Do You Want to be Healed? | John 5:1-9,13-17
How many of you want change in your life? A change of circumstances? Location? Career? Relationship? Addiction? Health? Change often comes in our lives when the pain of change is less than the pain of staying the same. The crazy thing is the most people resist change. Most people would rather DIE than change: Dr. Edward Miller, John Hopkins School of Medicine says that more 2 million Americans undergo a coronary bypass graft each year. The surgery is effective at relieving many symptoms of clogged arteries. But it’s a temporary fix. Without a change of eating and exercise habits, the health benefits are short-lived. Dr. Miller says, “If you look at people after coronary-artery bypass graft two years later, 90% of them have not changed their lifestyle.” Most end up in worse conditions. If you have a quadruple by-pass to save your life, the only way things get better is you put down the cheeseburger and stop smoking. The problem is that most people just want the pain to go away, without having to make any changes in their lives. Would you rather God to change your circumstances or change you? Would you rather God remove your suffering, but you remain in your sin? Which would you prefer? Most people ONLY want GOD to change their situation and circumstances. They want Him to help them feel better, have an easier life, give them what they want and make them happy. But they don’t want Jesus to change THEM! If we come to God only to change our circumstances without asking Him to change us through the circumstances, we are missing out on the greater miracle. We are short-sighted. Yet, if we are honest, that’s what we prefer.
In John 5, Jesus is going to heal a paralyzed man and point to the work He came to do. This is the third sign that Jesus performed which points to who He is and what He came to do. These signs are pointing us to turn to and trust only in Jesus. The question before us today is this: Do you want to be healed? In John 5, we learn that Jesus sees people we often look past and has the power to heal our brokenness.