WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:06.339 You are listening to a message from Southwood Presbyterian Church in Huntsville, Alabama. 00:00:06.839 --> 00:00:09.359 Our passion is to experience and express grace. 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:10.500 Join us. 00:00:12.220 --> 00:00:13.679 Lord, I need you. 00:00:16.699 --> 00:00:18.080 We need you. 00:00:20.039 --> 00:00:22.219 We need you every hour. 00:00:23.160 --> 00:00:24.560 We need your healing. 00:00:25.500 --> 00:00:27.460 Our bodies, our souls. 00:00:27.460 --> 00:00:29.980 We need it forever. 00:00:30.780 --> 00:00:34.200 We need this morning, Jesus, to hear your voice. 00:00:35.899 --> 00:00:42.660 God, as we open your word, as we listen for your spirit, we need you. 00:00:42.840 --> 00:00:44.040 Speak to us. 00:00:44.179 --> 00:00:44.799 Change us. 00:00:45.340 --> 00:00:46.060 Rescue us. 00:00:46.200 --> 00:00:46.960 Heal us. 00:00:48.380 --> 00:00:54.900 Send us with your spirit and with your good news, we ask in Jesus' name. 00:00:56.079 --> 00:00:56.380 Amen. 00:00:57.460 --> 00:01:15.680 One of the reasons that we need God even now and especially now in these moments is that it is so easy to be close to Jesus and yet miss Jesus. 00:01:15.680 --> 00:01:24.180 To experience his blessings and being a part of worshiping him and yet not be changed. 00:01:24.960 --> 00:01:32.420 To know a lot of things about him and yet not actually have a relationship with him. 00:01:32.420 --> 00:01:40.060 Stuff where years ago I was in Auburn on a football Saturday. 00:01:41.960 --> 00:01:46.560 They ended up losing the game, I think to Clemson. 00:01:46.719 --> 00:01:47.340 That's who it was. 00:01:47.480 --> 00:01:47.560 Yeah. 00:01:48.560 --> 00:01:50.520 But that's not the point of the story though. 00:01:50.519 --> 00:01:57.219 In case you didn't know or don't know the name Cam Newton. 00:01:58.219 --> 00:02:02.420 Cam Newton is a legend of Auburn football greatness. 00:02:02.799 --> 00:02:02.859 Okay. 00:02:03.060 --> 00:02:07.959 The quarterback of the last national championship team there. 00:02:08.300 --> 00:02:11.359 He has a statue outside the stadium. 00:02:11.360 --> 00:02:15.760 That's how amazing and great Cam Newton is. 00:02:15.960 --> 00:02:18.840 Anyway, we were on campus before the game. 00:02:18.920 --> 00:02:21.260 We were looking for some friends at a tailgate. 00:02:21.700 --> 00:02:26.320 And as we were searching for them, Cam Newton walked right by us. 00:02:27.120 --> 00:02:28.180 And we didn't know it. 00:02:28.180 --> 00:02:30.819 And he passed by us. 00:02:30.939 --> 00:02:35.719 And right after that, crowds of people come rushing by us and start gathering around him. 00:02:35.800 --> 00:02:36.599 Taking pictures. 00:02:37.000 --> 00:02:38.020 Getting autographs. 00:02:38.240 --> 00:02:39.620 Walking with him to the stadium. 00:02:40.020 --> 00:02:42.420 We look back and we're like, oh, that's somebody important. 00:02:44.200 --> 00:02:46.800 And there was no chance to get to him then. 00:02:46.860 --> 00:02:49.260 He was surrounded by people. 00:02:50.300 --> 00:02:51.819 No way we were going to get there. 00:02:51.819 --> 00:02:57.560 I had to settle instead for this picture with his statue. 00:02:58.180 --> 00:03:01.240 Because I missed the real thing. 00:03:03.360 --> 00:03:05.060 I knew a lot about him. 00:03:06.360 --> 00:03:07.860 But I didn't really know him. 00:03:08.879 --> 00:03:10.640 I wasn't looking for him. 00:03:10.740 --> 00:03:16.740 And as close as I was to him and to all the joyful celebration that surrounded him. 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:19.939 I missed him. 00:03:22.659 --> 00:03:28.159 I tell you that story mostly to remind you that Clemson beat Auburn. 00:03:28.980 --> 00:03:30.860 No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. 00:03:31.040 --> 00:03:32.319 I tell you that story. 00:03:32.360 --> 00:03:32.960 That was for Derek. 00:03:33.240 --> 00:03:45.540 I tell you that story mostly to help you start considering the possibility of being close to Jesus. 00:03:45.539 --> 00:03:49.159 But still missing him. 00:03:50.919 --> 00:03:54.859 It happens to many of the people involved in the story this morning. 00:03:56.000 --> 00:04:01.639 And I don't want it to happen to a single one of us. 00:04:02.340 --> 00:04:02.579 Okay? 00:04:03.380 --> 00:04:11.980 Notice who Jesus is and how people miss him as I read John 5 beginning at verse 1. 00:04:11.979 --> 00:04:18.439 After this there was a feast of the Jews and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 00:04:19.439 --> 00:04:27.659 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool in Aramaic called Bethesda which has five roofed colonnades. 00:04:27.660 --> 00:04:32.100 In these lay a multitude of invalids blind, lame, and paralyzed. 00:04:32.939 --> 00:04:36.380 One man was there who had been an invalid for 38 years. 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:42.300 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time he said to him, 00:04:42.300 --> 00:04:43.620 Do you want to be healed? 00:04:44.740 --> 00:04:46.060 The sick man answered him, 00:04:46.560 --> 00:04:49.939 Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. 00:04:50.000 --> 00:04:52.939 And while I am going another steps down before me. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:55.660 Jesus said to him, 00:04:56.259 --> 00:04:56.639 Get up. 00:04:57.840 --> 00:04:59.199 Take up your bed and walk. 00:04:59.780 --> 00:05:02.800 And at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and walked. 00:05:04.600 --> 00:05:06.620 Now that day was the Sabbath. 00:05:08.139 --> 00:05:10.300 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, 00:05:10.300 --> 00:05:14.100 It is the Sabbath and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed. 00:05:15.579 --> 00:05:16.560 But he answered them, 00:05:16.800 --> 00:05:19.319 The man who healed me, that man said to me, 00:05:19.660 --> 00:05:20.740 Take up your bed and walk. 00:05:21.180 --> 00:05:22.180 And they asked him, 00:05:22.340 --> 00:05:23.699 Who is the man who said to you, 00:05:23.980 --> 00:05:25.220 Take up your bed and walk? 00:05:26.000 --> 00:05:28.939 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was. 00:05:29.639 --> 00:05:32.620 For Jesus had withdrawn as there was a crowd in the place. 00:05:34.439 --> 00:05:37.500 Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, 00:05:37.900 --> 00:05:38.939 See, you are well. 00:05:38.939 --> 00:05:40.959 Sin no more. 00:05:41.319 --> 00:05:43.579 That nothing worse may happen to you. 00:05:45.100 --> 00:05:48.339 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 00:05:49.100 --> 00:05:51.339 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus. 00:05:51.439 --> 00:05:53.720 Because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 00:05:55.240 --> 00:05:56.500 But Jesus answered them, 00:05:56.879 --> 00:05:59.019 My father is working until now. 00:05:59.480 --> 00:06:01.259 And I am working. 00:06:01.259 --> 00:06:05.860 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. 00:06:05.860 --> 00:06:08.300 Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, 00:06:08.759 --> 00:06:11.959 But he was even calling God his own father, 00:06:12.459 --> 00:06:15.839 Making himself equal with God. 00:06:16.219 --> 00:06:18.899 The grass withers and the flower fades, 00:06:19.639 --> 00:06:23.360 But the word of our God stands forever. 00:06:23.360 --> 00:06:31.639 This story that we just read is another of Jesus' healing miracles. 00:06:32.400 --> 00:06:34.439 And again, it is more than that. 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:42.439 It's the third of the seven signs that John gives us to point to the identity of Jesus. 00:06:42.439 --> 00:06:48.139 So it's not surprising that this passage will unfold on multiple levels. 00:06:48.259 --> 00:06:50.860 Kind of like peeling back the layers of an onion. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:06:55.439 It makes it a little tough to discern. 00:06:55.540 --> 00:06:56.660 What's the point? 00:06:56.759 --> 00:06:58.980 What's the primary thing here? 00:06:59.040 --> 00:07:01.720 And I want us to see each of those levels. 00:07:01.720 --> 00:07:06.980 So we're going to talk about first the physical miracle itself. 00:07:07.200 --> 00:07:08.160 The sign. 00:07:09.220 --> 00:07:11.200 And then the spiritual lessons. 00:07:11.700 --> 00:07:14.020 What the sign points to about Jesus. 00:07:14.860 --> 00:07:18.280 Then the Sabbath conversation that comes out of nowhere. 00:07:19.100 --> 00:07:26.420 And finally the hubbub about Jesus' divine nature that ensues and begins here. 00:07:27.380 --> 00:07:30.940 Along the way though, in each of those stages, 00:07:30.939 --> 00:07:34.219 Notice how people are missing Jesus. 00:07:34.600 --> 00:07:37.980 Because we can find ourselves doing the same things. 00:07:38.800 --> 00:07:39.660 If we're not careful. 00:07:39.779 --> 00:07:41.019 We'll come back to that at the end. 00:07:41.879 --> 00:07:44.980 First, let's marvel at the miracle itself. 00:07:45.339 --> 00:07:52.579 Don't miss the fact that a man is being healed after 38 years of illness. 00:07:52.759 --> 00:07:54.959 Likely some sort of paralysis. 00:07:54.959 --> 00:08:02.680 Apparently, there was this pool near the sheep gate in Jerusalem back then. 00:08:02.739 --> 00:08:08.459 Where the common belief was that when the water was stirred up naturally from underground. 00:08:08.459 --> 00:08:11.620 Or as many believed supernaturally. 00:08:12.299 --> 00:08:14.299 It had healing powers. 00:08:15.459 --> 00:08:19.959 The first person into the water at that time would be healed. 00:08:19.959 --> 00:08:31.099 Well, for years, critics contended that there was no architectural structure like the one described here in verse 2 at all in the time of Jesus. 00:08:32.720 --> 00:08:36.819 Until it was discovered by 19th century archaeologists. 00:08:37.299 --> 00:08:38.559 And they've uncovered it. 00:08:38.559 --> 00:08:39.979 And sure enough, there they are. 00:08:40.159 --> 00:08:42.279 Five roofed colonnades. 00:08:42.500 --> 00:08:43.419 Just like this. 00:08:43.539 --> 00:08:46.759 And it's since been covered under multiple church buildings. 00:08:48.179 --> 00:08:49.439 Now you can go see the pool. 00:08:49.519 --> 00:08:50.439 And you can see some ruins. 00:08:51.019 --> 00:08:52.839 Pretty cool discovery. 00:08:53.019 --> 00:08:56.500 Exactly where John places it in the first century. 00:08:56.500 --> 00:09:01.679 But even more than the historical nature of the pool. 00:09:02.519 --> 00:09:05.220 I hope you see the heart of Jesus here. 00:09:06.539 --> 00:09:08.580 Think about this place. 00:09:09.299 --> 00:09:13.480 This place was covered up with the blind. 00:09:14.980 --> 00:09:15.679 The lame. 00:09:16.460 --> 00:09:17.200 The paralyzed. 00:09:17.440 --> 00:09:18.899 Crowds of people. 00:09:19.220 --> 00:09:23.379 All hoping desperately for the right moment. 00:09:23.379 --> 00:09:28.620 And this was a place many of us would be sure not to go. 00:09:30.179 --> 00:09:33.799 But Jesus was sure not to miss. 00:09:34.500 --> 00:09:39.620 Many have noted that when Jesus was in Jerusalem, he frequented not palaces. 00:09:40.200 --> 00:09:42.600 Not the places of greatest power. 00:09:43.179 --> 00:09:46.299 But rather the places of greatest need. 00:09:47.139 --> 00:09:50.539 Don't you love his heart of compassion here in this? 00:09:50.539 --> 00:09:54.480 Is that what his people are like today? 00:09:54.819 --> 00:09:56.779 Are we drawn to the needy? 00:09:56.860 --> 00:09:58.039 To places like this? 00:09:58.379 --> 00:10:00.559 To standing against injustice? 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:02.699 To loving the least? 00:10:03.039 --> 00:10:06.419 Are these the places we're sure to visit while we're on our vacation? 00:10:06.419 --> 00:10:11.779 This man doesn't even know Jesus. 00:10:13.419 --> 00:10:18.439 But Jesus knows that he has been there such a long time. 00:10:19.339 --> 00:10:22.919 And because of that moves toward him personally. 00:10:23.079 --> 00:10:26.439 Out of the whole crowd in order to bless him. 00:10:26.440 --> 00:10:32.060 So notice when Jesus asks if he wants to be healed. 00:10:32.440 --> 00:10:33.780 The man thinks immediately. 00:10:34.120 --> 00:10:35.600 I would say naturally. 00:10:36.340 --> 00:10:38.420 Of needing help into the water. 00:10:39.280 --> 00:10:40.400 Verse 7. 00:10:40.620 --> 00:10:41.800 He says, sir. 00:10:42.140 --> 00:10:46.060 I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. 00:10:48.240 --> 00:10:49.420 Maybe you'll do that. 00:10:51.720 --> 00:10:55.760 Jesus, on the other hand, is thinking supernaturally. 00:10:55.759 --> 00:10:59.980 He redirects the man's plan for healing. 00:11:00.539 --> 00:11:02.419 Healing again with a word. 00:11:03.559 --> 00:11:07.620 Commanding the man to get up and take his mat. 00:11:07.779 --> 00:11:08.740 Which he does. 00:11:09.159 --> 00:11:10.059 And he's off. 00:11:11.519 --> 00:11:13.819 The life of the lowliest. 00:11:14.220 --> 00:11:18.500 Transformed by the power and mercy of Jesus. 00:11:18.500 --> 00:11:18.700 Jesus. 00:11:20.700 --> 00:11:22.379 It's a great picture of who he is. 00:11:22.460 --> 00:11:27.600 Once again, though, it's not merely an amazing miracle that Jesus does. 00:11:27.980 --> 00:11:33.320 Alongside of that, it's a sign that points to who Jesus really is. 00:11:33.799 --> 00:11:39.919 Jesus' power to heal, to restore, is not bound by distance. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:41.519 We saw last week. 00:11:41.720 --> 00:11:41.840 Right? 00:11:41.840 --> 00:11:47.840 Nor by time or severity of the situation. 00:11:48.660 --> 00:11:49.800 We see that here. 00:11:50.399 --> 00:11:54.320 He doesn't merely know how to access supernatural power. 00:11:54.460 --> 00:11:56.980 Like how to get you into the pool quickly at the right time. 00:11:57.399 --> 00:12:00.940 No, he brings the supernatural power himself. 00:12:00.940 --> 00:12:09.500 Beyond that, we get a picture of the Messiah who has come to seek and to save the lost as promised. 00:12:09.980 --> 00:12:12.100 Twice he seeks out this man, doesn't he? 00:12:13.100 --> 00:12:14.620 First to heal his body. 00:12:16.360 --> 00:12:21.180 But the next time, Jesus finds the man in the temple courts. 00:12:21.560 --> 00:12:22.620 I mean, it's crowds of people. 00:12:22.740 --> 00:12:23.480 It's a feast, right? 00:12:24.120 --> 00:12:25.220 Remember what's going on? 00:12:25.260 --> 00:12:26.200 Lots of people here. 00:12:26.200 --> 00:12:35.000 And Jesus finds him and he makes sure that he knows that he needs more than the physical healing he's received. 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:37.940 I'll be honest with you. 00:12:38.020 --> 00:12:42.740 This verse, the comment Jesus makes, verse 14, is hard to understand. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:51.800 It may mean that this man's illness was connected to a specific sin in his life. 00:12:51.799 --> 00:13:03.359 But even if that's true here, Jesus is clear elsewhere that a particular sickness and a particular sin shouldn't be assumed to have that direct connection. 00:13:04.459 --> 00:13:12.279 I think the best understanding of what Jesus is saying is, you are well physically. 00:13:13.159 --> 00:13:14.839 But that's not all. 00:13:15.120 --> 00:13:16.479 There's something else important. 00:13:16.480 --> 00:13:25.940 You also must repent of your sin, not continue in it, or you will face eternal judgment. 00:13:26.680 --> 00:13:32.200 That would be certainly the much worse thing than being paralyzed. 00:13:33.360 --> 00:13:41.460 And Jesus, who didn't get to say this earlier, has gone out of his way to find a man who hasn't expressed faith to this point in the story, 00:13:41.460 --> 00:13:48.160 to make sure he knows that there's a paralysis in his soul, not merely in his body that has been taken away. 00:13:48.980 --> 00:13:55.259 See, repentance, turning from sin, is the pathway to knowing Jesus. 00:13:56.019 --> 00:13:58.259 This man was missing that piece. 00:13:58.900 --> 00:14:03.740 To knowing Jesus and thereby knowing life, avoiding eternal death. 00:14:03.740 --> 00:14:12.379 Jesus goes out of his way to target this long-term crippled man. 00:14:13.340 --> 00:14:20.879 Spiritually speaking, we have to understand that no one is beyond the reach of Jesus. 00:14:21.960 --> 00:14:27.240 No one is so messed up that he's beyond the restorative power of Jesus. 00:14:27.240 --> 00:14:34.720 No one has been running away so long that Jesus can't call her back to himself with a word. 00:14:37.200 --> 00:14:46.159 Friends, if you are hearing this word this morning, if you're hearing God's word to you, it is not too late. 00:14:46.840 --> 00:14:51.680 It's not too late for you to throw yourself on the mercy of Jesus. 00:14:51.679 --> 00:15:00.179 Jesus, his deeply compassionate heart, his unparalleled power, and to find healing and life in him forever. 00:15:00.819 --> 00:15:03.699 Eternal life, Jeremy read it about, in knowing him. 00:15:06.899 --> 00:15:13.579 Y'all, it just may be that God is seeking you again this morning. 00:15:14.120 --> 00:15:15.159 That's what he's like. 00:15:15.239 --> 00:15:17.679 He's a seeking kind of God. 00:15:17.679 --> 00:15:24.399 From the very beginning, he sought Adam and Eve when they, full of shame in the garden, did what? 00:15:24.599 --> 00:15:26.339 They hid from him. 00:15:27.059 --> 00:15:34.679 He sought out Hagar in the wilderness when she felt overlooked and hopeless, and he found her. 00:15:34.879 --> 00:15:42.299 He sought his idolatrous people when they ran after idols, turned from him, were scattered among the nations, 00:15:42.299 --> 00:15:45.899 and he sought after them and brought them back home. 00:15:45.899 --> 00:15:48.899 This is what he's like. 00:15:48.959 --> 00:15:54.000 He is a seeking God, and Jesus demonstrates this beautifully here. 00:15:54.299 --> 00:15:55.639 Seeking the invalid. 00:15:56.779 --> 00:15:59.480 Seeking his soul as well as his body. 00:15:59.600 --> 00:16:00.819 Always initiating. 00:16:01.159 --> 00:16:03.039 Always moving towards us. 00:16:03.439 --> 00:16:06.740 Never too late for him to rescue and to restore. 00:16:08.819 --> 00:16:15.439 19th century theologian Soren Kierkegaard marveled at this God who seeks us and loves us first. 00:16:15.440 --> 00:16:16.760 He's always ahead of us, he said. 00:16:17.700 --> 00:16:25.600 He writes, if I rise at dawn and at the same second, the moment my eyes open and I think about being awake, 00:16:25.840 --> 00:16:32.580 if at that same second I turn my soul towards you in prayer, you are there ahead of me. 00:16:33.300 --> 00:16:34.860 You have loved me first. 00:16:34.860 --> 00:16:45.080 When I get in the middle of the busy day, when I withdraw from the distractions of the day and turn my soul towards you, you are the first. 00:16:45.500 --> 00:16:47.659 God has loved us first. 00:16:48.360 --> 00:16:57.860 You don't have to be paralyzed or sick or lonely this morning for this Jesus to be good news for you. 00:16:57.860 --> 00:17:00.980 It may be that you're looking for hope. 00:17:02.159 --> 00:17:04.160 That you're lost in depression. 00:17:04.680 --> 00:17:08.660 That you're seeking purpose or significance in your life. 00:17:08.880 --> 00:17:11.460 He is showing you his compassionate heart. 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:13.220 His amazing power. 00:17:13.559 --> 00:17:14.860 His never giving up pursuit. 00:17:15.579 --> 00:17:16.720 He's on the porch. 00:17:16.900 --> 00:17:17.740 He's looking out. 00:17:17.940 --> 00:17:19.400 He's ready to embrace you. 00:17:19.680 --> 00:17:21.440 He's moving towards you first. 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:25.720 He's always more eager to run to you than you are to run to him. 00:17:26.000 --> 00:17:29.500 He is loving you first today. 00:17:29.779 --> 00:17:30.900 That's who he is. 00:17:34.519 --> 00:17:39.720 And all this happens and it's interesting at this point, all of a sudden with no notice ahead of time, 00:17:40.080 --> 00:17:45.380 after the man is healed and gone, we find out that all this happened when? 00:17:46.660 --> 00:17:47.620 On the Sabbath. 00:17:47.619 --> 00:17:52.979 Which leads, as it turns out, to quite a bit of confusion and conversation. 00:17:55.079 --> 00:18:03.179 The Jews, our translation said, what's meant there is the religious leaders of that area around Jerusalem at the time. 00:18:04.059 --> 00:18:13.919 They're more concerned that this man is carrying his mat on the Sabbath than that he's walking for the first time in 38 years. 00:18:14.500 --> 00:18:15.179 Can you imagine? 00:18:15.180 --> 00:18:21.279 Carrying the mat does not violate a specific Old Testament law. 00:18:22.299 --> 00:18:26.120 But the law does say not to work on the Lord's day. 00:18:26.720 --> 00:18:33.840 So Jewish tradition at this time had codified 39 different categories of forbidden work. 00:18:35.140 --> 00:18:38.279 This fit one of those categories. 00:18:38.820 --> 00:18:41.180 Jesus was clearly well aware of that. 00:18:41.180 --> 00:18:47.299 His words when he heals the man and tells him to take up his mat confirm that. 00:18:47.299 --> 00:18:54.859 Well, as the story goes, after seeking to pass the blame for this violation, right? 00:18:55.019 --> 00:19:00.839 This newly healed man admits that he actually has no idea who it is he's passing the blame to. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:03.680 He doesn't know who healed him. 00:19:05.000 --> 00:19:08.019 When Jesus finds him again in the temple, the man gets his name. 00:19:08.019 --> 00:19:15.099 He tells the authorities this was the guy and they begin persecuting Jesus because of such Sabbath activities. 00:19:15.099 --> 00:19:20.579 What's really interesting here is what Jesus says in verse 17. 00:19:21.480 --> 00:19:24.039 What's his defense when they come to him? 00:19:24.519 --> 00:19:26.480 Does he just not care about the Sabbath? 00:19:26.599 --> 00:19:27.699 It's really not important anymore? 00:19:27.959 --> 00:19:29.299 No, that's not it. 00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:31.740 A little background. 00:19:31.740 --> 00:19:43.279 The Jews taught then that the only person who could work on the Sabbath without sinning was Yahweh, God himself. 00:19:44.140 --> 00:19:45.880 He created the world. 00:19:46.359 --> 00:19:49.380 He created the Sabbath on the seventh day. 00:19:49.980 --> 00:19:55.079 But then, of course, he had to sustain all of his creation all the time. 00:19:55.079 --> 00:20:00.180 His work of sustaining and restoring the creation was constant. 00:20:01.740 --> 00:20:09.380 So Jesus' explanation for his work on the Sabbath here and in general is, 00:20:10.160 --> 00:20:15.279 my father is working until now and I am working. 00:20:16.420 --> 00:20:24.099 In other words, God is my father and my father in such a way that anything that's good for him is good for me. 00:20:24.099 --> 00:20:34.000 If he is restoring creation, I can act mercifully to restore an ailing part of the creation even on the Sabbath. 00:20:35.859 --> 00:20:39.219 Part of that Sabbath principle is for all of us. 00:20:39.980 --> 00:20:41.279 There's truth there for any of us. 00:20:41.399 --> 00:20:50.339 Works of mercy, restoring creation are part of our calling, not violations of God's direction for us. 00:20:50.339 --> 00:20:50.579 Okay? 00:20:50.819 --> 00:20:53.619 Here's something opening up for your Sabbath opportunities. 00:20:54.319 --> 00:20:58.759 One of the things that's helped my family as we've tried to approach the Sabbath thoughtfully 00:20:58.759 --> 00:21:04.779 is rather than listing all of the things not to do, it can sometimes get discouraging. 00:21:04.779 --> 00:21:12.139 We try to think intentionally of restorative things that we should do. 00:21:13.279 --> 00:21:20.960 Whether it be resting our bodies and souls, baking or visiting with someone lonely or hurting. 00:21:21.119 --> 00:21:23.420 I think I just said baking someone lonely or hurting. 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:27.980 Baking for someone lonely or hurting. 00:21:29.420 --> 00:21:31.519 Very different type of restoration. 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:39.200 There are other better ideas than that one, if you can imagine it. 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:47.259 Maybe there's something that you can do together as a family that is restorative for your relationships. 00:21:47.500 --> 00:21:52.319 It's worshiping and fellowshipping with your church family that is healing there. 00:21:52.319 --> 00:21:58.879 There are so many things to do with God, to do with one another, to do with our neighbors, 00:21:59.619 --> 00:22:02.980 that if we're intentional enough about that, you may not have time. 00:22:03.179 --> 00:22:05.819 You may rarely get to the things that you shouldn't do. 00:22:06.379 --> 00:22:06.579 Right? 00:22:08.759 --> 00:22:14.319 But the primary Sabbath principle here is one that is specifically applicable to Jesus. 00:22:14.319 --> 00:22:20.839 It's that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath as he calls himself elsewhere. 00:22:21.839 --> 00:22:30.659 He uniquely may work on the Sabbath as he redeems and restores all of his creation. 00:22:31.939 --> 00:22:33.299 Wait, wait, what? 00:22:33.919 --> 00:22:36.379 Did he really say his? 00:22:36.379 --> 00:22:36.980 His? 00:22:36.980 --> 00:22:38.380 Is it? 00:22:38.380 --> 00:22:48.860 This is peeling back one more layer of the onion to open up a new controversy between Jesus and the Jewish leaders. 00:22:50.079 --> 00:22:53.500 They hear Jesus loud and clear on this. 00:22:54.180 --> 00:22:59.960 He is claiming equality with Yahweh, they recognize. 00:22:59.960 --> 00:23:00.039 Jesus. 00:23:01.180 --> 00:23:01.940 Verse 18. 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:07.940 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, 00:23:08.600 --> 00:23:15.180 but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. 00:23:16.039 --> 00:23:23.700 Jesus is about to talk about this reality for the next several verses to explain who he is and what his relationship with God is like. 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:26.600 So this is just a peek into next week's sermon. 00:23:27.120 --> 00:23:28.740 We'll focus more here. 00:23:28.740 --> 00:23:31.880 Jesus saying he's equal with God. 00:23:32.299 --> 00:23:39.740 But for now, just know that that, that that reality at the end of the day is what he would have the leaders, 00:23:40.960 --> 00:23:47.140 the man he has healed, and us see about who he is. 00:23:47.319 --> 00:23:52.099 He wants us to see clearly that he indeed is God in the flesh. 00:23:52.099 --> 00:23:59.719 Come to us uniquely because of who he is able to rescue and restore us. 00:24:03.240 --> 00:24:09.279 But do you see how seemingly everyone in this passage is missing Jesus? 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:12.240 They're right there with him. 00:24:12.740 --> 00:24:14.500 He's passing right by him. 00:24:14.619 --> 00:24:18.079 They're experiencing his blessings and his power. 00:24:18.500 --> 00:24:20.440 They are listening to him speak. 00:24:20.539 --> 00:24:22.240 They might be snapping a selfie with him. 00:24:22.319 --> 00:24:25.279 I don't know, but he is right there with them. 00:24:25.279 --> 00:24:28.759 And they're missing him. 00:24:28.759 --> 00:24:30.000 Aren't they? 00:24:30.000 --> 00:24:34.500 Is it possible that we might be doing the same thing? 00:24:36.599 --> 00:24:40.700 Let's see if we can learn briefly from some of the ways that they miss Jesus. 00:24:40.940 --> 00:24:44.140 Look at the man who gets healed and then at the Jewish leaders. 00:24:44.140 --> 00:24:52.020 One of the ways the man seems to miss Jesus up front is by just focusing on what Jesus can do for him. 00:24:52.680 --> 00:24:54.560 He gets the healing he wants. 00:24:54.800 --> 00:24:55.940 That's what he really wanted. 00:24:56.200 --> 00:24:58.020 And he doesn't even get the healer's name. 00:24:58.120 --> 00:24:59.440 It's all about him. 00:25:00.540 --> 00:25:02.460 What Jesus can do for him. 00:25:04.180 --> 00:25:08.600 I'm not going to linger there because that's the struggle we discussed at length last week. 00:25:08.599 --> 00:25:17.679 But it's also possible to see this man missing Jesus because of being content in his life of sin. 00:25:18.159 --> 00:25:21.919 Unwilling to change his life at a deep level. 00:25:22.480 --> 00:25:26.959 Perhaps that's part of Jesus' appeal to him in the temple courts when he says, 00:25:26.959 --> 00:25:29.099 Turn from your sin. 00:25:30.279 --> 00:25:36.500 Or things worse than what you've experienced in this life are going to come after it. 00:25:38.599 --> 00:25:44.459 Do we sometimes get so comfortable in our sin, in our self-serving lifestyles, 00:25:44.699 --> 00:25:48.639 that maybe even without thinking about it, we no longer see the need for Jesus. 00:25:52.099 --> 00:25:58.459 But especially, I think the man misses Jesus in a way Jesus wants to correct for him. 00:25:58.539 --> 00:25:59.299 It's so important. 00:26:00.699 --> 00:26:07.179 Because he thinks of Jesus merely as the helper to what he really needs. 00:26:08.599 --> 00:26:12.019 Isn't this what he thinks when Jesus asks him if he wants to be healed? 00:26:12.819 --> 00:26:14.079 What's he thinking? 00:26:14.619 --> 00:26:16.179 Oh, you know, yeah. 00:26:16.379 --> 00:26:20.679 And now that you mention it, what I really need is that pool. 00:26:22.039 --> 00:26:23.039 That water. 00:26:23.339 --> 00:26:24.679 That's what I really need. 00:26:24.679 --> 00:26:29.079 And if you're offering to help get me there, great. 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:31.000 We could make a good team. 00:26:31.000 --> 00:26:39.859 Jesus could have chosen to heal him that way, helping him into the pool. 00:26:40.079 --> 00:26:45.960 But I think Jesus wanted to make sure to communicate that he was the source of the healing. 00:26:46.200 --> 00:26:48.900 He was what the man really needed. 00:26:50.980 --> 00:26:53.460 What do you think you most need? 00:26:53.460 --> 00:26:56.700 Significance? 00:26:59.019 --> 00:26:59.460 Security? 00:27:01.900 --> 00:27:02.340 Satisfaction? 00:27:04.279 --> 00:27:09.819 You know, maybe if I follow Jesus closely enough, they'll put me up front on the stage and I'll feel important. 00:27:15.160 --> 00:27:20.180 Maybe Jesus could help me feel better when I'm hurting and I just don't know how to handle it. 00:27:20.840 --> 00:27:21.579 That'd be great. 00:27:21.579 --> 00:27:32.259 Maybe Jesus will help me get the job or the family or the life that I've been longing for. 00:27:32.519 --> 00:27:35.220 And then I will be really happy. 00:27:39.559 --> 00:27:45.279 Friends, Jesus is the life that you are longing for. 00:27:45.439 --> 00:27:48.699 When we miss that, we're missing who he really is. 00:27:48.700 --> 00:27:52.920 Knowing him is abundant life, eternal life. 00:27:53.160 --> 00:28:03.039 In him are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge, purpose and significance and true peace and security eternally. 00:28:03.420 --> 00:28:11.340 He has left glory, security, privilege and power so that you can know who God is. 00:28:11.339 --> 00:28:17.000 So that you can actually know God and experience the relationship that you were made to delight in. 00:28:17.119 --> 00:28:22.980 But you were hopelessly separated from until he came and gave his blood to pay for your sin. 00:28:22.980 --> 00:28:24.980 It would so saddened. 00:28:24.980 --> 00:28:32.559 It would so sadden me if you came here and you heard words of hope and life but missed Jesus. 00:28:33.099 --> 00:28:40.039 Thinking that he was just a means to that end, that thing you came needing and longing for. 00:28:40.120 --> 00:28:45.420 And Jesus would help you get there rather than realizing that Jesus is life itself. 00:28:45.420 --> 00:28:50.279 Thinking that you could come here and you could check the church box, the Jesus box. 00:28:50.400 --> 00:28:53.000 I've got that in my back pocket for when I need it. 00:28:53.120 --> 00:28:58.039 And now I'm going to go live this week and the rest of my life on my own without really needing him. 00:28:58.160 --> 00:28:59.160 I'll have him if I need him. 00:28:59.200 --> 00:29:00.180 I'll have him for eternity. 00:29:00.180 --> 00:29:05.200 But all the time missing life because you're missing Jesus. 00:29:06.620 --> 00:29:09.039 He doesn't want that for you. 00:29:09.039 --> 00:29:14.819 Talk about being close to Jesus. 00:29:16.039 --> 00:29:18.440 The religious leaders know the Bible. 00:29:19.879 --> 00:29:22.159 They know the commentaries on the Bible. 00:29:23.539 --> 00:29:27.200 They haven't missed a Lord's Day service in years. 00:29:27.500 --> 00:29:28.980 They've been in the same seat in the pew. 00:29:32.399 --> 00:29:37.700 They even have a vantage point from which they can see everyone else messing up. 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:45.839 But when the hope of heaven comes to earth right in front of them, 00:29:46.359 --> 00:29:49.859 when the God of creation begins to heal, 00:29:50.119 --> 00:29:53.159 when the Lord of the Sabbath brings true rest, 00:29:53.279 --> 00:29:55.920 all they can see is rules being broken. 00:29:58.299 --> 00:30:02.399 If the man missed Jesus in his weakness and brokenness, 00:30:03.039 --> 00:30:07.480 the leaders missed Jesus in their strength and goodness. 00:30:09.039 --> 00:30:12.339 Friends, you talk about God. 00:30:13.920 --> 00:30:15.259 You read about God. 00:30:15.420 --> 00:30:17.960 You even sing about God really beautifully. 00:30:18.139 --> 00:30:19.579 I enjoy doing it with you. 00:30:21.339 --> 00:30:25.200 What a tragedy it would be if all those things were true 00:30:25.200 --> 00:30:27.759 and if God walked right by and you didn't even recognize him. 00:30:27.759 --> 00:30:33.200 You may have your picture made on Easter Sunday at church. 00:30:34.819 --> 00:30:36.980 You may wear a cross necklace to school. 00:30:38.299 --> 00:30:42.160 You may stay out of trouble better than the average person. 00:30:42.160 --> 00:30:49.860 But you may be missing the one thing that matters. 00:30:50.259 --> 00:30:55.600 The great Savior himself, the true king, 00:30:56.259 --> 00:31:01.200 the perfect righteousness come for you. 00:31:01.200 --> 00:31:05.920 If you do a lot of right things and a lot of good things, 00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:09.960 but you never abandon yourself to the mercy of Jesus, 00:31:09.960 --> 00:31:12.200 you will miss true life, 00:31:12.319 --> 00:31:15.600 which consists not merely in doing a lot of good things, 00:31:15.720 --> 00:31:19.480 but in actually knowing the good God himself. 00:31:19.480 --> 00:31:25.759 knowing his unfailing love, 00:31:26.120 --> 00:31:29.900 his perfect righteousness for you, 00:31:30.339 --> 00:31:32.440 his peaceful presence when you're hurting, 00:31:32.860 --> 00:31:34.480 his unfailing grace, 00:31:35.240 --> 00:31:36.480 no matter what you do, 00:31:36.640 --> 00:31:37.920 it keeps coming. 00:31:38.279 --> 00:31:39.860 No matter what life brings, 00:31:40.120 --> 00:31:41.319 he's always there. 00:31:41.319 --> 00:31:44.759 And if you miss life with him, 00:31:46.179 --> 00:31:50.059 you'll face judgment apart from him 00:31:50.059 --> 00:31:54.099 with only your own decent record 00:31:54.099 --> 00:31:58.679 rather than his perfect record. 00:31:59.159 --> 00:32:02.480 What a grief that would be. 00:32:05.519 --> 00:32:06.399 Listen, 00:32:07.240 --> 00:32:10.159 I love you too much. 00:32:11.319 --> 00:32:16.500 Not to say clearly that Jesus would not have you miss him today. 00:32:17.679 --> 00:32:19.000 That's his heart for you. 00:32:19.200 --> 00:32:21.019 He calls to you from his word. 00:32:21.919 --> 00:32:24.179 He calls to you from this table. 00:32:24.659 --> 00:32:27.279 I am drawing near to you again. 00:32:27.659 --> 00:32:31.700 I came to give my life so that you could have life. 00:32:32.079 --> 00:32:35.079 I come to restore everything that's broken 00:32:35.079 --> 00:32:38.179 and needs healing in you and in this world. 00:32:38.379 --> 00:32:40.059 I am the one who restores. 00:32:40.059 --> 00:32:42.419 I'll do it today or I'll do it someday, 00:32:42.599 --> 00:32:43.980 but I'm going to make it right. 00:32:44.139 --> 00:32:46.079 I'm the only one you can look to for that. 00:32:46.799 --> 00:32:48.940 Don't insist on staying in your sin. 00:32:49.440 --> 00:32:51.720 Don't insist on staying alone in your goodness. 00:32:52.539 --> 00:32:54.740 You don't need me to get you to the water, 00:32:54.899 --> 00:32:55.759 Jesus says. 00:32:55.879 --> 00:32:57.579 You just need me. 00:32:57.960 --> 00:33:01.179 And here I am giving myself to you. 00:33:02.220 --> 00:33:03.059 Embrace me. 00:33:03.559 --> 00:33:04.379 Receive me. 00:33:04.720 --> 00:33:06.359 Don't miss me. 00:33:06.359 --> 00:33:09.199 Learn what I love. 00:33:10.419 --> 00:33:11.479 Here's my word. 00:33:12.539 --> 00:33:14.000 Lean on my body. 00:33:14.679 --> 00:33:18.979 Here's my church, my people there for your support. 00:33:20.099 --> 00:33:21.559 Live on my mission. 00:33:22.059 --> 00:33:26.119 Here's my heart to share with broken and needy people 00:33:26.119 --> 00:33:28.119 desperately longing for healing. 00:33:28.119 --> 00:33:30.719 But don't miss me. 00:33:31.979 --> 00:33:38.379 I've come again this morning loving you first 00:33:38.379 --> 00:33:43.599 so that you may believe and have life. 00:33:43.599 --> 00:33:48.980 It's what he said to his disciples on that night 00:33:48.980 --> 00:33:52.019 that he was betrayed when he put himself in 00:33:52.019 --> 00:33:56.219 as the Passover lamb, slain to give life 00:33:56.219 --> 00:33:58.539 to those otherwise condemned to die. 00:33:59.579 --> 00:34:00.439 He sat with them. 00:34:00.619 --> 00:34:02.859 He took bread and he broke it. 00:34:04.059 --> 00:34:05.459 He gave it to his disciples. 00:34:06.199 --> 00:34:09.079 As I'm ministering in his name, give this bread to you. 00:34:09.420 --> 00:34:11.179 He said, take and eat. 00:34:11.179 --> 00:34:13.980 This is my body broken for you. 00:34:14.559 --> 00:34:17.039 Do this in remembrance of me. 00:34:17.239 --> 00:34:19.719 And the same way after supper he took the cup 00:34:19.719 --> 00:34:22.199 and said, this cup is the new covenant in my blood 00:34:22.199 --> 00:34:24.639 shed for many for the forgiveness of sins. 00:34:24.819 --> 00:34:26.279 Drink from it, all of you. 00:34:26.539 --> 00:34:29.519 For as often as you eat this bread and you drink this cup, 00:34:29.739 --> 00:34:34.000 you proclaim the Lord's death until he comes. 00:34:34.259 --> 00:34:35.859 His death for you. 00:34:36.440 --> 00:34:37.859 Come to Jesus. 00:34:38.679 --> 00:34:40.279 He has come to you. 00:34:40.280 --> 00:34:42.760 He has loved you first. 00:34:43.220 --> 00:34:45.280 He keeps loving you first. 00:34:45.360 --> 00:34:46.280 He's coming to you again. 00:34:47.080 --> 00:34:49.200 If you're a baptized member of his church, 00:34:49.320 --> 00:34:51.880 this one or any other that preaches the good news 00:34:51.880 --> 00:34:56.860 of the Bible, come and feast and taste that love again today. 00:34:59.300 --> 00:35:01.300 If you honestly say this morning, 00:35:01.540 --> 00:35:04.220 well, I only know about Jesus. 00:35:04.219 --> 00:35:09.379 I'm just considering Jesus. 00:35:10.500 --> 00:35:12.980 Honestly, I'm running from Jesus. 00:35:13.139 --> 00:35:16.000 I've known about him for a long time and I am running away. 00:35:16.419 --> 00:35:19.000 Then don't come to this table. 00:35:20.759 --> 00:35:25.639 But hear the voice of Jesus this morning inviting you to come to him, 00:35:25.879 --> 00:35:27.619 to the one who offers true life. 00:35:27.619 --> 00:35:31.559 We invite you to come, even come forward and observe. 00:35:32.019 --> 00:35:33.639 We'd love to pray with you. 00:35:33.900 --> 00:35:36.139 We'd love to talk with you more about who he is. 00:35:37.420 --> 00:35:39.420 But I would appeal to all of you, 00:35:39.799 --> 00:35:42.199 don't sit before this table 00:35:42.199 --> 00:35:45.239 and miss Jesus. 00:35:48.239 --> 00:35:51.419 He is the one pointed to here. 00:35:51.419 --> 00:35:54.119 He's the only one this is about. 00:35:54.980 --> 00:35:58.719 He's come to invite you to be with him. 00:35:59.339 --> 00:35:59.980 Let's pray. 00:36:01.139 --> 00:36:03.480 Jesus, would you give us eyes to see 00:36:03.480 --> 00:36:06.319 your body and blood 00:36:06.320 --> 00:36:10.519 given for us that we might truly do this 00:36:10.519 --> 00:36:12.940 in remembrance of you. 00:36:14.400 --> 00:36:15.680 Show us our need. 00:36:16.660 --> 00:36:20.280 May we see that clearly if any of us is missing that. 00:36:21.420 --> 00:36:26.160 But then Jesus, show us how perfectly you meet our need. 00:36:27.680 --> 00:36:29.100 We ask it in your name. 00:36:30.200 --> 00:36:30.480 Amen. 00:36:31.920 --> 00:36:35.460 For more information, visit us online at southwood.org. 00:36:36.320 --> 00:36:36.820 Thank you.