Latest / Finding Jesus Again / Episode 8; Do you want to be well?
Transcript
- John Smithson: Welcome to Finding Jesus Again, episode eight. So excited to be on this journey with you, and I hope that you are being blessed by it and receiving from it. And I hope that it has sparked in you to take your own journey to find Jesus. Maybe you're receiving different things from the scriptures that I'm receiving, and that's great. And if you are, please respond. Let me know. I would be I would love to hear that. I think that. Even after we've completed our readings and I've kind of marinated a little bit on the things that I've read, things will kind of pop into my mind and I think, ⁓ man, I wish I wish I would have shared that. But again, ⁓ we're doing this unscripted. We're just reading, we're sharing, and that's the plan, just to kind of keep it simple and and hopefully as God speaks to us together, ⁓ we'll we'll learn together and we'll grow together. So we're gonna start today in John chapter five. After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now in Jerusalem by the sheep gate there is this pool in Hebrew called Bethesda, having five porticos. In those porticos lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, limping, or paralyzed. Now a man was there who had been there for thirty eight years. Could you imagine? Thirty eight years he had been here. Jesus upon seeing this man lying there and knowing that That he had already been in that condition for a long time, said to him, Do you want to get well? Now I I just want to stop here because so I I I heard this, there's this very popular comedian named Theo Vaughn that I watch sometimes. And you could definitely tell that he's on some sort of journey himself, because he talked about this scripture. He's been kind of reading the scriptures and studying it and trying to find God for himself, kind of like we're doing. And he he talked about this scripture when God went up to this man or Jesus went up to this man, he said, who had been in this place paralyzed thirty eight years and said, Do you want to get well? And at first you kind of think, Man, of course I want to get well. Well, why wouldn't I want to get well? Why wouldn't anybody want to get well? I mean, if you've been paralyzed for thirty eight years, you've been stuck in this spot, why wouldn't you want to get well? But Theo Vaughn had talked about, he he began to really kind of think about that question because it really kind of weighed heavy on him, and he said, I don't think I want to get well. Yeah, and I think that's kind of the problem is some of us don't really want to get well. So what a profound question. Do you want to get well? And I want to ask that to you today. Do you want to get well? Do you want to be better? Do you want to be saved from that situation that you're in or that addiction or whatever it is that you're fighting? Do you want to get well? And I think that's a question that we have to really internalize and think about because when we finally decide that we want to get well, that's when things are going to change. And we need to be confronted with that. So I I I just pray that today we can be confronted with that. Do you want to get well? Do you want to get out of the situation that you're in? Let's read on, verse seven. 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'm coming down, another steps down to before me. Again, another profound verse. The man says, I have no one to help me. You think that's probably other people in that area who had help when the angel came down to stir the waters, and I don't know if this was literal, if it literally happened, but the the angel would come down to stir the waters, and whoever got in the water first would be healed. And he's saying, I don't have nobody to help me. I've been here all alone. There's nobody beside me, no one to help me. And again, that may be you today. You might be feeling like there's no one to help me. I'm just all alone. I don't know how to get there. I don't know what to do. But Jesus came there specifically to help him. And he said to them, Pick up get up, pick up your pallet and walk. Immediately the man became well and he picked up his pallet and he began to walk. God healed him. Even though, number one, he wasn't sure if he really wanted to be well. Number two Well let's just scratch that part. So let's read on. Now it was on Sabbath on that day, so the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, it is a Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet. But he answered to them, He who made me well was the one who said to me pick up your pallet and walk. They asked him, Who is the man who said to you pick it up and walk? But the man who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and he said, Behold, you have become well. Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you. The man went away and informed the Jews that it was Jesus who made him well. For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on a Sabbath, but he answered them, My Father is working until now, and I myself am working. Wow, it it's crazy to me that Jesus does this amazing miracle. He he saves this man. And then the religious people were like, You can't do that on the Sabbath because it's against the law. And Jesus is like, I'm here to work. I'm here to do to do God's business. It's just crazy to me how people get so wrapped up in religious stuff that they care more about religion And they care more about church, and they care more about all the doctrine and the rules and the laws and all that stuff than they do about people. The religious people were more concerned about their religion than they were about people. They were upset at Jesus because he healed this man on the Sabbath. Why would you dare do that? Why would you dare help someone on the Sabbath? But Jesus said again, I'm here to do. My father is working until now, and I myself am working. Also, let's check out this this part here that says, When Jesus told him, he said, Behold, you have become well, do not sin anymore, so that nothing else worse happens to you. So I kind of contemplated that a little bit when I read that. What exactly is Jesus trying to say here? Don't do any more sin so that nothing else bad will happen to you. Is Jesus telling him that if you go and sin? That you're going be paralyzed again? Is Jesus telling him that if you go and continue to sin that you're going to be in a worse situation, I'm going punish you and I'm going to put you right back where you were? I don't believe that at all. We found out that the Bible tells us that Jesus came into the world to save us and to give us life. And we read in a few chapters earlier that we're already condemned. And so death and sin And pain and and problems and issues. We all have. Whether you're a Christian or not a Christian, we all have those situations. However, the wages of sin is death. And so when we do sin, there are greater consequences that come with that sin. It's not because of punishment. Like God don't look down and go, ⁓ you slept with too many women, so now what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna give you syphilis. I mean, that's not the way it works. God doesn't make you have syphilis as a punishment. This basically syphilis is the byproduct of of the sin that you're involved in. It it happened because of what you did and because of being involved in sin. I know it's kind of a silly explanation, but basically there are consequences to sin. I see it all the time when people get upset because I can't believe I'm in this situation. I'm on probation. My bills are are horrendous. My debt is too high. It's because of decisions that we made. Decisions have consequences. Becoming a Christian doesn't always cancel those consequences. But Jesus is telling us, man, look, I rescued you from your situation. And now don't go back to sin, because if you go back to sin, you could possibly find yourself in worse situations. God is telling him that sin causes death and sin causes pain, sin causes heartache, sin causes trouble, sin causes all those things. Again, just because you're a Christian doesn't mean that you're not going to experience those things, but being fully involved in sin and rejecting Christ is opening yourself up to receive even more of those things. So Jesus is just warning him here Behold you become well, don't sin anymore. So that nothing worse happens to you. ⁓ change your life and change the way you live. Basically, if we're going to take anything from what Jesus is saying to this man, it is that sin's going to cause us problems. And if we want to have less problems, then we need to turn away from sin and stop sinning. Because when we do sin, we're opening up the door for problems and for issues in our lives. Thank you for Joining me on this Finding Jesus again journey and we will talk to you again tomorrow. Be sure and leave your comments and questions. I'd love to hear what you have to say and what you've been receiving from these passages. Thank you.