Introduction
Are you waiting for the right place, the right moment, or the right spiritual experience before you expect God to move in your life? Here is the central teaching I want you to carry: Jesus Himself is the source of healing and worship, not holy places, objects, or rituals, and He is not far from you wherever you are.
In John 5, there was a tradition at the Pool of Bethesda: an angel would stir the waters, and the first person into the pool would be healed. Whether that detail is taken with skepticism or optimism, the discipleship lesson remains powerful. People were gathering with real hope, crippled bodies, chronic sickness, long-term suffering, believing that if they could just get to the water in time, they could be made well. Then Jesus walks into the middle of that hope, and exposes what their hearts were clinging to.
Main Points
Are you waiting for the right place, the right moment, or the right spiritual experience before you expect God to move in your life? Here is the central teaching I want you to carry: Jesus Himself is the source of healing and worship, not holy places, objects, or rituals, and He is not far from you wherever you are.
In John 5, there was a tradition at the Pool of Bethesda: an angel would stir the waters, and the first person into the pool would be healed. Whether that detail is taken with skepticism or optimism, the discipleship lesson remains powerful. People were gathering with real hope, crippled bodies, chronic sickness, long-term suffering, believing that if they could just get to the water in time, they could be made well.
Then Jesus walks into the middle of that hope, and exposes what their hearts were clinging to.
Jesus Confronts Misplaced Hope
Jesus came to a man who had been crippled for 38 years and asked him a piercing question: “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:6). I want you to hear that question personally. Jesus is not merely asking about your desire for change, He is exposing what you believe will actually change you.
The man answers in a way that reveals the heart of the whole scene: “Yes… but I don’t have anyone to get me into the water.” (see John 5:7). His hope is real, but it’s misplaced. He’s looking at Jesus, the true Healer, and still thinking the power is somewhere else.
As disciples, we have to be honest: it doesn’t take long for our hearts to drift into thinking, “If I could just get to that place… if I could just have that experience… if I could just do that spiritual thing… then I’d be whole.”
Christ Heals Without The “Water”
Jesus doesn’t help him into the pool. Jesus doesn’t validate the superstition or depend on the site. He simply commands: “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” (John 5:8). And the man is healed.
The lesson is plain: the water wasn’t the source of healing, Christ was. The location didn’t carry the authority. Jesus did.
This is discipleship clarity: I can appreciate meaningful places and moments, but I must not confuse symbol with Savior. God may use settings to awaken our hearts, but the power is not embedded in the ground, the relic, the monument, or the atmosphere. The power is in the living Christ who speaks.
Beware Of “Holy Things” Replacing God
John notes this happened during a feast (John 5:1). That detail matters because it highlights a human tendency: we attach spiritual weight to festivals, sites, and external forms, and then subtly begin trusting them.
In every generation, people are tempted to treat physical objects like shortcuts to God: petrified wood, “holy water,” sacred spaces, special corners where prayers supposedly carry more power. But the secret the Holy Spirit teaches us is this: the sights are not holy in themselves. God is holy.
So I’m discipling you into a simple practice: enjoy meaningful reminders, but refuse spiritual superstition. Don’t outsource your faith to a location. Don’t let your confidence drift from Christ to religious scenery.
Jesus Reveals His Equality With God
The story sharpens further: this healing was done on the Sabbath (John 5:9). Jesus’ mercy is instantly treated as “work,” and religious leaders confront Him. Jesus answers with a statement that escalates everything: “My Father is always at his work… and I too am working.” (John 5:17)
John then explains the reaction: they tried all the more to kill Him because He was not only “breaking” their Sabbath standards, but “calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:18)
This matters for your discipleship because it destroys shallow categories for Jesus. He is not merely a teacher, a prophet, or a miracle worker tied to a location in history. Jesus is the living God, united with the Father, acting with divine authority. That’s why He isn’t confined to holy sites. That’s why the tomb is empty. That’s why we worship Him as Lord, not merely admire Him as a figure from the past.
God Does Not Live In Temples
To seal this lesson, Acts 17 gives us language for what’s happening in the human heart. Paul stands in Athens, surrounded by monuments and objects of worship, and says: “I see that in every way you are very religious.” (Acts 17:22). He even finds an altar “to an unknown god,” and tells them: “You are ignorant of the very thing you worship.” (Acts 17:23)
That’s the danger: you can be extremely religious and still miss God Himself. You can be close to the thing you’re reaching for and still be blind to the One who has real power.
Paul proclaims the truth we need to remember:
- God made the world and everything in it (Acts 17:24).
- He is Lord of heaven and earth (Acts 17:24).
- He does not live in temples built by human hands (Acts 17:24).
- He is not served by human hands as if He needed anything (Acts 17:25).
- He gives everyone life and breath and everything else (Acts 17:25).
So I want you to let this re-center you: God isn’t impressed by our religious props, and He isn’t dependent on our religious donations. He is the Giver. He is the source.
He Is Not Far From You
Here is the pastoral tenderness of Acts 17: God arranged our times and boundaries “so that they would seek him… and find him, though he is not far from any one of us.” (Acts 17:27). And: “In him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28)
Yes, there are moments where we feel closer to the Bible stories in a vivid way. Yes, God can use a trip, a communion service, a song, a view from a mountain, or a quiet moment of worship to soften your heart. Those are gifts.
But I want you to take this with you: you can be just as close to Jesus at home as anywhere else, because closeness is not geography; it’s communion with the living Christ by the Holy Spirit.
So here’s a practical charge: carry the hunger with you. Keep opening the Word. Keep asking questions. Keep taking communion with a soft heart, sometimes somber, but ultimately a celebration, because we worship the living God, not a memory among the dead.
Conclusion
The Pool of Bethesda teaches us two decisive discipleship truths from beginning to end: it is not the water that heals; it is Christ, and Jesus is not merely a man, He is God, present and powerful beyond time, space, and monuments (John 5:8, 17–18).
Acts 17 then anchors the application: people will always be tempted to worship something, even religious “somethings.” But the Lord of heaven and earth is not contained by temples, objects, or sites. He placed you in your moment of history so you would seek Him, and you can find Him, because He is not far from you (Acts 17:24–28).
So I’m calling you to worship with a full heart, not because of where you are, but because of who God is.
Father in heaven, Lord of heaven and earth, we confess how easily we attach our hope to places, objects, and experiences instead of to You. Forgive us for the ways we become religious while remaining distracted from Your living presence. Thank You for Jesus, the true Healer, who speaks and makes the crippled walk, and who reveals that He is one with the Father. Teach us to seek You with honest hearts, to love Your Word, and to worship with joy wherever You place us. Remind us that You are not far from any one of us, and help us live today in faith, obedience, and celebration of the risen Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Conclusion
The Pool of Bethesda teaches us two decisive discipleship truths from beginning to end: it is not the water that heals; it is Christ, and Jesus is not merely a man, He is God, present and powerful beyond time, space, and monuments (John 5:8, 17–18).
Acts 17 then anchors the application: people will always be tempted to worship something, even religious “somethings.” But the Lord of heaven and earth is not contained by temples, objects, or sites. He placed you in your moment of history so you would seek Him, and you can find Him, because He is not far from you (Acts 17:24–28).
So I’m calling you to worship with a full heart, not because of where you are, but because of who God is.
Closing Prayer
Father in heaven, Lord of heaven and earth, we confess how easily we attach our hope to places, objects, and experiences instead of to You. Forgive us for the ways we become religious while remaining distracted from Your living presence. Thank You for Jesus, the true Healer, who speaks and makes the crippled walk, and who reveals that He is one with the Father. Teach us to seek You with honest hearts, to love Your Word, and to worship with joy wherever You place us. Remind us that You are not far from any one of us, and help us live today in faith, obedience, and celebration of the risen Christ. In Jesus’ name, amen.