What Do You Want?
Children's sermon
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 for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” (v. 6)
Object: A small rug or mat to put on the floor.
Optional: Have a volunteer from the group help you by roleplaying the sick man at the pool.
Hello, everyone! Are you ready for today’s story? (Let them respond.) We are going to use this little rug to help tell our story. (Show the rug and put it on the floor.)
One day, Jesus and his disciples were walking around the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was a great big place that had walls all around it with big gates in the walls. If you went through one of the gates it took you to the city. Another gate took you to the big stairs where all of the teachers met with their students. There were a lot of people going in and out of those gates. But there was another gate that no one was using. If you went through that gate, you went to a place called Bethesda.
Bethesda was a great big pool filled with water that came from an underground spring. Has anyone ever seen water come from an underground spring? (Let them respond.) Well, every once in a while, the spring would send more water out and the pool would kind of bubble and the surface of the water would move and stir up. That is what made Bethesda so special. Anytime the water bubbled and moved, the people believed that an angel had come down and touched the water to make it move. And they believed that the first sick person who got into the pool after the angel touched it would be healed and made all better again.
There were a lot of sick people who came to the pool, all waiting for the water to bubble so they could get in and be healed. They all sat on their little rugs all around the pool and waited.
Not very many people went through the gate to the pool. The old religious laws said that if someone was sick, they must have done something wrong and God wanted them to be sick to punish them. Those sick people were called unclean, and it was against the laws to be around anyone who was unclean. So not many people went to the pool of Bethesda.
But today, when Jesus and his disciples saw the gate to the pool, Jesus went through it and walked to the pool. I wonder how his disciples felt when they saw him taking them through that gate? (Let them respond.) I would probably be pretty nervous. The old laws said they weren’t supposed to go there, but Jesus was going anyway.
When they got to the pool, they saw a man sitting on one of the mats. (Have your volunteer sit on the mat.) The man was sick and had not been able to walk for 38 years. 38 years is a long time, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) When Jesus saw the man and heard how long he had been sick, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
The man said, “Yes I do! But I can’t move very fast and no one will help me, so when the water stirs everyone just pushes me out of the way and I can’t get to the pool.”
Does anyone have an idea of what Jesus did next? (Let them respond.) Do you think he healed the man? (Let them respond.) Well, the problem was that today was the Sabbath day, and the old laws said that no one could do any kind of work on the Sabbath day. And, healing someone was considered to be work. So if Jesus healed the man, he would be breaking another of the old religious laws. So, what do you think Jesus did? (Let them respond.)
Jesus looked at the man and said, “Get up! Pick up your rug and walk.” And just like that, the man was healed and could walk again. (Have your volunteer get up and jump around.) And I’ll bet he was pretty excited, don’t you? (Let them respond.)
What do you think the man did next? (Let them respond.) Maybe he just danced around a while. Maybe he ran home. We don’t know what the man did for sure, but there is one old story that says that after the man was healed and could do anything he wanted to do, he still came back to the pool every day and helped other sick people get into the water when it bubbled.
The man remembered how much Jesus had loved him. Jesus wasn’t supposed to come to the pool, but he did. And Jesus wasn’t supposed to heal on the Sabbath, but he did. Jesus did those things to show the man how much God loved him, and he decided that he was going to love others that much, too.
That is what Jesus asked us to do; to love and take care of each other the same way he loves and takes care of us.
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us remember how much God loves every one of us no matter who we are, what we have, or where we are from, and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
Object: A small rug or mat to put on the floor.
Optional: Have a volunteer from the group help you by roleplaying the sick man at the pool.
Hello, everyone! Are you ready for today’s story? (Let them respond.) We are going to use this little rug to help tell our story. (Show the rug and put it on the floor.)
One day, Jesus and his disciples were walking around the temple in Jerusalem. The temple was a great big place that had walls all around it with big gates in the walls. If you went through one of the gates it took you to the city. Another gate took you to the big stairs where all of the teachers met with their students. There were a lot of people going in and out of those gates. But there was another gate that no one was using. If you went through that gate, you went to a place called Bethesda.
Bethesda was a great big pool filled with water that came from an underground spring. Has anyone ever seen water come from an underground spring? (Let them respond.) Well, every once in a while, the spring would send more water out and the pool would kind of bubble and the surface of the water would move and stir up. That is what made Bethesda so special. Anytime the water bubbled and moved, the people believed that an angel had come down and touched the water to make it move. And they believed that the first sick person who got into the pool after the angel touched it would be healed and made all better again.
There were a lot of sick people who came to the pool, all waiting for the water to bubble so they could get in and be healed. They all sat on their little rugs all around the pool and waited.
Not very many people went through the gate to the pool. The old religious laws said that if someone was sick, they must have done something wrong and God wanted them to be sick to punish them. Those sick people were called unclean, and it was against the laws to be around anyone who was unclean. So not many people went to the pool of Bethesda.
But today, when Jesus and his disciples saw the gate to the pool, Jesus went through it and walked to the pool. I wonder how his disciples felt when they saw him taking them through that gate? (Let them respond.) I would probably be pretty nervous. The old laws said they weren’t supposed to go there, but Jesus was going anyway.
When they got to the pool, they saw a man sitting on one of the mats. (Have your volunteer sit on the mat.) The man was sick and had not been able to walk for 38 years. 38 years is a long time, isn’t it? (Let them respond.) When Jesus saw the man and heard how long he had been sick, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”
The man said, “Yes I do! But I can’t move very fast and no one will help me, so when the water stirs everyone just pushes me out of the way and I can’t get to the pool.”
Does anyone have an idea of what Jesus did next? (Let them respond.) Do you think he healed the man? (Let them respond.) Well, the problem was that today was the Sabbath day, and the old laws said that no one could do any kind of work on the Sabbath day. And, healing someone was considered to be work. So if Jesus healed the man, he would be breaking another of the old religious laws. So, what do you think Jesus did? (Let them respond.)
Jesus looked at the man and said, “Get up! Pick up your rug and walk.” And just like that, the man was healed and could walk again. (Have your volunteer get up and jump around.) And I’ll bet he was pretty excited, don’t you? (Let them respond.)
What do you think the man did next? (Let them respond.) Maybe he just danced around a while. Maybe he ran home. We don’t know what the man did for sure, but there is one old story that says that after the man was healed and could do anything he wanted to do, he still came back to the pool every day and helped other sick people get into the water when it bubbled.
The man remembered how much Jesus had loved him. Jesus wasn’t supposed to come to the pool, but he did. And Jesus wasn’t supposed to heal on the Sabbath, but he did. Jesus did those things to show the man how much God loved him, and he decided that he was going to love others that much, too.
That is what Jesus asked us to do; to love and take care of each other the same way he loves and takes care of us.
Let’s all pray together and ask God to help us remember how much God loves every one of us no matter who we are, what we have, or where we are from, and ask God to help us remember to do the things God wants us to do to take care of each other.
Prayer:
Dear God, thank you for reminding us how much you love us. Please help us remember that you love all of the people you have created and help us let the people around us know that we love them just like Jesus loves us. Amen.
