WEBVTT 00:00:00.479 --> 00:00:01.919 All right, well, good morning, church. 00:00:01.919 --> 00:00:04.320 Welcome back to week five of our series. 00:00:04.320 --> 00:00:08.160 We're calling Upside Down Glory, as you just saw. 00:00:08.160 --> 00:00:13.279 We've been unpacking what Scripture says about disability and the kingdom of God. 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:19.600 Now, during our time, we've looked at themes of dignity and advocacy and hospitality. 00:00:19.600 --> 00:00:24.079 We've explored difficult questions about God's involvement in disability. 00:00:24.079 --> 00:00:32.960 And this morning, what I'd like to do is return to that latter topic, studying a key passage in the discussion, John chapter 9, verses 1 to 7. 00:00:32.960 --> 00:00:38.880 John 9, 1 to 7, we're also going to look at a scene in John chapter 5 this morning. 00:00:38.880 --> 00:00:42.560 Now I'm titling this message, The Canvas of Glory. 00:00:42.560 --> 00:00:53.439 Now, the John 9 passage was and is very meaningful to my wife and I in our journey with our son Josiah, whom I've spoken about earlier in this series. 00:00:53.439 --> 00:00:57.039 But today I would like to share a little bit more about that story. 00:00:57.039 --> 00:01:06.640 Amanda and I had always spoken about having two to three uh kids, and we became pregnant with our oldest, uh Jenna, almost immediately after we started trying. 00:01:06.640 --> 00:01:14.959 But the pregnancy wasn't the easiest, and yet we felt especially blessed when she was born, and so we gave her joy as her middle name. 00:01:14.959 --> 00:01:20.879 But after Jenna, we felt the Lord leading us to try for a second, and we did not get pregnant immediately. 00:01:20.879 --> 00:01:22.560 In fact, it took a while. 00:01:22.560 --> 00:01:32.000 Almost two years of trying with multiple miscarriages, a very painful season, especially for my wife, who experienced that loss very acutely. 00:01:32.000 --> 00:01:38.959 Then in the fall of 2019, a woman in our church, who many of you probably remember, Barbara Zellman, began praying for us. 00:01:38.959 --> 00:01:46.079 You probably remember Barbara as the matriarch of NBC, teaching Sunday school for almost 70 years. 00:01:46.079 --> 00:01:57.120 In fact, one Sunday she came up to Amanda and announced, as was her custom, I've been praying for you, and the Lord told me, not only will you get pregnant, but you're gonna have a boy. 00:01:57.120 --> 00:01:59.519 True story. 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:12.159 Now, at that time, we didn't think much of it until a month later when I came home, and Amanda surprised me with this positive pregnancy test, and that was rather shocking because in that month we wouldn't have expected to get pregnant. 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:14.319 But God had different plans. 00:02:14.319 --> 00:02:17.759 And so we were excited to go tell Barbara the following Sunday. 00:02:17.759 --> 00:02:28.080 But as many of you know, I got a call a few days later that Barbara was found in her home, unconscious, and it was discovered that she had a brain bleed and would die a few days later. 00:02:28.080 --> 00:02:37.840 Now, Amanda and I did have the chance to go visit her in the emergency room, and even though she was unconscious, we had the chance to thank her for her prayers and tell her that we were pregnant. 00:02:37.840 --> 00:02:42.000 And I like to believe that she heard us before she went to be with Jesus. 00:02:42.000 --> 00:02:45.439 And four weeks later we found out we were having a boy. 00:02:45.439 --> 00:02:47.599 Now we were very excited that day. 00:02:47.599 --> 00:02:55.039 Friends came over for an announcement, we had cake, um, and then we began the ultrasound process, and that was a long, hard journey. 00:02:55.039 --> 00:03:13.280 At 12 weeks, the doctors identified some questions with his development, so they wanted us to come back at 16 weeks, uh, and they started to notice these skeletal malformations and began suggesting additional testing, and at that point we were rather shocked and uncertain about the future. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:32.400 After that particular ultrasound appointment, I remember Amanda and I going back to our car where we spent some time crying and praying, and then Amanda asked a very honest question, and the question was this after all we've been through, after all the waiting and the praying and the joy, why would God allow this? 00:03:32.400 --> 00:03:34.960 Why would God do this to us? 00:03:34.960 --> 00:03:37.120 Did we do something wrong? 00:03:37.120 --> 00:03:47.120 Now I know we're not the only people to ask that question, and it was in that moment that the Spirit brought John 9 3 to my mind. 00:03:47.120 --> 00:03:52.560 And in it is the story, of course, this morning of Jesus' encounter with the man born blind. 00:03:52.560 --> 00:03:53.759 And I shared it. 00:03:53.759 --> 00:04:01.120 Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 00:04:01.120 --> 00:04:13.280 This happened so that the works of God could be displayed in his life, so that this man could be a canvas for God's glory. 00:04:13.280 --> 00:04:17.600 Now, Josiah's life, like this man, has been exactly that. 00:04:17.600 --> 00:04:22.480 At the beginning, there was a time we didn't think he would survive, but he did. 00:04:22.480 --> 00:04:25.120 And I think he did because the church prayed. 00:04:25.120 --> 00:04:35.519 He required a bone marrow transplant at 11 months old, which was a long, difficult experience, but he survived because the church prayed, and God received the glory. 00:04:35.519 --> 00:04:38.319 But there's a tension in these moments. 00:04:38.319 --> 00:04:51.199 For many of us, there's there's a dissonance in our minds because simultaneously we can know in our mind that it's for God's glory, and yet also be angry and sad and crushed and despondent. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:54.480 And so we ask the same question my wife did. 00:04:54.480 --> 00:04:56.079 Why did God do this? 00:04:56.079 --> 00:04:59.360 Did we, I, do we do we do something wrong? 00:04:59.360 --> 00:05:02.240 It reveals something in our hearts. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:09.360 Now I want to add a caveat here because there's many people I know who get this news and their child does not survive. 00:05:09.360 --> 00:05:18.319 They go through the entire pregnancy hoping upon hope that their child will survive, only to experience devastating pain and loss. 00:05:18.319 --> 00:05:22.639 And that scenario is tragic and heartbreaking. 00:05:22.639 --> 00:05:27.839 But I do believe that child will be waiting for you in glory when all things are restored. 00:05:27.839 --> 00:05:31.759 Now, our story in John 5 captures the issue well. 00:05:31.759 --> 00:05:38.800 In this story, we mean a man sick, lying in the hospital of his day, and we're told that he's been sick for 38 years. 00:05:38.800 --> 00:05:41.360 And Jesus sees him and asks a question. 00:05:41.360 --> 00:05:49.279 It says, When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be healed? 00:05:49.279 --> 00:05:52.000 Do you want to be healed? 00:05:52.000 --> 00:05:56.000 So here we have another disabled person, disabled for a long time. 00:05:56.000 --> 00:06:03.439 And Jesus' question is designed to reveal what lies in this person's heart. 00:06:03.439 --> 00:06:07.680 He wanted to know if he saw Jesus for who he truly is. 00:06:07.680 --> 00:06:16.639 Because you see, friends, when we encounter disability, whether it's in our lives or in the lives of others, our response opens a window to our soul. 00:06:16.639 --> 00:06:21.920 It reveals our desires and exposes our relationship to God. 00:06:21.920 --> 00:06:24.000 It's done that in my own life. 00:06:24.000 --> 00:06:28.480 And I invite you this morning to ask God to speak to your heart today. 00:06:28.480 --> 00:06:34.399 And that's what we're gonna talk about as we ask the question: why does God allow disability? 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:36.959 Why does God allow disability? 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:40.560 And we'll explore that answer in three scenes in our text. 00:06:40.560 --> 00:06:43.439 First, we're gonna look at the pool of Bethesda. 00:06:43.439 --> 00:06:46.720 Second, we're gonna look at the pool of Siloam. 00:06:46.720 --> 00:06:49.839 And then finally, we'll see the light of the world. 00:06:49.839 --> 00:06:52.879 Two pools, but one Savior. 00:06:52.879 --> 00:06:57.040 And so I hope that you'll see God's canvas of glory in a fresh way today. 00:06:57.040 --> 00:06:59.519 So let's pray, and then we will look at the text. 00:06:59.519 --> 00:07:03.759 Heavenly Father, we thank you so much for your grace and for your mercy. 00:07:03.759 --> 00:07:06.560 Lord, I thank you for everybody who's here today. 00:07:06.560 --> 00:07:08.000 It's not a mistake, Lord. 00:07:08.000 --> 00:07:31.839 The people that are here, that are listening, that are maybe listening to this later on, I pray that you would, that you, Holy Spirit, would come and speak to their hearts, speak to my heart, even as I as I proclaim your word, Lord, that you would help us to see your purposes even in the tension, Lord, that you would help us to surrender even when things are difficult, and in the midst of that to point people to you. 00:07:31.839 --> 00:07:33.920 Lord Jesus, may you get the glory. 00:07:33.920 --> 00:07:35.839 We ask that in your name. 00:07:35.839 --> 00:07:36.720 Amen. 00:07:36.720 --> 00:07:37.680 Amen. 00:07:37.680 --> 00:07:44.480 So if this was a Charles Dickens novel, this message could be entitled A Tale of Two Pools. 00:07:44.480 --> 00:07:49.680 Because the contrast between the responses in John 5 and John 9 are rather fascinating. 00:07:49.680 --> 00:07:53.040 So let's dive into the John 5 scene, verse 1. 00:07:53.040 --> 00:07:57.839 After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 00:07:57.839 --> 00:08:06.480 Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheepgate a pool in Aramaic called Bethesda, which was which has five rooved colonnades. 00:08:06.480 --> 00:08:11.680 In these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, and paralyzed. 00:08:11.680 --> 00:08:17.040 And one man was there who had been an invalid for thirty eight years. 00:08:17.040 --> 00:08:21.040 Okay, so let's let's set the backdrop here. 00:08:21.040 --> 00:08:26.639 In verse 1, we read there was this feast of the Jews, and Jesus went to Jerusalem. 00:08:26.639 --> 00:08:37.840 Now you'll also notice the feast is not named, which has caused a great debate amongst scholars who proposed everything from Passover to the Day of Atonement to everything in between. 00:08:37.840 --> 00:08:39.039 Scholar D.A. 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:40.879 Carson offers a better explanation. 00:08:40.879 --> 00:08:53.600 He says the unnamed feast's lack of identification suggests it functions merely as a historical marker for Jesus' Jerusalem presence rather than any kind of thematic significance. 00:08:53.600 --> 00:09:04.000 So the important piece here is that Jesus is in Jerusalem and he goes to the sheep gate, which is where the animals were brought in for sacrifice in the temple. 00:09:04.000 --> 00:09:08.720 And the pool of Bethesda is near that sheep gate, but they're not the same place. 00:09:08.720 --> 00:09:10.879 It's a significant location, though. 00:09:10.879 --> 00:09:19.840 Bethesda in Aramaic means house of mercy, house of mercy, and it was a pool of mineral water. 00:09:19.840 --> 00:09:31.039 Now, in the ancient world, people with disabilities gathered around this pool to seek healing and relief because the water was believed to have curative properties for various diseases. 00:09:31.039 --> 00:09:38.879 In fact, the popular belief was that the first person into the pool, after the water stirred up, would be healed of whatever disease they had. 00:09:38.879 --> 00:09:41.600 Now it's the current location of the Church of St. 00:09:41.600 --> 00:09:49.759 Anne, where an archaeological discovery in 1888 confirmed that five-colonnade structure that John describes. 00:09:49.759 --> 00:09:57.039 The discovery also revealed there were two pools, which you can see in modern day, courtesy of Jeff Callender on the screen there. 00:09:57.039 --> 00:10:01.039 And they served complementary purposes. 00:10:01.039 --> 00:10:13.679 Scholar John Edy notes the pool of Bethesda had remarkable medicinal properties, it was believed, and it made a common resort for invalids, for those for whose accommodation porches or small apartments were provided. 00:10:13.679 --> 00:10:19.279 So there was this kind of community of disabled people around these two pools. 00:10:19.279 --> 00:10:28.320 But I want you to see the sad irony in these verses, that despite Bethesda being the house of mercy, it was filled with people in need of healing. 00:10:28.320 --> 00:10:31.279 The blind, the lame, the paralyzed, the invalids. 00:10:31.279 --> 00:10:36.879 The place of healing was actually a location where for many mercy had run dry. 00:10:36.879 --> 00:10:41.039 It was a location, it felt more like a location of outcasts. 00:10:41.039 --> 00:10:48.320 Now, if you think about that word, and if you split it apart, you can see that these people, these invalids, are invalid. 00:10:48.320 --> 00:10:51.039 They have no worth in the world's eyes. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:53.679 People would avoid them, they would overlook them. 00:10:53.679 --> 00:10:59.200 This word right here comes from the Latin invalidus, which literally means not strong. 00:10:59.200 --> 00:11:03.120 The word does mean not valid. 00:11:03.120 --> 00:11:13.279 Invalid or invalid was originally used in military context for soldiers who were unfit for service, and then it was later replied to people with disabilities. 00:11:13.279 --> 00:11:19.919 And so it's worth us asking: who do we treat as invalid in our lives and world? 00:11:19.919 --> 00:11:24.080 Are these people waiting at the pool to meet Jesus? 00:11:24.080 --> 00:11:29.039 And we read that one person is sitting here for 38 years. 00:11:29.039 --> 00:11:36.240 In fact, if you if you underline that and highlight that, it's super important because 38 years has a spiritual significance. 00:11:36.240 --> 00:11:50.480 It's the same time frame that's mentioned in Deuteronomy chapter 2, verse 4, where we are told that Israel wandered in the wilderness for 38 years after they were at Kadesh Barnea until the generations of warriors died. 00:11:50.480 --> 00:11:53.039 So there's this theological parallel. 00:11:53.039 --> 00:11:59.759 Israel is wandering in the desert for 38 years with an inability to enter the promised blessings. 00:11:59.759 --> 00:12:11.840 And now this man, who's been waiting in what I'm sure feels like wilderness, for 38 years, ends his wandering as he meets someone who can change his life. 00:12:11.840 --> 00:12:13.039 Look at verse 6. 00:12:13.039 --> 00:12:21.759 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, Do you want to be healed? 00:12:21.759 --> 00:12:25.120 Now, what do you notice about this verse? 00:12:25.120 --> 00:12:31.600 First, Jesus sees this man, even though the world overlooks him. 00:12:31.600 --> 00:12:33.840 This is so often what Jesus does. 00:12:33.840 --> 00:12:37.679 Second, he knew he had been there a long time. 00:12:37.679 --> 00:12:44.000 Now, people with disabilities, I imagine, resonate with this language, especially the length. 00:12:44.000 --> 00:12:47.440 They have to wait for people to notice them. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:51.679 Others have to learn to be patient and wait for them. 00:12:51.679 --> 00:12:57.759 You can sit in the doctor's office for hours in hospitals waiting for care. 00:12:57.759 --> 00:13:05.519 Even though you might get that care, you have to wait for test results and diagnoses and follow-ups. 00:13:05.519 --> 00:13:09.840 Keeping up with the insurance requirements is a full-time job for caregivers. 00:13:09.840 --> 00:13:16.080 Jesus knows about our long time, and he asks a question. 00:13:16.080 --> 00:13:19.840 Do you want to be healed? 00:13:19.840 --> 00:13:22.559 Now, what is he asking here? 00:13:22.559 --> 00:13:27.200 Well, we might automatically assume physical healing, but is that what Jesus is getting at? 00:13:27.200 --> 00:13:33.679 See, we know this man had been ill for 38 years, unable to move on his own. 00:13:33.679 --> 00:13:39.279 And I want to pause for a moment and just consider the length of 38 years. 00:13:39.279 --> 00:13:42.080 It's a long time. 00:13:42.080 --> 00:13:45.759 Okay, so so we are in the year 2026. 00:13:45.759 --> 00:13:50.639 If you were to back up 38 years, you'd be in 1988. 00:13:50.639 --> 00:13:53.759 Ronald Reagan was still president. 00:13:53.759 --> 00:13:55.440 I remember 1988. 00:13:55.440 --> 00:13:57.679 Do I have anybody else out there, any of my 80s kids? 00:13:57.679 --> 00:13:58.000 Okay. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:13:59.600 More hands in the first service. 00:13:59.600 --> 00:14:00.480 All right. 00:14:00.480 --> 00:14:02.399 I see that hand. 00:14:02.399 --> 00:14:07.279 I uh you know, we were the people that were binging Super Mario Brothers on the original Nintendo. 00:14:07.279 --> 00:14:07.840 All right. 00:14:07.840 --> 00:14:10.399 Oregon Trail was still in green. 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:13.679 And you you you you you moved with the space bar. 00:14:13.679 --> 00:14:18.000 In fact, I remember I died of dysentery a lot of times playing that game. 00:14:18.000 --> 00:14:22.080 This was the era of the Wonder Years and Scrunchies and Skid Pants. 00:14:22.080 --> 00:14:24.960 This front row is like, what are you talking about? 00:14:24.960 --> 00:14:27.759 But the jets were still terrible. 00:14:27.759 --> 00:14:33.200 Thirty-eight years is a long time, is my point. 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:36.320 And notice that no one has helped him. 00:14:36.320 --> 00:14:39.759 He's not made it to the pool, to the healing water. 00:14:39.759 --> 00:14:41.360 What does he say in verse 7? 00:14:41.360 --> 00:14:41.840 Look at this. 00:14:41.840 --> 00:14:51.360 He says, The sick man answered him, Sir, I have no one to put me in the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I'm going, another steps down before me. 00:14:51.360 --> 00:14:54.399 So he's saying, My situation seems hopeless. 00:14:54.399 --> 00:14:56.159 I can't reach the water. 00:14:56.159 --> 00:15:02.240 Now it was believed that an angel would stir the waters, even though there's no textual evidence for that. 00:15:02.240 --> 00:15:03.679 But that was the common belief. 00:15:03.679 --> 00:15:09.200 Other possibilities are that the stirring of the water resulted from bubbling up from beneath the surface. 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:12.720 It was a little a little a little well spring. 00:15:12.720 --> 00:15:16.879 Or it would collect rainwater from the northern pool, and it would go to the southern pool. 00:15:16.879 --> 00:15:21.679 In other words, it's likely that the water was being stirred by natural hydraulic systems. 00:15:21.679 --> 00:15:28.399 But it was believed again, if you were the first in the water when it was stirred, you might be healed. 00:15:28.399 --> 00:15:30.559 But the sick man never made it. 00:15:30.559 --> 00:15:46.960 Then Jesus arrives, who would later make the statement in John 7, verse 37, that if anyone thirst, let him come to me and drink, whoever believes in me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water. 00:15:46.960 --> 00:15:52.879 And so I think the question under Jesus' question to this man is do you see me? 00:15:52.879 --> 00:15:57.039 Do you see who I truly am? 00:15:57.039 --> 00:15:59.679 It's a diagnostic question. 00:15:59.679 --> 00:16:01.759 What's going on with the sick man? 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:04.799 Well, two observations I think can be made. 00:16:04.799 --> 00:16:09.039 First, some point out that he appears to have a victim mentality. 00:16:09.039 --> 00:16:12.720 He makes an excuse because he doesn't really want to be healed. 00:16:12.720 --> 00:16:18.080 That this condition has now become this man's identity, crushed by a system that doesn't work. 00:16:18.080 --> 00:16:20.960 And it reveals that he stopped hoping. 00:16:20.960 --> 00:16:27.759 Second, his statement also reveals that this man needed both spiritual and physical healing. 00:16:27.759 --> 00:16:41.600 And so often we pray for physical healing, but it's when the soul is healed spiritually, when we see Jesus and trust in Jesus, that that we then have we can tap into the power that can allow us to face anything in life. 00:16:41.600 --> 00:16:44.000 And I think that's what Jesus is getting at. 00:16:44.000 --> 00:16:47.360 And in his grace, Jesus offers him something better. 00:16:47.360 --> 00:16:48.720 Look at verse 8. 00:16:48.720 --> 00:16:52.879 Jesus said to him, Get up, take up your bed and walk. 00:16:52.879 --> 00:16:57.279 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. 00:16:57.279 --> 00:17:05.519 So Bethesda, the house of mercy, was not merciful to this man until Jesus showed up in his life. 00:17:05.519 --> 00:17:10.079 Jesus stirred the spiritual waters to awaken this man's heart. 00:17:10.079 --> 00:17:16.319 Now, if you read the rest of the chapter, the story gets a little more interesting and complex, but I'm going to summarize for time. 00:17:16.319 --> 00:17:23.839 First, this healing takes place on the Sabbath, and the Jewish leaders notice this healing and they confront the man. 00:17:23.839 --> 00:17:27.680 But they don't want to celebrate this man's healing. 00:17:27.680 --> 00:17:33.440 They're outraged that he was healed in the incorrect way on the incorrect day. 00:17:33.440 --> 00:17:36.240 Second, they ask him, Who healed you? 00:17:36.240 --> 00:17:37.599 Who healed you? 00:17:37.599 --> 00:17:40.000 Surprisingly, he can't answer. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:44.880 And it reveals that he didn't fully see or embrace Jesus. 00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:51.200 Now, if you skip down to verse 14 of chapter 5, we see that later on Jesus finds this man and he confronts him. 00:17:51.200 --> 00:17:53.359 It says this in verse 14. 00:17:53.359 --> 00:17:58.400 Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, See, you are well. 00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:02.400 Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you. 00:18:02.400 --> 00:18:07.200 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who healed him. 00:18:07.200 --> 00:18:13.839 Now that's a rather intriguing statement by Jesus, but it gets at the heart of our question today. 00:18:13.839 --> 00:18:16.319 Why does God allow disability? 00:18:16.319 --> 00:18:24.079 Because we might assume from this text and what Jesus said that sometimes disability is the result of somebody's personal sin. 00:18:24.079 --> 00:18:31.200 And while our personal choices can have negative effects, I don't know that that's exactly what Jesus is getting at here. 00:18:31.200 --> 00:18:35.680 After all, Jesus healed him without requiring repentance in verse 8. 00:18:35.680 --> 00:18:37.519 Perhaps it's something else. 00:18:37.519 --> 00:18:43.119 Notice that the Jewish leaders confront him, and the man could not name Jesus as the healer. 00:18:43.119 --> 00:18:47.680 But then in verse 15, he goes back and acknowledges the name of Jesus to the Jews. 00:18:47.680 --> 00:18:55.599 So I think it's Jesus' second confrontation that addresses the man's spiritual condition rather than his specific sin. 00:18:55.599 --> 00:19:02.799 Commentator Marianne Thompson writes, in John's gospel, sin is nearly always defined as unbelief. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:11.279 Jesus may be warning the man regarding the judgment that follows sin while inviting him to confess faith in Jesus publicly. 00:19:11.279 --> 00:19:13.680 Commentator Edwin Blum concurs. 00:19:13.680 --> 00:19:20.880 The warning suggests that his tragic life of 38 years as an invalid was no comparison to the doom of hell. 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:26.319 Jesus redirects the man's attention from bodily restoration to spiritual salvation. 00:19:26.319 --> 00:19:35.119 So the question that Jesus asks every person, disabled or not, is this do you want to be spiritually healed? 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:39.359 You must see me as I truly am. 00:19:39.359 --> 00:19:42.240 Because Jesus sees the overlooked. 00:19:42.240 --> 00:19:45.680 Jesus sees the overlooked. 00:19:45.680 --> 00:19:48.960 Now before we move on, let's consider this pool of Bethesda. 00:19:48.960 --> 00:19:51.200 I wonder if you've been there. 00:19:51.200 --> 00:19:53.200 Maybe you're there right now. 00:19:53.200 --> 00:19:57.279 What are the modern pools of Bethesda that we encounter? 00:19:57.279 --> 00:20:05.279 Certainly, I think modern emergency rooms, long-term care facilities, other healthcare infrastructures might fit this model. 00:20:05.279 --> 00:20:08.000 Sick people can easily be overlooked. 00:20:08.000 --> 00:20:09.440 Perhaps that's been you. 00:20:09.440 --> 00:20:14.079 Educational systems might have wait lists for kids with special needs. 00:20:14.079 --> 00:20:25.039 And even the church, a place of spiritual healing, can leave people feeling lonely and isolated as they wait for the water to stir up, waiting for help and assistance. 00:20:25.039 --> 00:20:27.920 It can take a long time if we're not attentive. 00:20:27.920 --> 00:20:34.319 Last week I was in Colorado at a winter meeting for the World Venture Board of Directors. 00:20:34.319 --> 00:20:41.039 Now, World Venture is our primary uh mission sending agency, and it was a wonderful time with just some memorable moments. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:43.440 In fact, the chair of our board is Dr. 00:20:43.440 --> 00:20:46.559 Mark Hankey, and you can see a picture of us here. 00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:54.079 When I came on the board, Mark and I made a quick connection because he has an adult daughter with special needs with Down syndrome. 00:20:54.079 --> 00:21:01.759 This past fall, we were praying for Mark and his family because his daughter, Annie, required heart surgery to save her life. 00:21:01.759 --> 00:21:12.720 Now, the procedure she had is pretty common for people impacted by Down syndrome, but she didn't require it until adulthood, and when she did, she needed it or she was gonna die. 00:21:12.720 --> 00:21:16.000 So Mark opened up the meeting and gave us a report. 00:21:16.000 --> 00:21:20.880 He said the surgery required 21 hours of operating room time. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:22.960 I said, 21 hours? 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:24.559 He said, Yes. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:28.960 He said we waited and waited and waited through the night. 00:21:28.960 --> 00:21:30.319 We waited. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:33.519 We kept getting updates, wondering what was happening. 00:21:33.519 --> 00:21:35.039 Was she gonna be okay? 00:21:35.039 --> 00:21:39.039 Mark said at one point I threw my hands up against the wall, one of the hospital walls. 00:21:39.039 --> 00:21:44.559 It was my personal wailing wall in the hospital, crying out for my daughter's life. 00:21:44.559 --> 00:21:47.519 He told me he's never pleaded with God so much. 00:21:47.519 --> 00:21:56.720 And so they waited through the night, and then the nurse comes out and told he and his wife, the surgeon wants to come out and talk to you. 00:21:56.720 --> 00:21:59.759 And so, with a pit in their stomach, they waited again. 00:21:59.759 --> 00:22:01.680 For the news. 00:22:01.680 --> 00:22:04.559 Have you ever been there? 00:22:04.559 --> 00:22:07.440 Waiting and waiting. 00:22:07.440 --> 00:22:10.400 Not sure what the news is gonna bring. 00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:16.240 That's what Mark and his family experienced, and that is what the man at Bethesda experienced. 00:22:16.240 --> 00:22:19.039 But Jesus sees the overlooked. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:25.519 The pool of Bethesda shows us that some places of healing don't bring the restoration we hoped for. 00:22:25.519 --> 00:22:28.319 So now let's go to the second pool. 00:22:28.319 --> 00:22:32.319 The pool of Siloam. 00:22:32.319 --> 00:22:37.519 Now we're gonna drop down to a different but complimentary scene in John chapter 9. 00:22:37.519 --> 00:22:40.799 Now, this is a seminal text of disability in theology. 00:22:40.799 --> 00:22:44.720 Jesus is in this scene departing the temple precincts. 00:22:44.720 --> 00:22:47.359 He's walking along a very public street. 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:56.799 This scene also happens on a Sabbath in between the fall feast of booths in September timeframe and the feast of dedication around December. 00:22:56.799 --> 00:23:00.640 So let's pick up the story in verses 1 and 2. 00:23:00.640 --> 00:23:05.519 As he passed by, this is Jesus, he saw a man blind from birth. 00:23:05.519 --> 00:23:12.559 And his disciples asked him, Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? 00:23:12.559 --> 00:23:17.039 So the disciples right here are asking this why question. 00:23:17.039 --> 00:23:20.160 Why does God allow disability? 00:23:20.160 --> 00:23:24.480 And here again we meet this disabled man, this man born blind. 00:23:24.480 --> 00:23:26.319 He's never seen a thing. 00:23:26.319 --> 00:23:29.920 But just try to wrap your mind around that for a second. 00:23:29.920 --> 00:23:34.000 What would it be like to never experience this world with sight? 00:23:34.000 --> 00:23:47.839 We are now told, we're not told how old the man is, but later in the narrative, in verse 23, his parents confirm that he is of age, which means he's at least 13 years old, so he could possibly be a teenager. 00:23:47.839 --> 00:23:52.000 Then in verse 2, his disciples ask a presumptive question. 00:23:52.000 --> 00:23:52.880 Who sinned? 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:54.559 This man or his parents? 00:23:54.559 --> 00:23:59.119 And that question reveals a cultural assumption at the time. 00:23:59.119 --> 00:24:02.319 Disability acted as divine punishment. 00:24:02.319 --> 00:24:07.359 Now we covered this topic in our sermon on Mark 2, but it bears repeating here. 00:24:07.359 --> 00:24:14.079 In first century Israel, it was a common assumption that if you were disabled, it was your fault. 00:24:14.079 --> 00:24:15.440 It was your fault. 00:24:15.440 --> 00:24:18.079 You committed some horrible sin. 00:24:18.079 --> 00:24:22.079 Or you inherited some generational sin from your parents. 00:24:22.079 --> 00:24:25.440 Now, to be honest, this assumption might still be true today. 00:24:25.440 --> 00:24:35.119 Of course, as I previously mentioned, foolish decisions can lead to physical consequences, but that shouldn't be assumed at first blush. 00:24:35.119 --> 00:24:40.799 The theological framework here had deep roots in the Jewish tradition at the time. 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:46.319 The disciples assumed physical infirmity resulted from divine punishment. 00:24:46.319 --> 00:24:49.599 And that perspective appears in Deuteronomy 28. 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:58.559 Rabbis argued from the Talmudic tradition, their ancient text, that an individual's burden of sin is what caused physical infirmity. 00:24:58.559 --> 00:25:05.759 And so the disciples reasoned that behind every physical ailment, every disability, a sin was present. 00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:11.279 But since this man was blind at birth, it's puzzling to Jesus' disciples. 00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:20.880 Yes, some rabbis argued from Genesis 25 that Esau sinned in the womb, or that this was the sin of the parents that caused this. 00:25:20.880 --> 00:25:28.960 Some families of kids with disabilities, if you hold to that teaching, it can be very destructive. 00:25:28.960 --> 00:25:35.200 But now Jesus steps in, and what he does is he turns the disciples' thinking upside down. 00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:37.839 Now we come to verse 3 again. 00:25:37.839 --> 00:25:45.759 Jesus answered, It was not that this man sinned or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 00:25:45.759 --> 00:25:49.200 So now you see the context. 00:25:49.200 --> 00:25:56.400 And do you see how countercultural, how earth shattering and mind-blowing this assertion was? 00:25:56.400 --> 00:26:05.839 In fact, I picture the disciples standing there for minutes with their jaws on the ground saying, What did he just say? 00:26:05.839 --> 00:26:08.960 Did God allow this for his glory? 00:26:08.960 --> 00:26:11.359 How do you make sense of that? 00:26:11.359 --> 00:26:14.799 Jesus is addressing the question on two levels. 00:26:14.799 --> 00:26:27.279 First, he's confronting a false premise that while sin entering the world caused suffering generally, specific afflictions do not automatically result from specific sins. 00:26:27.279 --> 00:26:33.920 Now I'm sure this man and his parents sinned at some point, but the sin was not the cause of the blindness. 00:26:33.920 --> 00:26:39.440 Second, Jesus redirects their attention to divine purpose. 00:26:39.440 --> 00:26:46.400 Jesus is telling the disciples to look for answers not in past causes, but in future purposes. 00:26:46.400 --> 00:26:47.759 I'm going to say that again. 00:26:47.759 --> 00:26:55.200 Jesus is telling the disciples to look for answers not in past causes, but in future purposes. 00:26:55.200 --> 00:26:58.480 And that is a fundamental reorientation. 00:26:58.480 --> 00:27:01.920 The question is not why did this happen to him? 00:27:01.920 --> 00:27:06.240 Rather, it is, what is God going to accomplish through him? 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:11.279 So let me take you back to that moment in the car after our ultrasound. 00:27:11.279 --> 00:27:14.880 Because at that moment, my wife and I encountered a fork in the road. 00:27:14.880 --> 00:27:17.759 We had two paths we could take. 00:27:17.759 --> 00:27:22.480 We started by asking the first question, why did this happen? 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:28.319 And I suspect that many in this room have been there at some level in your life. 00:27:28.319 --> 00:27:31.519 In your heart, you're sitting in a car, you're weeping. 00:27:31.519 --> 00:27:42.400 And I want you to know, I understand, that it is natural and okay to start with this first question, but I also want to challenge you not to stay there. 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:47.759 I want to exhort you to open your heart to God's healing touch and his sovereignty. 00:27:47.759 --> 00:27:54.160 And as painful as it may be, ask him to help you move to the second path, voiced by another question. 00:27:54.160 --> 00:27:56.880 What will God accomplish through this? 00:27:56.880 --> 00:28:08.960 Now I know this is a series intentionally on disability, but these two questions, particularly that second question, is something all of us at some level can pursue. 00:28:08.960 --> 00:28:14.079 We all experience good times and bad times in our lives, disappointment. 00:28:14.079 --> 00:28:22.880 No matter our circumstances, when we ask this second question, God is moving us down the path of surrender to his will. 00:28:22.880 --> 00:28:27.440 And it's not easy, but he gets the glory. 00:28:27.440 --> 00:28:36.400 For our family, I never would have imagined at the beginning what God would do in and through us as a result of Josiah being in our lives. 00:28:36.400 --> 00:28:40.000 Transparently, as I've shared other times, it's not been easy. 00:28:40.000 --> 00:28:43.759 And yet God has built a resilience I never thought possible. 00:28:43.759 --> 00:28:46.720 He has drawn us close to him in prayer. 00:28:46.720 --> 00:28:49.680 He has developed a tender heart in my girls. 00:28:49.680 --> 00:28:53.519 He has given us opportunities to bless and minister to others. 00:28:53.519 --> 00:29:02.000 Every time we were not sure we would make it through the next season, he's always provided and he's taught us what it looks like to surrender. 00:29:02.000 --> 00:29:07.279 And I will tell you without reservations that my son is a platform for God's glory. 00:29:07.279 --> 00:29:14.160 That six years ago, when we sat in the car, God brought that scripture to my mind because it is true. 00:29:14.160 --> 00:29:17.519 And he will do things you can never imagine. 00:29:17.519 --> 00:29:20.079 Jesus continues in verse four. 00:29:20.079 --> 00:29:24.799 He says, We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day. 00:29:24.799 --> 00:29:27.759 Night is coming, when no one can work. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:32.160 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world. 00:29:32.160 --> 00:29:34.160 Now what's Jesus saying? 00:29:34.160 --> 00:29:38.720 He's moving from a theological explanation to an urgent action. 00:29:38.720 --> 00:29:47.599 That the concept of working while day, because night is coming, is an allusion to his public ministry contrasted with his impending crucifixion. 00:29:47.599 --> 00:29:52.160 The miracle he's about to perform will testify to his power. 00:29:52.160 --> 00:29:56.079 And you know, light and darkness are a common theme in John's gospel. 00:29:56.079 --> 00:30:01.279 And so Jesus makes one of his famous I am statements, I am the light of the world. 00:30:01.279 --> 00:30:06.559 And the purpose of his action are to draw people to this light. 00:30:06.559 --> 00:30:12.240 And now he takes an action that will allow this blind man to see the light. 00:30:12.240 --> 00:30:13.440 Verse 6. 00:30:13.440 --> 00:30:18.960 Having said these things, he spit on the ground and made mud with the saliva. 00:30:18.960 --> 00:30:27.599 And then he anointed the man's eyes with the mud and said to him, Go wash in the pool of siloem, which means scent. 00:30:27.599 --> 00:30:32.720 So he went and washed and came back seeing. 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:36.160 He came back seeing. 00:30:36.160 --> 00:30:40.240 For the first time in his life, his eyes were opened. 00:30:40.240 --> 00:30:43.279 And he saw Jesus, the one who healed him. 00:30:43.279 --> 00:30:47.839 Friends, Jesus restores the forgotten. 00:30:47.839 --> 00:30:50.640 He restores the forgotten. 00:30:50.640 --> 00:30:54.559 Now there's two rich images in this passage I don't want you to miss. 00:30:54.559 --> 00:30:57.599 First, notice the creation echo. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:31:09.599 That when Jesus spits on the ground and he makes that mud with his saliva, the same Greek word is used here, pelos, as in the Greek translation of the Old Testament in Genesis 2, 7. 00:31:09.599 --> 00:31:14.400 It's the same word that describes Adam's formation at the beginning of time. 00:31:14.400 --> 00:31:17.200 This is new creation language. 00:31:17.200 --> 00:31:20.640 Jesus doesn't just heal, he recreates. 00:31:20.640 --> 00:31:26.079 As the light came into the world at the beginning, so he is bringing light into the darkness here. 00:31:26.079 --> 00:31:29.279 Second, notice the name of the pool. 00:31:29.279 --> 00:31:31.519 Now John gives you the translation. 00:31:31.519 --> 00:31:33.519 Saloon means sent. 00:31:33.519 --> 00:31:35.759 And that's no accident. 00:31:35.759 --> 00:31:41.279 Jesus is the one sent from the Father to earth on a rescue mission. 00:31:41.279 --> 00:31:45.200 In fact, John's gospel uses this language over 40 times. 00:31:45.200 --> 00:31:46.400 That's a lot. 00:31:46.400 --> 00:31:53.279 The man washes in the very pool that embodies Jesus' identity and mission from the Father, the sent one. 00:31:53.279 --> 00:31:56.640 And so when the man comes back from the pool, he comes back what? 00:31:56.640 --> 00:31:58.160 He comes back seeing. 00:31:58.160 --> 00:32:04.000 Now, if you read the rest of the chapter, this healing causes a commotion in the town. 00:32:04.000 --> 00:32:07.039 Neighbors start asking, is this the same man? 00:32:07.039 --> 00:32:09.119 This man who was born blind? 00:32:09.119 --> 00:32:14.640 The Jewish leaders are angry again because it happened on the Sabbath, right? 00:32:14.640 --> 00:32:20.960 The Jewish leaders call the blind man before them and demand that he tells them who healed him. 00:32:20.960 --> 00:32:29.039 They accuse Jesus of being a sinner, and the blind man famously replies, whether he is a sinner, I do not know. 00:32:29.039 --> 00:32:33.039 But one thing I do know, though I was blind, now I see. 00:32:33.039 --> 00:32:37.599 There will always be people with hard hearts. 00:32:37.599 --> 00:32:42.880 But we're called to tell everyone what Jesus has done in our lives. 00:32:42.880 --> 00:32:43.759 Why? 00:32:43.759 --> 00:32:47.759 Because Jesus restores the forgotten. 00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:58.880 Now, friends, we've been talking now for almost six weeks about disability ministry, and the reason we're talking about this is we want more people to encounter Jesus. 00:32:58.880 --> 00:33:10.400 We want to remove barriers so people who have not had a chance to hear about Jesus, the ones who've been waiting by our modern pools of water, can hear about the transformative gospel. 00:33:10.400 --> 00:33:11.920 It is a mission. 00:33:11.920 --> 00:33:17.200 Let me come back to my time at the World Venture headquarters last week. 00:33:17.200 --> 00:33:26.000 One of the awesome experiences I had was to hear from about 15 new missionary appointees who were finishing their training and going out on the field. 00:33:26.000 --> 00:33:34.400 There were many young people in their 20s, amazing stories going all over the world, giving it all to tell people about Jesus. 00:33:34.400 --> 00:33:46.720 But then there was this middle-aged couple choosing to go to the field as a second career, going to Brazil to do ministry down there, and the wife was going to start a disability ministry in Brazil as part of their mission. 00:33:46.720 --> 00:33:48.160 I said, Why? 00:33:48.160 --> 00:33:53.920 She said, so many people down there are overlooked that they need to encounter Jesus. 00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:57.200