“A Strange Story”  

**INTRODUCTION 

Welcome to "Key to the Kingdom." My name is Bret McCasland. Have you ever met someone who did not seem to have much enthusiasm or interest for life? Without judging such a person, you even wondered why they appeared to not be making any attempt to better their situation. You know, on those occasions we might run several different scenarios through our mind and wonder what is going on in their life. In today's episode on "Key to the Kingdom," we will consider a rather strange story in which a man is challenged by Jesus to do something specific in his life in order for his life to be better. It is a story in which we really don't want to see ourselves; yet as we go through it, we might consider what the Lord expects of us. Is there a way Jesus would challenge us to move beyond our current circumstances and to embrace new opportunities. For the next few minutes, I would encourage you to put yourself in this man's sandals, as if Jesus were talking to you today. Then, think about any changes or adjustments you might need to make in your own life. I invite you now to join us for the next few minutes, as we open up our Bibles and study together.

**LESSON

Do you remember where you were and what you were doing 38 years ago today? The answer I would give to that question is, well, maybe, but I'm not sure. I have slept a few times since then. You perhaps would offer something similar. I would venture to say, however, with a few exceptions, you were living in a different house than what you are living in now. You are perhaps even living in a different city, and you were doing something different then than what you are doing right now. Well, imagine having a debilitating health problem, or disease, for some 38 years, and that prevented you from going anywhere or doing anything. Well, there is a man that we read about in the Bible that had that debilitating disease for 38 years, and he is the focus of our story today. Let's read that story. It is found in the Gospel of John, beginning in chapter 5 and verse 1. <Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here, a great number of disabled people used to lie; the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When 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 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.” Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; and the Law forbids you to carry your mat.” But he replied, “The Man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ” So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?” The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well. So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute Him.> As Jesus came into the city of Jerusalem, He passed to the north side of the temple and came to a place called the Pool of Bethesda, which means House of Mercy. Many people suffering from various kinds of physical illnesses or disease surrounded that pool. The text tells us some of them were blind, others were lame or paralyzed. But they were waiting for an angel to arrive and to magically, if you will, touch the water to make it bubble up. And when that happened, the first one to get in to that bubbling water would be healed of that disease, sickness or whatever problem they might experience. And out of all of the people who were there, Jesus picked one who could not walk. He had sat on his mat by the pool for some 38 years, and Jesus asked him the question, “Do you want to get well?” And it's interesting; the man does not say either yes or no: He only offers an excuse as to why he is not well. He states, when the water is bubbling, nobody helps me, nobody gets me into the pool, nobody offers for me to take their turn. Well, without any other words exchanged, Jesus tells the man to stand up, pick up his mat and start walking. And immediately the man is healed. He offers no resistance. He does exactly what Jesus asked him to do, and he walks away. I don't know about you, but to me that's a rather strange story. The man expresses no belief in Jesus Christ. He does not even know His name. He does not ask any questions. And it appears he does not even follow Jesus. This man is reluctant to get up and to do anything. Yet the thing that really bothers me about this story is why has he not made some kind of effort in the past 38 years to get any better? Why has he not made some kind of connection with someone else sitting around the pool? Why has he not created a friend and some kind of relationship with someone as they could help each other? Why was he simply waiting on an angel that might or might not show up for his deliverance and for his healing? Well, when Jesus arrived, He swept away any kind of superstition. With one command He said, “Rise, take up your mat and start walking.” The man was instantly cured. He never even got wet. It was not the water he needed, but rather it was Jesus. We find several statements about Jesus’ ministry throughout the New Testament, and one of them is found in Acts chapter 10 and verse 38: <Jesus went about doing good and healing all who were under the power of the devil because God was with Him.> Well, as the name of the pool suggests, Jesus showed mercy to one who did not deserve it. And this man is perhaps the least willing and the least grateful of all of the people whom Jesus healed, that we read about here in the Gospel of John. Well, the man then met up with some Jewish leaders, some officials, who were offended by the fact that he was carrying his mat on the Sabbath day, even though that was permissible. They simply did not know the Law. But they also wanted to know who had healed him. Who was it who had helped him down into the water after 38 years of sitting on his mat. Well, it was then the man gave them the name Jesus. And based upon that, they began to persecute Jesus and even began to think about a way to put Him to death. Well, in the meantime, Jesus had found the man there in the temple. He told him to quit sinning. And the question we might ask is why would He do that? You know, on occasion, the Bible mentions people who suffered some kind of sickness, some kind of disease because of some sin in their life. And so evidently, this man's suffering was a result of his own actions. Think about this: For 38 years, he was in a pitiful condition, and it was his own fault. And one would think he would have figured that out over a period of time. What had he been doing? What had he not been doing, that led him to suffer so much for so long? You know, 38 years, no doubt, is a long time for a man to sit on his mat in the midst of his sin. Every day was the same; nothing to do but to sit and wait and to watch and to hope for some kind of miracle. And in the man's mind, being at the pool of Bethesda was his best chance to get well. Now, having looked at all of that and read the passage, ask yourself the question, what do we do with such a strange story? I want to offer about five observations from this story and then make some application of that to our life today. The first observation is this: faith in anyone or anything else besides Jesus leaves us sitting on our mat. We know today, Jesus is the ultimate healer. Jesus not only sees our physical problems, but He is also aware of the sin in our life; and, He is willing to help us and heal us in both ways. Yes, Jesus is the only one who can provide the spiritual and the physical help we ultimately need. And yet we find this man's attitude was, well, as soon as the water bubbles then I will get off of my mat. As soon as the water begins to stir and I get down into the water, then my life will be better. In other words, the pool of Bethesda was an illusion. Still today, such illusions convince us that our life is nothing more than our circumstances. It is an illusion that deceives us into believing life can be found outside of ourselves. Life can be found outside of our current circumstances. We perhaps would even believe or say, “Well, as soon as this or that happens, my life will be better. As soon as this takes place, I will be happy. As soon as that develops, then my problems will go away, and then everything will be fine.” We can create all kinds of scenarios along that line, I suppose; and perhaps we're tempted to do so on occasion. For example, as soon as I get married, then I can buy a house. As soon as I retire from my job, I can travel where I want to go. As soon as my spouse apologizes to me, then I will show, to him or her, my love and affection. And we can create all different scenarios and fill in the blanks with those particular things, can't we? Sometimes we do just that. We believe that better life is to be found on the other side of the fence, on the other side of our problem. And when that happens, we are putting our faith in someone else, or something else, to make our life better; and when that happens, we become like this lame man at the pool. We put our life on hold. We sit down on our mat. We are imprisoned, if you will, by the circumstances of our life. And that imprisonment was great for this lame man because it evidently lasted some 38 years. When Jesus asked him the question, “Do you want to get well?” he does not even respond. He offers no excuses. He says I simply have no one to put me into the water. That's all he does. He offers those excuses. And when the bubbles, when the water bubbles, then someone gets down into the water ahead of me. We can look at those excuses and we can say, “Nobody gives me a helping hand.” We might say it like this today, “Well, I'm having a pity party. I feel sorry for myself and I wish other people would feel sorry for me, too. And, I'm depending upon them to help me.” So, we can see how all of that is taking place here in this man's life, for 38 years. We need to understand, today, that the circumstances that we encounter in life are not irrelevant. We are, however, much more than meets the eye; and, life is to be found within our difficult circumstances. And to believe anything different is to sit on our mat at the pool of Bethesda. Here's a second observation for us to consider: Put ourselves in a position to get better. Instead of assuming the man wanted to get better, Jesus asked him the question, "Would you like to get well?" He might ask you, He might ask me that same question. Let’s personalize that for a minute: Do I want my life to be changed for the better? That's a legitimate question, isn't it? And if that is true for any of us, then we are to help make that happen. Many times we might say we want something to happen, but we do not have a strong desire to help make it happen. And the result is, we do not do what needs to be done in order to get where we want to be. We've been there before, haven't we? We don't step out in faith to do something different than what we have always done in the past. We're unwilling to make any changes and we are content to sit on our mat and to experience life as it has always been. You know, if you are a Christian today, then you have done that. You have acted upon your belief in Jesus Christ. You have demonstrated your belief in Jesus. You have put yourself in a better position, in a relationship with the Lord. In other words, you acted on your belief in Jesus by obeying Jesus. You were baptized into Jesus Christ. You committed your life to the Lord. You are trying to better your relationship with the Lord because of what He has already done for you. You know, not everyone who experiences bad things wants to make a change. They are content to complain about their pain instead of pursue a solution. Here's a third observation. Take responsibility for our actions. The lame man in this story did not do that. What did he do? He blamed other people, didn't he? He waited for the waters to move. He did not take responsibility for his own life. And there are other instances in Scripture where people did or did not do something similar. They took the initiative to make their situation better. And likewise, when we take the initiative to make our life better, Jesus responds. For example, if we need a job, we look for one. If we are sick, we go to the doctor. If we run out of food, we go to the store and buy whatever might be necessary. If we are not in a right relationship with the Lord, then we take the initiative to get in a right relationship with the Lord. We do what we can to change our life for the better, whether physically or spiritually. Here is the fourth observation: Stop sinning. At the end of the story, Jesus makes contact with this healed man, once again, and He tells him, “Now you are well. Stop sinning. Or something even worse may happen to you.” Well, again, the suffering of the lame man was due to some sort of sin in his life. We're not told what it was, but he couldn't walk, was one part of it. But if he wanted to avoid any future pain and suffering then he needed to stop sinning. Let me ask us a question today. Have you ever thought about why you are not getting along in life the way you want to? Have you ever wondered why some of your prayers, perhaps, are not being answered? Sometimes our sin, of doing or not doing what we are supposed to do, brings about consequences we do not like. And that might be a lack of healing, or perhaps it might even be a lack of getting answers to the prayers we pray. Now, why should we think the Lord will bless us if we are not living faithful and obedient lives? Jesus extended to this man a tremendous amount of mercy. He healed him, even though there was some sort of sin in his life. And that may or may not happen to any of us. But here's the point: Why would we even want to live a sinful life in the first place if we have received the goodness and the mercy of God? Here's our fifth and final observation: We can receive the mercy of the Lord. Jesus does not always change our physical circumstances. And we know that, don't we? Sometimes He does, sometimes He doesn’t. But, He always wants us to be changed from the inside out. And once we receive His free gift of love and mercy, it changes our life. It changes the way we think and speak and act and live. And our situation in life may or may not be any different, but yet we now have the strength to deal with our challenges from a different perspective. We've received God's mercy and we know that His mercy and His grace is sufficient for us. We are now led by the Holy Spirit, instead of being led by the circumstances of life. Our perspective changes! And our situation in life really doesn't matter, because we are connected to the Lord in a relationship through God’s Son. Sometimes our circumstances tend to keep us down. They cripple us to the point we cannot move in the direction we need to go. And they represent the stale and the stagnant waters of that pool at Bethesda. You know, in the midst of all of that, in the midst of this strange story, I believe there is some good news for us to hear today. Jesus set free a lame man who had been imprisoned by a pool for some 38 years. And now Jesus has come to set us free from whatever holds us back. Jesus brings living water into our lives. Yes, Jesus gives to us the Holy Spirit so that we can live the abundant life He freely offers to all of those who come to Him. Are there some ways today, perhaps, in which you see yourself in the midst of this story. Are you willing to take responsibility for your life, and especially for your relationship with the Lord? Is there some way, perhaps, you need to eliminate some sort of sin in your life so that you can be right with God? It may be time for us to put our self in a better position so that we can receive the goodness and the blessing of God. I believe the challenge that lies before us today is the very same challenge Jesus gave this blind man, and that was to take up our mat and to start walking. And I hope we are willing to do that. I hope we are willing to take up whatever circumstances might have been coming our way and to deal with them and to move ahead, trusting the Lord and walking in faith and obedience to Him.

**VIDEO CLIP

Many people live with all kind of pain and discomfort. They struggle from one day to the next with various sicknesses, diseases or illnesses. In fact, you may know such people. In fact, that may describe your life. And those are some difficult challenges to deal with and to try to overcome on a daily basis. And sometimes we don't know for sure what to do and so we just sit and wait and do nothing. We wait for some kind of miraculous healing, I suppose. But then on other occasions, we take the initiative and we do something. We go to a facility, a doctor's office or a hospital to get some kind of care, some kind of attention, medicine, perhaps even a surgery. And God, no doubt is with us in those moments. He provides those opportunities. He provides medicines and skilled doctors and nurses to help alleviate some of the pain, eliminate the disease or illness, and we are to take advantage of them. We can't just sit and wait for something to happen. The same is true with sin in our life. We recognize it is there. We can't wait for it to just go away. But the Lord has provided a solution for us, through Jesus Christ. And through Him, our sin problem and disease can be eliminated. And so we take advantage of that opportunity. We are blessed to have it. And the Lord doesn't want us to just sit in our sin, but to allow Jesus to save us from it. And that's important. Whether we talk about physical problems or spiritual problems, there are solutions, and the Lord has provided them for us. And we are to take the initiative to find the solution we need in our life. And I hope that you will do that today.

**CONCLUSION 

Thank you for being a part of today's broadcast on “Key to the Kingdom.” It was our pleasure to share it with you. Throughout Jesus' ministry, He inspired many people to move beyond their current circumstances and seek to improve their life. And that was the case with this lame man at the pool. It might look a little bit differently in your life or in mine, but the message still applies. If you would like to hear or to view the message again, please go to our website. It is keytothekingdom.com. There you can find and download it without any cost or obligation. It is available in audio, in video and in written format. Other lessons similar to this one can also be found on the website. I hope you will find those that might be of interest. In addition to the website, other ways to access this mass media ministry include Roku® Television and Facebook®. Current lessons along with short devotional thoughts are uploaded on a regular basis. They offer a word of encouragement and teaching for your consideration. Once again, I want to say thank you for tuning in to today's broadcast. I invite you to join us again next week, as we continue to study the Bible on "Key to the Kingdom."