20th March 2026

20th March 2026


Pray (ACts)


Read (John 5:1-15 focus v7-15)


Message (Alan Burke)


The scene that Jesus entered at the pool of Bethesda was a pitiful sight. Seeing a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years, Jesus heals this man. At Jesus’ command, the man at once was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. There is no drama, no magic spell; Jesus doesn’t have to perform some incantation; he simply commands this man to get up, and at once he was healed. The power of the Word incarnate, the one who we were introduced to in the prologue by John, the one who was with God and was God, the one whom all things were made through— this is the one, the agent of creation who commanded this man to get up and walk. It wasn’t that this man needed faith; if only he believed, if only he trusted, no, it was from beginning to end the work of God. It is the same with salvation; it takes God’s work within us; it is God who works enabling us to believe. What was required for this man was the work of God; what is required of us is the work of God; we are totally unable to save ourselves; salvation isn’t that we do our part and God plays his part; we do the first bit or he does the first bit and then we do a bit; no, it is the sovereign work of God; it was the sovereign work of God in the healing of this man just as it is the sovereign work of God in our salvation; it shows his deity, it is evidence of who Jesus was and is, that the one who healed this man is God. The man is then confronted by the Jews, referring to the Jewish authorities, including the Pharisees, who were increasingly hostile and opposed to Jesus’ teachings. 


They say to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” But the law does not say that; their oral traditions do, but not the word of God. While they knew the rules, they did not know mercy. This was a man who had been carrying his mat; he had been healed after thirty-eight years, and instead of seeing what had been done and, as a result, being filled with joy, praising the Lord God, they challenged this man for working. It was religion of the worst kind, rules without grace. In response, the man points the finger at someone whom he didn’t know, in effect saying this isn’t my fault. While Jesus had slipped away into the crowd, he came and found the man. He didn’t need to do that; he didn’t need to speak to him; he could have simply left it as it was. He didn’t need to tell him to stop sinning, but his mercy warned this man about his sin, even though this man would then go and tell the Jews who he is. The mercy of Christ was willing to warn this man. 


While sometimes our illnesses are a direct result of our sin, our choices can directly impact our health. But more often than not, the problem is that we live under the curse (see John 9:2-3). We don’t know if this man’s sin had caused his paralysis, but that isn’t the point of the words of Jesus to him when he says, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” His words confront us with how sinning without repentance means that there are consequences, eternal consequences for our sin. This man’s greatest need was not to be healed from his paralysis but to turn to the one who had healed him and trust his life into his hands. Christ Jesus was his greatest need, and it is the same for all of us. We might think what was worse than lying for thirty-eight years in your own filth. But there is something a lot worse; this man showed no evidence of repentance; he went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. We do not know if the man came to saving faith; what he faced in this life would pale into insignificance to what would await him in the next. For all who will turn to Christ Jesus in repentance, they will know his mercy, for he was the one who came to take what we deserve, the terrible consequences for our sin, and know salvation. 


Pray (acTS)


Sing


WSC
Q20 Did God leave all mankind to perish in the estate of sin and misery?
A. God having, out of his mere good pleasure, from all eternity, elected some to everlasting life, did enter into a covenant of grace, to deliver them out of the estate of sin and misery, and to bring them into an estate of salvation by a Redeemer.
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