John 5:1-15
Key Verse: 5:8

"Then Jesus said to him, 'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.'"

In the previous chapter Jesus performed the second miracle of John’s gospel by healing the royal official’s son. Today, Jesus performed his third miracle by healing an invalid man who was sick with paralysis. Through this healing Jesus demonstrated his divine power to heal any kind of sickness. Let's hear Jesus' voice of hope, “do you want to get well?” and receive healing from our chronic sin problem and experience the power of God personally. I pray that God may give us a holy desire to be a child of God with eternal hope in the kingdom of God. May God heal us from our sin sickness so that we can be thankful for wonderful grace of Jesus and accept Jesus’ divine mercy for salvation through today's passage.

PART I. "DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?" (1-9a)

Look at verses 1-3. Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. One day while he was there he walked by a pool named Bethesda, located near the Sheep Gate. "Bethesda" means "house of mercy" in Aramaic. A great number of disabled people-blind, lame and paralyzed--were lying around the pool. They were waiting for the moving of the waters. They believed that the one who got into the pool first when the water was stirred would be healed of whatever disease he had. They were in competition to be first. All basketball teams want to become a national champion but only one team will be the national champion. It took more than 38 years for Maryland basketball team to become the national champion. It is harder to defend this championship. All college students want to be a CEO. But there is only one CEO in a company.

These people can be seen as a picture of the world we live in. One philosopher said that this world is like a big hospital ward filled with all different kinds of patients. That's true. All men of the world are disabled one way or the other. They were lying there waiting for the time when the water was stirred, wishing to get into the pool first. Each person did his best to get into the pool "first" and be healed. No one wanted to be pushed aside: They were very competitive and were extremely selfish. All the disabled were in a "survival of the fittest" situation. Because of this, they were restless all the time. They were also all crippled people. Each one had his own infirmity and disadvantage. Each one had his own kind of bitterness and sorrow. One of them might have thought, "I am the most unlucky person in the entire universe." Another one thought, "I am the most miserable person since the world was made." People used to dwell in their sorrow and despair. As we see in the world, surely they had mixed feelings of inferiority and superiority complex. The lame felt superior to the blind man saying, "You cannot see, but I can see beautiful autumn leaves that color my heart red, yellow, purple." And the blind man felt superior to the lame man, saying, "You cannot walk, but I can walk." It's funny that most people live in a false superiority complex without any substance. One young girl thought that she was the most beautiful woman in the world and all boys should come to her with admiration. But when no one came to her, she was disappointed and came back to senses. It was her false illusion.

Most of the time they must have hated each other because they were all strong rivals. But sometimes they may have even tried to help one another. We live in a competitive world and there is only one winner. This is a tragedy of the world. They had love and hate relationship toward each other. They talked and joked around when there was no sign of stirring water. But when they heard the sound of stirring water, the competition was intense. They could not trust each other. Graduate students help each other during normal days but they did not share course information during the exam period. Perhaps the blind man, out of his good will, carried the lame man piggy back to the edge of the pool. But when they decide who would go in first, they must have despaired because both of them could not concede. They argued fiercely, “I have to go in first. No, I have to go in first.” It is the dilemma of mankind. Human beings can help each other in a certain way. But it reaches a human limitation when it involves one's own life. People cannot stir up the water nor give up their turn. People become selfish when their life is on the line. Many people have wanted to do good in the world for others. But eventually, all of them faced the human dilemma with no way out.

Look at verses 5 and 6. "One who was there had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learning that he had been in his condition for a long time, he asked him," Do you want to get well?'" In this question we can learn two things about Jesus.

First, Jesus can heal anybody. This man probably was the worst patient in the Bethesda disabled ward. His skin must have clung to his bones because he had been a paralytic for thirty-eight years. Even in ten years the rivers change. During the last thirty-eight years, America elected nine presidents. During the last three years, even Lawson Glenn found a suitable helper and Dr. Augustine Yun completed his Ph.D. and S. David Brogi finally graduated. During the last 30 years, history has revolved around in many ways. There had been a cold war between communism and democracy. Now it is over. Think how long 38 year is. Where were you 38 years ago? During the last four decades the hippie generation arose and faded away. Then the death of the President Kennedy and the freedom march by Dr. King and the Vietnam War protest followed. The rock and roll star Elvis Presley made young people crazy with his sweet songs. Then the Beatles swept the world with their love songs. After that the yuppie generation arose and it is vanishing away. Then the baby boomer arose and now they are retiring. Now we see the generation X. In the name of freedom, violence and immorality have been largely condoned. These days hedonistic materialism is prevailing in the western countries like a wild fire. Terrorists brought horror to the world. During 38 years, the world changed many times, but this invalid man remained the same. Who could dare to ask him anything? But Jesus asked him, "Do you want to get well?" because Jesus is God and he is full of grace.

Probably everyone who saw this man's tragic situation was afraid to look at him because he was smelly and undesirable. As people passed by him by chance, they pretended as if they had not seen him, and hurried away at full speed. Usually people like those who look lovely, but reject an unattractive person. The man who had been an invalid looked wretched and most unlovely. No one was interested in him. Rather, many were burdened at his existence. But Jesus visited this place and found him lying there hopelessly. In the previous chapter the royal official came to Jesus for help. But this time Jesus came to him because he could not come to Jesus. Out of his mercy Jesus came to this man. Jesus asked him, "Do you want to get well?"

No one but Jesus could love this unlovely man like this. Jesus came to this world to say to this hopeless paralytic, "Do you want to get well?" Jesus initiated his question. Jesus found him and wanted to heal this man's incurable sickness. This is the voice of God from heaven. No one asked this question to him before. People passed by him and gave up on him. But Jesus saw him and knew his condition well and asked him, "Do you want to get well?" Sometimes we think that nobody understands our chronic sickness and then we cry secretly saying, "Nobody cares about me." But Jesus understands our chronic sickness and asks us, "Do you want to get well?" Jesus knows each of us and is willing to help us. There is no sickness that Jesus cannot heal. Jesus has power to heal any kind of sickness. 1 Peter 2:24c says, “By his wounds you have been healed.” Healing comes from Jesus. Aren’t you sick and tired of the fact that you remain the same for a long time as a paralytic due to a certain event happened in your life or a bad habit or a human condition or a physical condition? I wish if I were born in a rich family. I wish if I were a little taller and smarter. I wish if my parents were not broken. I wish if my husband were rich. I wish if I could control my bad habit of watching T.V. too much and getting up late. I wish if I could control my eating habit. Now Jesus is standing in front of you and asking you, ”Do you want to get well?” Why don’t you hear Jesus’ voice of mercy and be healed from your paralysis once for all?

Second, Jesus wanted him to have a holy desire to be healed when he asked him, "Do you want to get well?" This question to the man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years was a difficult question to answer. Why did Jesus ask him this question? Jesus asked him this question to see if this man had a holy desire to be healed, for God endowed each person with a holy desire. Someone said, “Just say ‘a desire’ not ‘a holy desire’” because I am not comfortable with the word “holy”. But in reality our desire should be holy since God is holy. When I thought about this word more and more, I found that all desires are not the same. I can have a worldly desire and a sinful desire and a physical desire. Due to his repeated failure to be healed, this man did not have any desire left. Think about his 38 years endless frustration and despair. Now he gave up all hope. Jesus wanted him to be motivated to have a holy desire to be healed. This desire is holy because it is given to him by Jesus. As a descendant of Adam, we are not able to have a holy desire. Only Jesus can give us a holy desire because we were dead in our sins in the past. In Christ, I have a holy desire to be a humble servant of God. But in Adam I have a desire to remain in my sinful body and to enjoy my physical desire. Once Apostle Paul exclaimed in Romans 7:24-25, “What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Only Jesus can free from our body of sin. Only Jesus can lift us from the burden of our sin sickness.

There is a serious problem that there are many people who have no desire to be healed, even though they suffer endlessly due to their helplessness. What is worse, most people want to remain as they are, without any desire to be healed. They are the most corrupt people in the world. There is a brilliant student who has the intellectual power of a photographic memory. When he studies, he gets all A's. When he does not study, he gets all F's. Soon he dropped out of college. His problem is that he has no desire to be a brilliant scholar. It is not a light matter. He is a grave sinner because he abuses the noble desire endowed to him by God. Jesus wanted to heal this man's chronic problem of having no desire. Once German thinker and philosopher, Soren Kierkeggard, said, "Hopelessness is the sickness that leads to death." People don't know why they have to struggle just to live. So they just exist. They live because others live. This is pitiful condition. In this moment, Jesus is asking us also, "Do you want to get well?"

Historically, the desire problem has been a serious problem. When the people of Israel wanted to obtain God's blessing, they were comparatively good. But when they had to maintain God's blessing while living in the promised land, they had no holy desire to maintain God's blessing to be a priestly nation. Soon they forgot God's grace and were utterly corrupt until they were sent into Babylonian Captivity. In light of Israel's history, we should not live according to our sinful nature. We should live up to the holy desires endowed to us by God. According to the Bible, old men must dream, and young men must have a vision (Ac 2:17). Therefore, every man must have a burning fire and master passion in his heart. Most of all, all men must have a holy desire to be right with God.

What was his answer? Look at verse 7. "'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.'" He should have shouted with a great joy, "Yes, Lord. I want to get well. Please help me." But to our surprise, he did not answer Jesus' question. Rather, he complained about other people first. Here we can see two basic life problems from this man.

First, "I have no one to help." Think about the last 38-years of his life. I think it was true that no one helped him to get into the pool first. There was no one to help him because each person had his or her own problem. He despaired a lot when he depended on others. His despair developed within him as a habit of complaining. When Jesus met him, he complained about other people that they did not help him out. He was the one who could have complained throughout his lifetime and died in despair saying, "I have no one to help." Here we can see the futility of human expectation from others. Jesus is God the Incarnate who came down from heaven to help us from our sin of complain and despair. Only Jesus can help our chronic sin problem and save us from hell of condemnation. Real help comes from Jesus who conquered the power of death. We have to bring all our problems to him by trusting his love and mercy. We have to depend on God all the time rather than others.

Second, 'Someone else goes down ahead of me.' He was a man of defeatism. He suffered a lot because of his endless defeat in trying to get into the pool first. Then he developed a loser's mentality. This kind of attitude paralyzed him from doing anything. One man failed to enter a prestigious University and then he became a useless person due to his loser’s mentality. Every human being can be a victim of human competition. In the world of competition there are few winners and many losers. Many great men and women became useless because of one failure or defeat. But Jesus came to restore our defeated life. Jesus came to stop this man's losing streak though he did not have any win record. In Jesus there are no losers but only winners. Why? Jesus won the permanent victory on the hill of Calvary over Satan. Jesus crushed Satan's head through his resurrection victory. Apostle Paul said in Romans 8:37, "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us." There will be no defeatism in Jesus. We are more than conquerors when we are in Jesus. Praise Jesus who knew this man's helpless condition and came to him by asking, "Do you want to get well?" Let's accept Jesus' offer with personal faith by saying, "Yes, Jesus. I want to get well. Heal my paralysis by mercy."

How did Jesus help this man? Did he join in his complaining conference? Jesus did not listen to his complain but challenged him with his word. This man did not need any more human sympathy from others but he needed the word of God. Look at verse 8. "Get up, pick up your mat and walk!" Jesus did not allow him to dwell in his pitiful human condition any more. So he commanded him to get up and pick up his old mat of sickness and defeatism and start a new life of faith with the help of God. Jesus helped him say good-bye to his old life of chronic disability and say hello to a new life of hope and joy. Jesus did not want him to remain an obscure person without any hope. Jesus wanted him to come out of his old life. What happened to this man? Look at verse 9a. "At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked." The man was cured by the word of Jesus. Jesus is the creator God and he cured this man from his paralysis. Then he felt new strength in his legs and he got up and was able to walk. When he was cured by Jesus, he became a different person.

He got up from his dirty mat and walked. He was healed from his chronic paralysis. He started a new life with Jesus' help. He could run and play a basketball like MJ. No matter what kind of problem we have, Jesus can heal us when we come to him. No disease is too serious for Jesus. Jesus is our doctor full of mercy and love. He came to this world to heal the sick and give us new life. M. David Park wanted to get up early morning to pray for his flocks and Baltimore ministry last year. But he failed to get up because sleeping was so sweet. Through the leader’s conference he received Matt 6:33 and Jesus healed him from his paralysis of getting up late. Now he gets up early to eat daily bread and pray, and then his children get up early and they pray together. Jesus’ healing made him get up from his paralysis and take up his mat of own cross and walk in the light of Jesus. he wants to be fruitful Bible teacher in 2003.

I know all of us want to please God and do his will by feeding many sheep in 2003. But we despair when we cannot do it. At that time we have to listen to Jesus' word and try again though we failed many times. We must obey his command, "Get up, pick up your mat and walk." Before meeting Jesus, Missionary James Park was like a corpse. He lied in his bed for several days without moving at all. He was like an invalid man. But Jesus found him and healed him from his paralysis. Now he became the father of three boys and a fellowship leader to raise many spiritual leaders and a YDJ mentor to assist young leaders to grow in faith.

PART II. FORGETTING GOD’S GRACE IS SIN (9b-15)

This was a joyful event for all people to celebrate because the man who has been sick for 38 years was healed by Jesus. But there were unhappy people. They were the Jews who were jealous of Jesus' mighty work. They were stone-hearted and did not see the work of God. They were another kinds of paralytics. They were incurable spiritual paralytic who were damaging the growing work of Jesus.

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews gave the man a hard time by saying, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." They did not care about one sheep who received a new life with the mercy of Jesus. They only cared about their own selfish interest. They were legalistic, superficial, and cruel. The Jews intimidated him to confess Jesus' crime of breaking the Sabbath law. The man was sacred by the Jews' threat and put all the blame on Jesus, saying, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" Don’t’ blame me. The man yielded to their pressure and tried to escape from any responsibility. This man should have paid price for his new life. If we visit the Korean War Memorial, we find one phrase, “Freedom is not free.” And again he was paralyzed--this time, by fear of the Jews. The Jews noticed his shaky faith and pressed him hard to confess, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" He gave them opportunity to use him as a tool to accuse Jesus. When we do not stand firm based on the fact that Jesus healed us from our sins, we give Satan an opportunity to use us as his prisoner again.

There was another man who was healed on the Sabbath and was challenged by the Jews. He was the man born blind in John 9. Although he could be excommunicated when he was pressed by the Jews, he said clearly in John 9:25, "Whether he is a sinner or not, I don't know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!" What a clear testimony he had! Through this testimony he grew in faith and finally met Jesus personally and found Jesus as his object of worship. When we receive the forgiveness of sin through Jesus' grace, we have to grow in personal faith through clear testimony. The best testimony is to feed Jesus' sheep. We can share our faith with others through 1:1 Bible study. Persecution and peer pressure from the worldly people give us opportunity to grow in faith. The man who had been healed was in trouble because he had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Though he was healed from his disabled condition, he remained as a spiritual invalid. His relationship with Jesus was very superficial. He did not know Jesus personally. Through difficult situations our faith must grow to the next level. Many people study the Bible for a long time but have no idea who Jesus is. This is not a good thing. We have to develop a deeper and stronger relationship with Jesus by standing firm on the fact that Jesus healed us by his blood.

What did Jesus do to this poor fellow? Look at verse 14. Jesus helped him remember God's grace and thank him always for his healing. As long as we are thankful for what God has done in our life, our faith can grow and we can glorify God. Jesus went on to say, "Stop sinning..." Jesus gave him a warning of sinning again. Forgetting God’s grace is a great sin. It is easy to receive God’s grace but it is harder to maintain God’s grace. What was the man's response? Look at verse 15. He did not listen to Jesus' sincere appeal to his conscience and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who healed him on the Sabbath. He provided a basis for the Jews to accuse Jesus. When we thank God by remembering his grace, we can be joyful. A thankful heart to God fills us with joy overflowing. Once St. Paul and Silas were put in prison after being badly beaten. Were they groaning over their wounds? No. They were singing, "Hallelujah, hallelujah, thank you our Lord Jesus Christ." They could sing because they were full of God's grace in their hearts. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 says, "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus." Thanking God is the will of God for all mankind.

Today we learn from John chapter 5 that we must have a holy desire. Otherwise we become a slave of sinful desires. We also learn that we must hear the divine voice of Jesus: "Do you want to get well?" "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” May God bless us to have a holy desire to get well though Jesus’ grace and give thanks to Jesus for his wonderful love for us. Let’s read the key verse 9.