Don’t Be Lame

For more than 20 years, Professor Edwin Keaty of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, used to start his classes by writing on a blackboard two numbers, the numbers 2 and 4. And then he would ask his audience, “What’s the solution?” And, one student would shout out, “6” and another student would shout out, “2” and another student would shout out, “8” and Professor Keaty would shake his head and he would say, “Gentlemen, unless you know what the problem is, you cannot possibly find the answer.”

The problem that the lame man in John 5 was facing was more than physical paralysis. The problem this man was facing was a paralysis of the will. Jesus went to the heart of his problem when He asked him, “Do you want to get well?” The lame man was in the temple (the right place) but had lost hope in finding help. Now, he was only a beggar now, just trying to get by. Many people come to our churches no longer looking with hope but just trying to cope, just trying to get by. This man no longer believed that a cure was possible in his case (v.7). Like many people, the man’s expectations of what Jesus cold do for him were limited to what he believed was possible.

Jesus said “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” And immediately the man was made will, took up his bed and walked. (John 5:8,9)

The lame man was completely healed, but he didn’t even know who Jesus was.
And, by the way, he was only physically healed, not saved. Salvation wasn’t even offered until verse 14 when Jesus called him to a life of discipleship. I know that flies in the face of the Charismatic Healing movement, but it is clear that physical wellness and spiritual wellness are two entirely different realities.

Furthermore, we must realize that Jesus did not heal this man for the man’s benefit or pleasure. Jesus performed the miracle for the expressed purpose of confronting the religious hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Think about it: a man is blessed for a reason other than the man’s own comfort. All men are blessed for the furtherance of God’s will in bringing glory to Himself.

And the clincher in this story is the fact that later when the man was called upon to be saved there is more grammatical proof that he rejected Christ than proof that he had faith in Him. In fact, Jesus warned him that thirty-eight years of physical infirmities is nothing to an eternity of Hell. But the man committed one of the greatest acts of ingratitude and obstinate unbelief: he was more loyal to his religion and religious men who did not care about him than to the one who not only healed him physically but could heal him spiritually.

Now concerning the Jews, the problem with Jesus wasn’t the miracle itself . . . it was the timing according to verse 10.

Have you ever heard of wacky laws? In…

1. Louisiana: The law states that biting someone with your natural teeth is “simple assault”, while biting someone with your false teeth is “aggravated assault.”
2. Canton, Mississippi: It is illegal to kill a squirrel in a courtroom with a gun.
3. Natchez, Mississippi: It is against the law for elephants to drink beer.
4. Pennsylvania: The penalty for cursing is a forty-cent fine. However, if God is mentioned in the curse, the fine is sixty-seven cents.
5. North Carolina: It is illegal to sing out of tune.
6. It is illegal to mispronounce the name of the city of Joliet, Illinois. (Joe Lee et)
7. Joliet, Illinois: Women aren’t allowed to try on more than 6 dresses in one store.
8. Apple Valley: It is illegal for ducks to quack after 10:00 PM within the city limits.
9. Hollywood: Its illegal to drive more than two thousand sheep down Hollywood Boulevard at one time.
10. Costa Mesa: It’s illegal to enter a theatre within four hours of eating garlic.
11. Gardena: It is illegal for any woman to chew tobacco without having the permission of her husband.
12. Los Angeles: A man can legally beat his wife with a leather belt or strap, as long as the strap is no wider than 2 inches. The wife must give her consent in order for him to legally beat her with a wider strap.
13. Santa Ana: It is illegal to swim on dry land.
14. Temecula: It is illegal to play cards with children or pregnant women on the curb of a street.

I mention these “whacky laws” of our own land because we must note that there were some “whacky Jewish laws” of Jesus’ day. Jewish law prohibited anyone from carrying his bed on the Sabbath. The OT had forbidden work on the Sabbath but did not stipulate what “work” was specifically indicated (Ex. 20:8–11). The assumption in Scripture seems to be that “work” was one’s customary employment, but rabbinical opinion had developed oral tradition beyond the OT which stipulated 39 activities forbidden (Mishnah Shabbath 7:2; 10:5), including carrying anything from one domain to another. Thus, the man had broken oral tradition, not OT law.

My point: World religions are diversions from the Truth. Christianity is a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ not based on religious practices to be piously followed but based on empowering grace.

• Religion condemns; Christ forgives.
• Religion constricts; Christ sets you free.
• Religion confuses; Christ makes sense.
• Religion controls; Christ empowers.
• Religion diverted the attention of the Jews from Christ to “self.”
• Religion offers rules but no hope.
• Religion offers regulations but no life.

Do you remember what Paul says, 2 Corinthians 5, “From now on, we regard no one from a worldly point of view.” His burden all along was to see men and women brought to a saving faith in Jesus Christ. That’s my concern.

It’s fascinating. Jesus finds the lame man in the temple, and in verse 14, this is what He says to him: “Behold, you have become well. Do not sin anymore that nothing worse may befall you.” Think about it: of all the things that you long for the most, I wonder if that’s right up there as number one? “I wish, I wish with all my heart, that I didn’t keep sinning. I wish with all my heart that I would never sin again.” Because that is the mark of a regenerate person. That’s the mark of someone who is in love with Jesus Christ.

Do you remember how Augustine so self revealingly put it? “Give me chastity, but not yet.” And I wonder, if we secretly have within our hearts a similar desire, because we are too much in love with the world, and not sufficiently in love with Jesus. I want above everything else, to be like Jesus.

Jesus now says to us “Get up today, and live for God’s glory.” Will you or will you remain lame?