Good morning. Like so many things, you can’t truly comprehend it unless you see it with your own eyes. In central California, on the western side of the Sierra Nevada Mountain range, grows a kind of tree that is one of the wonders of God’s creation. Trees that look like skyscrapers, trees that are so huge, that you can build a road through them instead of around them. They are giant sequoia and redwood trees.
And in most of the parks where those trees are protected, rangers can show you a cross section of one of those trees. And when they do that, they can show you the many different layers of the tree.
Much like an onion, trees, have layers. And as they get older and older, they continue to grow new layers. Anyway, when you see a tree that has been cut down, you can look at the rings of the tree and they will tell the story of that tree’s life, year by year.
There might be a thin ring, a year when the tree hardly grew at all because of a drought. Perhaps there will be a couple thick rings, reflecting healthy years, when the tree grew by leaps and bounds. Maybe you will find a tree that has a bad spot in it because the tree was struck by lightning. You might find a ring that shows disease, and then there will be the many rings that represent the normal year of growth.
“And that’s the way it is with us,” says Dr. David Seamands, in his groundbreaking book, Healing For Damaged Emotions. He says that “Just beneath the protective bark, the concealing, protective mask, are the recorded rings of our lives.”
Now, I don’t think that I need to go in depth on all the kinds of scares that people face. I think we all know the scares that we are dealing with right now, and so I will just say this.
There are scars of ancient, painful hurts. There are wounds that never properly healed. There are more recent injuries, something someone said, something someone did, something someone neglected to do. Some go so deep that they shape who you are even today. There are some hurts that are so painful that it just takes a word or a look to open them back up and cause more pain on top of the existing hurt.
Well, this morning we are going to begin a 4 week series called “Healing Your Hurts.” You see, many of us here want to have a better year in 2009 than we did in 2008. And that is a good goal to have, but in order to be able to do that, there are some things that need to be done, things that if we are wise, we will take care of before we go any farther into the year.
Just as a dentist cleans out all the decay from a cavity before filling it, just as a housepainter scrapes off all the flaking paint from the house before applying a new coat, we also want to begin this adventure of 2009 by asking for God’s help in cleaning out any decay, pain, or hurts that we may have in our hearts or in our souls.
So, if you have your Bibles with you, or if you want to grab one of the Bibles from the pew, go ahead and turn with me to the Gospel of John, the 4th book in the New Testament. That’s: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John if you’re not familiar with the Bible.
And in John, chapter 5, that’s 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 if you’re not familiar with numbers. John 5, and we’re going to study verses 1-9 this morning and see what God’s Word can teach us about healing the hurts in our lives.
Look with me at John chapter 5:1-9 as I read it out loud. It says, “1”
Now, we’ll stop right there, the story continues, because the healing of that man created a stir among the more religious people of that day. Then they wanted to attack Jesus. But that’s not what I’m going to ask you to concentrate on this morning. Instead, there are 3 things I want you to notice about what took place at that Pool of Bethesda that day, and the first thing is:
What Jesus Saw:
If you’ll look at verse 1, you’ll see that John describes Jesus going up to Jerusalem for one of the many feasts in the Jewish calendar. A commentary writer, William Barclay, says, “John always shows Jesus attending the feasts for [He] did not disregard the obligations of Jewish worship.”
And then in verse 2, John tells us about the pool of Bethesda, a pool whose existence was questioned for years by many Bible scholars. But then a construction project near the Church of St. Anne in 1888 uncovered traces of a pool with 5 colonnades exactly where John said it was.
It was there at the Pool of Bethesda that Jesus encountered a man, as verse 5 says, who had been an invalid for 38 years. You know what that means? That means that this guy had been in need of healing since before Jesus was even born!
But it’s the first part of verse 6 that I want to draw your attention to. Look at that verse. In that verse, it tells us what Jesus saw. “Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time…”
That’s all the farther I want you to read for now. But did you catch that? “Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time…”
Now, keep in mind that John has just told us in verse 3, “Here a great number of disabled people used to lie: the blind, the lame, the paralyzed…” So, this hurting man was surrounded by “a great number” of people. Yet, Jesus saw him lying there.
Now, I want to take just a minute here to encourage you with this point. I believe that what was true that day beside the Pool of Bethesda is true today in your life and in your hurts as well. I want to say to anyone here today who is hurting:
1. You are not alone. It’s not just you. There is “a great number” of hurting people all around you right now. If you were to take a good look around this room, you would see “a great number of disabled people,” or hurting people. You would see people who don’t have it all together. People with scars. People with wounds so deep and some so incredibly sore that it just takes a word or a look to open those hurts back up.
But remember this, I asked you to notice what Jesus saw. What was it that Jesus saw? “Jesus saw him lying there…”
2. Jesus sees and realizes that you are hurt. He is not oblivious to your pain. He knows when you hurt. He wants to meet your needs. And just as He saw that man and learned, whether through human or divine means, we don’t know, but He learned that he’d been there a long time, and He knows just how long, how much, how deeply you’ve been hurting too.
You see, a lot of us Christians fail to do what Jesus did by the Pool of Bethesda; we fail to acknowledge the reality of people’s hurts. We avoid the subject because it makes us uncomfortable. Or, we communicate to people, “You’re not supposed to hurt. If you were a real Christian, if you were truly spiritual, you wouldn’t feel this way.” Or, we offer surface answers to deep hurts, saying, “Just pray about it. Have more faith. Let go of it and let God take care of it.”
But notice this, Jesus didn’t do that. “Jesus saw him lying there…” That’s an important line. Don’t miss it. Jesus saw the man’s hurt and He knew that it was real, and it had been real for a long time.
But you may ask, “What about all those other people at the pool? The Bible says there were a “great number” of them. Did Jesus pass them by?”
Well, to be honest with you, I have no idea. And it is never addressed in the Bible. Maybe He did help them too. Maybe he healed others whose stories have not been written down for us in the Bible. After all, John himself admits in John 20:30 that, “Jesus did many other miraculous signs which are not recorded in this book.”
But, then again, maybe He did pass by the others. Maybe Jesus knew somehow that only this man was ready for the next thing that I want to point out to you. And that is:
What Jesus Asked:
Let’s read verse 6 in its entirety now. “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?””
Now, that sound like s dumb question. Here is this man that has been hurting for 38 years, of course he wants to get well, right?
Well, not right. Jesus asked a very good question. You see, a lot of people don’t really want to be healed, they don’t really want to be made whole. I know it sounds crazy, but it’s not. Because saying “yes” to Jesus’ question “Do you want to get well?” means 2 things.
1. It means admitting that you are hurt. Some of us, if Jesus were to walk up to us right now and ask, “Do you want to get well?” would say, “What do you mean, Lord? I’m fine, really. Don’t worry about me, go help so and so, they are the one with problems.”
But, “Do you want to get well?” If you do, then it’s going to mean admitting your hurt in the first place. You have to admit that to yourself, to God, maybe even to a few trusted friends.
But that’s not all. Saying “yes” to Jesus’ question also means:
2. Choosing healing over hurt. When Jesus asked, “Do you want to get well?” it was not a rhetorical question, Jesus wanted the man to answer for himself. William Barclay observes that, “Being and invalid is not always unpleasant. Someone else does all the working and worrying for you.” And another Bible scholar points out that, “An Eastern beggar often loses a good living by being cured.”
So, you see, some of those people by the Pool of Bethesda may not have chosen healing over hurt, if healing meant losing their income, leaving their friends, or no longer being able to lean on others.
And in the same way, some of us actually choose to hold onto our hurts, because we would rather complain, we’re not done seething in anger at those who hurt us, because we know it’ll take WORK to get better, and besides, we rather like the sympathy we get,
or the attention from others.
But Jesus asks, “Do you want to get well?” If you do, then it’s going to mean admitting your hurt and choosing healing over hurt. But there’s just one more thing that I want to point out to you from this short passage, and that is, notice:
What Jesus Said:
Look with me at verse 7. After Jesus asked the crippled man by the pool, “Do you want to get well?” it says, ““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.””
Now, let me stop there and explain. The water in the pool would occasionally be stirred, like a hot spring, and it was believed that the first person into the pool would receive the maximum benefit of the water’s healing powers. So that’s what the man meant when said, “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.”
But, do you see what the man is saying about the depth of his hurt? He’s saying, “I’m not only crippled, but:
#1, “I’m friendless: I have no one to help me.”
#2, “I’m flailing: while I’m trying to get in, I’m straining and struggling and flailing, and it’s not doing any good.”
#3, “I’m frustrated: someone else always goes down ahead of me.”
Now, does any of that ring a bell with you? Doesn’t that sound like so many of us, in our hurts. We feel friendless, with no one to help. We are flailing, just thrashing around accomplishing nothing. And we easily get frustrated when things don’t work out. Sound familiar?
But it’s what happens next that I most want to direct your attention to. Look at verses 8 and 9. “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.”
Now, please notice that Jesus apparently didn’t even touch the man, or even point to him. He simply said, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” John doesn’t tell us whether it was Jesus’ words, or a wave, or just His will that healed the man. But one thing is clear, Jesus had the power to heal him, and He did.
But notice something else that I believe is operating here. Jesus told a man who couldn’t even drag himself into the pool to, “Get up!” And the man did. But why? Or better yet, how?
Well, I believe it’s because, for some reason, the man believed that Jesus could heal him. And I believe today that there are hurting people here who need to believe that Jesus can heal their hurts.
In Psalm 147:3 the Bible says, “He heals the broken-hearted and binds up their wounds.”
You see, God is able and willing to heal your hurts, and I believe that He is saying to you this morning, “I am with you. I want to revive your spirit and restore your heart.”
But don’t miss the fact that Jesus said to the man by the Pool of Bethesda, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” In other words, “It’s time for you to leave your hurt behind. Pick up your mat and walk.”
I think God is also saying to many in this room today, “It’s time to leave your hurt behind you. Pick up your mat and walk. Choose healing over hurt. Take the first step.”
The question is, will you do that this morning? Will you believe in God’s goodness and His grace? Will you believe that He wants to revive your spirit and restore your heart? Will you admit that you are hurt? Will you make the healing choice? Will you pick up your mat and walk? “Do you want to get well?”
Let God begin, or continue the healing process in your heart and in your life and choose to allow Him to heal your huts. Take that first step! Let’s Pray!
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