THIS WEEK'S PASSAGE: JOHN 5:1-15
PREPARATION: Have a read through the passage and look up some commentaries on the healing pool in particular. Notice that verse four has been removed in newer translations because it is absent in earlier and more reliable manuscripts.
Have a read through the passage and look up some commentaries on the healing pool in particular. Notice that verse four has been removed in newer translations because it is absent in earlier and more reliable manuscripts.
CONFESSION TIME
20 mins
Present to your group an item that you have a bizarre attachment to, such as an old banger that you refuse to send to the scrapheap or scruffy trainers / jeans that are too comfy to replace! Next, it’s confession time. Even people who say they have great taste in music have a few guilty pleasures, some terrible cheesy songs that they can’t help but enjoy. Use YouTube or similar to play your ‘guilty pleasure’ and then spend some time laughing together, taking ‘confessions’ from others in the group.
Jesus meets a man who has been unable to walk for 38 years and his question is, ‘Do you want to get well?’ Isn’t the answer obvious? Not necessarily. Begging can be quite a lucrative business and being healed would mean he’s out of a job, looking for work! I met a homeless guy in Edinburgh who could make £160–£200 a night by begging on the streets; he was pretty happy the way things were.
We love to talk about our saviour, Jesus Christ, but here’s the important first question: do you want to be saved? For many of us, we have too many guilty pleasures that we don’t want to give up; we have a bizarre attachment to a life that is corrupted and broken from the core. We can be so comfortable with life as it is that, if we are honest, we aren’t interested in the new and transformed life that Jesus offers.
Lead the group in a prayer, encouraging them to answer honestly: do I want to be saved? Tell the story from John 5:1–15 and try to do more than just read it like a weather report: tell it as the incredible event that really happened!
WHAT’S WITH THIS HEALING POOL?
5 mins
Everybody’s curious, so allow a few minutes of brief discussion of what might have been happening with this pool. Conclude by explaining that although archaeologists have found the probable location of this pool there is no evidence or records to suggest that it was a pool with healing properties. A superstition, a myth or even a sporadic healing pool is incomparable to Jesus’ power to heal completely and immediately.
WHY DID HE DO IT?
15 mins
Many of Jesus’ healing miracles are in response to someone’s faith; we hear him say thing such as, ‘Your faith has made you well.’ But that’s not the case here; this man didn’t even know who Jesus was, never mind believe that he had the power to heal. He was completely focused on the healing pool and his failed attempts to reach it in time (verse seven). Jesus interrupts his tale of disappointment by immediately healing him.
Take a moment to let that sink in. We can become so familiar with stories of Jesus that we quickly acknowledge it and move on. Jesus healed someone who had been sick and unable to walk for 38 years! This is nothing less than a divine miracle – the hand of God transforming the life of a man. The question is, why did Jesus heal him? It wasn’t for glory as the guy didn’t know who Jesus was and it wasn’t in response to faith. Ask the group to discuss why they think Jesus healed him.
KEY POINT 1
Jesus is not stiff-lipped and emotionally removed from ‘mere humans’. Our sickness, pain and sadness cause him to be filled with compassion for us, regardless of our faith or love towards him.
THOU SHALT NOT…
10 mins
Pernickety Sabbath pettiness was a particular forte of the proud and pretentious Jewish leaders. You may carry a sick man on his bed, but when a sick man is miraculously healed he may not carry that bed home in celebration! Run this quick true or false quiz of real Sabbath rules. Here are some true ones to get you started, add in any more that you know with some made up ones in between. On the Sabbath Day...
- thou shalt not wear only one sandal.
- thou shalt not search your clothing for fleas.
- thou shalt not read by lamplight.
- thou shalt not put on eyeshadow.
- thou shalt not use vinegar for toothache.
Say: Religious institutions have a bad habit of inventing regulations that distract them from seeing what God is doing! God cares more about compassion, mercy and grace than petty rules created by pretentious leaders. Does your church have any additional rules and regulations that aren’t found in the Bible?
KEY POINT 2
True compassion, the sort we see in Jesus, runs deeper than a healing miracle or any random act of kindness. Jesus is heartbroken for a lost world: people trapped in lives of sin and desperately in need of a saviour!
WHAT COULD BE WORSE?
10 mins
As a group, make a list of things that could be worse than being unable to walk for 38 years. I imagine it won’t be a very long list.
The story is almost over, Jesus has healed this man anonymously and disappeared into the crowd, but this was more than a random act of kindness; Jesus’ compassion is greater than any health issues. Later in the day Jesus finds the man again, and this time calls him to repent, turn from his sin or something worse may happen to him. Jesus isn’t threatening him, he’s being honest about the consequence of sin.
Real compassion for your young people can’t avoid this warning that Jesus gives, so please take some time to be honest with your group about the consequences of sin. Even if life is seemingly sorted or at least ‘on track’ the warning still stands: sin fills our lives. Jesus’ greatest act of compassion was his sacrificial death on the cross. It obviously came at a high personal cost to himself, far higher than any miracle, but he chose the cross to offer the world forgiveness and eternal life.
The final important question is: will we listen to the call of Jesus to turn from sin and find life in him? Give your young people a chance to think and then give them the opportunity to respond.
