madewell

<@footwasher> we are going to look at John 5:1-9
<@footwasher> []NIV[]: John 5:1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews.
<@footwasher> []NIV[]: John 5:2 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.
<@footwasher> []NIV[]: John 5:3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie--the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.
<@footwasher>   The picture is of an area in Jerusalem, not too far from the temple mount.
<@footwasher> Due to land features, pools were built to detract the water from flooding the temple.
<@footwasher> Here, at Bethesda is one of those pools.
<@footwasher> It is a grand picture, with colonades surrounding it.
<@footwasher> People use the pools for gathering water, and for bathing.
<@footwasher>   But this pool is unique.
<@footwasher> We see people all around it, invalids, blind, lame, all sorts of infirmities.
<@footwasher> There is hope here.
<@footwasher> But there is also discouragement.
<@footwasher> People believe that an angel of the Lord comes down and stirs the waters with its wing and that the first one in the water after the stirring will be healed.
<@footwasher> They see it as a fight.. Battling to beat the others in.
<@footwasher> They will do whatever it takes.
<@footwasher> Can you picture their determination?
<@footwasher> People of all ages there.
<@footwasher> And then there is that man.
<@footwasher> That one.
<@footwasher> And here comes Jesus.
<@footwasher> [niv]: John 5:5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
<@footwasher> There he is.
<@footwasher> [niv]: John 5:6 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?"
<@footwasher> As Jesus enters the scene, they are there, eagerly awaiting healing by hopes of being the first in this pool.
<@footwasher> There is a man who has been invalid for 38 years.
<@footwasher>   Can you see his face?
<@footwasher> What is he thinking?
<@footwasher>   What is he feeling?
<@footwasher> And Jesus speaks.
<@footwasher> "Do you want to get well"
<@footwasher> What is the man thinking now?
<@footwasher> What kind of question is that for Jesus to ask?
<@footwasher> Of course he wants to be made well, doesnt he?
<@footwasher> What does being well mean for this man?
<@footwasher> He has been invalid for so long.
<@footwasher> Has lived by begging, by handouts of others.
<@footwasher> He has no skills.
<@footwasher> Being well will mean sacrifice.
<@footwasher> It will mean work.
<@footwasher> But oh the joy of being whole again.