Jesus Sees the Rejected | John 5:2-9 & Luke 8:26-39
This message was preached at Sherwood Community Friends Church on Sunday, November 20, 2022. You can watch the video in full by clicking below.
Jesus sees… the rejected: A tale of two men
Good morning. Today we will be in two different Bible passages. We will start in John 5 and later jump to Luke 8, so if you have your Bible, feel free to turn there.
Today we wrap up our series Jesus Sees with the rejected through the tale of two men on the outskirts of life.
At some point in our lives, we have all felt on the outside of the “in” circle. Today we are going to look at a tale of two men and what their stories tell us about the rejected and how we might respond to the world around us. In your bulletin, you’ll see open spaces for you to note what stands out to you and how can you relate to our two case studies.
Case Study #1
Our first story begins with the man at the pool of Bethesda. We’ll start in verse 2
“By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. Within these lay a large number of the disabled — blind, lame, and paralyzed-waiting for the moving of the water, because an angel would go down into the pool from time to time and stir up the water. Then the first one who got in after the water was stirred up recovered from whatever ailment he had. One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years.”
John 5:2-5 CSB
Thirty-eight years. Each year that passed by, that he was unable to do for himself, that he felt like a burden to others, how much did this man feel shame and rejection from his people?
I don’t think this man was directly rejected by people. But I think this is what happens when someone isn’t in our life in the same sort of relevance. When situations change, we are surprised by the number of people who eventually disappear from our lives.
We don’t know what caused this man’s lameness, but I imagine when this happened, there were crowds of people to support him and his family. Maybe they were encouraging, praying, raising funds, providing meals, just like we would today.
But over time, we humans get swept up in the next thing, the next cause, the next checkbox to mark off. We forget about this person over here unintentionally! But even unintentional forgetfulness feels like rejection.
It's a rejection of priority. A rejection of engagement. A rejection of sitting in the suffering with them. A rejection of the day-in and day-out difficulties.
“When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?” “Sir,” the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.””
John 5:6-7 CSB
When Jesus saw him. There must have been a massive amount of people who were blind, lame, paralyzed and so on. There may have been other family and friends there of people. There might have even been the do-gooders, those who showed up to serve the less-abled community. In the middle of all those people, Jesus saw this man and his struggle. His loneliness. He saw the weariness in his eyes. He saw the hopelessness. He saw the rejection.
Notice Jesus didn’t ask if the man needed help to get into the pool. But this was the only option the man saw for healing. His mind was closed to all other possibilities. Why?
Likely, this man had tried all the other possibilities. He had been to all the doctors he could afford. He no doubt had been praying and praying and praying. The only shred of hope this man was clinging to was to make it into this pool when the water was stirred up, and even that hope was dwindling.
“Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk.”
John 5:8-9 CSB
Jesus saw the man. And Jesus healed the man. It’s not recorded if Jesus healed others on this visit. But Jesus saw this man in his rejection, isolation, and hopelessness and brought healing to his soul.
Case Study #2
Now let’s take a look at our second case study, the demon-possessed man in Luke 8, verse 26.
“Then they sailed to the region of the Gerasenes, which is opposite Galilee. When he got out on land, a demon-possessed man from the town met him. For a long time he had worn no clothes and did not stay in a house but in the tombs…
Many times it had seized him, and though he was guarded, bound by chains and shackles, he would snap the restraints and be driven by the demon into deserted places.”
Luke 8:26-27, 29 CSB
Do you have this image? This is coming off Jesus calming the storm with his disciples as a witness. He stepped out of the boat into a town that did not expect his arrival. As he stepped onto land, he’s met almost immediately by a naked man who had demons in him. This man must have been worn from living in the tombs since he did not live in a house. In fact, this man was unable to even be restrained, putting himself to be a danger to others around him and himself.
“When he saw Jesus, he cried out, fell down before him, and said in a loud voice, What do you have to do with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I beg you, don’t torment me!” For he had commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man.”
Luke 8:28-29 CSB
I’m gathering by this text that it was Jesus who spoke first to the man. Jesus saw the man. Jesus wasn’t escorted away from this dangerous man by his posse of bodyguards. Jesus saw the man, the torment he was under, and he commanded the unclean spirit to come out of the man. It was then that the man responded. Now, the man was not the one doing the speaking. It was the demons who possessed him. Jesus says in verse 30:
“What is your name?” Jesus asked him. “Legion,” he said, because many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to banish them to the abyss. A large herd of pigs was there, feeding on the hillside. The demons begged him to permit them to enter the pigs, and he gave them permission. The demons came out of the man and entered the pigs, and the herd rushed down the steep bank into the lake and drowned.”
Luke 8:30-33 CSB
Jesus saw the man and he alleviated his burden. He freed him from the bondage of what possessed him. He freed him from isolation, from rejection, from self-harm, from harming others, from darkness. What did the town say?
Well, you can read through their response in verses 34-37. For the sake of time, I’ll tell you this - The people were not happy with this demonstration of power. There’s speculation as to why they were unhappy, but the reason aside, consider this: Not everyone will be happy when the oppressed are liberated. Not everyone will rejoice when the possessed are freed. Not everyone will celebrate when the ill are made well.
It's their own insecurities and fear of the unknown, a shifting in what’s familiar, a change, that causes the insecurity. And, in this case, it caused them to run out of town the Messiah.
“Then all the people of the Gerasene region asked him to leave them, because they were gripped by great fear. So getting into the boat, he returned. The man from whom the demons had departed begged him earnestly to be with him. But he sent him away and said, “Go back to your home, and tell all that God has done for you.” And off he went, proclaiming throughout the town how much Jesus had done for him.”
Luke 8:37-39 CSB
Jesus didn’t fight the town. He left. The man wanted so desperately to go with Jesus! Jesus was the man who saw him when others relegated him to live among the tombs, naked. The people put him in a place of shame. Jesus saw the man and restored his honor. The man wanted to be with the one who saw him. But Jesus told the man to stay. To return to the very ones who cast Jesus away and the ones who had cast him away for the sake of sharing his story. Jesus gave the glory to God and he wanted the man to do the same, among the very people who had rejected him.
Maybe you have felt cast aside. That your problems, your struggles, your bondage is simply too much for others to bear, like our lame and demon-possessed men. If this is you today, if you have felt alone, cast aside because others have told you that you are too much – be assured that you are not too much for Jesus.
Earlier we sang No Longer Slaves. If you hold Christ as your Savior, you no longer have to respond to
Fear
Rejection
Anxiety
Depression
Illness
Apathy
Uncertainty
As your master. It no longer dictates your life, your heart, your joy, your contentment.
As we enter into a time of quiet reflection, I’m going to read Philippians 2:5-8. You can close your eyes, jot down what comes to mind, whatever works for you. Reflect on the character of Jesus, the one who was rejected and his attitude and may we be like Jesus.
“Adopt the same attitude as that of Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God as something to be exploited. Instead, he emptied himself by assuming the form of a servant, taking on the likeness of humanity. And when he had come as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death- even to death on a cross.”
Philippians 2:5-8
As the worship team makes their way up here, I’d like to point out the bookmark on your tabls. There are some questions from throughout our Jesus Sees series to reflect on throughout this week, as we are spending time eating too much food and giving thanks. I hope you take away from this series that Jesus Sees you AND Jesus Sees those around you.
To close, I’d like to read this from Henri Nouwen. My prayer for us this year is for God to show us how to bring honor to others for the sake of God’s glory, not only for Thanksgiving or Christmas but year-round. This quote is on the backside of your bookmark as well.
“I am deeply convinced that we can only work for the liberation of the people if we love them deeply. And we can only love them deeply when we recognize their gift to us. I am deeply convinced of the importance of social change and of the necessity to work hard to bring about a just and peaceful society. But I also feel that this task can only be done in a spirit of gratitude and joy. That is why I am more and more convinced of the importance to live in the Spirit of the Risen Christ. Christ is the God who entered into solidarity with our struggles and became truly a God-with-us. It was this solidarity that led him to the cross by which he overcame death and evil. Believing in the Risen Lord means believing that in and through Christ the evil one has been overcome and that death no longer is the final word. Working for social change, to me, means to make visible in time and place that which has already been accomplished in principle by God himself. This makes it possible to struggle for a better world not out of frustration, resentment, anger, or self-righteousness, but out of care, love, forgiveness, and gratitude.”
