28/05/2026
The Market of Mercy
Teaching : Evangelist Opelami omowoli
Text:John 5:1–9
Supporting Texts:Matthew 9:36, Luke 7:11–15, Romans 9:15–16, Hebrews 4:16, Lamentations 3:22–23“It is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness.”— Lamentations 3:22–23
Introduction
Every market is a place of exchange. People come with needs and leave with supplies. Some arrive empty and return full. Spiritually, there is also a place called The Market of Mercy — where the guilty receive forgiveness, the weak receive strength, the rejected find acceptance, and the hopeless encounter restoration.
Mercy is God withholding the punishment we deserve and releasing blessings we do not deserve. Without mercy, no man can stand before God.
In John 5, we see a man who had suffered for thirty-eight years lying helpless at the pool of Bethesda. While others struggled for healing, Jesus stepped into his situation and changed his story through mercy.
1. Mercy Overrides Faithlessness
At Bethesda, many had waited for years with no help. The man Jesus healed did not even demonstrate strong faith — he was simply helpless and exhausted by life.
Jesus asked him, “Wilt thou be made whole?” Instead of expressing faith, the man only explained his limitations and disappointments.
Yet mercy still found him.
Point:
There are moments when people become too wounded, too tired, or too discouraged to even pray properly. But God’s mercy reaches beyond human weakness. Mercy seeks out the broken-hearted and lifts those who can no longer lift themselves.
Romans 9:16 says:
“So then it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that sheweth mercy.”
Mercy works where human strength fails.
2. Mercy Breaks Protocols
The healing at Bethesda followed a system: an angel stirred the water, and only the first person to enter was healed. It was a system of competition and limitation.
But Jesus bypassed the protocol.