16th March 2026

16th March 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 5:1-15 focus v1-2)


Message (Alan Burke) 


A red herring is a smoked herring having a reddish colour, a type of kipper, but in literature, it is a misleading clue or distraction that leads readers away from the main plot or true conclusion. It is often used to create suspense and keep the audience guessing about the real outcome of the story. The opposite of a red herring is a Chekhov's Gun: an element that appears insignificant or "merely decorative" at first but becomes crucial to the plot later. Every element introduced in a story must be significant and relevant to the plot. If something is mentioned, like a gun, it should have a purpose later in the story; otherwise, it shouldn't be included at all.


John through the gospel mentions details that we often pass over without a second thought, and every now and again, my mind is blown by what seems like an insignificant detail that is relevant, that is trying to tell us something if only we will take the time to notice it. Today, he gives us one that is pointing to the wonder of what Jesus has come to do. We will get to the account of the healing of the man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years on Wednesday, but for now, we focus on what seems like an insignificant detail which is pointing us to what Jesus came to do. Let’s look together at these opening two verses of John 5, and hopefully, you will see my point. I’ll try to explain using the Belfast City Hall. Now, say if I told you that the Danske Bank is near the Frederick Temple Monument, you might wonder to yourself “where is the Frederick Temple Monument,” but it’s at Belfast City Hall, and it is a memorial that commemorates Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood. Why, though, wouldn’t I just say the Danske Bank near Belfast’s City Hall? Hopefully, you’ll understand where I’m going with this now. 


The pool of Bethesda was in the shadow of a massive fortress called ‘The Antonia Fortress’. It was the biggest building in all of Jerusalem at the time and was at the northwest corner of the temple and looked down on the temple. You could see it from miles around. Yet John tells us that the pool of Bethesda was near the Sheep Gate. If John was giving directions, he would have told about the Antonia Fortress, but he doesn’t. Why not? Well, John is trying to point us to the wonderful truth of who Jesus was and is. Think about why you would need a sheep gate at the Temple? Well, of course, it was the way that the sheep entered the temple to be sacrificed. In the sacrifices that the people performed throughout the year, it was revealing God’s mercy, it was reminding the people of how one day one would come to crush the head of the serpent as he promised to Adam in the Garden of Eden (Gen 3:15). 


But you have the sheep gate there in the distance. John wants us to know that as he tells us that this pool is called ‘Bethesda’. Bethesda means ‘house of mercy’. Yes, John wants us to see how Jesus was about to show his mercy in this place to a man who was utterly helpless, but he had come to show his mercy to many more, those who will sin no more, those who will put their faith in him. For Jesus, as John the Baptist had already exclaimed to his disciples as Jesus came towards him, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!” (Jn 1:29). John is helping us see that this Jesus, the lamb of God, in whom though we can have mercy. For the law was a shadow of the good things to come instead of the true form of these realities; it can never, by the same sacrifices that are continually offered every year, make perfect those who draw near (Heb 10:1), but through Christ we have been sanctified through the offering of the body of Jesus Christ once for all (Heb 10:10). Jesus is the ultimate sacrifice for sin in whom we can have mercy. Do not miss who he is and what he has come to do. The details in John’s gospel can be easy to pass over, but John wants us to see who Jesus is throughout and what he had come to do. He died for our salvation, the lamb of God, so that we may know mercy that we do not deserve. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q16 Did all mankind fall in Adam’s first transgression?
A. The covenant being made with Adam, not only for himself, but for his posterity; all mankind, descending from him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with him in his first transgression.
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