Healing at the Pool - The Gospels

Published Sep 22, 2024, 9:30 AM

In this Bible Story, Jesus heals a man who has been lame and sick for over 38 years. The man had been sick for so long, that he lost all hope of being healed. Feeling helpless, alone, and angry at the world, Jesus changes his life forever, and the Pharisees continue to hate him for his mighty works.This story is inspired by John 5. Go to BibleinaYear.com and learn the Bible in a Year.

Today's Bible verse is John 5:8 from the King James Version.

Episode 191: There was a pool in Jerusalem called Bethesda, where men and women went to be healed by the waters. Laying at this pool was a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. He could never get into the pool to receive healing because no one would carry him. However, Jesus had a plan for this man and asked him if he wanted to be made well. At His word, the man could walk and was healthy once more! But when the Pharisees saw this man they rebuked him for “working” on the Sabbath.

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Executive Producers: Steve Gatena & Max Bard

Producer: Ben Gammon

Hosted by: Pastor Jack Graham

Music by: Andrew Morgan Smith

Bible Story narration by: Todd Haberkorn

Let us pray Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed and walk. John five eight. To day is the day Lord. To day is to day that I have decided to pick up my mat and walk. No longer will I lay amongst the sick and do nothing to change my condition in life. When I am at the place called Bethesda, the House of Grace, I will not miss my moment to step into the stirring of your power to receive the newness that I desire. When defeating thoughts within myself tell me to become comfortable with my condition, I will yell no, no to mediocrity, no to illness, no to laziness, then no to complacency. This is my year of breakthrough, This is my year of healing, and nothing will stand in my way from receiving what's mine. So I speak to myself and say get up. I speak to my mind and say wake up. Jesus has already given me the green light to move on than to be well, and That's exactly what I'm going to do. It doesn't matter how long I've battled for, I am getting up more and moving on. In Jesus' name, Amen listening to these daily prayers strengthens your relationship with God. Continue hearing from the Lord by listening to Today's Bible in a Year brought to you by Bible Ineyear dot com.

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In our last story, Jesus displayed his compassionate power over sickness and death. He healed a woman who was afflicted with chronic bleeding. He took a little girl that had passed and restored her life. Jesus did these things to show the whole world that sickness and death did not rule over him the same way it did humanity. Now we see Jesus heals a man who has been afflicted with sickness and bitterness his whole life. The Pharisees keep a close watch on him to see if he will slip has inspired by the Gospels.

Hello, and welcome to the Bible in a year podcast. I'm Jack Graham. In our last episode, we heard how the Lord Jesus healed a woman who had been stricken with a debilitating and isolating bleeding disorder her entire life. She had incredible faith, believing that just a touch of Jesus's garment could make her whole, and it did. We also learned how Jesus raised a young girl from the dead, speaking words to her that resonate in our own hearts even today, I say to you, Arise. Today we'll learn of another healing that brought both rejoicing to some and scorn to others. We will see how the pharisees, burdensome additions to God's perfect law have led people astray from God's true purpose for his people, a purpose to which Jesus is calling them to return. So let's hear today's reading from God's word.

The sun rose over the great city of Jerusalem. The lights streamed through the city streets, and people emerged from their homes, ready to celebrate the great feast of the Jews. Jesus watched as thousands of people flocked to different holy sites to pray, celebrate, and sing. During the celebration, each year, there is said to be a special touch of God. Annually, it is said that an angel comes and touches the pool of Bethesda. Any person who comes in with an illness is healed of their sickness. So the story goes, Jesus knew this was the place he needed to be. There was a man he wanted to see. The sun was high above the sky, and Jesus watched as hundreds of blind, lame, and paralyzed people were carried by their friends to the pools below. With hope in their eyes. They were dipped in slowly, hoping to catch a sliver of God's favor. Laying off the side away from the pools was a man. He looked sickly and was clearly unable to walk. He had been there a long time, desiring to be healed, but having no way to walk over himself. Jesus strolled over and sat beside him. The two of them looked at the pools, watching flocks of people dip in for healing. Jesus, without looking at the man, simply asked do you want to be healed. The sick man turned his head in disgust. He was offended by Jesus's question. As you can see, Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool. Even if I could hobble my way over, everyone cuts in mine. The man crossed his arms in contempt. He stared at the pool and watched people being led in by their friends. He wore bitterness like a warm blanket. He cursed them all under his breath. Jesus could see that much of this man's sickness was due to his lack of friends. He sat from a far feeling sorry for himself. Up from your bed and walk, Jesus said. Then Jesus stood up and began walking away. The man was about to curse Jesus, but then he felt a warm rush up his body. Strength returned to his legs, and his stomach helments cleared. The man was completely healed and watched as Jesus walked away. He wept, knowing that his bad attitude had robbed him of truly experiencing his healing to the fullest. The man stood up, took his bed, and walked toward the temple to worship.

The man skipped with.

The newfound strength in his legs. Joy began to fill his heart as he thought about what had happened. Who was that man? He thought to himself. As he was carrying his bed to the temple, a group of pharisees stopped him. Stop. They shouted, don't you know that it is not lawful to carry anything that heavy on the Sabbath? Why do you pick up your bed and carry it with you? Normally the man would have spat in return, but that was the old and bitter man. Now all he desired to do was to worship freely. There was a man who healed me. The man responded, he is the one who told me to pick up my bed and walk. So here I am walking with my bed. The pharisees scoffed for a moment. They knew exactly who was to blame for this. Jesus had healed this man, but they had to know for sure. Who was the man that told you to break.

Our sabbath rules? They asked.

However, the man did not know. He shrugged and smiled, then began to walk away. Soon after, Jesus walked towards the temple and saw the man he had healed. The two saw each other and embraced. I see you are well, Jesus exclaimed. Now go and sin no more, my friend. The man nodded and skipped towards the temple to live a new life of purpose. The religious leaders scorned Jesus. They hated him for breaking their nuanced and man made law. They added to God's law for control, and they despised the fact that they did not have a chokehold on Jesus and his followers. They pressed him about healing on the Sabbath. Jesus rose his hand up to interrupt them. My father is about his work, so I shall be about my work. So the Jews sought to kill him for he claimed equality with God.

We began today's reading at a site known as the Sheep's Gate, where there was a pool of waters that the people used for bathing, but which was also believed to have healing properties. And so around the pool there were gathered scores of physically laying crippled people who were seeking wholeness and healing for their physical ailments. Among them was a man who could not walk, and for thirty eight years he had helplessly waited and hoped that his body would be made well. But as we also will discover, this man's infirmity was not just physical. Perhaps after years of trying to no avail, or perhaps through learned helplessness, this man was stuck literally and figuratively, stuck in a state of sadness and even self pity. And it's at this point that he meets Jesus, who'd come to the pool on that Sabbath morning. Jesus asked the man a simple question that may even sound insulting because the answer is so obvious. He asks if the man wants to be healed. The man doesn't really answer the question, however, he just begins to give Jesus reasons why he can't be healed, how no one could help him. Other people always jumped in front of him in line. You see, it was believed that on occasion, the waters of the pool would be stirred, and when that happened, the first people in the pool would be healed. Whether this was true or not, we do not know for sure, but his answer tells us something important about his mindset, and really that of all who came to that place. To them, healing was not available at all. They were operating on the mindset of scarcity. There wasn't enough good to go around. Only a few could be fortunate enough to get to the water. Little did he know that the one to whom he was speaking knew nothing of scarcity because he was the God. He is the God of abundance, the god who loves to heal and to restore. Jesus loves to heal not only physical ailments, but the spiritual immobility that plague his people. Jesus paid no attention to the man's negativity and excuses. He looked at him with compassion and spoke, saying, pick up your bed and walk. Immediately the man was healed. Imagine feeling sensations like strength and motion in the limbs that your mind seemed to have long since forgotten. How joyful, how glad this man must have felt as strength rushed into his muscles and tents and allowed him to do just what Jesus commanded. He picked up his mat and went on his way. But when he crossed paths with the Pharisees who had gathered at the temple that Sabbath, rather than rejoicing in this miraculous healing power of Jesus, the religious Zealots chastised him for carrying his bed on the sabbath. To them, this counted his work, and Jews were not to work on that day. This man was so excited about his newfound mobility and hope that he was eager to share that a man had healed him and told him to pick up his mat. However, Jesus had not told him who he was, so when pressed, he couldn't reveal an identity to the Pharisees. They found out soon enough, though, because Jesus found the man again. You see, he had healed the man's physical condition. But Jesus was also concerned about the man's heart condition, so he told him to go be well and sin no more. The truth is that this, this is the healing that God is most interested in the healing of the soul. It is why Jesus came to restore our broken fellowship with God. And so the man went away again, and this time, when asked, he could say it was Jesus who healed him. The Pharisees, of course, were angered and rebuke Jesus because to them, healing was work and forbidden on the sabbath. That's the level of oppression to which they had taken the law concerned more about the outer appearance of righteousness than an inward condition of holiness and healing that comes from God. Jesus as always stood his ground, and he said in John five point seventeen. But Jesus answered them, my Father is working until now, and I am working. The religious leaders burned with anger and hatred at this, because Jesus was equating himself with God, and sadly they could not see that he had every reason to make this claim. Their spiritual blindness kept them from seeing the abundance and healing that was available to them as well, right in front of their eyes. Jesus' words to them are ones. We as his followers today will do well to remember and emulate. God is still working, and so should we. We're to be about the business of the kingdom, do the work of Christ, regardless of what it costs and who it may anger, because this is what we are called to do as followers of Jesus. We are to bring hope and healing in Jesus' name to a broken world. Dear God, thank you that you are calling us today, offering us healing deep within the healing of our hearts, the healing of our souls, the forgiveness of sins, and a new life in You. Help us now to work for your kingdom, not as an act of earning our way of salvation, but of expressing our love in devotion and obedience and gratitude to you for healing our souls. In Jesus's name, we pray Amen. Thank you for listening to today's Bible in a Year podcast. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas. You can download the Prey dot com app as over twenty million people have now done and make Bible study and prayer the priority of your life. If you enjoy this podcast, then pass it on to someone else let them know how they also can be a part of this great movement as we teach and preach and learn and live the Word of God. And if you want more resources on how to tap into God's power for your life, be sure to visit Jack Graham dot org. That's Jack Graham dot org. God bless you

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