MAY 2024 HOSPITAL OUTREACH MISSION TEACHING OUTLINE FOR EDE HOSPITAL
THEME: RISE, TAKE YOUR BED AND WALK
TEXT: JOHN 5: 8-16
INTRODUCTION
The Pool of Bethesda was renowned as a supposed place of healing in Jesus’ time. It was the place where people of different infirmities gather to wait for the stirring of the water.
The Pool of Bethesda i.e. (House of Mercy) was a spring or a pool just by the north side of the temple. Near the water (spring or pool) “a great number of disabled people used to lie— The blind, the lame, the paralyzed” (John 5:3).
These people would wait expectantly at the pool because they believed an angel would come down into the pool and “stir up the water.” Then, “whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had” (John 5:4, NKJV).
At this pool Jesus healed a man who had been lame for thirty-eight years. As Jesus healed him, He said, “Take up your bed and walk” (John 5:8, NKJV. The invalid man had been waiting for thirty-eight years for his healing. When Jesus saw him, he asked him if he wanted to be healed.
He said yes. Jesus told him to rise, take his bed and walk and immediately he began to walk.
EXPOSITION
The first thing of importance to know in our Bible text is that for a man who had been waiting for his healing for so long, it took just an encounter with Jesus to get his healing. The man did not know Jesus and thought the pool was all he needed for him to be healed. How wrong he was!
To get the healing in the pool, the sick person had to put in the effort of getting there first. The invalid complained to Jesus; “there is 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” (John 5:7). But with Jesus, he had to do nothing serious, just an indication that he was interested in being saved.
Meanwhile, Jesus swept aside all superstition and false belief with one command: “RISE! TAKE UP YOUR BED AND WALK!” (John 5:8, NKJV).
The man was instantly cured, and “he picked up his mat and walked” (verse 9). The man never got wet, which means that, It was not the water he needed but JESUS.
Through this third “sign” or miracle in the Gospel of John, Jesus shows Himself that He is the “ultimate Healer”, not just of physical maladies but of our hearts.
After the healing, “Jesus found [the man] in the temple, and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you’” (John 5:14).
Jesus revealed that the man’s physical healing was secondary to his need to be healed spiritually. Although the passage does not reveal the man’s conversion, it does teach that Jesus sees not only our physical maladies but our hearts as well.
He is the only one who can provide the spiritual healing we need. While being physically ill for thirty-eight years is difficult, an eternity in hell is even worse (Mark 9:47).
Jesus telling the man, “Take up your bed and walk” became an issue for the Jewish leaders because the healing took place on the Sabbath (John 5:9).
The fact that a paralytic was walking did not matter to them; they were furious. “For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath” (John 5:16).
The Pharisees’ traditions forbade the carrying of one’s mat or bed on the Sabbath. Of course, Jesus had not violated the Sabbath law (see Matthew 5:17).
It was only the pharisaical interpretation and addition to God’s laws that were being broken. The healing of the lame man exposed the Pharisees’ hard hearts and revealed that Jesus is greater than their man-made laws.
No matter the powers and principalities that are trying to prevent your healing. Jesus is greater and above them all. He will shut them up and your healing will be permanent. Jesus’ command, “TAKE UP YOUR BED AND WALK,” and its immediate result reveals that He is
greater than any superstition, folklore, or man-made rule but He is the healer of spiritual, physical or any other realms of life through faith.
Faith in anything other than Jesus is misplaced and leaves us wanting. Yet Jesus can forgive anyone who will turn to Him for salvation— that is, the ultimate healing we all need is JESUS.
CONCLUSION
For a man to have lived with an infirmity for such a long time, he could have given up hope but he persisted and he had an encounter with the great healer.
This is a lesson on keeping hope alive. No matter how long one has been suffering from an ailment, one should not despair but have faith in Jesus.
A lot of people probably would have thought that was how he was going to die with his ailment but God said no.
The invalid man received Mercy. For at the Bethesda pool, he was not the only one present but the door of Mercy was opened unto him and he had an encounter with God. Therefore, brethren, let’s not give up hope. Let’s keep our faith strong and seek the great healer and we will be made whole.
