Many Christians wore WWJD bracelets when they were popular. The idea was to ask, “What would Jesus do?” in a particular situation, then do it. But this was not a new concept.
The book, In His Steps, by Charles Sheldon, is about 12 people in a church who accept their pastor’s challenge that for a year, before they would make any decision, they would ask themselves, “If Jesus were in this situation facing this decision, what would He do?” Then, they were to make the same kind of decision and act accordingly.
In other words, they were to walk in the steps of Jesus. What a novel idea, to try to become like Jesus. The story line of the book is about the struggles of some of the individuals to make godly decisions.
You are here today because of Jesus. You believe what He said about Himself. The Bible is your textbook. But how many of us really make the effort to walk in His steps? In John 5:1-8 is an interesting story about a forgotten man and the decision Jesus made to minister to him (read).
This almost seems like a minor incident in Jesus’ ministry, but it has tremendous importance because Jesus makes a claim which eventually cost Him His life. The religious leaders were incensed that He healed the man on the Sabbath (v. 16).
John 5:17, Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.”
Two things really upset the Jews. (1) Jesus challenged the idea that God himself was somehow literally subject to the Sabbath rules. Think about it! If God stopped every kind of work on the Sabbath, nature would fall into chaos, and sin would overrun the world.
Genesis 2:2 says that God rested on the 7th day; He rested from the work of creation, but He began the work of sustaining His creation. And He continues to work to this very day, and so does His Son, Jesus.
(2) Jesus was claiming equality with God. The religious leaders clearly understood this. From this time on they were determined to get rid of Him.
John 5:18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
The Jewish religious leaders had turned, “Remember the Sabbath to keep it holy,” into a burdensome series of don’ts that you could not do on the Sabbath.
Jesus wasn’t breaking the laws of God by healing on the Sabbath. It was the list of multiple oral traditions He didn’t pay attention to. They were not part of the Mosaic law, and they ignored the needs of people.
Jesus not only claimed equality with God, He also taught that when you have the opportunity to do good, no matter when it is, do it, even on the Sabbath.
Jesus understood why He had been born into this world. He knew His mission and purpose. There is a purpose for each of our lives also.
For us to walk in His steps we need to understand that we are here for a reason and that as God’s children we want to be as much like Jesus as possible. There’s much we can learn from this story.
Once He got to Jerusalem He went to the Pool of Bethesda. It’s off a ways from the main entrance of the city. To get there you had to want to go there—obviously Jesus wanted to go there.
The Bible doesn’t tell us why Jesus went to the pool—but obviously He went for a reason. Down the long flight of stairs He went to where there were many sick, blind, lame, paralyzed people.
These were the street people of Jesus day—the outcasts, the derelicts, the drunks, the homeless, the druggies. They didn’t have any hope. There were no welfare systems or homeless shelters or halfway houses.
Tradition had it that every so often an angel of the Lord would stir the waters and whoever stepped in first would be cured. For thirty-eight years, this man had reached out for a healing only to be muscled aside by someone bigger and faster.
I don’t know why Jesus picked this man out. Perhaps someone told Jesus about him (v. 6). Perhaps he knew because of His divine wisdom.
I also don’t know how old the man was. What I do know is that he had been an invalid for 38 years (v. 5). I also know that he needed help—physical help, spiritual help.
Jesus asks the man a most fascinating question, John 5:6, When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” Of course he does—doesn’t he? Some people don’t want to get well.
They are perfectly content to let their illnesses provide a good excuse for not serving the Lord. Or their illness is a good conversation starter. Some like the attention and sympathy. Not this guy!
I can almost hear this guy’s thinking, “What do you think I’m doing here?” Of course he wanted to get well. He was helpless. He couldn’t even get into the water before someone else beat him to it. You get the feeling that someone had been bringing him to the pool for years and years.
What is the reason for the church? I mean, why did Jesus create the church? Yes, we are here to tell people about Jesus, and hopefully they will become a Christian. But I think one of the main purposes for the church is for us to care for one another.
There are helpless people around us today. Some you know, some you don’t know. There are people in our church family who are at the breaking point
Relationships are strained to the breaking point. Marriages are on the rocks. Children are rebellious and negative.
There are some in our church family whose bodies are physically giving out, or unexpected disease has attacked. Others are emotional cripples. Some have lost their faith.
They feel helpless, therefore hopeless. But there is a deeper implication here. Jesus doesn’t force himself on anybody. The cripple understood Jesus to mean, “Do you want to be able to walk?” But Jesus was also asking, “Do you want to be spiritually well?”
There is a famous painting based upon Rev. 3:20 (Here am I! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him, and he with me.) that shows Jesus standing outside a door and knocking. There is not a doorknob on the outside. The implication is that the door can only be opened from the inside.
Jesus wants to be your Savior, but not without your permission. You have to open the door and invite Him in. If we want to try to be like Jesus, what can we learn from this story?
John 5:8, Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”
Friends, this was an act of pure grace. Isn’t that what Christianity is? The man didn’t go to Jesus. Jesus came to him. The man didn’t ask to be healed; Jesus just healed him. Jesus didn’t ask if he was a believer, or where he went to church. He didn’t hand him a business card.
With the man’s permission, Jesus healed him—something we are unable to do. But we can pray for people. We can refer them to competent, professional care. We can offer to help at a point of need.
If we say, “Call me if you need anything,” we usually won’t ever get that call. People who are struggling don’t want to be a bother. Besides, how do they know we really mean it? Specific offers of help are better.
For example, “Could I drive you to the store on Saturday?” “May I mow your lawn or help you with some housecleaning?” “I’m going to bring a meal in to you tonight.” This is how we demonstrate genuine concern and compassion.
Jesus just went and ministered to the cripple. It’s that simple. We live in a world of suffering and hurts. We know that one of the results of sin is suffering, but not all suffering is the result of personal sin.
Some suffer because of bad decisions. God has given us the intellect to make wise decisions about our lifestyles, about the way we approach life, about driving safely, wearing helmets, smoking, drinking and so on.
Then we blame God when the consequences of our decisions come home to roost. We even ask, “Why does God allow bad things to happen?” Sometimes we Christians think that God should make sure that we don’t suffer. But we Christians also experience the ups and downs of life.
Even Christians sometimes make the wrong choices. But even when we do, Jesus walks through the consequences with us. Sometimes He may miraculously heal us or preserve us or save us from ourselves.
The point is, help people at the point of their need. Act like Jesus. Don’t be judgmental. And, of all the help we offer, the most important is to point people to Jesus, who will one day remove all suffering from His people.
Physical healings from sicknesses, diseases, and injuries are not the greatest miracles. The greatest miracle of all is to have your sins forgiven.
This man didn’t even know who healed him. John 5:13, The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
But later Jesus looked the man up and told him to stop sinning. John 5:14, Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
Be careful about reading into this that the man’s sins were the cause of his 38 years as an invalid. We don’t know enough to say that. What we see is that Jesus cared about the total man, his physical, emotional, and spiritual health.
Jesus restored the man’s physical health, but He wasn’t finished. The most important part still remained: the man’s relationship to God and to eternity.
In this case, Jesus sought out the healed man to warn him that though he was healed physically, his thirty-eight years as an invalid would be nothing compared to something worse—that is, eternity in hell.
The man needed to receive forgiveness of his sins and come to salvation in Christ. He had been lame, but now he could walk. This was a great miracle.
But he needed an even greater miracle—to have his sins forgiven. The man was delighted to be physically healed, but he had to turn from his sins and seek God’s forgiveness to be spiritually healed.
So remember that we can become so caught up in helping ministries that we forget the most important—a person’s soul.
We can feed a hungry man, we can clothe and shelter a hurting woman, but if we don’t tell them of the love of God through Jesus, then we’ve neglected the most important.
Life here is short. Eternity is forever. There is something worse than being sick all your life. That is to spend eternity without God.
To be like Jesus, we must see people as they are. He cared about the physical condition of the man. But He also addressed his spiritual condition. Jesus cares most of all about our spiritual well-being. He wants us to be sure about our eternity.
But notice, Jesus didn’t heal everyone at the pool. And He didn’t save everyone. We’re not going to be able to take care of every physical need. Sometimes, just as Jesus did, we must focus our attention and energies and ministries toward certain peoples and groups.
We are not going to win everybody to Jesus. We simply are not able to do all things for all people. But we can ask, “What can we do?” “How can we best minister to the people of our community?” “How can I show the love of Christ?”
Remember the “Forgotten People” of our community and church. Reach out to them at the point of their need.