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But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness Gal 5:22 |
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Dear
Friend,
If you do not already have a habit of gathering daily manna the first thing in the morning (we can look at the example given to us in Exodus 16 and find the pattern for collecting daily manna), make it a habit. Establish your life and your schedule to allow you the necessary time to do your daily collection first thing every morning to give you the strength to make it through the day. And remember that today’s manna will not be sufficient for tomorrow; tomorrow’s manna must be collected tomorrow morning. Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Today's Passage : Today's Passage:Subjecta:Get Up and Walk Bible Verse:John 5:1-9 (ESV) "After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath." Message:
Three of the things we have noticed about the Gospel of John so far are:
1) The language tends to have layers of symbolic meaning. Frequently, Jesus makes comments on a physical event that parallels a spiritual teaching. For example, he spent a long time talking about water from a well with the Samaritan woman, but he was actually teaching about the spirit coming from the old and new covenants;
2) It is not as biographical as the other three Synoptic gospels; rather, it focuses on specific instances, each of which has a specific message; and
3) Jesus’ miracles are usually presented more clearly as a “signs,” to gain the attention and faith of people who will hear and understand the deeper message.
A
ll three characteristics appear in this lesson. 1) The events are primarily symbolic. 2) Rather than following Jesus in his travels, John jumps from Samaria back to Jerusalem, an unknown amount of time later, in one line. 3) The kindness and love shown to the man are not emphasized; John emphasizes the act as a proof of Jesus’ divinity and purpose.
The basic story is quite simple; in an early sort of infirmary or sanitarium, where very sick people lie under open roofs hoping to be cured by a pool, a man complains that he is unable to get to the water. Jesus does not help him by taking him to the pool, but rather heals him without using the pool.
First off, we realize that it is not water that can cure the man’s paralysis. If all he needed was water, he could have stayed home and used well water as a cure. He believes that this specific pool, located in Jerusalem, will transmit a spiritual cure. It is the spirit of God, not water, that the man is seeking.
Jesus heals a blind man
The pool is in Jerusalem, the City of David, and those who seek to be cured by it seek the spirit of God promised by the Old Covenant. They travel to Jerusalem to be cured, just as they travel to Jerusalem for festivals; it is where God is located.
The water thus represents the spirit of God that comes from the old covenant. But the spirit of God is not in the pool; Christ both states and demonstrates that the spirit of God—the “living water”—comes from him, himself, not from a pool in Jerusalem. Thus, the man does not need to walk to the pool. His implicit request, that Jesus help him to the pool, is rendered unnecessary, because Jesus has brought the spirit of God to the man.
The physical healing is also symbolic. The man is spiritually paralyzed by the Old Covenant. (Notice that he cannot get to the pool because other sick people impede him, just at the Sadducees and Pharisees will impede true salvation.) Christ’s great gift is not improved physical health; it is eternal spiritual health.
We, like the paralyzed man, do not need to go anywhere to receive the full bounty of Christ’s grace. If we are spiritually enfeebled, all we need to do is “get up and walk.” Christ will help us. The Word of God has come to us. All we have to do is stand up!
To summarize: In this verse, Christ speaks directly to us. The verse doesn’t speak to physical illness, but to our spirit. If we are spiritually ill, we can receive a miracle, once we realize that we can “pick up our bed and walk” by accepting Christ.
Meditation : Prayer : As I travel through the rest of my day, may the God of hope fill me with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit I may abound in hope.....Amen |
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