GOD’s Compassion at the Pool of
Bethesda
& HIS Tough Love for
Antagonists.
I hope you’re ready to see MORE OF WHAT
MAKES JESUS TICK IN THIS familiar story.
There was a pool of water in Jerusalem
with room around it for a crowd to gather. Periodically an angel would come and
stir up the water to start the race. The first one in the water got healed. On
this particular Sabbath day, Jesus steps into the room to check out the scene. He
sees a certain crippled guy laying there on a bed mat and knows he’s been going
there for 38 long years, unable but hoping to get into the water first. Filled
with compassion, Jesus walks over to him and simply asks the guy, “Do you want
to be made well?” (John 5:6).
Not knowing who Jesus was, the guy responds
with normal human logic and perhaps a plea for help to get to the water,
John 5: 7 “I
can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when
the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.”
The stage is set. It is time for a
life changing miracle,
John 5: 8 Jesus
told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!”
9a Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up
his sleeping mat and began walking!...
Jesus sets a trap for the Jewish
Authorities
John 5:10b
…They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The
law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!”
11 But
he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
12 “Who
said such a thing as that?” they demanded.
13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared
into the crowd.
A little later in the day:
John 5: 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple
and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may
happen to you.”
Jesus loved the guy enough to tell him
to turn away from sin. We don’t see that the guy took this to heart but we do
see that the Pharisees put some fear into him because he turns around and…
John 5: 15 Then the man
went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him.
Let
me interject some clarification here about sin and sickness. Sickness can be
the result of sin, but not always. Some sins obviously cause health issues, such
as drug addiction, excessive alcohol consumption, sexual impurity and the like.
Those who habitually do things like this usually suffer the consequences. However,
there are many people who love God with all their heart, who flee the appearance
of evil, and don’t habitually live in such sins, yet get cancer, MS, CP, colds
and flu, IBS, etc. etc. Their health condition has nothing to do with sin or
God’s judgment. God never inflicts people with sickness and disease; usually it’s
just a part of the human condition. Please do
not blame the loving Lord who sent His Son to die on the cross to save our
souls and heal us from sickness and disease.
The Trap is Sprung
Now Jesus has attracted the attention
of his antagonists. As we see repeatedly in John’s Gospel, Jesus seized the
situation to plainly tell them who He is. Jesus was about to plow up the hard
rocky ground of their hearts and they really didn’t like it.
John 5:16
So the Jewish leaders began
harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules.
17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”
17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.”
18 So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to
find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his
Father, thereby making himself equal with God.
With their blood running hot, Jesus
beautifully describes God the Father / God the Son relationship and the
authority the Father gave Him. To the seeker of truth this next paragraph is marvelous;
it points us to the source of wonderful, eternal life. Sadly, the angered Pharisees
were not in that category.
John 5:19
So Jesus explained, “I tell you
the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the
Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him
everything he is doing. In fact, the Father will show him how to do even
greater works than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished.
21 For just as the Father gives life to those he
raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants.
22 In addition, the Father judges no one.
Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge,
23 so that everyone will honor the Son, just as
they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son is certainly not
honoring the Father who sent him.
Jesus continues because He so
desperately wants them to see the Truth and be set free.
John 5: 24 “I
tell you the truth; those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent
me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they
have already passed from death into life.
25 “And
I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will
hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live.
26 The Father has life in himself, and he has
granted that same life-giving power to his Son.
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| https://biblescripture.net/Commandments.html |
John 5:45 “Yet it isn’t I who will accuse you before
the Father. Moses will accuse you! Yes, Moses, in whom you put your hopes.
46 If you really believed Moses, you would
believe me, because he wrote about me.
47 But since you don’t believe what he wrote, how
will you believe what I say?”
Prayer: Father, help us to be so sensitive to Holy
Spirit that we always walk in the light of life that Jesus brought to this
world. May our hearts stay soft and pliable in your hands, ever hearing and
responsive to Your still small voice. So fill us with your love and compassion
that it drives us to demonstrate your love and power to those needing salvation.
Give us wisdom and boldness to declare the Truth in the face of adversity,
pointing even hateful antagonists to You.
Amen
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