(Sabbath Miracles) 03 - Bethesda John 5 — Ed Miller

Good morning. I'll ask you to, thank you, ask you to turn in your Bibles please to the Gospel of John, Chapter 5, if you would. As we come to look at God's Word together, there is a principle of Bible study that is absolutely indispensable.

Reliance on the Holy Spirit in Bible Study

And that principle is total reliance upon God's Holy Spirit. There are seals that cover God's Word that all of the light and fire of human genius can never uncover. And those seals melt like snow under the breath of the Spirit of God.

He has promised, if we would come with our mouths opened wide as little children, that he would minister to our hearts. I'm going to ask you please to join me as we commit our time unto him. Our Father, we do thank you so much that you have not left us on our own or with our own resources in order to understand your heart and your Word.

But you have given us the Holy Spirit who searches the depths of God and makes known unto us the riches of our Savior. We know, Lord, that it is your heart to drop with both hands riches into our lives if we would just be willing to receive it.

And so this morning we would ask you again to breathe upon the Word that you once breathed, that you would anoint your truth, that you would awaken our ears to listen as disciples, that you would minister the Lord Jesus unto us.

To this end we commit our time unto you and pray that our meditations and our devotional thoughts might turn our hearts again to focus upon our dear Lord Jesus. Thank you in advance for revealing yourself to us and we wait now for that manifestation.

In Jesus' name. Well, let me say just a few words to get us right back into the flow of what we've been looking at. We're looking in a special way this weekend at a cluster of miracles, seven miracles our Lord Jesus did while he ministered on the earth.

And those miracles became special because they were all clustered around another picture, the Sabbath. And we just are looking at these seven Sabbath day miracles. The spiritual truth behind those miracles, the idea, the concept that we're addressing is this, that God had instituted, God had created the Sabbath as one of his most precious pictures to illustrate our delight in the Lord and our union with him and our relationship to him.

But that beautiful picture, the Sabbath, had fallen into the hands of men. And they had taken that wonderful picture and they had twisted it and turned it so that instead of the Sabbath being a servant of man and given to minister unto man, it had become a taskmaster.

And through the Sabbath, God had become austere and hard and very critical and it became a great bondage. And instead of setting men free as God intended that it would, it left men, as we see in all of these miracles, in the grips of an unclean spirit rather than the Holy Spirit, laying in bed with a high fever rather than serving the Lord in delight.

It left people crippled and withered and blind and humped over, not being able to walk straight before God or men. It left people poisoned from the inside so that the flesh was all swelled up. And it broke the heart of the Lord Jesus to see that.

And so he determined and we illustrated how deliberate it was because Jesus certainly could have done those healings on any day. A man is crippled for 38 years, the Lord can wait another day. A woman's humped over for 18 years, the Lord can wait another day.

A man is born blind and grows up blind, the Lord can wait another day. But he can't wait another day. He can't wait another day because he was going to rescue his Sabbath and take it back and bring it back to original intention.

That was his heart then, that's his heart this weekend. He wants his Sabbath back. He wants that glorious picture to picture what he intended it to picture. And I'm not talking about today, the Lord's Day.

I'm talking about the Sabbath as God's picture of union with Him. And so we looked at those two events together. The one where he declared himself to be the emancipator. He said the anointing's on me.

The Spirit of God is upon me. He's anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor and to release the captives, to set the prisoner free, to heal the brokenhearted, to wipe away the tears, to bring deliverance, to set my people free.

Then he gave that little story the Holy Spirit did walking in the grain fields. This was a great Sabbath event. What does it mean Sabbath life? The reality is it's walking with Jesus in the grain fields in the presence of our enemies.

If God can work in our hearts any measure of Sabbath truth, that's how we'll leave this place hand in hand with Jesus. And we'll walk with Him, we'll stroll with Him in the grain fields. That's God's plan.

That's God's heart. Well, we're taking each of these miracles. I'm suggesting that each miracle sheds light on the truth of Sabbath. As you go through all seven, seven like the seven churches, seven like that wonderful number of God, seven complete.

When you're done with these seven Sabbath miracles, as I understand it, you'll have God's full heart on deliverance. Everything He intends for union with Him is all pictured marvelously in these wonderful miracles.

So far in our discussion, we've looked at only two of the miracles. The first miracle was the healing of the man with the unclean spirit. The unclean spirit is the opposite of the clean spirit. In Sabbath life, in Sabbath living, in God's original intention, His house would have been filled with those possessed and controlled by the Holy Spirit of God.

That is not the goal. That's the starting point of His Sabbath. That's where it begins, the filling of the Spirit of God. Oh how we need the Holy Spirit. And then we looked at the second miracle, and we just illustrated the truth of Sabbath service.

In God's dream, in God's heart, in God's ideal, in God's Sabbath, every person is controlled by the Holy Spirit. And every person serves without a fever. That is, it's a spontaneous thing. It is a supernatural thing.

And it is a service that comes out of a union with Him. He takes you by the hand, you rise up, and in the power of God and by the life of God, you minister in joy without a fever and without relapse. This morning we're going to look at the third miracle, John chapter 5, if you would please.

The Bethesda Miracle and Its Four Controversies

I wonder if we can have one or two read. I'd like it read from chapter 5, the first 18 verses. Maybe a couple of you could stand up and read aloud, and then when you're finished, someone else will take over and just read these 18 verses.

There are a great number of disabled people who used to lie, but Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time. He asked him, do you want to get well? Sir, the infallible replied, I have no one to help me.

Thank you very much. I really want to get into the principles of this passage. And I don't know, all of you hermeneuts and Bible students out there, if you're aware that this particular passage is surrounded with some controversy.

And so that we're all going together, if you'll bear with me for several minutes, I want to start with the first verse. I don't want you sitting there thinking, oh, that guy's a heretic. I believe this.

And I may be a heretic, but I want you to come with me. So what I'd like to do is just take four little areas of controversy. For those of you who didn't even know there was a problem, I apologize for introducing you to these problems.

But let's just deal with that, and then we can come to the passage and see Jesus. That's why we've gathered here. The first part of the controversy is in chapter 5, verse 1. There was a feast. Which feast?

It could have been the Feast of Purim in March, Passover in April, Pentecost in May, Tabernacles in October, or Dedication in December. Nobody knows. Thousands of pages are written on which feast. Nobody knows.

It's not important to the principle. Second point, verse 2. Where's the sheep gate? Some people say the sheep gate has to do with where the sheep were sold. Some say, no, it's Nehemiah 3, the gate called sheep gate.

Some say it's where the sheep were lost. Some say it's where the sheep were sacrificed. Nobody knows. It's not important. Let's leave the sheep gate. Verse 4. See, we're going to get through all these controversies.

You notice when our sister read the passage, some of you noticed she didn't read everything? Did you notice that? Yeah, okay. Verse 3 and 4, let me read what she didn't read there. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, withered, and then there's a parenthesis, if you have the New American Standard, waiting for the moving of the waters.

For an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever the disease was with which they were afflicted.

Now, if you have a New American Standard, that is in parenthesis with a footnote. And the footnote says, many manuscripts do not contain the remainder of verse 3 or verse 4. If you have the NIV or some other translation, they just leave it out.

And then probably at the bottom, they put it down, and there's a verse at the bottom of the page. It's at the bottom of the page. One of the notes says, some less important manuscripts leave this out.

And it's true, folks. That verse didn't show up in your Bible until the 4th century. That's when that one finally came along. Some claim some copyist was trying to explain the stirring of the waters and put it in.

And so there's this controversy. Some say, that doesn't belong in the Bible. There's a manuscript problem. And some say, oh, it says it. It's in there. God has providentially watched over the inspiration of Scripture and what we have in the Bible we have, and let's come and take it by faith.

There's an approach to the Bible which is called biblical criticism. That's okay. We're not afraid of the truth. We need to be critical. And we need to come to the manuscripts and so on and understand that.

There's also an approach called destructive criticism. And that's a different thing altogether. And the destructive critics, they're trying to get those things out of the Bible because they don't believe in miracles.

And let's get rid of all the things that look like they're miraculous. We don't have a problem with miracles. I hope you don't. I don't have a problem that God could send his angel and stir up waters and anybody who gets in it with any disease at any moment can be cured of that disease.

I don't have a problem with that. Some don't like the idea that angels came and stirred up the water. One reason is there's a problem with the word angel. What is angel? Is it an angel from heaven? Or like one of the angels of the seven churches who were told to repent.

They're not angels from the sky. We're all familiar with the principle that some human messengers sometime stir up pools that people flock to because they're needy. And they're running to everything that's stirred up.

Million and one applications to that. People trying to stir something up and if it's a human messenger, it could be a heavenly messenger. God could do that. A real angel from heaven and so on. And let me make a couple of helpful suggestions and get rid of this controversial stuff and then we'll get to the heart.

My first suggestion is when you come to a passage that's weak in manuscript authority, regardless of your approach to that passage, my suggestion is don't use that passage in order to support some doctrine.

And the reason is you're going to weaken your argument. When you're coming to a truth like the deity of Christ or the resurrection of our Lord Jesus or the coming judgment, there are plenty of verses that are not disputed.

And use a strong word. If you've got three arguments, one strong one and two weak ones, just use the strong one. Don't even use the weak one. Don't give them a chance to say that's weak. They'll latch on to the weak one.

And so that's my first suggestion. My second suggestion, and this is what I'd like to do this morning, when you come to any problem in the scripture, I'm convinced there is a common denominator position.

Meditate on those things. You know God's people, Brother Barry and I were discussing this, God's people divide over the strangest things. And all these non-essential things are constantly dividing. Find what's common denominator and let's fellowship in Christ.

Fellowship in the Lord. And there is common denominator positions. Now let me present those who say get this passage out of the Bible because it militates against the heart of God. Here's their reasoning.

They say it teaches first come first served. That can't be God. It's teaching you to be selfish. Here you are an invalid sitting next to other invalid and you're all waiting for the pool to stir. Say boy I hope I see it before he does.

Wouldn't you learn to hate the guy next to you? If you got crippled legs and he's only got a withered hand, he's going to make it to the pool faster. And you say I hope he trips. I hope I can get there first and that kind of thing.

They say if this were really from God it would teach that God gives help to those who need it least because those who need it most can't get there. And they say that can't be God. That doesn't sound like God.

And then others come along and say well wait a minute now. You're not looking at that the right way. When you come here it says an angel of the Lord came down. Why don't you believe that? It says it. And it stirred up the pool and so on.

Why don't you just believe what God says? This doesn't violate God's heart. It teaches sovereignty. God can heal who he wants to heal when he wants to heal at any time. It teaches patience. Wait for the Lord.

It doesn't teach selfishness. It reveals selfishness. It shows that man is selfish and everybody wants to get blessed for somebody else. It doesn't destroy hope. It keeps you hopeful that there's something that's going to happen.

It shows the mighty power of God. He can heal any disease. Anybody who went in and so on. And so there's this controversy. We don't want to deal with that. And I'm not going to take a side. And what I want to do is just present it to you.

Like Paul always said, I love his word, there's a more excellent way. And the more excellent way is to find what is common denominator. The common denominator position is this. That brother, that person was in trouble.

He could not help himself. And there was nobody else that could help him either. Isn't that clear? That's common denominator. He was beyond human help. It's amazing that so many people spend so much time arguing over the place that he didn't get healed and the means God didn't use.

That's dumb. Let's talk about how he was helped and who helped him. See, that's the point of all of this. Let me make one other comment about controversy. We don't know which feast. It doesn't matter.

We don't know where the sheep gate is. It doesn't matter. The manuscript authority does not touch on the essential teaching of this wonderful passage. And then may I suggest also that you be careful as you go through the word of God.

Open yourself up to the spirit of God to let him teach you. But there is this thing called allegorizing that sometime we try to force and we sort of twist things in order to get some spiritual blessing.

Just be careful of that. I was so amazed in verse 2, having five porches, having five porticos, I got the idea that some kind person or persons built these porches so they wouldn't get rained on. They were like these patios.

And I thought that's pretty nice until I got to my commentaries. And then I read the five porches represent the five wounds of Jesus. That's interesting. And then another one said the five porches represent the five senses.

How in the world do you get five senses out of those five porches? Some say that the pool represents the waters of baptism and so on. And God stirs those up. This guy was crippled for 38 years. Of course, because Israel wandered for 38 years.

Maybe they're seeing things I don't see. We don't need to do that kind of mental gymnastics to see Jesus. God has given us a context. God has put the spirit in our heart. Let's just see what God says and how it reveals him and ties into the context.

Jesus' Three Words to the Man at Bethesda

All right, all of that is gone. Now, let's come God helping us to this third Sabbath miracle. Let me give you what I think are three keys to understand God's heart in this marvelous passage. I'm actually going to look at them with you in reverse order, but let me give them to you in the order in which God gave them.

Three times our Lord Jesus addressed this man. In chapter five, verse six, he said, Do you want to get well? And then in chapter five, verse eight, he said, Arise, take up your pallet, take up your bed and walk.

And then in verse 14, he said, Behold, you've become well. Do not sin anymore so that nothing worse may befall you. Three times he spoke, and each of those times contains a key that unlocks the Sabbath truth.

Jesus said, I'm going to get my Sabbath back. I'm going to set my people free. I'm going to ask you to look at verse 14, please. We're going to take these in reverse order. I think the power of these principles will mean more if we look at them from the end and come back.

Sin, Consequences, and Jubilee Deliverance

Jesus said, Behold, you've become well. Do not sin anymore so that nothing worse may befall you. There are two kinds of trouble in the earth. One is described in Job 5 .7. Affliction does not come from the dust, neither does trouble sprout from the ground.

Man is born for trouble as the sparks fly upward. In other words, there's the trouble that we can't escape because we're in a fallen world. And as really as sparks fly up, we're going to have trouble in our life.

But there's another kind of trouble. Jeremiah mentions it. Jeremiah chapter 2 .17. Have you not done this to yourself by forsaking the Lord your God? Oh, there's a trouble. Have you not done this to yourself?

Jeremiah 2 .19. Your own wickedness will correct you. Your own apostasies will reprove you. There's the trouble that we have because the world is sinful. But there's also the trouble that we have because we're sinful.

The consequences of our own sin we bring on ourselves. We sow a seed of sin and we reap a harvest of trouble. A harvest of trouble. You're familiar with Hosea chapter 8 verse 7. Hosea 8 .7 says, They sowed the wind, they reaped the whirlwind.

You always reap more than you sow. You sow a seed and then you reap the harvest of that. It seems very probable from the comment our Lord Jesus made to this man. It seems very probable that this unnamed man at Bethesda was reaping the whirlwind.

Jesus said, You've become well. Do not sin anymore lest a worse thing happen to you. In other words, he implies that this man was there because of his own doing. We don't know what it was. But for 38 years this man was suffering the consequences of his own sin.

We can guess. We know how sin works and how sin can disable somebody. And we can put our guesses in what happened 38 years ago. All we know is he did something and it made him a cripple. And he had to sit by that pool for 38 years.

One thing that makes this so powerful is our Lord Jesus knew that 38 years ago he had done something. And the reason I bring that out is because this man sinned before Jesus was born on the level of earth.

He wasn't 38 yet and yet he knew all about it. He knew all about what brought that man to that place. I'm so glad, brothers and sisters in Christ, that in the seven Sabbath miracles, one of them included a situation that could be traced back to man's own sin and man's own fault.

Because Jesus is a deliverer and one of the greatest condemnations is this condemnation of the past. I messed up in the past and I'm crippled now because of something I did back then. Now in the case of the blind man, he's going to tell us this definitely was not because of sin.

But in this case, he did something. I can picture someone saying or thinking, you know, all this talk about rest and Sabbath and entering in and delighting in the Lord and it all sounds so wonderful for you.

But it isn't for me because you don't know my past. See, years ago, I messed up. I'm saddled with a harvest. Long time ago, I did something and it crippled me. Or I could have been something if I didn't do that.

But I've been crippled by that thing. I tried to get up and I couldn't get up. And I've gone for help and nobody's been able to help me. And I've looked for every pool that stirred too and nothing's been able to help me.

Paralyzed years ago because of my stupidity. Now I've had to live with it. It doesn't go away. Had that child out of wedlock. It's not going to go away. Ended on some addiction. It's not going to go away.

Married that jerk. I'm stuck with him. Stuck with her. Through my own fault, I lost my family or I lost my testimony or I lost my employment or I lost some opportunity. Been wasted by sin all these years.

Tried to get up. I can't get up. Tried to have other people help me. There's no help for me. Brothers and sisters in Christ, it is my great joy and privilege to tell you that Jubilee includes that situation.

Jesus said, I have come to proclaim liberty to the captives and that includes those who are handicapped by their own sin and by their own fault and by something they've done in the past. If God offered this victory over any trouble, it would have been wonderful.

But because he offers this Sabbath deliverance right down to the person who has been destroyed because of his own sin. I think there's something about that Jubilee that is very, very wonderful. That's exactly the kind of deliverance he offers.

See, the legalist has very little hope for somebody who did that by himself. We were discussing with a lot of the brothers through the summer and sisters some of these things and Larry Greenlee made a comment about this particular miracle and he said that this is a perfect example.

You made your bed, now sleep in it. Now listen, you made your bed, now sleep in it. Take up your pallet and walk. Isn't that glorious? Isn't that glorious? That's the kind of liberty he invites the very one who has been handicapped by his own sin.

Sabbath Liberty Through Obedience

I hold that for a moment. Look at the second thing Jesus said. Chapter 5 verse 8. Arise, take up your bed and walk. Whatever else this passage might teach friends in Christ, it teaches liberty. It teaches deliverance and freedom.

Can you picture this man after being crippled for 38 years, rising up with that bed, being able to stand up, pick up his bed, carry that thing. For 38 years that bed carried him. And now he's enabled by the mighty power of God to carry the thing that carried him.

I told you at the beginning the legalists had ruined the Sabbath. What hope have they given this guy? You sinned 38 years ago, sit there. They said, but what hope do I have? He said, I'll give you hope, run.

Run? I can't even drag myself. I can't even walk and my only hope is to beat out everybody else to the pool. How cruel that is. And then look at him in verse 10. Excuse me sir, it's the Sabbath day. It's not permissible for you to carry this bed.

See they're basing that on Jeremiah 17 .21. Jeremiah 17 .21 says, take heed, do not carry a burden on the Sabbath day. Hey mister, why are you carrying that burden? I can hear him say, are you kidding me?

Burden? 38 years ago I sinned and for 38 years I've had a burden. This is no burden sir. This is no burden. Look at this bed. Picture that guy. That's glorious liberty. Glorious liberty. As we looked at the clean spirit, as we looked at Sabbath service.

Now here is Sabbath liberty. What is Sabbath liberty? Why are you carrying your bed, they asked. I love his answer. Verse 11. He who made me well was the one who said, take up your pallet and walk. In other words, he ties his liberty into obedience.

I love that. And what he's saying is this. He's saying, he who healed me commanded me. And that's enough for me. I'm just obeying God. Some people have the idea that liberty is just doing your own thing.

He said, I'm free but I'm not free to do my own thing. I'm free to do his thing. I'm free to obey God and all I know is he told me to and I'm going to do it. And if that upsets your rules, sorry. Because he set me free and I'm going to do it.

As you go on in the Lord brothers and sisters in Christ, you're going to notice that those who are religious, I don't know if it's a jealousy or what, but they can't stand that kind of liberty. Just as being possessed by the clean spirit at last amazed them.

And being able to rise and minister after a high fever confused them. This kind of liberty seems to annoy them. It bothers them. And the more you go on with the Lord, the more you're going to see. This is a paradox.

True heart obedience resembles disobedience in the eyes of the religious. And the more you obey the Lord, the more it's going to look like you're walking away from the Lord. And you're going to rest and they're going to say you're lazy.

And you're going to go after the Lord and drop some program and they're going to say you're backsliding. And you're going to want to be alone with God and they're going to say you're departing from the Lord.

We're going to pray for you. You just go on to know the Lord and you carry your pallet and you carry it right in front of them. This liberty to the fact that it's just not anybody who's free, but it's this guy who was delivered from his own folly that's free.

Boy, that makes this freedom even better than ever. It's glorious to be free if you're just delivered. But if you're delivered from your own stupidity and if God rescues you from yourself and from the consequences of your sin.

I think there are some people that have been healed and have not yet taken up their pallet to walk. They've been gloriously delivered, but they've got this idea, well, you know, I don't want to rock the boat.

I better not be too bold, especially when you think of where I came from. I better just be real careful and not tip over the apple cart. I'll just worship the Lord in private and be all by myself. And there's this temptation because you came out of a bad situation and because you messed up and everybody knew it and you've been exposed and you've been a jerk.

There's this temptation when God delivers you that you're going to hold back and not pick up that bed and say, I'm free now and I want you to know it. And I'm obeying the one who told me and who healed me and I'm just going to obey the Lord now.

You can be free from the past and the condemnation of the past and whatever you've been through, God can set you free from that. That's what this Sabbath is all about. It's what he wants to do. I love the misconnection, the boldness.

How free can I be? Remember when Peter denied the Lord and then he got restored and he came back to the Lord and then God used him to preach on Pentecost and 3 ,000 people were saved. One of the things he said, Acts 3 .14, he's up preaching now and he said, you have denied the Holy One of Israel.

And I would go, oh Peter, you use that word? You said deny it. You shouldn't use that word. Look at the pot calling the kettle black. What right do you have to get up there a month later and say, you've denied the Holy One?

I'll tell you why he could do it. Because he was free. Yes, he denied the Lord, but he didn't cringe every time a cock crowed. God set him free. He can set you free too. This man at Bethesda was there because of his own doing.

Jesus sought him out as he seeks you out. Jesus said, take up your bed now. You're going to be free. Let everybody know it. And don't be ashamed. Be bold. Take that talent. If it goes against a few rules, that's okay.

Just do it. He just spoke one other time. In chapter 5 and verse 6, do you wish to get well? At first glance, I thought that's a silly question. This guy's been there for 38 years. I know Jesus wouldn't ask a dumb question, but you go up to a guy who's been sitting there for 38 years and you say, do you wish to be well?

Jesus' Call to Receive Healing

Why do you think I'm here? Except when you hear his answer, you know why Jesus asked the question. He didn't say yes. He didn't say yes, I want to be well. And Jesus had to show him the difference. What he said in effect, I'm going to paraphrase, but here's what he said.

Jesus said, do you want to be made well? And his answer is, I haven't had the opportunity. I haven't had the opportunity. Because he, though he messed up his own life, he was focused on, I've got to get up or somebody's got to help me.

And he made the whole issue, who's going to help me? Brothers and sisters in Christ, I don't have anybody in mind, but if there's somebody here that has been in bondage because of the past, you crippled yourself 40 years ago, and you've been living with that thing, and you're waiting around for somebody to help you, they're not going to help you.

All right? You're not going to get help. Don't look to yourself, you can't do it. Don't look to somebody else. Will you let the Lord help you from secret places? That's what it's all about. The Lord wants to do it.

How long are you going to sit there waiting for somebody to pick you up? How long are you going to sit there waiting for some pool to stir? How many times are you going to fall down before you realize you can't do it yourself?

We try to depend on everybody else, and we try to think somebody else is going to help me. Jesus, Jesus wants to help you. And that's why he said he's going to take, are you willing? I don't want to hear about nobody will help me, and I've tried, and I've joined this program and that program.

You won't be well. If you want victory, this is what the Lord Jesus wants to give. And in this third miracle, he illustrates this tremendous liberty that we can have, even if it's because of my own sin.

You couldn't get a greater liberty than that. Even if it's because of something I've done, and I've messed up, and I've got to live with the consequences forever. You're the one this morning. He wants his Sabbath back.

He wants to set you free. Do you want it? You can be free. You can leave this place walking with Jesus in the grain fields, waving that power. Look at this, man. That thing carried me for years. It doesn't carry me anymore.

I'm free. Do you want it? Oh, let's give Jesus his Sabbath back. This is for him. For you indirectly is for him directly. Give him back his Sabbath. No excuses. No excuse. Don't say, oh, it's not going to work for me because blah, blah, blah.

He included this as a Sabbath miracle to show you that it'll work for you. Don't leave this place burdened. We're not even done. There's other miracles, and it touches on the rest. But if this touches you, sit around trusting yourself, waiting for others, or looking for some tool to stir.

Jesus asks you this morning, do you want to be well? If you say, well, I don't have the opportunity. You have it now. You have it now. Let's pray. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you for this glorious story of the day you walked right up to somebody who was so messed up because of his sin.

Set him so free. We ask you, Lord, if there's somebody like that here, that you would ring the golden bells of jubilee. We ask in Jesus' name.