Dancing on the Waves - John 6:16-21 (The Fifth Sign)

DANCING ON THE WAVES

 

If you have ever been to Providence University College and Theological Seminary, you will notice there are three floors. The first floor is the administration level; the second floor is the university college; and the third floor is the Seminary. Jokes are often made that the air at the seminary level is thin, or that they have their heads in the clouds, or that they are above everyone else.

            During our winter semester in ’95, a day of prayer was held at which we were given a time for solitary reflection. I put on my winter coat and immediately went outside to the Rat River to be alone with God. It was then that I discovered that seminarians really could walk on water. I had the evidence that we were holier than the undergrads. Of course, as you know, the river was frozen…

            Our story in John 6:16-21 is a simple story: Jesus walks on water. John keeps it brief. It’s rather straightforward. When I first read it this week, I thought, what am I going to say? What’s going on here? 

            The answer is: a lot more than simply walking on water. As with the first four signs, Jesus is revealing more and more about himself with increasing intensity. Though the story is short, the implication is huge. What are we missing in this little narrative?

 

1. Why did Jesus need to pray? (John 6:15; Mark 6:45-46)

 

Imagine you are a first-century Jewish fisherman. You know the temperamental nature of the Sea of Galilee and how sudden storms just swoop down from the surrounding hills. You are familiar with this little lake; the sea is another matter. But let’s back up a moment…

            Following the feeding of the 5000 men, the miracle of bread prompted the crowd to make Jesus king by force (15). Knowing this, Jesus retreats into the hills.

            Mark shares the same story but adds that Jesus “compels” or “makes” the disciples get into the boat and sail across the lake (6:45-46). Mark also adds that once the disciples have departed, Jesus went into the hills to pray.

            Two things are happening here. John and Mark are recounting the same story with John leaving out a detail that he assumes we understand. First, Jesus went to pray, but to pray about what? If the people were about to make him king by force, it’s possible that Jesus was tempted to let them. When Jesus was tempted in the wilderness three times by the Devil, one of the temptations was to grab political power. Was Jesus tempted by the allure of political influence? Hebrews tells us that Jesus was tempted in every way like we are (4:15). But he didn’t sin. And one of the ways he overcame temptation was to pray. 

            The second thing is related to the first. Jesus makes the disciples get into the boat and leave. Jesus knew they were tempted by this same prospect. They believed in their leader and that he would make a huge impact politically speaking. He deserved to wield power. Jesus taught them to pray, “your kingdom come!” Here it is! And if Jesus takes this power, they will surely benefit. Remember how they jockeyed for positions of power, to be next to Jesus, to be on his right and his left? It is possible that Jesus sent them away to protect them from the power of that temptation. 

            Political influence continues to tempt Christians today. Evangelicals have come to believe that the chief way to impact our world and bring the kingdom of God out is through politics. We have seen in the letter to the Ephesians that God has a program for bringing all things to completion through Jesus Christ. The world will be renewed and those who believe in Jesus will be saved. But that salvation program does not rely on the world’s politics or politicians. Jesus has chosen the church as his agent for change in the world. It is through the church that God manifests the best of his kingdom. Jesus knew that and that is why he wrestled in prayer with this temptation.

2. “Just passing by” (Mark 6:48; Exodus 33:17-23)

 

The disciples set off across the lake and run up against a sudden squall. It is so severe that they are “straining at the oars” according to Mark. John says, “A strong wind was blowing, and the waters grew rough,” and they were only half-way across the lake. Mark tells us it was between 3 and 6 in the early morning and it was dark.

            Which is more terrifying, being on the water in a storm, or seeing a ghost? I don’t believe in ghosts as such, but the first-century Jewish fisherman must have. John says, “When they rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat, walking on the water; and they were terrified,” (19). 

            Mark adds a curious note: Jesus is walking on the lake and “He was about to pass by them” (48b). Isn’t that odd? He’s walking on the lake, and it sounds like he’s just going to saunter by and “Oh, hey, are you guys in trouble?” Was Jesus just going to pass by until they called out in fear? No…

            We speak of “passing by” as a secondary thought. “I was on my way to the store and just thought I’d pass by and see how you are.” With God it means something quite different. Jesus was going out to them directly and was passing by. Consider how “God passing by” is seen in the OT: Moses wants to see the glory of God and God says “Okay,” Check out Exodus 33:17-23 (read). 

And the Lord said to Moses, “I will do the very thing you have asked, because I am pleased with you and I know you by name.”
 Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
 And the Lord said, “I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the Lord, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion.  But,” he said, “you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live.”
 Then the Lord said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by.  Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.”

The same expression is used when the LORD tells Elijah to wait on the mountain while the LORD “passes by.” 

            In “passing by,” God is revealing himself. Jesus is not sneaking by, hoping not to be noticed. He wants to be seen by them. Jesus is causing his glory to “pass by” them so that they may see he is more than some political figure, more than a prophet, more than a man, he is God, and he is showing his glory. They should be frightened.

            And when they cry out, Jesus responds, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” Even that means more than a familiar voice in the dark: “It’s okay, it’s just me!” No, John uses an expression here that means more than a greeting. Jesus says, “I, I am” in identifying himself. He is saying, “I Am.” Whenever Jesus says this in John’s account, he is saying, “I’m Yahweh.” This is the name God gave to Moses in Exodus 3 when Moses asked for the name he should give to the Hebrews. God responded, “I AM WHO I AM.” And that’s what Jesus says here.

            Jesus walks on water! Scientists would say that this breaks the law of nature. But the laws of nature are based on what we have observed nature to be like. If we see something miraculous, out of the ordinary, we are presumptuous to say it breaks all laws of nature. CS Lewis said that the bread miracle was a miracle of the old creation. Jesus uses natural objects like bread and fish to feed a crowd of believers and unbelievers in a supernatural use of natural objects. But Jesus walking on water is a miracle of the new creation, the invisible realm of life, those realities which are present for the believer. They are not anti-natural acts, but a demonstration of God’s power and working in the natural world. They reveal God’s character to believers to remind us of his person.

            

3. Master of the Great Big “SEA” (Gen. 1:2; Rev. 21:1)

 

Imagine you are a first-century Jewish fisherman. How do you feel about the sea? What do you believe is out there?

            To a person living in the Ancient Near East, a place like Palestine, the sea was largely an unknown and dreaded place. Jews were not seafaring people. Rivers and streams were useful for their vineyards and crops. But the sea was seen as evil, full of danger, an embodiment of chaos and unpredictability. This was true of Gentiles as well as Jews. 

            It is no wonder then that the writer of Gensis would describe the world before creation as a watery chaos, a primeval sea, out of which God brought order. “Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep…” (Gen. 1:2). In later OT writings, the sea was seen as the home of the terrible dragon, Leviathan (later symbolized pagan nations). The sea was the home of evil.

But the OT, also revealed Yahweh as the One who controls the sea and stills it. Psalm 89:9 says, “You rule over the surging sea; when its waves mount up, you still them.” And listen to this, Job testifies of God, “He alone has spread out the heavens and marches on the waves of the sea,” (Job 9:8 NLT). The Lord dances on the waves. 

This is the perspective of the first-century Jewish person: the sea is evil. In fact, in the NT, the writers continue this view of the sea using it to represent the barrier between us and God. It even represents death or the unknown. When John first sees the throne room of God in Revelation 4:6, there is a sea of crystal separating him from the presence of God, keeping him at a distance. But then God begins to show John how the Lamb that was slain overcomes the world and defeats the Dragon by the Word of God.

The story of God comes full circle. Our Bible begins with this scene of a chaotic sea keeping us from God. It ends with a beautiful picture in Revelation 21:1, “Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea.” In other words, death, separation, and the unknown are no more.

Come back to the Sea of Galilee with me. Jesus is walking on the water. He says, “I AM,” and the sea grows calm. What do you think? Who is this Jesus?

G. Campbell Morgan points out that it was a miracle seen only by the disciples. He says it was Jesus’ way of answering the disappointment they must have felt when Jesus refused to be made king. So, he gave them a demonstration of his present Kingship, and that in the realm of nature. It was as though he said, “I have refused to be crowned King upon the basis of bread, but make no mistake, I am King in every realm.” Jesus dances upon the waves amid a storm because he’s the King of Kings and no one is greater.

 

Last verse: “Then they were willing to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the far shore where they were heading,” (6:21). 

            John Wesley was an 18^th century evangelist who believed in God but was still discovering what faith meant when he was crossing the ocean from England to Georgia in the colonies. Wesley had never been on a ship before. Seven days from land and they were experiencing their third and worst storm. It was so bad that the passengers and crew believed they were going to die at sea. “The sea spilled over the ship, split the mainsail, and poured between the decks as if the great deep had already swallowed us up.” The English passengers screamed in fright, but the German Moravians calmly continued singing a psalm without interruption. Wesely was impressed with their faith in the face of death. He now saw the difference in this hour of trial, between those who truly knew Jesus Christ and those who didn’t. Even though he was a preacher, he knew he didn’t have that kind of faith. 

            The Moravians had Christ with them in their boat, in their hearts. Wesley had seen Jesus walk on water, so to speak, but hadn’t let Christ into the boat.

            Our story of Jesus walking on the water compels us to consider two responses: One is to worship him as God, the same God who dances on the waves and is sovereign over the crashing trials of the life you live. The second is to trust him amid the storm and believe in him, the One who says, “It is I; don’t be afraid.” 

            Worship and Trust. They go together. When we worship God, we say that God is worth our time and attention. How can you then not trust him? 

             

                                                            AMEN

More Than Bread - John 6:1-15 (the Fourth Sign)

MORE THAN BREAD

 

I seem to be reminded of a song every time I sit down to write a sermon. Another song came to mind this week, a U2 song by Bono called “I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” 

            Throughout the song, Bono tells of all the experiences he’s had in life but still hasn’t found what he’s looking for. He’s climbed mountains; he’s scaled city walls; he’s had physical relationships; he has spoken even with the tongues of angels. But he still hasn’t found what he’s looking for. Then he adds this: He says he believes in the Kingdom come and sings “You broke the bonds and you loosed my chains; carried the Cross of my shame. You know I believe it.” 

            Sounds good, right? Except that he follows this declaration with the chorus, “But I still haven’t found what I’m looking for.” Bono seems to have an understanding of Jesus, how he died on the cross to break the bonds and loose the chains and bear his shame. But he says it’s not satisfying that ache inside of him, that yearning for meaning in life and purpose in living. 

            How many of us are like that? We know the gospel; we have a mental knowledge of Jesus; we know the Bible, but it’s not what we’re looking for. We’re looking for something else. We want our yearning to be satisfied on our own terms. 

            Here is Jesus, the bread of life. The satisfaction we hunger for is staring us in the face, but we want something else. We are hungry. We are offered barley bread. We are starving for what Jesus has, but we want rye bread or whole wheat. Oh, and I don’t like fish. Even though you are starving.

            Our story in John 6:1-15 is about more than filling empty stomachs; it’s about satisfying that hunger for something more in the man, Jesus Christ. He is more than bread; he is the Bread of Life.

            You know this story well. It has been told four times in the gospel accounts. I will not go over every detail. Instead, I will highlight the dominant themes in each section.

1. Jesus Conducts a Crowd Test (6:1-6; 66)

 

Do you know what a crowd test is? It’s where a company allows real people to test electronic devices in real-world conditions. Apple did this with the iPhone. The device was put through daily wear-and-tear tests, drop-tested, put through heat and cold, and subjected to the wettest situations. Then Apple could sell a product with durability.

            By this time, Jesus is getting famous. Crowds are following him, searching for him, hoping to see a miracle. In this incident, twenty thousand people surround him. John 6 is a type of crowd test conducted by Jesus. Mark tells us that Jesus was preaching all day and, like a good preacher, had compassion on the people because he knew they were getting hungry. They want miracles. He speaks words of God. They get hungry. Jesus feeds them in an epic miracle. 

            With their physical hunger satisfied, Jesus tells them what they really need. They need him. And from a PR or advertising perspective, Jesus blows it. He uses an illustration they can’t stomach. He says, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven. Whoever eats this bread will live forever. This bread is my flesh, which I will give for the world,” (51). Jesus tells the crowd, “Eat my flesh and drink my blood.” How does that sound? Gross. 

            After this event, Jesus’ popularity takes a nosedive. John 6:66 says, “From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him.” In terms of building an empire, this is a fail. But this is what Jesus does – he reveals the people’s true need, their real hunger, and offers himself as the satisfaction. Many say, “That’s not what I’m looking for.” And they leave. You know, Jesus is okay with that.

            Jesus is not into popularity. He’s not into big crowds. He’s looking for followers who see their need and comprehend that Jesus is the One who more than fills their longing. Jesus looks at big crowds following him and says, “Pick up your cross and follow me.” That’s not what most people want.

2. Responding to the Test (6:7-9)

 

What are people looking for? These people want a king who can supply food when times are lean. They want a king who will deliver them from the tyranny of a bad leader. They want an instant fix. When Jesus doesn’t do for them what they want, they move on to the next option.

            There is another test in this story. This one tests those who are closer to Jesus (6). Surveying the crowd, Jesus asks Philip who knows the area, “Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?” (5b)

            Philip does the mental math. He looks at their resources. What do they have? Looks at the vast number of people. Then in hopelessness he says, “It would take more than half a year’s wages to buy enough bread for each one to have a bite!” (7). 200 denarii. A small fortune.

            Sharon did the math for Katy’s wedding and how many pizzas we will need. She reckoned it was cost nearly 2000 dollars for 200 people. Think about 20,000 people.

            We would respond like Philip did. We look at our own resources and we determine that our own resources are not enough. If we look at our own situations and make this a real-world test for ourselves, you and I tend to look at breaking a bad habit, achieving a goal, building a better marriage, and other things we long for, and we find our resources lacking.

            Monika Hellwig connects physical hunger with spiritual hunger and says that we each have a deep need for fullness in some respect. Love or to be loved. To be valued or appreciated. To have a purpose or goal in life. Those who are unfulfilled in this drive, she says, are found to be hoarding and wasting their material resources while others starve. Said simply, if we look at the world through the lens of scarcity, we will never have enough. If we try to feed our spiritual hunger with the things of the world, we will never find that hunger satisfied. 

            Andrew fairs no better. We think of Andrew showing great faith by bringing a young boy with a small lunch to Jesus saying, “Here is a boy with five small barley loaves and two small fish, but how far will they go among so many?” (9). It’s not faith. It’s despair. Andrew only mentions it to underline the ludicrous inadequacy of this small lunch. 

            How do we respond to the test? When Jesus asks us to do something, do we look at our resources? Or do we see him?

 

3. The Sign of Sufficiency (6:10-13)

 

Every scholar and every resource I read this week agreed that the miracle is bigger than we realize. That’s why I say there were 20,000 people present for this miraculous feeding. Jesus says, “Have the people sit down” There was plenty of grass in that place, and they sat down (about five thousand men were there), (10). Two different words are used in this verse: one includes men, women, and children; John uses the other to emphasize that there were 5000 men present specifically. 

            Jesus takes the loaves and gives thanks to God. The typical Jewish prayer is, “Blessed are you, O Lord our God, King of the universe, who brings forth bread from the earth.” We don’t know what happened next. Imagine sheepish disciples moving through the crowd with bags or baskets handing out bread and fish. Each time they reach into what they imagine is an empty basket, they pull out a loaf…again…and again. Barley bread is the food of insane animals and poor people, but I bet that bread went down easy.

            I want you to note two phrases. The people ate “as much as they wanted” and “all had enough to eat.” And there were twelve baskets of scraps. One pastor led a children’s story one Sunday morning and asked the children what you call that. An innocent little one quietly responded, “a miracle.” A more rough-around-the-edges boy said, “Leftovers.” 

            There’s a go-to principle that is often taught in this famous Bible story: Jesus takes our little and makes it a lot. There is encouragement in this application. If you want to share Jesus with someone but feel inadequate to be a witness, Jesus will take your effort and do more with it than you can imagine. And that goes for anything that you feel God calling you to do. When Jesus supplies the need there is more than enough. Just give your little, he will make it a lot. 

            But then, do we fall into the same trap as the crowd? Is this a form of sign-seeking? 

 

4. Responding to the Sign (6:14-15; 30; 28-29)

 

“After the people saw the sign Jesus performed, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.” Jesus, knowing that they intended to come and make him king by force, withdrew again to a mountain by himself,” (14-15). 

            There are several clues that led the people to make this deduction about Jesus. It was Passover. They found Jesus on a mountain. He gave them bread in the wilderness. This all looks like Jesus is the Prophet Moses promised (Deut. 18:15ff). And still, feeding 20,000 people wasn’t enough.

            Some people came to Jesus and said, “What sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do?” (30). What will you do? 

            The attitude of the crowd reflects the whole world concerning Jesus. When we want comfort in sorrow, strength in difficulty, peace amid turmoil, help in times of trouble, there is no one so wonderful as Jesus. We talk with him and walk with him. We open our hearts to him. But when he comes to us with a call to sacrifice, a challenge to serve or give, some effort is required (perhaps to forgive when it is not asked of us), or with a cross to pick up, the world will abandon such a Jesus. And we are forced to ask, “Do I only love Jesus for what I can get out of him?” 

            Am I saying that loving Jesus requires some kind of work? Am I making this Christianity thing too hard? Maybe. Some in the crowd asked Jesus, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.” (28-29).

            That’s the focus right there. Jesus! The principle truth that Jesus can make your little a lot is true and a great one to believe. But I think the real focus should be Jesus himself. Jesus is the only One who can satisfy your deepest need. This is more than “bread.” 

 

More than bread! What we want, what we need, what we lack…all of this may be just pointing to the deepest of all needs, our deepest hunger. They are pointing to Jesus.

            People want answers to life’s problems. Christians are no different. We won’t find the answers in the usual places. Not in marriage. Not in successes at work. Not in our children or other relationships. Not in our achievements. Those are good things, but they don’t satisfy the deepest longing.

            Church is not the answer. It’s not religion or even in serving on endless committees. Church is a good place to be in your pursuit of meaning, but only if it brings you into an encounter with Jesus. We want you to meet Jesus here. But the church is not Jesus. 

            Jesus is not a concept or a belief system. He is the living God, and he wants to have a relationship with you. Everything else is junk food: Doritos and Coke. He is the bread, the sustenance we need. More than bread, he is the life. 

            Jesus said, “Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise them up at the last day. For my flesh is real food and my blood is real drink,” (54-55). Set aside the gross imagery of cannibalism and see what Jesus is inviting you to do. Consume him and be consumed by him. As we say, you are what you eat. 

            Here is Jesus! Right in front of you. Jesus alone.

            I don’t know about you, but I’ve found what I’ve been looking for. Take that Bono.

                                                            AMEN

Jesus and the Rules of the Pool - John 5:1-15 (The 3rd Sign)

JESUS AND THE RULES OF THE POOL

 

You know the rules! The rules of the swimming pool. Most of them are common sense: no diving in the shallow end; no pushing; no cannon balls (splashing); no peeing in the pool. There is one rule that tickles me: no breath holding – so, if you go under, make sure you swallow as much water as possible. 

            We break most of these rules at my brother’s pool. He built a platform three feet above the surface to jump from; before that we catapulted ourselves from a trampoline. But one rule he insists on: no one with a diaper is allowed to swim in his pool. I make sure not to wear one then. 

            In John 5, Jesus visits the local Jerusalem pool, but not to swim. Depending on your perspective, Jesus may have gone to the pool to break the rules. Was Jesus trying to upset the status quo or just being rebellious? Or both? I wouldn’t say that Jesus was a rule-breaker; I would say his intention was to recover the heart of the rule that had become status quo. 

            In this story, we will observe that Jesus stirs the waters to reveal a new understanding of the rules of faith. Even in the question he poses to the invalided man at the pool, “Do you want to get well?” he’s not being ridiculous, he’s making you think. That’s what Jesus does, he makes you think and rethink.

 

1. Is it REALLY a Dumb Question? (5:1-6)

 

They say there are no dumb questions. I wonder though. You’re sitting on a plane flying to Calgary and the person sitting next to you asks, “Are you going to Calgary?” No, I’m jumping out over Regina since they don’t have airports in Saskatchewan. 

            Your furniture is being loaded from the house into a moving van and your neighbor asks, “Are you moving?” No, I read an article that says it’s good to air out your furniture with a brisk drive through the country. 

            Do you want to get well? You go to the doctor because you have a nasty cough and chest congestion. He swabs your throat and says you have strep throat. Do you want to get well? No thanks, doctor, I just wanted to know what it was – thanks for the diagnosis. Yes, I want to be made well.

            We find Jesus in Jerusalem celebrating a Jewish festival at the temple. He walks a few blocks over to the famous pool of Bethesda or Bethzatha, near the Sheep Gate. This is not Cancun. There are people with chronic illnesses and infirmities here. Under five covered colonnades, the people sit and wait near the pool. What are they doing?

            You will notice part of verse 3 and all of 4 are missing in your Bibles. This is a textual issue. We don’t have the original copies of any books in the Bible, but we have hundreds of copies of copies from the first centuries. The earliest copies don’t have these words, but by AD 400, they all do. Why? These words were not likely in John’s original book because the first readers knew about the pool and its legend. As the copies of John were shared around the known world, people didn’t know about the pool. Somebody probably added a footnote explaining the local legend and it became part of the text. 

            Here’s what was added: “Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralyzed – and they waited for the moving of the waters. From time to time an angel of the Lord would come down and stir up the waters. The first one into the pool after each such disturbance would be cured of whatever disease he had,” (3b-4). The thought was angel residue was left behind and it cured the sick. Scholars believe that an underground spring that fed the pool would bubble up at times and disturb the water. 

            Amid the throngs of people waiting there, Jesus comes to one man – just one. A man who had been infirm for 38 years. We don’t know the illness or why he couldn’t get to the water in time. In his mind, this is his last and only hope. He’s got to get into the water at just the right time. But someone always beats him to the pool. Can you imagine 38 years of frustration? 

            And Jesus asks, “Do you want to get well?” Did the man understand the question as, “Why aren’t you healed yet?”? Which would explain the answer, “It’s not because I don’t want to, I can’t.” His last hope is hopeless. He’s done all he can. He needs help. 

            When you are stuck and there’s no movement in your life, you feel like you are not getting anywhere, do you think “I’m stuck in a rut”? You continue to do the same things hoping for a different result. You listen to the same voices, repeat old patterns, but nothing changes. You may think, “As soon as this or that happens, life will get better…” As soon as I pay off my debts. As soon as I get well. As soon as I get married…I will be happy. My problems will go away.

            Jesus is asking this man, “Do you have any hope? Do you still dream?” Or are you hoping in something that will never happen? You’re just existing. The people at the pool have put their hope in bubbles, and next to the pool stands the one who can heal. Do you want to be healed, for real? 

 

2. It’s NOT about the Healing (5:7-9)

 

Have you struggled for a long time against a hopeless situation? Have you given up on God? Is there a pain inside of you sucking out the light? Are you just existing? Jesus asks you these questions this morning. He’s asking, “Do you want to get well?” 

            Why did Jesus pick out this one man out of a crowd of sick people? He could have spent his day healing people, but he picks one man. We don’t know why. If we dig into the text a little deeper, we will find it’s not about the healing.

            Without much fanfare or teaching, Jesus simply says to the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk,” (8). The man is cured, he picks up his mat and walks. Amazing. There are three aspects to this miracle: a) Get up! William Barclay says it was as if Jesus said to him, “Man, bend your will to it and you and I will do this thing together.” Jesus always asks the person to do something, to join in and cooperate; b) “pick up your bed” – The man might have said, “I’m healed, but I better leave my bed here and save my spot.” Jesus says, “You don’t live here anymore.” Don’t leave any possibility of going back to the old life. Take up your bed – get rid of it – don’t leave it there. Leave the past behind, it doesn’t own you; c) Walk – Do not expect to be carried. You are no longer an invalid. Some want to remain invalided; it’s easier being cared for. But this man wanted to be healed.

            Jesus shifted the focus of his hope. The man was looking at the pool. It didn’t work. He was just staring at it till Jesus came and stood beside him. The man didn’t do anything, believe anything – he didn’t even know who Jesus was. All he said was that he was struggling. And Jesus healed him. 

            But why pick up the bed? There’s another hidden gem in this simple act. Jesus was making a point. You see, it was the Sabbath (9). He was, in my own interpretation, picking a fight. It was a battle over perspective, a battle over rules and reality, a battle about Sabbath. Remember the movie Braveheart? One man asks William Wallace, “Where do you think you’re going?” He responds, “I’m going to pick a fight.”

 

3. Shifting your Focus onto Jesus (5:10-15)

 

The man picks up his mat and walks. “The day on which this took place was the Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat,” (9b-10). 

            Isn’t it odd and really quite sad that the Jewish leaders didn’t ask about the healing? They were more focused on the rule of law. Behind this “transgression of the law” was the commandment from God (see Ex. 20:8-10a). There is no doubt that if you love and obey God, it is in your best interest to keep the Sabbath and not work. What the rabbis struggled to define is: What is work? They discerned there were 39 categories that are forbidden for Sabbath (see chart). 

Bread Making Process

 Plowing

Sowing

Reaping

Gathering

Threshing

Winnowing

Sorting

Grinding

Sifting

Amalgamation

Baking/

Cooking

Making Clothes

 Shearing

Scouring

Combing

Dyeing 

Spinning

Warping

Constructing Loops

Weaving

Unraveling

Tying

Untying 

Sewing

Tearing

Writing

 Trapping

Slaughtering

Flaying

Tanning

Smoothing

Scoring

Measured Cutting

Writing 

Erasing

Building a House

 Building

Demolishing

Extinguishing

Kindling

Hammer blows

Carrying

The last one: “carrying.”             

The Jewish leaders didn’t ask, “Who healed you?” but “Who told you to pick up your mat and walk?” Wrong focus. The Jewish leaders wanted to be precise in keeping the letter of the law, but they missed out on experiencing the God who gave the law and why he gave it. The sick people at the pool were focused on the water rather than on the God who heals. The Church may focus on being religious in its programs and Christians on their strict adherence rather than knowing the Christ who saves them. 

            Jesus didn’t go to the pool to heal people. He could have. But he heals one guy and starts a firestorm that will get him killed. He used this one healing to point to our true need – spiritual healing. The Jews began persecuting him and challenging his Sabbath faux pas and Jesus responds, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working,” (17).

            God’s intention for the Sabbath was not to create a burden on people. When God instituted the seventh day as a REST, he knew that we needed a day of restoration, a day to recover our balance and harmony, a day to heal. I have been studying Exodus as a personal study for weeks now and Sabbath came up in a beautiful “coincidence.” 

God created in six days and rested on the seventh. Does God rest? Are babies never born on Sunday? Is no one healed on the weekend? Do crops stop growing? Do birds cease their nest-building? Does God not sustain creation on the seventh day? I’m still breathing, how about you? God is working. Jesus is working. They never stop. And God would never forbid us to show mercy on the day of rest, to help a neighbor lift a couch on Sunday, to make bread to share with the sorrowing. 

It's the focus. Are you focused on Jesus? Is he your hope? Are you at the end of your rope? Are you staring at the pool and waiting for the water to bubble up? Are you putting your hope in something that will not deliver the lasting happiness you imagine it will? Are you waiting to be restored but looking at these temporal things to cure you? 

Do you want to get well? 

 

Several years ago, I preached on this passage in Kleefeld. After the service, I was informed that a woman in our congregation wanted to see me privately to discuss the message. Knowing her to be in chronic pain and constant misery, I mused that she wanted to talk about healing prayer. She had fallen on ice several years prior and had never recovered. It exacted a toll on her mentally as well as physically. 

            To my surprise, she wanted to ream me out. She accused me of applying this sermon to her specific case (which I did not) and, like the man in the story, she wanted to be well but could not. I had outed her. I had shamed her. I had stolen her hope.

            I was shattered. I was dealing with my own stuff at the time and could not handle these confrontations very well. But I know I had done one thing: I preached about Jesus. If the story of Jesus convicted her, she responded with unbelief rather than with hope – the hope that scripture intended.

            Jesus was redirecting our focus onto himself. God gave us his word to shift our eyes from rules, quick cures, solutions, and gimmicks to the person of Jesus. He wants to give us holy lives – lives that are distinct from what the world knows of hope in false things. 

            Jesus wants to rekindle our hope. Isn’t it a beautiful thing that Jesus seeks us out and wants to change our lives? To restore our spiritual wellness? Do you want to get well?

                                                AMEN  

Sign, Sign, Everywhere a Sign - John 4:43-54

“SIGN, SIGN, EVERYWHERE A SIGN”

Jesus Heals the Son of a “Petty King”

 

“God give me a sign that you are really here.” Have you ever asked God for a sign? Sometimes we need a sign to encourage our faith in what God is doing in our lives. Signs are helpful if we recognize them and interpret them properly. 

            These are a few from the Bathroom Reader collection:

In a public restroom: “Caution: Don’t eat gum from the urinal.”

Outside a diner: “This is the back door; the front door is around back.”

On a bottle of dog medicine: “May cause drowsiness; use care when operating a car.” 

At the beach: “Please no smoking alcohol on the beach.”

            Then there are times we are repulsed by the signs we see; we want a different sign, a sign more in our favor. In 1970, Five Man Electric Band reflected the feeling of the times when they produced a song called “Sign.” The song responded to the perceived injustice of what signs were demanding of society. 

Sign – Five Man Electric Band (1970)

And the sign said

"Long-haired freaky people

Need not apply"

So I tucked my hair up under my hat

And I went in to ask him why

He said, "You look like a fine upstandin' young man

I think you'll do"

So I took off my hat and said, "Imagine that

Huh, me workin' for you"

Whoa

Sign, sign

Everywhere a sign

Blockin' out the scenery

Breakin' my mind

Do this, don't do that

Can't you read the sign?

And the sign said

"Anybody caught trespassin'

Will be shot on sight"

So I jumped on the fence and I yelled at the house

"Hey! What gives you the right

To put up a fence to keep me out

But to keep Mother Nature in?

If God was here, he'd tell you to your face

'Man, you're some kind of sinner'"

Sign, sign

Everywhere a sign

Blockin' out the scenery

Breakin' my mind

Do this, don't do that

Can't you read the sign?

Now, hey you, mister, can't you read?

You got to have a shirt and tie to get a seat

You can't even watch, no, you can't eat

You ain't supposed to be here

The sign said, "You've got to have a membership card

To get inside"

Uh

And the sign said

"Everybody welcome

Come in, kneel down and pray"

But when they passed around the plate at the end of it all

I didn't have a penny to pay

So I got me a pen and a paper

And I made up my own little sign

I said, "Thank you, Lord, for thinkin' 'bout me

I'm alive and doin' fine"

Woo!

Sign, sign

Everywhere a sign

Blockin' out the scenery

Breakin' my mind

Do this, don't do that

Can't you read the sign?

Sign, sign

Everywhere a sign

Sign

            We need signs to direct us in our journey. We want signs to affirm us in our choices. We don’t want signs that tell us to do something we don’t want to do. But signs are not the reality; they merely reveal it. A sign on a highway may read, “Winnipeg, 45 km.” If I change the sign with spray paint to read “Winnipeg, 145 km,” it doesn’t change the reality that Winnipeg is 45 km away.

            In the gospel according to John, Jesus performed 7 signs that pointed to a reality about Jesus. They demonstrated Jesus’ divine identity and power. Signs were a visual proof of his messianic claims, each one progressively revealing a deeper aspect of his nature. While the signs Jesus performed were authenticating of his person, they also left people clinging to the miraculous instead of hearing his words. The truth we are unpacking today is simply this: As I begin to grow in true faith by taking Jesus at his word, my life will change accordingly. We are going to look at John 4:43-54 in five parts to understand this story about signs.

 

1. The Sign says “Welcome,” BUT… (4:43-45)

 

We are not very far into the book of John, and we already read about controversy. Jesus has caused a stir. In chapter 2, he kicked the merchants out of the temple and raised the ire of the Jewish leaders. They asked him for a miraculous sign to prove his authority to cleanse the temple (2:18). This is followed by John’s comment that while in Jerusalem, Jesus did many miraculous signs, and the people believed in his name. But Jesus didn’t entrust himself to them because he knew the minds of men (2:23-25). 

            Jesus leaves Jerusalem and goes north to Galilee. On the way, he goes through Samaria and meets a woman at a well. Through a meaningful conversation, Jesus reveals and convinces her that he is the Messiah. She returns to her village and tells everyone about him; then they meet Jesus, and they believe his words. Note this: Jesus does not perform any signs. 

            Then Jesus comes home to Galilee and John adds a double-edged footnote. He repeats Jesus’ own words “a prophet has no honor in his own country.” But then he says, “When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him…” (45). What’s going on here? 

            Matthew, Mark, and Luke give us the impression that Jesus could not work in Nazareth because he grew up there and people didn’t respect him as Messiah. Does John disagree? It seems that John’s account makes Jerusalem the ones who resist Jesus. But John makes it clear that no one really accepted Jesus. He wrote, “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him,” (1:11). Even with the signs and wonders Jesus performs, folks are still doubtful.

 

2. A Sign of Reasonable Faith (4:46-47)

Jesus is in Cana; a man in Capernaum, 22 miles away, hears that Jesus is home. This is where Jesus turned water into wine and the story is still buzzing in the community. This man’s son is dying, and he reasons that a man who can turn water into wine may be able to help his son.

            The Greek term for this man is translated “official” or “nobleman” but it is literally “petty king.” This man is a person of some importance. He is connected to the court of Herod Antipas, yet he comes to Jesus, a poor carpenter with no credentials, and no temple authority. But we note two things about this man: a) he knew of Jesus and what others claimed he could do; b) he was faced with a heart-rending problem beyond his ability as “a very important man.” He seeks Jesus, which again in the Greek, implies a persistent, unrelenting search to find Jesus and ask him this request: heal my son. 

            The problem the man bears leads him to seek Jesus, and meeting Jesus, he gets more than he anticipated. This is often how it works. Ask anyone. They will testify that their life was in shambles and their needs led them to Jesus. Problems break down our sufficiency. People who have no problems do not have a felt need for a Savior. Desperation opens our hearts to seeking Jesus and abandoning self-reliance. 

            This a reasonable faith: I have a problem – I can’t solve it – Jesus has the power – I will seek Jesus to help me.

 

3. The Problem with Signs (4:48)

 

The man begs Jesus to come and heal his son, who is close to death. Jesus responds rather harshly, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe,” (48 ESV). 

            The “you” is plural. The NIV interprets this correctly having Jesus say, “you people.” He is not speaking only of this father with the dying son. Jesus seems to be reflecting on his experience in Jerusalem where a demand for signs originated in unbelief and downright cynicism. 

            Matthew tells of how some Pharisees and teachers of the law came to Jesus and said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a miraculous sign from you.” But Jesus replied, “A wicked and adulterous generation asks for miraculous sign! But none will be given it except the sign of Jonah,” (Matt. 12:38-39). What did Jesus mean by this? 

            First, Jesus told them that they could only believe what they could see. And then it was suspect what their faith involved. This included the Galileans in our story.             

            Second, Jesus understood how manipulative people could be. We want what we want and will do what we have to in order to get it. This man is desperate for his son to be healed. Does he care if its Jesus who does the healing? When the boy is healed, will the man believe in Jesus? 

We want to see God prove himself, take away the evil in life, then we will believe in him. But the problem remains: when God removes the problems, it doesn’t always result in following Jesus. It is a false premise that people would believe if God took away their troubles. Jesus knew that people came to him looking for the spectacular. For these people, signs and wonders were a necessity, but such faith is superficial. 

            Faith is not built on signs. Our relationship with God is shallow if we only base our faith in him on his ability to heal us or perform miracles. Our faith must leave the world’s way of thinking and take on a biblical worldview – that what Jesus says in his Word is true, no matter what we face in life.

            But the “sign of Jonah”? Jesus has given the world a sign. You want a sign? I’ll give you a sign, he says. It is the cross of Christ and the resurrection. That’s the sign…!

 

4. A Sign of Trust (4:49-50)

 

This father was in no mood to discuss matters of faith. His son was dying. He doesn’t defend himself. He doesn’t argue with Jesus. He simply urges Jesus to do something before his child dies. His words are a command: “Come down before my child dies.” 

            Jesus doesn’t go but responds with his own command, “Go, your son will live,” (50a). That’s it. No sign. Just a word of command. John emphasizes that word “live” three times in this narrative (as seen in NIV). The man’s assumption was that Jesus had to be present with the boy to heal him. This is the opposite of the faith of the centurion who said to Jesus not to come but just say the word and his servant would be healed. 

            Here’s the strange part: “The man took Jesus at his word and departed,” (50b NIV). The ESV says, “The man believed the word that Jesus spoke…” The “believing” isn’t strange, it’s what he did afterward. He didn’t immediately go home. Capernaum was only 22 miles away – he could have walked it. We know that the 7^th hour is 1:00 PM and he had time to rush home to see his son recovering. 

            I recall a story of my great-grandfather Peter B. Klassen who wanted to transfer a land title to his new homestead in Neuanlange and was told he needed the old land title – so he walked back to Rosenort from Winnipeg, 40 miles. And then walked back to Winnipeg with the title. The manager was so impressed he invited him to dinner. Apparently, Grandpa Peter had also walked 40 miles to ask his girlfriend to marry him. (I would walk 500 miles…song). 

            So, it’s possible. Why did the man wait? We don’t know. But what we do know is that Jesus said it, so he believed it. This is so simple, but I have to say it: When you truly believe God’s Word and accept it as stated it will change your life, and you will want to change your life in response to it. The man’s not running home was a sign of trust.

 

5. The Sign that Transforms (51-54)

 

You will note that when you read John’s gospel account that the dominant word is “believe.” 

            Jesus spoke to the man at one o’clock and the man did not return home till 1:00 the next day. His servants told him the time his son recovered was at 1:00 24 hours prior. So, we read, “Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So, he and all his household believed,” (53). Remember the progression of this man’s faith journey: He REASONED that this man Jesus could heal his son, so he pursued him and begged him to do what others convinced him Jesus could do. Then when Jesus said “Go, your son will live,” he TRUSTED that what Jesus said was true and his son would recover. When all the pieces came together and his faith was confirmed, he BELIEVED in Jesus. 

            We can see the change in the man’s faith as this story progresses. The critical juncture comes when Jesus speaks, and the man must decide to believe or not believe. Because he believes, that seed of faith becomes an influence on the whole family, the whole household!

            C.S. Lewis wrote: “I have to believe that Jesus was (and is) God. And it seems plain as a matter of history that He taught His followers that the new life was communicated in this way. In other words, I believe it on His authority. Ninety-nine percent of the things you believe are believed on authority… The ordinary person believes in the solar system, atoms, and the circulation of the blood on authority–because the scientists say so. Every historical statement is believed on authority. None of us has seen the Norman Conquest or the defeat of the Spanish Armada. But we believe them simply because people who did see them have left writings that tell us about them.” (C.S. Lewis, A Grief Observed).

            

If you look at this story, you pick up a few themes. You may perceive that it is possible to welcome Jesus and get excited about Jesus, but not really understand who Jesus is and what he came to do in your life. We want signs and wonders and miracles and think that they will bolster our faith. We want to see the big and unmistakable signs, but we may not be aware of what God is doing right in our midst in the small things, the seemingly insignificant things. 

            With John’s portrayal of Jesus and the Seven Signs, we are really getting at the motive behind our asking. Why do you follow Jesus? Why do we want him to do certain things? As one preacher put it, why are you giving Jesus commands when we should be taking commands from him? 

            Last weekend when I was teaching this course on Practical Deacons’ Ministry, I was feeling powerless and pointless. It was my own perception of how things were going. So, I took a moment away from everyone and got down on my knees and said, “Lord, I am weak. I don’t know what I am doing here. I don’t know if the words are landing where they should. Do what you want to do and help me just to be faithful.” 

            The next session broke open and the Lord shone through. He was in charge, and I could see that something was happening. When we were done, it was beautiful to see what God had done. 

            What is faith, my friends? Faith is the ability to see the truth of Jesus and live according to that truth. The sign that confirms the truth that Jesus is the Christ is the cross and the resurrection.

 

                                                            AMEN