool next time.

--> Jesus didn’t even offer to help the man get to the pool.

--> Instead Jesus told him, “Get up.”

I think the man must have been a little startled, right? He'd been lying down for 38 years, unable to do much of anything.

But Jesus’ voice had such compelling power the man got up, and lo and behold, those atrophied legs could hold him!

Before he could say a word, Jesus told him to pick up his mat, and then as he bent down to roll up the mat, Jesus said, “Walk,” and then melted away.

Get up: At the moment the man’s will agreed with the Lord’s will, the power was there and he got up.

You won’t know what Jesus can do for you until you obey His commands. What will you have to actually do this week to obey what Jesus is telling you to do? Do it. Go call that person, write that note, pay that debt, forgive that offense, stop that habit, refuse that temptation. Get up.

Pick up your mat: Make no provision for a relapse.

This man was healed, he didn’t need to save a place for himself at the pool anymore. There was no back door exit. He was committed now to a life of health, and he was taking responsibility for himself.

What mat will you have to roll up, tuck under your arm and walk away with? Whatever it is, get rid of it all, leave no safety hatch for yourself. Cut off any possibility of going back. Be public, tell someone about the new you and ask them to help you stay on course. Lose your spot at the Pool of Bethesda, because you’re not going to need it anymore.

Walk: Weak, feeble people are used to being carried.

We all need that sometimes, in fact scripture tells us to carry each other’s burdens. But this man had been healed of his particular weakness. It was time for him to walk on his own, and maybe one day be the strong one who could help carry others. Move forward, don’t stay in that place anymore.

In what way are you going to need to walk, this week, as part of your taking responsibility for yourself in this particular area of weakness, and not count on someone else to carry you in something the Lord has shown you, you need to do?

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By The Bethesda Pool....Sick For A Loooooooong Time

John doesn’t name the feast Jesus went to. Based on the sequence of events, this feast probably was in the early fall (Others surmise that it might have been a little earlier, the Passover Festival in the spring of A.D. 28).

As Jesus was in town, He came to a famous pool, the Pool of Bethesda, that was fed by a subterranean spring which caused the pool to rise and fall - to move - at certain times of the year. It was believed that an angel stirred up the pool, and then the first person who was touched by the water would be healed.

There were other pools like this, dotted around the ancient middle east Jerusalem’s was very well-known and built up with five covered porches to accommodate all the ailing pilgrims.

As He looked around, the Lord was drawn to this particularly helpless and hopeless man. The man had been ill for 38 years, and he was so weak and feeble he was unable to walk or even stand. We can deduce from what Jesus later told this man that this illness was all the result of some sin that he continued to be involved in.

Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you." [John 5:14]

Maybe you can identify with this man.
* Maybe there is some emotional pain in your life that lingers and aches, and won’t go away. It saps your strength.

* Maybe you are dealing with a constant sense of failure.

* Maybe you’re dealing with a physical illness that has no cure.

* Maybe you are held in the grip of a sinful habit or an addiction, and instead of getting stronger, you’re getting all the time weaker as you try to deal with it.

As Jesus looked at this man, He knew the whole story. But then He asked this strange question, “Would you like to be healed?”

Huh? The man’s answer was full of sadness....yes, but...I have no one. I am helpless and I have lost hope of ever being well.

When do you and I go to self-pity instead of going to Jesus? Sometimes that happens to people, they become resigned to their pain, or their addiction, or their weakness.

It’s an important question. Jesus knows your story and mine, too. He knows about the struggle, the suffering, the loneliness. But sometimes people don’t want to get well. Being weak, feeble, unwell either physically or emotionally might be the most familiar place. Some people stay there because it’s what they know, and they’re afraid of what change would mean in their lives. You’ve gotten so used to being in the pit, you’re starting to call it home.

Sometimes people want to be dependant and not take responsibility. If you resonate with this man, who has been weak like this for such a long time, then this question is for you:

Would you like to be healed?

Before saying yes, it’s important to acknowledge that healing will mean a willingness to change, a commitment to change, and plain hard work.

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