John 5:41-44
“I’m not interested in crowd approval. And do you know why? Because I know you and your crowds. I know that love, especially God’s love, is not on your working agenda. I came with the authority of my Father, and you either dismiss me or avoid me. If another came, acting self-important, you would welcome him with open arms. How do you expect to get anywhere with God when you spend all your time jockeying for position with each other, ranking your rivals and ignoring God?”
“Your approval means nothing to me, because I know you don’t have God’s love within you. For I have come to you in my Father’s name, and you have rejected me. Yet if others come in their own name, you gladly welcome them. No wonder you can’t believe! For you gladly honor each other, but you don’t care about the honor that comes from the one who alone is God.”
We learn about God’s love by spending time with him. It is best shared person to person. Groups are handicapped by diverse points of view which produces conflict. Our self likes jostling to be king of the mountain, with others argued into submission. Learning to resolve conflict with love requires the opposite, exchanging our point of view for God’s. We grow to covet God, not the mountaintop.
Lord, grace me to seek your point of view. Make me wise so I may serve. May I ever love you more than accolades and so doing love my brother.
John 5:39-40
“The Message – You have your heads in your Bibles constantly because you think you’ll find eternal life there. But you miss the forest for the trees. These Scriptures are all about me! And here I am, standing right before you, and you aren’t willing to receive from me the life you say you want.”
“You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life. But the Scriptures point to me! Yet you refuse to come to me to receive this life.”
Peterson’s Message puts this in present day context. What a warning! It cautions us to beware immersion in the ‘Christian life,’ allowing it to obscure our sight. Jesus could be immediately present and yet missed by eyes jaded by procedure and custom. Christian culture can be an idol, preferred over the Savior we profess to serve. Religion does not equate to the walk of faith.
Lord, this verse makes my heart quake, thinking you could be so close to me and so overlooked. Keep me wanting you, seeing you above all else. May Christian custom ever be the viewfinder and you the view.
John 5:36-38
“But the witness that really confirms me far exceeds John’s witness. It’s the work the Father gave me to complete. These very tasks, as I go about completing them, confirm that the Father, in fact, sent me. The Father who sent me, confirmed me. And you missed it. You never heard his voice, you never saw his appearance. There is nothing left in your memory of his Message because you do not take his Messenger seriously.”
“ But I have a greater witness than John– my teachings and my miracles. The Father gave me these works to accomplish, and they prove that he sent me. And the Father who sent me has testified about me himself. You have never heard his voice or seen him face to face, and you do not have his message in your hearts, because you do not believe me– the one he sent to you.”
To the illiterate, pre-scientific, steeped in mystery, first century peasants, Christ’s miracles shouted God’s validation of his ministry. Those who were looking for spiritual food pricked up their ears when listening to gossip at the well about this new itinerant preacher. The Spirit eventually leads to himself those willing to pay any price for truth.
God confirms us too when we go about his work by his power. His work is to share truth. Faith, hope and love, truth’s fruit, gets the world’s attention. Evangelism begins with the changes the walk of faith makes in our lives. If we truly care for the lost, we must focus on our own hearts first. Just don’t get stuck there.
Lord, keep me from getting stuck. Keep my focus always on what you are doing, participating with you in your work. Give me opportunity to share the reason for the joy you give me and the words and wisdom to do it. May my sharing be clearly understood, relaxed and ever obedient to and empowered by your spirit.
John 5:32-34
“I came with the authority of my Father, and you either dismiss me or avoid me. If another came, acting self-important, you would welcome him with open arms. How do you expect to get anywhere with God when you spend all your time jockeying for position with each other, ranking your rivals and ignoring God?”
“But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true. In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true. Of course, I have no need of human witnesses, but I say these things so you might be saved.”
Each translation says the same thing though quite differently. In what direction is the telescope of our life focused? If it is entirely on men our point of view is narrow and we become small and mean. If on God, our point of view opens wide, as do our hearts. Rather than the closed room of human expectations we freely walk the wide open universe with God.
Those in the prime of life find worldly focus a necessity. Bread must be earned, housing provided, commitments honored, children raised. Yet God knows the heart’s longing. When properly aligned it grabs 5 minutes to read a Psalm, uses commute time for audiobooks, and insomnia for prayer. Keep tabs on the vibrations of the heart, that they ally only with God streamed light, and all will be well.
Lord, you know the battle we face to keep our telescopes pointed in your direction because you lived it. Thank you. Help me stay the course, keeping you in my sight finder. I can’t wait for eternity where this battle is over and I can worship you without my Self acting like a jealous sibling.
John 5:30-33
“I can’t do a solitary thing on my own: I listen, then I decide. You can trust my decision because I’m not out to get my own way but only to carry out orders. If I were simply speaking on my own account, it would be an empty, self-serving witness. But an independent witness confirms me, the most reliable Witness of all. Furthermore, you all saw and heard John, and he gave expert and reliable testimony about me, didn’t he?”
“ I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will. If I were to testify on my own behalf, my testimony would not be valid. But someone else is also testifying about me, and I assure you that everything he says about me is true. In fact, you sent investigators to listen to John the Baptist, and his testimony about me was true.”
Christ’s life is a model for our own. He was not a solo operation but part of a holy community, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, communicating faithfully amongst themselves. Let us ask ourselves if we have done likewise when things go sideways in the church. Like Christ, we must remain in community with our brothers, awaiting orders during the occasional sibling spat, and communicating honestly.
Lord, it is so hard to follow your example when conflict rears amongst us. Forgive me for giving in to anger in the past. Keep me rooted in you when disagreements arise in the future. Guard my tongue and may my words come only from you.
John 5:24
“It’s urgent that you listen carefully to this: Anyone here who believes what I am saying right now and aligns himself with the Father, who has in fact put me in charge, has at this very moment the real, lasting life and is no longer condemned to be an outsider. This person has taken a giant step from the world of the dead to the world of the living.”
“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.”
The tyranny of the urgent is rampant in our fast-paced society. Christ calls us to make him the urgent focus of our lives. The world’s urgency will not bring us in from the cold. Christ does.
Thank you for the warmth of your arms. Keep me focused on you so I can stay there!
John 5:20-23
“But you haven’t seen the half of it yet, for in the same way that the Father raises the dead and creates life, so does the Son. The Son gives life to anyone he chooses. Neither he nor the Father shuts anyone out. The Father handed all authority to judge over to the Son so that the Son will be honored equally with the Father. Anyone who dishonors the Son, dishonors the Father, for it was the Father’s decision to put the Son in the place of honor.”
“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. For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. In addition, the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, 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.”
Neither the Son nor the Father shut people out, but their terms apply. Many want God on their own terms. How then could he be God? Any human relationship demands accountability to social rules. Why should our connection to God be any different?
God has put Jesus front and center in the place of honor. We cannot sneak by him nor lump him in with other deities. All of us must respond to his calling, one way or the other.
Lord, my Self likes to settle on your throne too easily. Forgive me. Convict me when I am besotted with my own importance. Grace me to change.
John 5:19-20
“So Jesus explained himself at length. ‘I’m telling you this straight. The Son can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the Father does, the Son does. The Father loves the Son and includes him in everything he is doing.’”
“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. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing.’”
In the previous passage Jesus meets the crippled man personally. Our relationship with him is personal too. Here we see the close working relationship between Father and Son. They rely on each other, share all with each other. In the same way we are meant to share our lives with other believers. Individualism is tossed out the window. We Americans, have a hard time being open and vulnerable. Yet we are called to give and take in daily life with our brethren. Ironically, our personhood becomes more clearly defined as we sharpen our selves with one another. What we give, we get back, multiplied.
Lord, Search my heart for the pride of individualism and root it out. Give me wisdom and grace in healthy relationships with your people. Show me how to give into others that I may be more fully me, for your glory.
John 5:14-17
“A little later Jesus found him in the Temple and said, “You look wonderful! You’re well! Don’t return to a sinning life or something worse might happen.” The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. That is why the Jews were out to get Jesus—because he did this kind of thing on the Sabbath. But Jesus defended himself. “My Father is working straight through, even on the Sabbath. So am I.””
“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.’ Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. But Jesus replied, ‘My Father is always working, and so am I.’”
Jesus returns to this man to give him the opportunity to really see. It is opportunity to step beyond the experience of healing into the walk of faith. Jesus’ comment about sinning is hard to understand. I don’t have time to study this now. Lord give me opportunity to return to it when the time is right.
Here Jesus says both he and the Father work straight through the sabbath. God rested on Creation’s sabbath. The Law called Israel to honor that by resting also. With Christ’s coming the meaning and definition of sabbath work changes. In the New Testament we learn about the Holy Spirit’s work and it is this work that is ongoing. This is good news! We can make do with restrictions on physical activity. We cannot do without the Spirit’s enabling in the walk of faith, 24 hours of each and every day.
Lord, give me wisdom in learning how to rest, and when. Grace me with the refreshing wind of your Spirit and may I follow it always.
John 5:7-13
“The sick man said, ‘Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.’ - Jesus said, ‘Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.’ The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off. - That day happened to be the Sabbath. The Jews stopped the healed man and said, ‘It’s the Sabbath. You can’t carry your bedroll around. It’s against the rules.’ But he told them, ‘The man who made me well told me to. He said, ‘Take your bedroll and start walking.’’ - They asked, ‘Who gave you the order to take it up and start walking?’ But the healed man didn’t know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd.”
“‘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.’ Jesus told him, ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!’ Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, so the Jewish leaders objected. 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!’ But he replied, ‘The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’‘ ‘Who said such a thing as that?’ they demanded. The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd.”
Tradition said the first one to enter the pool when a current stirred the waters would be healed. In the proceeding verses Jesus, who knew this man had lain near the pool among many others for 37 years, asks, “Do you want to be healed?” Of course he does, but he was in a hopeless situation. Hopelessness is never permanent when Jesus comes calling. Jesus told the man to walk, carrying his sleeping bag and the morality police pulled him over for a citation. Jesus calls us to testify of our changed lives and always, someone will be offended. The police were after the king pin, but Jesus had slipped away. He was not abandoning this man but allowing him to discover his faith would enable him to stand the inquisition. When Jesus does real work in us, there is no arguing about it. We know that we know.
Lord, thank you for the work you have done in my heart and the confidence it gives me. It feels good to feel solid. It is amazing that you, so big, care for me, so small. I overflow with thanksgiving. You are so good.
John 4:46-50
“Now he was back in Cana of Galilee, the place where he made the water into wine. Meanwhile in Capernaum, there was a certain official from the king’s court whose son was sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and asked that he come down and heal his son, who was on the brink of death. Jesus put him off: ‘Unless you people are dazzled by a miracle, you refuse to believe.’ But the court official wouldn’t be put off. ‘Come down! It’s life or death for my son.’ Jesus simply replied, ‘Go home. Your son lives.’”
“As he traveled through Galilee, he came to Cana, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a government official in nearby Capernaum whose son was very sick. When he heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went and begged Jesus to come to Capernaum to heal his son, who was about to die. Jesus asked, Will you never believe in me unless you see miraculous signs and wonders?’ The official pleaded, ‘Lord, please come now before my little boy dies.’ Then Jesus told him, ‘Go back home. Your son will live!’ And the man believed what Jesus said and started home.”
Jesus often tests supplicants in the Gospels with this accusation. It’s as if he was asking, “If your focus on me, or a miracle?” I imagine most have no idea themselves, but Jesus knows. In asking this question he forces us to look inward and consider, allowing the Spirit to search and illuminate our hearts.
This official loves his son. When he came to the end of his own efforts, he humbled himself, seeking the healing touch of an itinerant teacher. His son’s life was dearer to him than his pride. Something in the manner of Jesus’ words of healing honored the man’s love and gave him the faith to leave and return home. God knows all about a father’s love for his son.
Lord you provide so much sustenance for me. Let my need continue driving me to you. Never let my need become primary and eclipse your glory. Thank you for using this official’s example to teach me about faith and love. They drive each other in a circle, and I love being caught up in it!
John 4:39-45
“ Many of the Samaritans from that village committed themselves to him because of the woman’s witness: ‘He knew all about the things I did. He knows me inside and out!’ They asked him to stay on, so Jesus stayed two days. A lot more people entrusted their lives to him when they heard what he had to say. They said to the woman, ‘We’re no longer taking this on your say-so. We’ve heard it for ourselves and know it for sure. He’s the Savior of the world!’ After the two days he left for Galilee. Now, Jesus knew well from experience that a prophet is not respected in the place where he grew up. So when he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, but only because they were impressed with what he had done in Jerusalem during the Passover Feast, not that they really had a clue about who he was or what he was up to.”
“ Many Samaritans from the village believed in Jesus because the woman had said, ‘He told me everything I ever did!’ When they came out to see him, they begged him to stay in their village. So he stayed for two days, long enough for many more to hear his message and believe. Then they said to the woman, ‘Now we believe, not just because of what you told us, but because we have heard him ourselves. Now we know that he is indeed the Savior of the world.’ At the end of the two days, Jesus went on to Galilee. He himself had said that a prophet is not honored in his own hometown.”
I am struck by the bookending in these verses. Samaritans responded to Jesus with immediate commitment. Those from his own town did not honor him with the same enthusiasm. Where do I fit in between them?
The Samaritans were ripe for harvest. What of my own heart? Am I ripe for God’s word, every day?
The Galileans had no clue. Their hearts were not hungry for truth, meaning and purpose. May my heart always long for more of him.
Lord, I fear my weakness, that I might fall off your way and lose my yearning for you. Please keep me tuned to you, ripe for harvest, and hungry for all you bring into my life.