Responsibly Well
John 5:1-17
1After this there was a feast of the
Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.2Now there
is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaica called Bethesda,b which
has five roofed colonnades. 3In these lay a multitude of
invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.c 5One man
was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When
Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time,
he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7The sick
man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is
stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8Jesus
said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9And at
once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was
the Sabbath. 10So the Jewsd said to the man who had been healed,
“It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and
walk’?” 13Now the man who had been healed did
not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the
place. 14Afterward Jesus found him in the
temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that
nothing worse may happen to you.” 15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed
him. 16And this was why the Jews were
persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until
now, and I am working.” (ESV)
I have heard
it said that if something good takes place then it was God Who acted, but if
something negative occurs than the I did it or even worse the Devil is
responsible. I must admit that I don’t always know who is responsible for what
takes place in my life or the world around me, but I do know that I am not left
without responsibility either in the good or the bad. I terms of the
miraculous, I don’t believe that I have ever passively experienced one. I don’t
doubt the existence of miracles but by definition I understand them to be rare
and when God performs one He expects the participation of His people.
What we need
to understand from miracle stories is that God, when He performs them,
gives us a responsibility. And though our view of the immediate need is the
biggest concern, God is always doing so much
more. The specific miracles within the New Testament miracle stories were not the point
of the story. Miracle stories display the following:
1.
God was at work in Jesus.
2.
Jesus’ benevolent concern for all life both physical
and spiritual.
3.
How people respond to Jesus.
The main point of this post is that we have a
responsibility in getting well. Please consider the following thought in accordance with the corresponding verses.
1.
Stop making excuses. V. 1-7
2.
Act on the words of Jesus.8-9
3.
Move away from religiosity. 10-13
4.
Don’t repeat your sin. 14
5.
Work with Jesus.15-18
With the above in mind, how will you
answer Jesus' question, “do you want to be healed”? What responsibility must you
accept?
