John 5:1-8 By Rev. Trevor Skalberg "Do you want to get well? (May 24th, 26)

Devotional

Day 1: When Healing Waters Don’t Stir

The Pool of Bethesda held crowds desperate for a miracle, yet true healing came not from troubled waters but the living water of Christ. For 38 years, the paralyzed man waited for a sign, trapped in cycles of disappointment. His story mirrors our own: we linger at broken wells, trusting systems, timing, or people to fix what only Jesus can restore. Healing begins when we stop staring at stagnant pools and lift our eyes to the One who walks into our mess. [25:08]

“One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’ ‘Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘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.’” (John 5:5-7, NLT)

Reflection: Where have you been waiting for circumstances to align before expecting change? What might it look like to shift your focus from the “pool” of human effort to Christ’s power?

Day 2: The Question That Unlocks Freedom

Jesus’ question—“Do you want to get well?”—wasn’t about physical healing alone. It exposed the man’s resignation to a life defined by lack. His excuses revealed a heart more accustomed to surviving than thriving. Christ’s invitation cuts through our rehearsed reasons, asking if we’re ready to exchange familiar brokenness for the discomfort of wholeness. True freedom starts with saying “yes” to the unknown. [33:04]

“When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’” (John 5:6, NLT)

Reflection: What excuses have you clung to that keep you from fully embracing Christ’s healing? How might “getting well” disrupt patterns you’ve grown comfortable with?

Day 3: Leaving the Mat of Familiar Pain

The mat symbolized 38 years of identity—a bed for paralysis, a witness to shame. Jesus didn’t just heal the man; He commanded him to remove the object that once defined him. Our “mats” might be habits, labels, or coping mechanisms we drag through life. True healing requires releasing what we’ve leaned on, trusting that Christ’s voice holds more authority than our history. [42:17]

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!” (2 Corinthians 5:17, NIV)

Reflection: What “mat” have you struggled to leave behind, even after experiencing Christ’s healing? How does your identity shift when you see yourself through His declaration rather than your past?

Day 4: Walking When Muscles Have Atrophied

Decades of paralysis left the man’s legs useless, yet Jesus demanded immediate obedience: “Stand…walk.” Faith isn’t strengthened in contemplation but action. Like muscles rebuilding after atrophy, our trust grows when we risk weight-bearing steps despite feeling unprepared. Christ’s command carries the power to fulfill itself—we need only respond. [45:16]

“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.” (John 5:8-9, NLT)

Reflection: Where is Christ asking you to take a “first step” that feels impossible in your own strength? How can you lean into His empowerment rather than your readiness?

Day 5: The Grace That Moves Toward You

The man didn’t crawl to Jesus—Jesus came to him. In a crowd of need, Christ singled out one who’d stopped hoping. Grace isn’t earned by persistence at the pool but received when the Savior kneels in our despair. Our healing began when He chose the cross; our wholeness unfolds as we discover He’s been walking toward us all along. [38:09]

“Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’” (John 5:14, NLT)

Reflection: How have you underestimated Christ’s pursuit of you in your stuck places? What might change if you saw your healing as His initiative rather than your achievement?

Sermon Summary

John 5 sets a hard scene: a crowded pool, porches full of the sick, the blind, the lame, all waiting for the water to ripple and for life to change. Jesus enters through the Sheep Gate, carrying the quiet weight of the Lamb who will be offered, and walks straight to one man bound to disappointment for thirty-eight years. The question lands like a key in a rusted lock: Would you like to get well? He is not fishing for information. He is stirring desire and calling faith awake. The man answers with reasons and routines, a story built on people, systems, and timing that never come through. Jesus is not interested in his resources. He is after his heart. Trust me with what you do not have.

Then come the three commands that still carry power. Stand. That word calls belief to its feet. When Jesus speaks, His word creates capacity. Picking up the first inch of faith, the man sends a message to legs that have known only collapse, and grace meets him there. Pick up your mat. That is not a housekeeping tip. It is a line in the sand. The mat is the man’s address, his habits, his comfort, his name tag. Jesus declares a new identity. You are not coming back here. Walk. Obedience turns faith into motion. No baby steps. As he moves, the power arrives, and the text says he was immediately healed.

But Jesus is not done. Later He finds the man and says, Stop sinning, or something worse may happen to you. Mercy does not stop at muscles. Jesus cares about the soul. He is after transformation, not just better behavior and not just relieved circumstances. So the Pool of Bethesda stands as a mirror for every modern pool a person sits beside, straining for the right helper, the right moment, the right angle. Jesus still steps through the crowd. He still asks, Do you want to get well? The invitation is not to shame but to freedom. The move begins at yes. A simple prayer fits every story: Jesus, I am tired of being stuck. I want to get well. Help me trust you to do what I cannot.

Key Takeaways

1. Jesus walks toward the unseen Jesus enters a crowded place of pain and singles out a man who thinks help will never come. He sees the story, the years, the resignation, and asks a question that wakens desire rather than defending despair. Healing begins where a person realizes Christ is already moving toward them, not waiting for them to get it together. [32:33]
2. The pool pictures human effort The pool holds out a promise built on the right person, the right system, the right timing, and it consistently fails. Jesus does not inventory resources; He invites trust beyond what is available or controllable. Freedom comes when a person stops negotiating with timing and starts leaning on the One who is not bound by it. [37:34]
3. Stand, pick up, and walk Christ’s three commands form a pathway: believe it is possible, leave the place that used to hold you, and move forward in obedience. The mat is more than fabric; it is identity, habit, and fallback plan, and Jesus shuts the door on the return trip. Power meets motion, not passivity, as obedience turns faith from theory into gait. [38:09]
4. Healing aims at holiness too After the legs work, Jesus addresses the life, calling the man out of sin toward a truer wholeness. Circumstances can change while bondage lingers if the heart is not reordered. Christ’s mercy targets the deep places, so freedom includes leaving excuses, habits, shame, and guilt that once defined the self. [46:27]
5. Say yes before you see how The turning point is not a perfected plan but a surrendered answer. Christ often begins to move at the first honest yes, then teaches the next steps along the way. Waiting to feel ready only deepens the rut; trusting Him with what cannot be carried alone breaks the stalemate. [51:20]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[21:47] - Mission across New England
[23:24] - Lowe’s story and feeling stuck
[26:54] - John 5 reading: Bethesda
[28:50] - Sheep Gate and the Lamb
[29:45] - The pool as human effort
[31:17] - Jesus the true healer
[33:04] - Do you want to get well?
[35:35] - Excuses, systems, and timing
[37:34] - Trust me with what you don’t have
[38:09] - Stand, pick up, and walk
[42:17] - New identity beyond the mat
[44:48] - Obedience and power to walk
[46:27] - Stop sinning, whole-person renewal
[53:23] - Prayer of surrender

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
John 5:1-9 (ESV)
After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 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?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

2 Corinthians 5:17 (ESV)
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.

Observation questions

What details does John 5:1-9 give about the setting of the Pool of Bethesda and the man’s condition?
How does the man respond when Jesus asks, “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:7) [35:35]
What three commands does Jesus give the man in John 5:8, and what immediate action follows?
According to the sermon, what does the mat symbolize in this story? [42:17]

Interpretation questions

Why might Jesus have asked the man, “Do you want to be healed?” instead of immediately healing him? What does this reveal about how Jesus engages with human desire and faith? [33:38]
The man explains his inability to reach the pool due to lack of help and timing. How does this reflect common ways people rely on human effort or systems instead of trusting God? [36:19]
How does 2 Corinthians 5:17 connect to Jesus’ command to “take up your bed” and walk? What does this imply about identity transformation in Christ?
Why does Jesus later warn the man to “stop sinning” (John 5:14), and how does this deepen the purpose of healing? [47:07]

Application questions

Where in your life do you feel “stuck” like the man at the pool—relying on timing, others, or systems to fix a problem? What would it look like to trust Jesus with what you don’t have in that situation? [37:34]
The mat represented the man’s old identity. What habits, labels, or comforts might God be asking you to “pick up and walk away from” to embrace a new identity in Christ? [44:30]
Jesus’ command to “walk” required immediate obedience, not gradual steps. What is one area where you need to act in faith before feeling fully ready? How can you take that first step this week? [45:34]
The sermon emphasizes that Jesus cares about holiness, not just relief. How might God be inviting you to address not just outward circumstances but deeper heart patterns in your current struggles? [47:54]
What would a “simple yes” to Jesus look like for you right now? Try writing a one-sentence prayer like, “Jesus, I’m tired of being stuck in ______. Help me trust You to do what I cannot.” [53:23]

Sermon Clips

This isn't a story from two thousand years ago that was just for a man sitting beside the Pool Of Bethesda, but it's God's living word that he still is asking that question of us today. Do you wanna get well? And he's asking that question just like this man not to bring shame on us, but rather it's an invitation to invite us into freedom. Not waiting for us to have it all together. That's probably the the biggest thing that holds us back today is thinking, well, I've gotta have some things in order over here before Jesus will really do this. But rather we see in the scriptures, it's just the opposite. Jesus just wants our heart to say yes, and he'll work on all that other stuff. [00:49:29] (44 seconds) #SayYesToHealing

Jesus wasn't just concerned with this man's legs. So often we look at a person and we we look at just the physical and we forget the spiritual. We forget a soul who doesn't know Jesus. And so for this guy, Jesus isn't looking at just his legs, but he's concerned about his whole being, whole soul. Jesus doesn't wanna just heal our bodies. Although I think he I think he wants to heal us. I think he wants to make us whole. He's not just I don't think he's after just better behavior, but rather he wants to see transformation. He wants us to become more like him. He's after our heart. [00:47:03] (43 seconds) #WholePersonHealing

You can talk to god right where you're at sitting in that seat, and maybe it starts with a simple prayer. Here's the thing I love about this prayer. Whether you've been a Christian in this room for fifty years or maybe you're not quite there this morning and you're exploring what that might look like, this prayer is true for every walk of life. It's simply this. Jesus, I am tired of being stuck. I want to get well. Help me to trust you do what I can't. That's the prayer. Jesus, I'm tired of being stuck. I wanna get well. That's that's your yes. Help me trust you do the very thing that I can't. And church, that's where the healing starts to happen. [00:53:05] (52 seconds) #TiredOfBeingStuck

So Jesus calls this man, he calls us to leave behind the very things that once define us. That our identity has started to wrap up and because he's really saying this, not only am I healing you, but I'm giving you a new identity. For this man, was, you're no longer this lame beggar that's gonna sit by this pool that people identify you as that. But they're gonna see someone who has been healed by the one true God. Leave behind the excuses, the habits, the shame, the guilt, all the things that we that we have a tendency to hold on to. Leave that behind because those aren't what define you anymore. [00:43:59] (45 seconds) #NewIdentityInChrist

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John 5:1-8 By Rev. Trevor Skalberg "Do you want to get well? (May 24th, 26)

Devotional

Day 1: When Healing Waters Don’t Stir

Day 2: The Question That Unlocks Freedom

Day 3: Leaving the Mat of Familiar Pain

Day 4: Walking When Muscles Have Atrophied

Day 5: The Grace That Moves Toward You

Sermon Summary

Key Takeaways

Youtube Chapters

Bible Study Guide

Sermon Clips

Chatbot

John 5:1-8 By Rev. Trevor Skalberg "Do you want to get well? (May 24th, 26)

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