This passage is chock full
of loaded statements! Notice that Jesus didn't ask this man about
his heart's condition; in fact, we see nothing in this scripture that
would lead us to believe that he ever "got saved", as we
would say. True, before his healing he was both powerless and
fearful, while afterward he was walking and worshipping, yet his
spiritual state was still a question mark.
You know, it's interesting
how many times a miracle is linked to obedience, and I won't go into
specifics, but when we're waiting for God to do something great in
our lives, maybe He's waiting on our obedience to our calling. Now
you might ask..."what is my calling?" Well, God has called
you to forgive those who hurt you, and to love those who hate you;
that would be a powerful start in your life, but God just doesn't
give us a great big burden to drag around. Quite the opposite; He
gives us a calling, that when obeyed will give us freedom! He wants
good things for our lives, and He wants to walk with us more closely,
and He wants us to be..."able to sleep when the wind blows";
to be at peace with others, with ourselves and with Him. So He told
us, along with that once-lame man..."sin no more, lest a worse
thing come upon thee!" He might as well have said to that
man..."walk with me and you'll be walking on the path of
life...believe and receive!"
The person who claims to
have met Jesus but fails to walk with Him, makes himself a liar (1
John 2.4). That's what discipleship is all about. We who are the
church cannot afford to pretend that our spiritual state goes
unnoticed by the Lord. As Christians, we have within us the very
heart of Christ, that surely does not go unnoticed by the
world..."lest a wose thing come unto thee!"
The final Jesus statement
from this particular section is...
4. "My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work", Jn. 5.17
You know, it's my belief
that many Christians, when they're reading this chapter, are quite
taken with the first 14 verses, and many preachers probably stop
short there themselves, when preaching it. The idea of physical
healing is very appealing to us; in fact, all the things that Jesus
did are appealing to us, because we believe that that healed person
could be us, on the receiving end of a miracle! But in truth, the
gospel writer spends twice as much time telling of the "how and
the why", He healed. The Divine Author of scripture wants us to
not only have strong healthy bodies, but He wants us to have a strong
healthy relationship with Him...not just a physical healing, but a
spiritual healing as well! That's really what this chapter is all
about.
In this case, Jesus said
to the Jews..."My Father..." , and they declared Him to be
a blasphemer...public enemy #1! What an indictment of the Old
Testament Law, as interpreted by those Pharisees! Pharisees indeed!
The Law had become so narrowlly interpreted that even the very
LawMaker was being charged (with breaking the Sabbath), with breaking
the very Law that He had authored. The Law had been established by
God to provide a "healthy boundary", not a "hurtful
burden", but this is exactly what the Jews had made it!
In these verses Jesus was
interpreting the Law in the light of "grace and truth", and
then coming under judgement for it...guilty of only healing and
helping, while as we read in v. 16...the Jews sought to persecute,
and even to kill Him. This sort of unholy spirit has probably done
more damage to the work of spirit and of grace than the local night
club. You see, the one who runs the night club knows he's a rascal,
but the self-righteous and the proud have no idea of the harm they
often bring down on the testimony of Christ! But Jesus responded to
the Jews..."My Father worketh hitherto and I work". What
He, in efffect, was saying was..."(Be careful who and how you
judge) because the Father has given all judgement unto the Son",
v. 22. You see, Jesus knew that under the Law He had broken the
Sabbath, but if you really want to persecute Him, He'll give you a
better reason that that...He claimed to be the Son of God, v. 18.
Just when we think we are getting to know Jesus, He blows us away!
The "carnal mind" is definitely "enmity against God",
as the scripture tells us. Sometimes it even dares to challenge "the
Lord of the Sabbath"! But Jesus has told us in Matthew
2.27..."the Sabbath is made for man, and not man for the
Sabbath".
In the rest of chapter 5,
Jesus gives account of Himself and His relationship with the Father,
and His arguments were very convincing, as we read in ch. 6.1,2
that..."a great multitude followed Him because they saw His
miracles...". And in the process, the Jews, who were mentioned
back in ch. 5.16-18, were silenced, at least for the time-being.
In the next lesson, we
will be taking a closer look at the exact work of our Lord..."and
He will show Him greater works than these, that ye may marvel",
v. 20!
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