Transcription

Jeff
Okay, Wesley, today we’re talking about a pool party. Yeah, yeah, pool parties are the best. Yeah. So, uh, Jesus has an encounter with a guy beside the pool of Bethesda, and it’s transformative. It’s life changing moment. So that’s what we’re talking about today. He’s Wesley, I’m Jeff, and you’re watching the Bible, guys. So, Wesley, you’ve taken this entire week very graciously decided to sit in on behalf of Chris Zarbaugh while he’s out of town. And I just wanted to first of all, thank you. Um, you know, we haven’t had to argue about anything and all that. It’s been great. Uh, but then the other one and boy, really insightful, uh, input this week, but, um, the other one is normally this segment on Friday. Everybody knows everybody’s favorite segment is what made Chris mad this week. Yeah, but he’s not here. And you feel like

Wesley
He owns that one

Jeff
Yeah he does. And and we’re not saying he’s angry all the time. All we’re saying is he never has to think very long about what made him mad. That’s right. That’s all. Uh, but for you, we decided we’re going to go the other way. What made Wesley happy this week?

Wesley
Yeah. This week. So I think this is an easy one. So, um, a lot of people know my mom passed away, like, a year, and a half, almost two years ago. And my dad really hasn’t traveled, um, anywhere in that time. So he flew last weekend down to Tennessee to see my sister in Nashville and had a blast. He can’t stop talking about it. And he’s 80. Good, good. 80. Yeah, he’s 80 years old, so. But he gets around really well. So not like.

Jeff
I would have never guessed he was 80.

Wesley
Yeah. He goes fishing like he does all kind of stuff. So yeah, he had a blast. Flew down there and uh, had a good time. Then he said, now I’m wondering if I should move down there.

Jeff
Oh yeah.

Wesley
Really? So yeah, he had an absolute blast. So that’s what made me happy this week.

Jeff
Nashville’s a fun town. Yeah. It’s great. A lot of things happen in there in Nashville.

Wesley
Yeah, you were just there.

Jeff
I was I was there last week. It was all work. I had all work. We did go to I have a friend. They actually listen to the podcast. It’s a member of, uh, incredible golf club and country club and, um, it the it’s 122 year old golf club. Yeah. Sits up on the side of a mountain and we sat out on the big covered porch of the giant pillars. Oh, wow. And had dinner looking over the golf course. That’s cool. And the dinner was fabulous. And then we watched the moon, the sunset, and then the super moon came up over the top of the mountains, across the valley from us. It was just beautiful, that whole region. It’s beautiful. I totally understand why people love it. And then restaurants are good and all those kinds of things. Of course, the traffic is horrible. Yeah.

Wesley
The traffic, I don’t.

Jeff
Designed those. Whoever designed those freeways needs to be shot.

Wesley
Yeah. I don’t think it was designed for the volume of traffic that’s there now.

Jeff
It’s I’m telling you. Interchange after interchange after interchange of freeways. Yeah. Well, that’s where you get all the slowdowns, right? When you’re trying to merge one freeway into another and you think.

Wesley
There’s like, an accident, but there’s nothing there.

Jeff
There’s nothing there.

Wesley
Yeah. So we were just there a couple weeks ago.

Jeff
The environment is amazing. And the people, people are so friendly and all that stuff. So yeah, we really enjoyed it. Yeah. But my one friend said, you know, all these people are moving in from all around the country. Yeah.

Wesley
Like that’s true.

Jeff
I was like, well, have you seen this place? Great. So but I.

Wesley
Did I did learn something though. We went to oh, I can’t think of the name of the city. It’s where a lot of wealthy people live. Uh, Brentwood. Yes. Brentwood and I learned do not get gas in Brentwood. Oh, no, because it’s like $0.50 higher per gallon than the rest of Nashville. So I learned a lesson there.

Jeff
There you go.

Wesley
Yeah. Yep.

Jeff
Yep. That’s where we had dinner was ready. Yeah. Right there. So how great. Well, that’s wonderful that your dad got out I love that. I hope I’m that guy when I’m 80 years old. I hope I get on a plane and go somewhere. Yeah, right. It’s hard. Flying is hard. That that whole process is a difficult thing. Yeah, but life is hard in general. What you don’t want to do is surrender. Yeah, to the hardness of life. You just keep pushing and you stay harder and stronger when you keep going. Yeah. Especially at that age. And so that’s great I hope I hope we’re that guy. Yeah I hope we’re a couple of old men getting on a plane together, flying around. Yep. That’d be great, man. So, uh, I it’s shorter time for me than it is for you, Wesley. I’ll be there soon. So, uh, thank goodness we’re done talking about fasting. Yeah, today. And now, uh, here’s a story. Remember, we’ve been doing these parallels. Yes. Where we’re including the last several stories have been Matthew, Mark and Luke all include the same thing and then doesn’t include John. John does his own thing. And a lot of what John tells is different. Yeah. From what the other, the other, uh, gospel writers tell. So here today we’re reading out of the book of John chapter five. And he’s telling things that nobody else tells. Yeah. Here. And so John five verse one says, afterward Jesus returned to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish holy days. Inside the city, near the Sheepgate was the Pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for 38 years, and when Jesus saw him and knew he’d been ill for a long time, he asked him, would you like to get well?

Jeff
I can’t, sir, the sick man said, for I have no one to put me in the pool. When the water bubbles up, someone else always gets there ahead of me. And Jesus told him, stand up, pick up your mat and walk. And instantly the man was healed. He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking. But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, you can’t work on the Sabbath. The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat. But he replied, the man who healed me told me, pick up your mat and walk. Who said such a thing as that? He demanded or they demanded. The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd. But afterward Jesus found him in the temple and told him, now you are well, so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you. And then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. I love this story. This is one of my favorite stories in the Bible.

Wesley
All the way back in verse six. I love this about Jesus. In his responses it says, what do you like to get? Well, it’s always like Jesus is like a gentleman. He doesn’t force deliverance on people. He doesn’t make you do anything. No. Oh, you want healing? Would you like to be healed? Yeah, yeah. It’s just I just love that about Jesus. He doesn’t force his way.

Jeff
He doesn’t kick the door down and make you. Yeah, he just offers it.

Wesley
Yeah, it’s available if you would like it.

Jeff
So, uh, the tradition here is, uh, Bethsaida. Um. Some of the ancient manuscripts. Not all of the ancient manuscripts, but some of the ancient manuscripts include this phrase that says for an angel of the Lord came from time to time and stirred up the water, and the first person to step in the water after the water was stirred was healed of whatever disease he had. Right? Yeah. So I believe that that’s legit. You know, that that’s a legitimate addition to the scripture. So sometimes it’s left out, sometimes it’s not. But I believe that that’s probably it, that that certainly was the tradition. Yeah. The tradition was that when the every once in a while the, the waters of the pool of Bethesda would, would bubble and stir, get frothy, and whoever got into the water first would be healed of whatever issue. Yeah. And the people believed that was an angel. So I don’t know whether or not that actually happened that those that you actually got healed. But the people believed it, right? They believed it and they believed that an angel was doing it. So if you get in there, this is why these five covered porches around the pool of Bethesda, uh, they’re inside the city of Jerusalem. Uh, why? They were just full of sick people. Yeah, as they were hoping that the angel would come. They’ve gone to all the doctors. They’ve done everything they can do. They can’t find any other solution. Now. They’re looking for a miracle, and they’re just hanging out by this pool. Yeah, because tradition or whatever told them that that’s what happened. Yeah. So this man, who’s been sick for 38 years, is laying there by the pool, and Jesus comes up and says, uh, of all the people, you know, there’s other sick people there.

Jeff
But for whatever reason, Jesus saw this guy and this was the one. And so he goes to this guy and he said, do you want to be healed? And the guy said, I do, but there’s nobody to help me. How pitiful. Yeah. How pitiful that for 38 years this guy desired to be healed and had nobody. He was. He was lame, paralyzed. He couldn’t get up. There wasn’t anybody to pick up his mat. There wasn’t. He didn’t have those four buddies that Jesus met in Capernaum. He didn’t have anybody looking out for him. And so Jesus comes to him and offers to help to be his friend. Jesus offers to be his friend when nobody else would be his friend. Yeah. You know, and I love that.

Wesley
Yeah, I love the in. You alluded to that in verse six when Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time. That reinforces in my mind, because it was, as you said, 38 years. There’s hope for everybody. That’s right. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been in that condition. It doesn’t matter how long you’ve been struggling, it doesn’t matter how long it’s been bad. There’s still hope for you. If Jesus could rectify the situation in this guy’s life that had been there for 38 years, he can fix the situation in your life too. He has more than enough power to do that, so that’s fantastic. I love that about this story. You know.

Jeff
The note in the Life Application Study Bible for verse six says, after 38 years, this man’s problem had become a way of life. Yeah, no one had ever helped him. He had no hope of ever being helped. The man’s situation looked hopeless. But no matter how trapped you feel in your infirmities, in your troubles. Yeah. God can minister to your deepest needs. Yeah. Don’t let a problem or hardship cause you to lose hope. God may have special work for you to do in spite of your condition or even because of it. Many have ministered effectively to hurting people because they’ve triumphed over their own hurts. Yeah, through the power of God. Right? Yeah. And so in this situation, this guy jumps up, Jesus says, okay, uh, you are healed. Now, uh, get up and get your mat and go, yeah. And so the dude does, he rolls up his mat and he leaves. And the Jewish leaders are like, hey, this is. Yeah, this is the Sabbath. Yeah. You’re not allowed to carry your mat. Yeah. And I love.

Wesley
Did you see what just happened there?

Jeff
And I love the guy’s response. So they’re the rule keepers. Hey hey hey hey, you’re not supposed to be carrying your mat now. He’d been there 38 years. Yeah, they all knew who he was. Yeah. And, uh, they don’t go. How are you walking?

Wesley
Yeah. You would think that would be the logical response. That you’ve been.

Jeff
Here for 38 years and.

Wesley
You’re healed.

Jeff
They’re not asking. They say, hey. Whoa, Ralph. Yeah. You’re not supposed to be carrying that mat. And his response is, uh. It. Jesus told him, stand up, pick up your mat and walk. And so he does. And then, uh uh.

Wesley
But the miracle happened on the Sabbath. The miracle happened. Leaders objected.

Jeff
They said, hey, you’re not allowed to carry that sleeping mat. But the guy replied, the man who healed me, he told me, pick up your mat and walk. Yeah. What have you and your religious rules done for me lately?

Wesley
Yeah. The guy that just did this. Yeah.

Jeff
I love that response, man. It’s like, you know, he doesn’t have there’s no apology. If Jesus has changed your life, you should never have any apologies. Yeah, right. You don’t have to apologize for the fact that God has transformed you, that God has changed you. Right? Other people aren’t going to understand. Other people are going to say, hey, you’re stepping outside the lines of what we’ve determined is acceptable socially or what we’ve determined is acceptable, acceptable religion on a religious level. Uh, you’re stepping outside the norms. That’s not acceptable. Yeah. And, you know, usually people are majoring on the minors. Yeah. And I love the fact that this guy goes, hey, you can say whatever you want to say, but that guy who healed me, he’s the one who told me to take my. Yeah, I’m going to take my mat.

Wesley
I’m going to listen to him.

Jeff
Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m good. Yeah. Because your your religious system is powerless. Yeah. Because you couldn’t do anything for me for 38 years. But he changed me. Yeah. And so he got up and and left and took the mat, but he didn’t know who it was. I love this.

Wesley
What’s the issue with working on the rope? It was just a mat. He was just rolling up his mat. What was the big deal.

Jeff
So you know so one of the Ten Commandments is remember the Sabbath day. Keep it holy. Yeah. And so then, uh, in the Levitical law, as you get into the laws of Moses, Moses unpacks things that are and are not acceptable to do on the Sabbath day. You can walk certain distances, do things, but the idea would be that you wouldn’t work, that the day would be dedicated to God. Yeah. So like, for instance, the Jews would make their meals the day before, right? And remember Sabbath then, uh, even now I was just in Israel, and their Sabbath day still starts at sunset on Friday and ends at sunset on Saturday. Yeah. Right. And, um, so they would have this 24 hour period where they weren’t supposed to work. Yeah. Well, then it turned into the rabbis had so many like hundreds and hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of rules in order to help people keep the rule. Yeah, the rule is don’t work on the Sabbath. Yeah. Um, but it’s Jesus later on says, we’re going to read this. Jesus says, Sabbath is is a gift to us, to humanity. It’s not you know, humanity is not here for the Sabbath. Yeah. Um, and so it’s a gift to us. He says, six days, should you work? And on the seventh day you should rest. Mhm. But, dude, this guy just got healed. Uh, do you think he was under more stress being sick or under more stress being healed. He was under more stress being sick. Yeah. So he jumps up, grabs the mat. He’s going home. Yeah.

Wesley
He’s like I’m out of here. He’s going he’s.

Jeff
Going on vacation. Finally. He don’t have to hang out at the at the pool of Bethesda anymore. Yeah. This is a gift from God. And so they got hung up on the precision of the rules that they made. That they made not God. God didn’t make this rule. The rules that they made to help them keep God’s rules. Yeah. And they treated it like those were equal, like man’s rules are equal to God’s laws. You and I don’t get to negotiate on God’s laws. Yeah, we don’t do. God’s laws are God’s laws. But when it comes to rules that men make saying these are God’s laws, that’s a totally different thing. And so this dude jumps up and it was the Sabbath, and he takes his mat and he goes, I don’t care what you guys say. You didn’t do anything for me. That guy healed me, but he didn’t even know who he was.

Wesley
That reminds me of the the guy you know that used to be blind. But now I see it’s kind of like the same reaction. Like, I don’t know what to tell you guys, but I was blind.

Jeff
Yeah, now I can see.

Wesley
And I’m out Saint.

Jeff
Catherine. But one of the really beautiful things in this, and it’s it’s easy to miss. Yeah. Um, is then the man didn’t know because. Because they said who did this? Right. That’s what they’re looking for now. They’re mad at whoever healed him.

Wesley
Yeah. So again missing the point here.

Jeff
So the Jewish leaders know that this pool is where miracles happen. Yeah, they know that. But they’re ticked that a miracle happened on the Sabbath. Yeah, right. How crazy is this? But we do that. Our the traditions of of men. Yeah. Really get people tied up in ways that just are unreasonable, right? Yeah. So. So, um, then the guy goes, I don’t really know. I don’t, I don’t know who did this. Now, now that you mention it. I don’t know I he’s looking around and Jesus the Bible said it slipped away, right. Yeah.

Wesley
It disappeared.

Jeff
He disappeared into the crowd. But afterward, Jesus found him in the temple. I love this. Yeah. Jesus. Remember we talked about this before. There are more important things than just our physical healing. Um, physical healing is important, right? It’s important to you when you need to be healed. It’s important to you. Yes, but believe it or not, even more important than healing this body eventually is going to die. Is that your soul be healed, right? And you have relationship with God because your soul will never die. Yeah. And so Jesus comes hunting him down later. Mhm. Right afterward Jesus found him in the temple and told him, now you’re well, so stop sinning. Yeah. So he comes to him. Remember what Jesus message. What was Jesus message? Repent of your sin. Turn to God. Yeah, because God’s kingdom is here. Whenever he said God is here, he said, I’ve got a purpose for you in my kingdom. That’s what he’s saying. Yeah. And so he says, and stop sinning or something worse may even may happen to you. Uh, you know, there are consequences to our bad decisions. You and I are. Are, are, uh, free to make whatever decision we want to make. But we’re not free to choose the consequences. And most of the bad things that happen in our life are because of of sin in our life or in the lives of others. And so Jesus is saying, listen, repent of your sin and turn to God. I’ve got a plan for you. This is more important now that your body is healed. Let’s talk about, you know, the plan I have for you and then keep yourself away from sinful things. Don’t don’t go do it because everybody else does it. Jeff
There’s there’s a cost to.

Wesley
That same thing again.

Jeff
You’ll ruin your life. So he wasn’t saying that his sickness for 38 years was because of sin. Yeah, but what he’s saying is, dude, now he’s repent of your sin and turn away from that. Because if not far worse than being trapped in a body that doesn’t work for 38 years would be trapped in a cycle of sin and destruction in your life that just destroys your life. Yeah, right. And so that’s what he’s trying to say, is the spiritual costs are far greater even than the physical costs. Yeah, that’s what he’s trying to tell me.

Wesley
I don’t know, maybe you’ve seen it. There’s this, like, short video going around social media where I don’t think it’s an America, but there’s like a, a small sheep and it’s stuck in like a ditch on the side of the road. Oh, and the guy comes and helps the sheep get out. He makes it about ten feet down and gets stuck in the exact same ditch, and it’s like you just got freed. Why would you jump back into the ditch again?

Jeff
We do it because of friends. Yeah, we do it because it’s the only thing we know. Yeah. You know, you tend to do what you know, till you know something new. And it’s.

Wesley
Interesting. There is actually comfort in what you know. Yeah. Yeah.

Jeff
The misery that I understand is, is for some people, uh, feels better than stepping out into the unknown. Yeah. Right. And, uh, but, man, just stick with it. And so there’s so many times where Jesus tells people, uh, you know, I forgive you sins. Now, now go and sin no more. Yeah. Or, you know, I don’t condemn you. So now go and sin no more. Yeah. So Jesus is. Remember we talked about this, the accusation of Jesus against the from the Pharisees in Capernaum was he hangs out with sinners. Yeah, but dude, he sure does tell people quit sinning an awful lot for somebody who’s trying to make sinners happy. Yeah, well.

Wesley
The Pharisees weren’t concerned about that part. Yeah, right.

Jeff
So. So Jesus wasn’t affected by their sin and didn’t participate in their sin. He was calling them out of their sin. Yeah, but he was doing it in a way that captured their hearts and captured their attention. I think we can do the same thing, right? We can be winsome. We can be interesting. We can be engaging. We can offer real hope. We can offer, you know, God’s power. But that means we need to be people with God’s power in our life. And that’s the idea behind prayer and fasting, things we recently talked about, um, and and spending time in God’s Word. And we need to know God’s Word so that we represent him and a better way to live than what the world is offering. Yeah, but yeah, it is a temptation to jump back into the things we used to, used to do really quick.

Wesley
We don’t have that much time left. Yeah. Really quick. How would you set boundaries? Because there’s someone listening right now and they’re saying, yeah, I don’t I don’t want to go back. But it’s just so tempting to just keep doing the same thing over and over. What are some practical things they can do to set boundaries in their life, to stay on the right track?

Jeff
Yeah, you tend to you tend to keep seeing the things you’re looking at looking for, right? That’s true. So you have to start looking at other things. Yeah. Um, you tend to keep doing the things you do. So that means you have to find new things. Um, and you tend to keep hanging around the crowd that you’ve always hung around. Yeah. So you need a new crowd, right? So you need to avert your eyes, change what you’re paying attention to. You need to change the crowd. You’re around, and then you have to find new things that capture your attention as far as keeping yourself busy. Yeah. And then most of us, we get into sin when we’re not busy. Yeah, right. Most of us, we we get into sin in our in our casual times or in our free time. And so learning to fill our time, serving others and serving God. Yeah, uh, is a big part of that. So you need a new crowd that. Doesn’t mean you abandon your old friends, it’s just your old friend. Conversations need to be about Jesus now. Yeah, right. Um, but you need new friends. They’re going to be challenging you and encouraging you. You need to be looking at other things. Don’t. Don’t keep paying attention to the philosophies and the ideas and the images and the art that the world’s putting out. You need to change that. Uh, and then, you know, spend more time in God’s Word, learning God’s Word, and then surrounding yourself with the right kind of crowd, though I would say those three things help. But ultimately, you need to start thinking like Jesus thinks. If you think like Jesus thinks, you’ll start doing what Jesus did. Yeah, and that’s why we’re spending all this time, every verse about Jesus in the Gospels, we’re going from, you know, passage to passage to passage because you tend to be more like the people you hang out with.

Jeff
Yeah. And this is the way we get to hang out with Jesus as we’re going on the same journeys that the disciples did. He changed their lives, and he can change our life if we’ll go on this same journey with him. Yeah.

Wesley
And there’s a scripture. It’s not in what we referenced today that talks about renewing your mind, renewing your mind. So does that mean that I just do everything you just said once? No no.

Jeff
No no. Yeah. Like it’s a constant.

Wesley
Yeah Jeff I did it, so I did good Monday.

Jeff
You’re building new habits right. So so you’re renewing and it’s a constant keep on renewing your mind is is really what that’s talking about there. So the world has brainwashed you. Yeah. So you need Jesus to to reset how you think. And that’s over time through intentionality. Yeah. Engaging. So yeah. Yeah that’s great. Good question man. Well, hey, uh, I think that wraps it up for this week. That was great. And, uh, we look forward to Chris coming back and joining us. But man, it’s been great having you. Yeah, it’s good to be here. And, uh, always you class up the place every time every time you come in and make it really interesting. So he’s Wesley and I’m Jeff. And you’ve been listening to The Bible Guys.