Bible Passage: John 5: 8-24
John 5:1
I HAVE A PAIR OF BINOCULARS… I ask someone to look through backwards — things are
small and distant.
Then I ask another person to look through them the proper way — it makes things larger and
closer.
Bro. Singh an artist, has a perspective that is amazing.
an art critic his perspective is so different, he was looking for something wrong with the
art piece.
What are you an artist or an art critic?
Rev Currence. Suits, ties, shirts. I knew a preacher that sold suits. He could tell you what size
suit a man wore without asking.
Bro Clay – a mechanic can ride with you and within two miles he can tell that I had a problem.
A group of mothers. Their children were playing. There was a sudden scream, one mom
jumped up and ran.
She knew her child’s cry. Why? It all has something to do with our background, experience
and perspective.
*PERSPECTIVE: your mental view, the way you see something, outlook, position, a point
of view, a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something,
*TO KEEP PERSPECTIVE: to look at the whole picture, to see things in their proper
relation/proportion, to step back and see things in a balanced way, to see things in how
they relate.
DISTORTED PERSPECTIVE… BECOMES A REALITY IN THE EYES OF THE BEHOLDER…
Christmas day 2020 on Second Street downtown Nashville rocked as a camper was filled with
explosives and we met a man named ANTHONY QUINN WARNER, 63 years old. The bomber’s
dad had worked for Bell South, a communications company. Later Bell South merged with
AT&T. ANTHONY WARNER was an IT (Information Technologist) man and knew much about
computers and communications systems. It was reported that Warner loved marijuana.
Warner was single and lived alone. A month before the bombing Warner deeded his house over
to a woman. Warner told several of his neighbors that soon Nashville and the world would
never forget him. In August the year before the Nashville Police was warned Warner was
building a bomb. It was reported that Anthony’s girlfriend PAMELA PERRY reported on August
21, 2019 that Anthony was suicidal and making bombs. It was reported Warner never “liked the
police.” The police knocked on his door and there was no answer. They saw nothing out of the
way so they never returned.
Christmas day Warner pulled the RV onto Second Street and there was a report of shots fired.
Several police officers responded. The RV played a warning in 15 minutes a bomb was going
off. 8 people were injured, 40 buildings damaged. The song DOWNTOWN, a 1964 hit was
being played.
The police found a hat and one glove and were able to gather DNA evidence.
TALK ABOUT PERSPECTIVE, WARNER WAS PARANOID ABOUT THE NEW 5G
TECHNOLOGY. Anthony believed this 5G SYSTEM was being used by the government to get
information and SPY on people.
It appears he never wanted to harm anyone, he wanted to warn people of the 5G system and
to disrupt the COMMUNICATION SYSTEM.
DISTORTED PERSPECTIVES CAN BIRTH FEAR AND TROUBLE.
ACUTE HOPELESSNESS CAN GROW OUT OF WRONG PERSPECTIVES. CHRONIC ISSUES
(REOCCURRING, PERSISTANT, LONG TIME, CONSTANT) REINFORCED NEGATIVITY.
CHRONIC IS DEFINED AS LASTING AT LEAST 3 MONTHS.
HOW ABOUT 38 YEARS?
John 5:3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the
moving of the water.
Can you imagine the discussions that went on around this pool? There was a sick man that lay
38 years waiting for his miracle. This man was terribly handicapped. Not only was he
handicapped every person laying around him had serious problems. This can alter your
perspective. His friends all around him were a great multitude of sick people. They were blind
people, lame people, and paralyzed people.
What do you see?
Perspective and attitude
This is me
An engineer
YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND MY PERSPECTIVE… MY SITUATION HAS DEFINED ME. 38
LONG PAINFUL YEARS, I AM TRAPPED… I HAVE AN EXCUSE…
John 5:7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to
put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me.
JESUS KNEW 38 YEARS TRAPPED IN A CHRONIC PROBLEM, BEING TRAPPED WITH MANY
OTHER PEOPLE WITH CHRONIC ISSUES CAN BECOME A HEAVY DEFINING ISSUE. JESUS
ASKED AN UNUSUAL QUESTION: DO YOU WANT TO BE MADE WELL?
OFTEN TIMES WE ALLOW OUR PERSPECTIVE TO BE DEFINED BY OUR TRIALS, STORMS
AND BATTLES. WE ARE NOT HOPELESS … JESUS WILL COME BY… DO YOU DESIRE A
SOLUTION? Do we want to stay here…
John 5:6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he
saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?
Corner beggars
• A 2013 South African study found that beggars could
make the equivalent of $18 per day begging in South
Africa.
• A 2008 report stated that some Oregon beggars
outside a Wal-Mart make $100k per year / $300 per
day.
• A beggar in Oklahoma City, OK makes $60k per year
or $30 per hour on average.
• An actual homeless person who runs a Blogspot blog
stated that he makes between $15-$30 per hour, but it
is usually closer to $15 per hour on average. In
addition, he mentions that it is a very unsteady income,
meaning that sometimes, he can beg all day and only
make $60. —————————————
Why would you want to change if your circumstance is paying off?
You, Miss God, Move in Your Life When:
1. YOU CONSIDER IT TOO LATE.
– John 5:5.
– “And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years.”
– John 5:5
– Life has a way of beating us down. Especially when we are continually pummeled over many
years.
– This invalid had been there for nearly four decades. It’s hard not the lose your hope by that
point.
– Many of us give up a move from God because we’ve been stuck with the situation we are in
for so long. It is what it is, we begrudgingly tell ourselves. We lose our vision and expectation
that things could ever be different.
– A couple of examples:
a. The child who is into drugs.
– Yes, you maintained hope for a long time. It was nearly a decade that you stuck with it. But
finally, you gave up hope. They’re never going to change.
b. You have a parent who is unsaved.
– Yes, you maintained hope for a long time. You prayed for the longest time for them to believe
in Jesus. You still mention it in passing but without any actual expectation that it will come
about. They’re never going to change.
Faith sees God moving!
2. YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF TOO FAR GONE.
– John 5:6a.
– “When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith
unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?”
–
–
– As Jesus approaches the pool, He finds out about the invalid’s sad situation. I think it’s safe
to presume that the invalid was the worst situation there, at least in terms of the length of his
waiting.
– So this man was likely the worst situation there.
– You may have noticed that v. 4 is absent from the NIV. It’s an explanatory verse, but it is not
the best ancient manuscripts, so the NIV (and most other modern translations). You can
understand, though, why an ancient scribe would have inserted it. If you don’t know the
background story about the angel stirring the waters, it’s more challenging to know what is
going on here when the invalid comments in v. 7. So even though v. 4 was probably not in the
original manuscript, it seems to give us accurate information about the situation.
– We believe that God can move in manageable ways. We believe prayer can answer problems
that aren’t ridiculously big. We think some progress can be made.
– Here, though, we have a situation that’s the worst situation there. It’s not a minor illness – no,
this man is an invalid likely with some significant paralysis. And this is not a new illness – no,
this man has been here for nearly four decades.
– It would be easy to consider the situation too far gone. This one is just too hard. It’s too big of
a challenge.
– A couple of examples:
a. You are really sick.
– God can heal the minor stuff, but it’s harder to believe for the big stuff.
b. Your job situation is just a disaster.
– You are unemployed and the whole situation is a giant mess without any clear path to move
forward.
Faith sees God moving!
3. YOU FOCUS ON YOUR PROBLEM AND NOT JESUS’ OFFER.
– John 5:6b-7.
“When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith
unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when
the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down
before me.”
John 5:6-7 KJV
– The end of v. 6 has a question that at first seems absolutely ridiculous. “Do you want to get
well?” Well, of course! Doesn’t everyone? Well, I’m not sure the answer is quite so simple.
– What would be the obvious answer? Yes! But is that the answer that the invalid gives? No, it’s
not.
– Instead he begins to explain why he hasn’t been able to get into the water. Now, I don’t
begrudge him for his frustration, but it leads him to miss what is being laid before him.
Focusing on the problem causes him to lose sight of Jesus’ offer.
– Do we do the same thing? All the time! We get so focused on our circumstances and the
hurdles we need to clear that we lose sight of what Jesus offers to do.
– We spend a lot more time worrying and obsessing about our problem than we do dwelling on
the promise that Jesus has made that addresses it.
– I wonder when it comes to seeing God move powerfully how many answers we don’t get
because we never even ask in the first place because we are so focused on our problem. I
think it’s an absurdly high amount.
– A couple of examples:
a. A financial problem.
– Do we look to Matthew 6:33 and pray confident that God is going to provide for us? Or do we
obsess on the bad numbers?
b. Which path to choose?
– Do we claim James 1:5 and pray confident that God will guide us? Or do we obsess on the
uncertain choices?
-Faith Sees God moving when you don’t
4. DON’T SEE PAST YOUR TRADITIONS.
– John 5:9-12.
“Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed and walk. And immediately the man was made
whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. The Jews
, therefore, said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry
thy bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed,
and walk. Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and
walk?”
John 5:8-12 KJV
– Later in this sermon series we will go into greater depth about the Sabbath tradition and the
Pharisees’ obsession with it, but let’s simply note here the obvious fact: they could not see and
celebrate the miracle from God because their tradition got in the way. Specifically, their rules
about what was and what was not permissible to do on the Sabbath day without working.
Verse 10 notes that carrying the mat was deemed impermissible. So they look at an invalid
carrying his mat and their response is not, “Wow! Praise God!” but “Who said you could carry
that mat?”
– We can at times get stuck in our traditions as well. We have certain ways that we think God is
going to move or what we’ve seen Him move before and we can’t see past that.
– A couple examples:
a. One church is seeing a powerful move of the Spirit but they don’t do things our way so we
dismiss it.
– That’s not the way our church does it so how could God be moving there?
b. A Christian friend witnesses in a way that’s uncomfortable for us so we dismiss it.
– Perhaps a friend has an aggressive style of evangelism that we would not want to participate
in, so our first inclination is to criticize how he does things rather than rejoice in the results he
gets.
– Faith sees God moving…..be CONTAGIOUS
5. WANT THE ANSWER BUT NOT THE ANSWERER.
– John 5:14.
“And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude
being in that place. Afterward, Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou
art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee. The man departed, and told
the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.”
John 5:13-15 KJV
– Finally, there are times when all we want out of Jesus is the answer to our problem. We don’t
want to change our lives. We don’t want to modify our behavior. We don’t want to walk with
Jesus. We don’t want to get baptized. We just want Him to get us out of the situation we’re
stuck in.
– This passage concludes with Jesus finding the healed invalid to give him a final word. The
word is not, “Wasn’t the miracle great?!” but rather a word of challenge. You’ve been healed
but now you need to stop sinning.
– It makes me think of times when we want the answer but not the Answerer. Who is the
Answerer? Jesus, of course.
– Many want God to bring about a miracle to get them out of the quicksand, but they don’t
want to actually know and love God.
– They don’t want Him, but just what He will do.
– A couple of examples:
a. Someone has a scary test result and they don’t want it to be anything serious.
– They pray for an answer, but once the following week’s test comes back clean they don’t give
God another thought.
b. A marriage is falling apart and they want it restored.
– They pray for an answer, but once things calm down they don’t give God another thought.
Faith sees God moving when we don’t