Sermon 4 May || John 5:1-8
Jesus’s conversation with the paralytic in John 5 raises as many questions as it answers.
Jesus singled out one helpless man and asked the question all of us must answer–“Do you want to be healed?” In this man’s case, a disordered heart kept him from true healing. Like some, he may have preferred the life of a victim and wanted to avoid the responsibility that comes with healing. Like others in John’s book, he was not interested in believing in Jesus.
It does raise the issue of sin and suffering. Was his suffering a result of sin? 5:14 would say yes. But in other cases, like the blind man in John 9, his malady had nothing to do with sin. In many cases, one’s disease or sickness has nothing to do with some unconfessed misdeed. What’s important is we walk in the fear of the Lord, knowing that we can choose our sin but we cannot choose the consequences.
Discussion Points
- 1-What things in your life might be paralyzing you, holding you captive?
- 2-What do you imagine the sin was that Jesus urged him to stop committing?
- 3-Do you want to be healed?
