The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him today and what came to my heart and mind in John 5:8-10,
"Then Jesus said to him [a paralytic at the Bethesda pool], 'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.' At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, 'It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.'"
This healing provides for some interesting thoughts. For instance, one wonders why Jesus didn't heal everyone who had gathered at this pool, which purportedly provided angelic healings when the water was disturbed. We are told in verse 3, "Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed." So, we assume there were many people with infirmities there at the time. We don't know for sure that Jesus didn't heal them all, or at least some others gathered there, but as the account is provided, it suggests this man was the only one. We really don't know for sure as the Scripture doesn't mention one way or the other. (By the way, the account does not provide any veracity of angelic healings at this pool - this was apparently a traditional belief not based in fact: an old wives tale.)
While the healing certainly was an act of compassion on Jesus' part, it doesn't appear that was Jesus' primary purpose for it. There is no reference to any expression of faith by the man healed. Further, Jesus warned him later to stop sinning, verse 14. The outcome of the healing was a provocation by Jesus that inspired the hostility of the Jewish leaders. In verse 18 we read, "For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God."
"Then Jesus said to him [a paralytic at the Bethesda pool], 'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.' At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, 'It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.'"
This healing provides for some interesting thoughts. For instance, one wonders why Jesus didn't heal everyone who had gathered at this pool, which purportedly provided angelic healings when the water was disturbed. We are told in verse 3, "Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed." So, we assume there were many people with infirmities there at the time. We don't know for sure that Jesus didn't heal them all, or at least some others gathered there, but as the account is provided, it suggests this man was the only one. We really don't know for sure as the Scripture doesn't mention one way or the other. (By the way, the account does not provide any veracity of angelic healings at this pool - this was apparently a traditional belief not based in fact: an old wives tale.)
While the healing certainly was an act of compassion on Jesus' part, it doesn't appear that was Jesus' primary purpose for it. There is no reference to any expression of faith by the man healed. Further, Jesus warned him later to stop sinning, verse 14. The outcome of the healing was a provocation by Jesus that inspired the hostility of the Jewish leaders. In verse 18 we read, "For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God."
It seems to me that this healing was to foster the resentment and hostility of the religious leaders that would culminate in Jesus' desired goal of offering himself as a sacrifice for the sins of all mankind on the cross. If so, this would follow on the earlier clearing of the temple courts in the pursuit of this outcome.
Just a few thoughts this morning...
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to hear from you!
If you have someone you would like to receive these ruminations, send me their email address. I'm happy to add them to the list. If you are receiving this and would like to be removed from the list, just reply and let me know.
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