Scripture Lesson: John 5:6
May 2017
When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” ~ John 5:6
One of the things I find interesting about people is our variety, not just between people but even the same person has different desires and interests over the course of their life.
Some people don’t want to do anything when they are resting, while other people like to be active playing one sport or another when they are resting. Some people like to become coach potatoes watching T.V. when they are resting, while other people like to have their mind’s active reading or playing some game that requires strategizing when they are resting. Some people like to be alone when they are resting, while other people like to spend time with family and friends when they are resting. In spite of the different preferences people have for their time of rest, what all forms of restful activities have in common is the fact that everyone needs rest.
Our text comes from one of the many scripture passages which talks about the miracles Jesus performed. Keep in mind that Jesus didn’t do miracles because He wanted to build a reputation for Himself. Jesus did miracles because He had compassion for people; each miracle Jesus performed met a need. Jesus knew that once a person’s need had been met, then that person would be open to Jesus’s teachings and the spiritual blessings that Jesus offered them. Our scripture lesson describes one of Jesus’s miracles. In this passage we are told that a man was blessed with healing. We are also told that Jesus’s efforts to do good were experienced as threatening by some. Because these men, who experienced Jesus’s efforts as threatening, were powerful, they were able to assert their diabolical will. They thought of Jesus as a troublemaker who had to be dealt with, who had to be silenced. In this scripture, Jesus’s threatening action occurred when He encountered the man who had been crippled for 38 long years and Jesus healed him of his affliction. Verse 4 which some translations leave out because of the controversy around whether it was part of the original text explains the tradition of the time. It said that an angel would stir the water at Bethesda and the first person who entered the water immediately after it had been stirred by the angel would be healed of their infirmity whatever it was. For 38 years the man had been trying to be the first person in the water after it was stirred, but he was never successful in his quest. But Jesus had something else in mind and asked the man if he wanted to get well? When the man replied yes, Jesus told him to take up his mat and walk.
By healing this man, Jesus revealed His love and compassion for him. But the Jewish authorities were threatened by Jesus; they feared that Jesus’s unorthodox behavior - breaking the religious law that said absolutely no work could be done on the Sabbath – would lead to religious chaos. Not only had Jesus healed on the Sabbath which was prohibited because healing is work; Jesus also told the man to work on the Sabbath when he told him to carry his mat. The chaos that these religious leaders feared was that the people would think they didn’t have to follow all the religious laws because Jesus did work on the Sabbath by healing this man. These religious leaders felt they couldn’t let Jesus get away with His unlawful behavior, otherwise the people would also engage in unlawful actions.
Jesus asked the question of the man, “Do you want to get well?” Jesus asks the same question of everyone who thinks they want what Jesus offers. Because Jesus knows that everyone who has an encounter with Him has a life changing experience, and because Jesus respects each person, Jesus always asks if they want their lives changed. The man in our scripture lesson answered yes, and is made well; he gains the ability to walk and so much more.
When you encountered Jesus however many years ago, you may not have had any physical limitations but you had lots of personal characteristics that limited who you were, and who you could be. You ask what characteristics? Selfishness, laziness, a bad temper, bragging, lying, stealing, coveting, self-centeredness, being prideful, being condescending, to name a few of the negative characteristics you possessed.
Persons who possess such characteristics think they are getting over on others but the truth of the matter is, they are actually losing out. Every time you let these, or any negative characteristics in your personality take charge of your interactions, you are left a little bit poorer, spiritually. Jesus wants so much more for you. Jesus wants you to be the very best person you can be. Jesus wants you to be the very best person that God created you to be. Jesus knows that people have to see what is in it for them in order to be willing to do the hard work of having their lives changed. This is why Jesus took the time to perform the miracle in our scripture lesson, and in the other scriptural passages that recount Jesus’s miracles. Jesus knew the miracles would get people’s attention and then they could be taught, and Jesus knows that about each of you.
People are losing out because they are bond by any number of negative characteristics which keeps them down. People are losing out because they don’t realize that God created them for so much more than they are experiencing. People don’t realize that God has so many blessings waiting for them, but your negative characteristics have left no room in your character to receive the positive characteristics that God and Jesus have for you. Being a Christian is more than what you call yourself. Being a Christian is so much more than coming to church on Sunday mornings. Being a Christian is most importantly, the choices you make in life. Your Christian identity is supported by the priorities you set for yourself. Your Christian identity is confirmed by how you speak, and with whom you speak. Your Christian identity is solidified by the things you do, and the things you don’t do.
Jesus offers a Sabbath rest that is different than the typical definition of a Sabbath rest. Jesus isn’t offering rest from the work, or labor, that you do. Jesus is offering a Sabbath rest from the afflictions which bind you. Jesus is offering a Sabbath rest from the negative characteristics of who you have been, the negative characteristics that keep you down, and the negative characteristics that keep you stuck in places that God doesn’t want you in. Jesus offers a Sabbath rest because He wants to change your life and how you live. Yes, it is true that every person wants and needs physical rest. Though this rest comes in a variety of forms and even in different amounts, physical rest is needed by every human. As important as physical rest is, the rest that our scripture lesson is talking about is of infinitely more importance. The scripture lesson is talking about rest from the afflictions of character that bind you and keep you from being all God created you to be. Jesus offered to help the man to achieve the potential that God placed in his life when God created him. The man thought that he needed help to get into the waters at the pool in Bethesda, but he didn’t need that. What he needed, Jesus provided, Jesus healed him of his physical and spiritual infirmities. Jesus gave the man freedom from his negative characteristics which kept him bond and unable to live in the fullness of God’s love. Jesus is offering you a Sabbath Rest from the negative characteristics that have defined you for far too long. Jesus wants you to ignore what other people think about your Sabbath Rest and instead wants you to embrace it, trusting Jesus to provide for your every need when life is easy and when life is difficult. Do you trust Jesus to provide for your every need? If so, let go and embrace your Sabbath Rest.