What’s more important, seeing someone healed or making sure that no protocols were broken in the process?
I say protocols and not “rules” because Jesus didn’t break the rules when He healed the crippled man at Bethesda. Sure, it was the Sabbath, but the leaders didn’t attack the healing, they went for the indirect assault. They argued that the man carried his mat on Sunday…that’s technically work, and working on Sunday was forbidden. The whole thing simply betrays them for who they really are. A godly person would have been celebrating, and acknowledging that anyone who can heal people in this way, in God’s name….would not be violating the Sabbath. Every church has people who have become so familiar with “the ways things are” that they cannot seem to change. It must be hard for them to see things changing, and they must be fearful of being left behind. Perhaps that’s why they resist. Maybe it’s because they sense a loss of control. It’s ironic, isn’t it? If the religious leaders and Pharisees would have embraced Jesus they would have been at the head of the most influential religious movement in all time. They would have been far more influential than they ever dreamed…but they were afraid of losing what they had, so they missed the opportunity and lost everything.
I often quote the phrase mentioned here that Jesus does only what He sees His Father doing. When trying to explain the Trinity, I set God the Father as the Head, but He has given all authority to Jesus, and Jesus in return does only what the Father says and does. Within the three I see perfect harmony, no competition, and no pecking order or politics. That harmony is the way it should be among Christians. God the Son is our Father, and we do only what we see Him doing. Not to say that we are coequals, just that we don’t bicker about who does what. The same concept hold true for a marriage.
Vs 24 and following give us the encapsulated Gospel message. All who listen to Jesus and believe His message receive eternal life. That seems rather simple, doesn’t it? By these bare standards there could be many people in heaven whom we would not expect to see there, because they didn’t fit the religious standards we have constructed. I certainly believe that you must show some evidence of belief, so there should be a life change involved. In fact, if there is no life change…have they really believed?
I noticed today that Jesus himself said that the teaching and miracles that He performed were all meant to prove that He was the Son of God. When the people discounted the miracle, they dismissed the Son. The same thing is true today.
It’s only one line, in verse 39 but there is soooo much to say about it! “the Scriptures point to me”. Do they ever! There are prophecies piled on top of prophecies describing who the Messiah will be, how he will act, where he will be born, how he will die, etc. and Jesus fulfills them all. If we truly study the Bible and examine the facts, using mathematical calculations to determine the odds of Jesus fulfilling all these criteria without being the Messiah, we find that the odds against it are billions to one. There are so many prophecies, given by so many different people over hundreds of years…that any one person who could meet all the requirements couldn’t do it by accident. It had to be planned in advance.
Yes, the Scripture points to Jesus! He is the author and perfecter of our faith. He is the one true door into heaven. He is the willing sacrifice for all our sins. He is the Son of God, the Son of Man and the Ruler of the Universe. What a privilege to be included in His kingdom! What a privilege to be known as His child!
Hallelujah!
Faithfully,
PR