Fri, May 30th - 5:56PM
Book of John
Chapter 5 The Revelation of Jesus
1:1-16 "After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is at Jerusalem my the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first went down into the water was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw himlie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he said to him, Will you be made whole? The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled to put me into the pool but while I am coming another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, Rise, take up your bed and walk. And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked and on the same day was the sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for you to carry your bed. He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said to me, Take up your bed, and walk. Then they asked him, What man is that which said to you, Take up your bed, and walk? And he that was healed knew not who it was: for Jesus had taken Himself away, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, behold, you are made whole: sin no more, otherwise a worse thing come to you. The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the sabbath day."
Chapter five reveals Jesus to be the Authority over all life. As God possesses life within Himself, so Jesus also possesses life within Himself. As God has Authority over all life so too does Jesus. Jesus not only healed this man but He did so on the sabbath day. This healing showed His authority over the physical world and the breaking of the Jewish Sabbath law showed His authority to determine the rules of worship. He demonstrated the truth of His equality with God and then proceeded to teach the truth. He was in Jerusalem to attend a Jewish feast. Probably one these Feasts of Obligation, the Passover, or Feast of Tabernacles, or Pentecost. Every Jewish male living within 20 miles of Jerusalem was required by law to attend them.
Jesus was faithful to worship God and He taught others to be the same. All people should be faithful in their worship of God. The scene at the pool near the sheep gate highlights Jesus ministry. All of the people waiting near this pool were poor and impotent due to their physical condition. There are multitudes of people in our world today who live in exactly the same conditions as all of these folk. Nothing has changed. Jesus witnesses in person their desperate hope and faith that an angel will come from heaven and disturb the water of the pool. I am sure that it was similar to a stampede when those people all tried to be the first to step into the pool.
Now Jesus could have simply continued on to that feast and left those people to their faith in the angel. But He chose not to. He knew the angel would come for He had sent him. Jesus sees and knows the condition of every person. He reaches out to everyone in compassion, offering help. This crippled man was expecting someone to eventually help him down into the water but Jesus simply told him to pick up his bed and walk. Jesus healed him without any fanfare. Nobody has to spend the rest of their life as they have always been, enslaved to the sin and corruption and desperate needs of this world. Any person can experience the healing power of Jesus Christ. All one must do is believe the Word of Jesus Christ enough to obey, doing exactly what Jesus says.
Now the Jewish religious leaders had no problem with Jesus healing this man. Notice that point. They got bent out of shape over the fact that this happened on the Sabbath day. Jewish ceremonial law had been broken. A violation of a ritual and rule of religion had happened. We see "dead" religion trying to meet the needs of a desperate world. It is all about legalism, rules and regulations, ceremony and ritual. To them the man who was carrying his bed on the sabbath was more important than caring for the people who were suffering in pitiful conditions within their own city. They were not overjoyed that Divine power had been displayed, only that the status quo was threatened. They thought only of their position and security. dead religion is blind to love and good. These religionists did not see the good that had been done, only the violation of their rules.
In the Gospels the Jews are always spoken of as the opposition to Jesus. It included Pharisees, Sadducees, Scribes, priests, and secular leaders. They refused to believe Jesus, they rejected both His claim to be the Son of God and His offer of salvation and eternal life. I am not going to go into the strict demands that governed the Sabbath. Let me just point out that the religionists misinterpreted and corrupted God's Word. They rejected God's way of righteousness, God's Messiah. Tradition, ritual, ceremony, and rules became more important than meeting the basic needs of people. Does any of this sound remotely familiar today?
Peace and blessings upon you!
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Tue, May 6th - 2:17PM
Book of John
4:4-54
"Now after two days He departed there, and went into Galilee. For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country. Then when He was come into Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things that He did at Jerusalem at the feast: for they also went to the feast. So Jesus came again into Cana of Galilee, where He made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman, whose son was sick at Capernaum. Then he heard that Jesus was come out of Judaea into Galilee, he went to Him, and begged Him that He would come down, and heal his son: for he was at the point of death. Then Jesus said to him, Except you see signs and wonders, you will not believe. The nobleman said to Him, Sir, come down before my child dies. Jesus said to him, Go your way, your son lives. And the man believed the word that Jesus had spoken to him, and he went his way home. And as he was now going down, his servants met him, and told him, Your son lives. Then he asked them what hour when he began to recover. And they said to him, Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. So the father knew that it was at the same hour, in which Jesus said to him, Your son lives: and he believed, and entire household. This is again the second miracle that Jesus did, when He was come out of Judaea into Galilee."
Jesus left Samaria couple of days after speaking to them and walked to Galilee. The people there were excited because they too had been at the feast and witnessed all that which He had done there. They weren't necessarily believing He was the Messiah based on what He said, but they sure were excited by what He did. Note that Jesus did not go to Nazareth. His neighbors had rejected Him and tried to kill Him (Luke 4:29). This is consistent in the scriptures: Joseph was not honored by his brothers, David was not honored by his brothers, Jeremiah was not honored by his hometown, and Paul was not honored by his countrymen either. Prophets do not receive honor from family, friends, and their hometowns. It is sad since people who do not honor Jesus do not believe in Him either. But we see here that the Galileans warmly received Jesus, wanted to hear what He had to say to them, and genuinely wanted to worship God.
Now Jesus came to Cana once again and is approached by a nobleman with a deathly ill son. Faith often begins when there is a desperate need in a person's life. This man heard about Jesus, came to Jesus, and begged Jesus for help. This man understood that if Jesus went to where his sick son was that Jesus could heal him. Jesus chose instead to teach all of those within hearing that God does not need to physically be near in order to work a miracle. The nobleman is simply told to go home, his son lives. Notice that the man did not stand there and argue with Jesus, he believed and went back home. He did not doubt, he did not try to rationalize it. Belief. And he got confirmation that his son lived before he ever made it home. This entire episode concludes with the nobleman and his entire household believing in Jesus. When God is in the middle of a situation people end up believing, their entire family believes!
What we learn from all of this is that there are stages to finding faith in Christ. First stage is a beginning faith, just a seed. There was a desperate need. These needs can be of various types. Someone is in an accident, or an illness, or a disease. There could be immense suffering or even death striking down a loved one. The day comes when each person needs help because they face something beyond their control. Next stage is hearing about Christ Jesus and actually listening and paying attention. The person can't think they are too important to not listen. They no longer can consider the message to be utterly foolish. They can't mock the person who is sharing Jesus with them. Third stage is coming to Jesus. This requires actual movement internally to find Him. To find Jesus will require some kind of sacrifice. This nobleman had to leave the side of his dying son. He had to travel almost a day to reach Jesus. He did not let his high position keep him from going to Jesus. Finally, there needs to be begging. A person must reach the point where they get down on their knees and beg Jesus. This nobleman was persistent, trusting, obedient. Jesus told him to go, your son lives. The man was obedient and did not doubt Jesus' words. The nobleman had his faith confirmed as he was returning home. Finally, again, his faith turned naturally into witnessing. He loved Jesus for what He had done for him. He told others how Jesus had changed his life and the life of his sick son.
This account pictures for us how we should be making ourselves available to others who are seeking God but do not really know the way. Sure, we can't heal dying people, but in many other crisis's we can help others cope to get them through them by directing them to what Jesus has said and done before. We can be by their side and really listen to their concerns and fears.
Next time I will begin chapter five of John. We will look at the power of Jesus and His authority over life.
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Name: Eric Rajaniemi
