[2026. 1. 11.] Do You Want to Get Well? | John 5:1–18

[2026. 1. 11.] Do You Want to Get Well? | John 5:1–18

Sermon by Rev. Jinkook (Danny) Sohn (Hope of Heaven Baptist Chuch) 

 

2026. 1. 11. 주일예배 설교- 요한복음 강해 15
본문: 요한복음 5:1–18
제목: 네가 낫고자 하느냐

설교자: 손진국 목사 (하늘소망교회)

 

The passage today tells us about Jesus going up to Jerusalem during a Jewish festival and healing a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years at the Pool of Bethesda. Scholars say that this festival was most likely the Passover. On the greatest of Jewish festivals, Jesus visited the place where the most marginalized people of that area were gathered.

The word Bethesda is a combination of two words: Beth and Hesed. Beth means “house” (as in Bethel, Bethlehem), and Hesed means “grace” or “mercy.” So Bethesda means “the house of grace” or “the house of mercy.”

However, the Bethesda we see in today’s passage looks very different from its original meaning. The people at Bethesda were all living miserable lives. They were either disabled or suffering from incurable diseases—people who could not live normal lives at all. While others were enjoying the joy of the festival, it had nothing to do with them. Even the Sabbath had little meaning for them.

Yet even for these people carrying all kinds of misfortune, there was one hope. That hope was “the stirring of the water.” This was their only hope and the goal of their lives. It was said that the first person to enter the pool when the water was stirred would be healed of whatever disease they had. So almost every kind of sick person and disabled person gathered there. There was only one reason they came to this place: a “maybe.”
“Maybe” I will be healed.

Because only one person could be healed, they constantly watched the water, thinking only about when it would move and how they could get in first. Bethesda became a harsh and lonely place where there was no compassion or grace—only competition. It was completely different from its name, “the house of grace.”

What about us? I think we are living more and more with a “maybe” mindset. Not long ago, there was a case where a young man who had gone missing in Cambodia was murdered, and through that case, a large voice-phishing crime organization was exposed. Many of those who were thought to be victims turned out to be perpetrators. And the reason they joined such organizations was also a “maybe”— maybe they could make a lot of money.

We do not believe in Jesus with a “maybe.” We do not believe thinking, “Maybe I will receive blessings,” or “Maybe I will be saved.” When we believe in Jesus, we are surely saved, we surely receive God’s amazing grace, and we surely receive heavenly blessings. It is not “maybe.”

Also, could it be that the place of our daily lives has become like the Pool of Bethesda—where mercy and grace have disappeared, and where we compete to study more, work harder, and succeed faster than others? In that competition, have our souls dried up, leaving us with no joy, no hope, no love—living lonely and isolated lives?

It is to such a place—Bethesda, filled not with festival joy but with competition—that the Lord comes. And among them, He asks the man who had no hope or expectation, the man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years, “Do you want to get well?”

Brothers and sisters, what do you think about Jesus’ question? It seems too obvious. If he did not want to be healed, why would he be there? For someone with a quick temper, this question might have sounded offensive—enough to make them angry.

Yet Jesus asks this very same obvious question to you and me today: “Do you want to get well?” Why does Jesus ask this question to the man who had been sick for thirty-eight years, and to us as well?

 

1. The Lord’s word awakens our will for restoration.

Jesus’ question, “Do you want to get well?” is not asking about the man’s physical condition. It is asking about the condition of his heart.

This question carries a deep intention. It is asking, “Do you know what state you are in right now?” Not how serious his illness is, but what his inner state is like.

What does thirty-eight years mean?
It is more than enough time to give up on recovery. Even though he was sitting there, discouragement and despair must have settled deep in his heart. He was not sitting there because he was full of hope, but because there seemed to be no other option—because there was nothing else he could do.

Jesus’ question, “Do you want to get well?” awakens the will for restoration in this man who had lost all expectation in discouragement and despair. God’s Word has this kind of power. It reminds us of what we had forgotten, what we had given up on, and what we had lost hope for. It awakens our hearts and wills so that we can dream again and hope again. And it leads us to respond in faith.

God’s salvation and restoration are not forced. They are not achieved by compulsion. They come through a personal question and a personal response.
“Do you want to get well?” is a personal calling, and we must respond to that calling personally.

God does not heal us like fixing a machine. It is not like repairing a robot. When God heals us, He works through our personal and willing response. Remember that.

Look at the invalid’s response to Jesus’ question. [Verse 7] The invalid replied, “Sir, I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
He talks about what he has experienced. What kind of heart is there? There is disappointment and resentment toward his situation and circumstances. But what else is there? Despite everything, there is still a desire to be healed. This man is responding personally to Jesus’ calling.

In other words, he is saying, “If You put me into the pool, I will go in.” Simply put, “I want to be healed.”

Today, the Lord also asks us—who have given up because of long discouragement and despair—to awaken our will for restoration: “Do you want to get well?”

How will you respond? Will you say, “Why are You asking me this? I don’t want to think about it anymore. Everything is over. I’m done.” Or will you say, “Lord, I tried this and failed, and I was disappointed. I was hurt and angry because of people. I couldn’t see any other solution, so I gave up. But since You are asking me this, I want to hope again. I want to dream again. I want to be restored. Lord, speak to me.”

Dear beloved saints, there is a saying: “It’s not over until it’s completely over.” That is true. If the Lord does not say it is over, then it is not over. Today, the Lord comes to each of us, to the broken places of our lives, and asks, “Do you want to get well?” Please believe that He is waiting for our personal response.

[Application] Which area of my life has collapsed because hope disappeared and my will was broken by discouragement and despair? How am I responding to Jesus, who has come to that place?

 

2. The Lord’s Word Makes the Impossible Possible

As the man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years looks to the Lord and explains his situation—that he cannot go by himself when the water is stirred and that there is no one to put him into the pool—the Lord speaks an astonishing word to him.

[Verse 8] Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

This command of Jesus is something impossible by human ability. Here, we see who Jesus is, and we also see that His word has the power to make the impossible possible.

[Hebrews 4:12] For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.

Brothers and sisters, do you believe this word? Do you believe that the Word of God is living and active, full of power? We say we believe it, but in one corner of our hearts, doubt arises: “Is that really true?” That is because, although we read and hear the Word, nothing seems to happen in our actual lives. Our problems and situations do not seem to change. Because of this, we hesitate to fully say “Amen” to the truth that God’s Word is living and powerful, and we remain silent about whether that Word truly affects and transforms our lives.

There is something we must not forget. God’s Word does not work with power in the same way for everyone. God is a personal God, and therefore He desires a personal response. This means He treats us as persons, not as machines—and treating us personally means He does not force us.

When we handle machines, we do not ask for their opinion. If they break, we simply fix them. But dealing with people is different. When someone is sick, we do not simply grab them and heal them. We explain the illness, describe the treatment options, and let them choose. When I was diagnosed as pre-diabetic, the doctor asked me, “Would you like medication, or would you like to manage it through exercise and diet?” I chose to manage it through exercise and diet, and now I get a blood test every three months.

In today’s passage, Jesus sees many sick people at the Pool of Bethesda, yet He chooses one man and heals him. He could have gone straight to him and healed him immediately, but instead, He asks a question, listens to the response, and only then heals him. This is the pattern we often see when Jesus heals people.

When blind Bartimaeus cried out to Jesus by the roadside, asking for mercy, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus responded, “I want to see.” Is that an easy thing to say? Of course a blind man wants to see—but he must have already visited doctors, tried treatments, and taken medicines and foods said to be good for the eyes, all without success. For him to cry out, “I want to see,” was not easy. It was a cry of faith.

In the book of Acts, we see Peter and John going up to the temple and meeting a man who had been lame from birth, sitting at the gate called Beautiful. They heal him.

[Acts 3:6] Then Peter said, “Silver or gold I do not have, but what I do have I give you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.”

When Peter declared these words, did the man immediately stand up and walk? No. In verse 7, we see Peter responding to the proclaimed word with faith.

[Acts 3:7] Taking him by the right hand, he helped him up, and instantly the man’s feet and ankles became strong.

Because the lame man was still sitting, he could not yet know whether the power of the declared word had come upon him. But Peter, by faith, lifted up the man who had never walked since birth. Then his feet and ankles received strength. The proclaimed word of power became reality in actual life.

For the man who had been lying down for thirty-eight years, getting up and walking was both a miracle and a fear. But please believe that God’s Word gives strength that goes beyond fear and has the power to make the impossible possible.

Beloved saints, the fact that you are hearing God’s Word right now is not a coincidence. It means that God has chosen you among countless people in this world. It means that the Creator of the entire universe is interested in your seemingly insignificant life. And even today, He speaks words of power and waits for you to respond to them in faith.

Have you heard the Word? Believe that this Word is alive and active in your life, and that it has more than enough power to change and restore what seems absolutely impossible to change. Receive the Word with “Amen,” and obey it just as it is spoken. That is faith. And to such people, the Lord says, “According to your faith let it be done to you.”

[Application] What difficulties and problems in my life do I think are impossible to be resolved or restored? Am I still lying down in doubt and fear in response to the Word given to me today?

 

3. The Lord’s Word Puts Life Before Rules

The day the man who had been lying down for thirty-eight years was healed and carried his mat and walked was the Sabbath. God commanded His people to keep the Sabbath holy. This is found in the Ten Commandments.

[Exodus 20:8] “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.”

The Jews tried to keep this command carefully. Over time, their focus became centered on keeping the Sabbath itself. As they thought about how to observe it better, they created detailed Sabbath regulations, prohibiting thirty-nine categories of work. The Sabbath lasted from Friday sunset to Saturday sunset. Walking was allowed, but carrying objects was forbidden. Writing or erasing more than two letters, lighting or extinguishing a fire—these were all prohibited. Even today, many Jews do not drive on the Sabbath or press elevator buttons. In apartment buildings, elevators are set to stop automatically on every floor. If not, they wait until someone else presses the button for them.

However, in Mark 2:27–28, Jesus reveals that He is the Lord of the Sabbath and explains why the Sabbath was given.

[Mark 2:27–28] Then he said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.”

The Sabbath was given for people, not people for the Sabbath. The same is true of our life of faith. God did not call us to live a life of faith just so we would be good at religious activities, but so that we could truly live as human beings. The purpose and the means must not be reversed.

[Verse 17] Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

God works even on the Sabbath, and so does Jesus. What kind of work are they doing? The work of giving life. More important than going to church faithfully or appearing to live a good religious life is that my soul lives. That my inner being is revived. That my spirit is connected to the Lord, who is life.

The Jews saw Sabbath regulations, but Jesus saw people who needed restoration. Where is Jesus’ focus? Not on churches becoming bigger, successful, or full of impressive programs and ministries, but on one soul being brought back to life.

God’s Word was not given to annoy us or to oppress us when we do not want to obey. It was given to revive our weary and burdened souls, to give dreams, joy, and hope to lives filled with discouragement, sorrow, and hopelessness, so that we may live again. Believe that God’s Word—the Logos—is not just text, but our Lord Himself who gives us life. May all of us hold firmly to the word of life given to us today and enjoy true rest, restoration, and life.

[Application] What is my life of faith for? Am I, in the name of faith, blocking someone else’s restoration?

 

 

하늘소망교회(담임 손진국 목사)는 뉴질랜드 오클랜드 북부 실버데일에 세워진 한인교회로 '하나님의 마음으로 사람을 살리는 교회'입니다.

Hope of Heaven Baptist Church (Senior Pastor: Rev. Jinkook Sohn) is a Korean church established in Silverdale, Auckland, New Zealand. It is a church that saves people with the heart of God.