At Work

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

AT WORK

John 5:16-18

16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17 Jesus said to them, "My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."  18 For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

NIV

From the very beginning when God instructed the people of Israel, when he provided manna from heaven he established the Sabbath and told them that on the sixth day to gather two days’ worth and it would not spoil so they were not go gather on the Sabbath day, not working as it were. Then when giving the Commands to Moses, the one was specific about not working on the Sabbath, keeping it Holy. Although it was the command of God these Pharisees had taken it to a whole new level, adding many rules and regulations regarding what was considered work. But Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and that just would not do as far as they were concerned. Rules were more important than doing what was the right thing to do. Yet Jesus most likely knew how the Pharisees would react and what they would accuse him of, so we might consider he did this purposely so as to be able to make this statement about his Father is always at work and so is he. It was difficult for them to grasp the concept that Jesus was the Son of God. They could not open their minds past their own thinking. Man had made the Sabbath something God had not intended it to be and Jesus was making that very clear. This truth reveals two points for us. One is that Jesus is equal with God as he is God, and the second is that we should not be so rigid about rules and regulations about the Sabbath, which of course we are not as all the church staff work on our Sabbath, all the people who serve us breakfast after church work on the Sabbath and we who have shift work employment work on the Sabbath ourselves. We might even say we have completely disregarded the Command of God about the Sabbath, except we think we keep it holy by attending church, if we are not working that is or we have some special reason why we aren’t in church. Jesus was doing the work of God even to this day, even on this day. Why do we pray to God on the Sabbath for him to do something, if we think we should rest from all our work on the Sabbath and keep it holy? Why are we asking God to answer our prayers on the Sabbath if we expect him to rest from all his work on the Sabbath? God is always at work doing good for his creation, Jesus is always there making intersession for us before the Father, even on the Sabbath, and we should always be ready willing and able to assist those in need, even on the Sabbath. The Sabbath is about God at work. 

Made Well

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

MADE WELL

John 5:14-15

14 Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."  15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

NIV

One of the first things which pops right out at us is a man who had been lame for thirty-eight years, having to lay on a mat all day long hoping when the water of the pool was stirred he might crawl in first, but never ever made it, is told by Jesus to stop sinning. This man after being healed was in temple to boot. What kind of sin could this man possible have in his life? Envy, Jealousy, hatred, greed, lust, gossip, gluttony, slander, malice, just to name a few, might have been a part of this man’s life which Jesus was addressing. The other thing which pops out is want Jesus told him about something worse happening to him. Is it possible that because of continued voluntary sin we might have something really bad happen to us? Does God punish us because we continue to sin? How can we be sinless? How can we avoid all sin? How can we be perfect as Christ is perfect? It is most likely Jesus was telling them man that living a life of sin does result in something worse than being lame, it ends in being cast into the lake of burning sulfur, and there is nothing worse than that. Jesus could also being telling him that unconfessed, non-repented sin can cause more harm to us than being physically lame. Either way Jesus was telling him and us that we should not live a life of sin, which we need to stop sinning. All of us believers are aware of that and for the most part we do all we can to live a life without sin, although we fail, we fall short of perfection; it is our desire to please God. The healing of this man also shows us that Jesus does not expect a perfect to be sinless before he heals them, but in that healing he desires the person to know it is him who healed them, making them aware of their need to change. This narrative also shows us the need to tell others that it is Jesus who heals us. So often we give so much credit to the doctor and not so much credit to Jesus, unless we are healed in a miraculous way, without the need of a doctor. We give great testimony to the skill of the doctor, we even want people to know our doctor is one of the top ones in their field, the best, but we seem to miss giving Jesus the credit. It was Jesus who made him well. 

When to Rejoice

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

 WHEN TO REJOICE

John 5:9-13

The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." 11 But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" 12 So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?" 3 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

NIV

It is amazing how some people would rather pay so close attention to the law, to the rules and regulations than to see God at work in people’s lives. This is what is happening in this portion of the narrative. Those Pharisees could only see the fact this was done on the Sabbath and could not rejoice with this man in his healing. Blinded by their own lives, their own twisted interpretation of the law, their own addenda’s they could only question him to find the culprit who broke the law they so desperately wanted everyone to see they adhered to. The text is not clear if the man actually knew it was Jesus, but implies he did not at the time of his healing as Jesus had slipped away in the crowd. We will see later he does find out, but for now we should focus on the reaction of the Pharisees. We should ask ourselves if we are so invested in our own lives that we truly cannot rejoice for a blessing someone else receives. Sometimes it seems, this is the case as when in conversations many believers, like most people do not really listen because they are so intent on what they want to say when we stop talking, and if we mention something about our lives, our children, grandchildren they have to one up us about theirs. This is ony a symptom of the larger problem we might be guilty of like those Pharisees, so concerned with self we cannot rejoice with others when God does something special in their lives. Maybe there is jealousy, or envy that drive the self-centered attitude of those Pharisees, maybe that is what drives some of us in those times when others are being blesse by God. It would seem if we are supposed to be more like Jesus than the Pharisees then we would be so thankful, so grateful for the blessings of God in others. Whenever God mores, no matter in who, we should rejoice. 

"Do You Want to be healed?"

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

DO YOU WANT TO GET WELL?

John 5:1-9

5:1 Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. 3 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie — the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.   5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 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?"  7 "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me." 8 Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk."  9 At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.

NIV

Do you want to get well? Those words seem a little odd to be asked of a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. Why won’t he want to get well? Maybe that is the lesson we should be focused on. How long have some of us been burdened with some sickness, disease or other discomfort in our bodies and are just lying there, so to speak, because we have no one to help us into the pool? Sometimes it almost seems as if we enjoy having some infirmity so we can talk about it with everyone, even one upping others with ours being worse than theirs. Many conversations of believers are centered on our aches and pains, or health issues rather than about the blessing Jesus has done in our lives. Those words of Jesus, “Do you want get well?” ring so loud in light of all the illness today yet it seems many of us simply ignore them, or make some excuse why we can get to the pool. But Jesus is there ready, willing and able to say to us, “Get up! Pick up you mat and walk.” If we want to be healed we merely only ask Jesus. Maybe the reason some do not ask is they really do not believe he will heal them. Maybe some do not ask because they are afraid he will not heal them. Maybe some do not ask because they think they are unworthy of being healed. Maybe some do not ask because they like being sick. There are those who would tell us, we do not have enough faith, but that is so bogus, for God gives to every person a measure of faith. It is true faith is build bigger by workouts, and we need to exercise our faith daily. Maybe some simply have never exercised their faith and it has shivered up to almost nothing, so they do not ask. Whatever the reason that some are sick among us we cannot be certain, but we can be certain that Jesus is asking, “Do you want to get well?” 

Footnote:  

There might be something to not being healed because as we know if we ask with wrong motives we will not receive. If we are asking to be healed so that we can go about our own agendas, pursuing our own passions, desires and lusts without giving testimony to others about the healing power of Jesus, maybe, just maybe that is why we are not healed. We need to be focused on the fact that all our life should be about giving glory to God. 

Second Footnote,
We also should understand there is the sovereignty of God, there may be times God allows us to live with some infirmity as Paul with his thorn in his flesh, so that we can give credit to God, that his grace is sufficient for us. There may be times God wants to take us home, reasons we may never understand until we get there, but those words of Jesus still hold a truth.    

Just Words

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

JUST WORDS

John 4:46-54

46 Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum. 47 When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death. 48 "Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders," Jesus told him, "you will never believe."  49 The royal official said, "Sir, come down before my child dies." 50 Jesus replied, "You may go. Your son will live." The man took Jesus at his word and departed. 51 While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. 52 When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, "The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour." 53 Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, "Your son will live." So he and all his household believed. 54 This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.

NIV

We could think Jesus said what he did with a bit of indignity, or we could see it as he said it out of compassion, but in reality we do not know the tone of his voice, but just the words. Maybe that is true of all of us, in that unless we see a miracle we will not truly believe. We might say we do, but we also have that certain amount of doubt as well, because we have never witnessed or experienced a real miracle from the words of Jesus. That is not to say that some of us have actually experienced a miracle and perhaps more than one, which of course does give us an unwavering faith in Jesus. Some might say that it would have been great to live in the time of Jesus so as to actually see him preform the miracles, but this man lived in that time and only heard the words of Jesus, as he was not with his son when his son experienced the miracle. Although it is true others in the household were and after this man returned home everyone shared their experience of this miracle and the timing of it which resulted in the entire household believed. We may not have Jesus in the physical but we still have Jesus, and we have his word, and we have the Holy Spirit dwelling with us to confirm the words of Jesus. If we need a miracle in order to believe, Jesus will do it in order for us to believe. If we need a miracle in order to bring others to believe, it will be done. We need only believe in the words of Jesus. Those of us who have experienced miracles from the words of Jesus need to share those with others, we cannot keep a miracle from them, and we must give testimony about Jesus. We need to share miracles of healing and miracles in material blessings or whatever other kind of miracle Jesus did for, in or through us. We only need the words of Jesus, just words. 

Welcome

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

WELCOME

John 4:43-45

43 After the two days he left for Galilee. 44(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.) 45 When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.

NIV

Somehow John does not include what Matthew, Mark and Luke do about Jesus talking about a prophet having no honor in his own town. They include that Jesus was talking about Nazareth and not the whole of Galilee as within Galilee he did most of his miracles and made most of his converts. Yet what can we learn from what appears to be simply a historic account in the life and legend of Jesus. When he arrived in Galilee those they welcomed him, of course the reason we are told is because they have already see what Jesus had done Jerusalem. We are not told if all the Galileans were there, or some of them and the news spread like wildfire about Jesus and his miraculous power. It is not as if they all knew he was the Messiah, the Son of God who would take away their sin. They only knew of him as a prophet or as some man who could do miracles. They were interested in the supernatural, as many people today are. So many people today follow after those who appear to have some supernatural power, or gifted with some special ability, either to summons the spirits of dead relatives, or foretell the future or some other “spiritual” psycho-babble. These people were glad Jesus was there, for perhaps they would see more of his power, even be the recipients of it, as we will see in the coming narrative. Is life all about welcoming Jesus so as to be a recipient of his blessings? True we are indeed just that because of his taking away our sin, but do we live to see what we can get from Jesus, or do we live to see what we can give to Jesus? We should examine to see if we are like those Galileans who welcomed Jesus because they had seen what he had already done and perhaps expecting more of the same in their area. Although it is true Jesus has done some wild miracles in some of our lives, some to get us to come to salvation, some after we have believed, but all he does is so people will know who he really is and what he is about, so they will turn from the darkness of their own self and live in his light. Yet perhaps some of us still do not welcome Jesus into every portion of our lives, keeping some tiny amount of our own desires, our own passions, or own plans from him. We need to welcome Jesus in every aspect of our lives. 

Seeing the Truth

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

SEEING THE TRUTH

John 4:39-42

39 Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, "He told me everything I ever did." 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days. 41 And because of his words many more became believers. 42 They said to the woman, "We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world."

NIV

It is one thing to be a witness for Christ, to tell everyone about what Jesus has done in our lives, but it is entirely a different matter when those people we told about Jesus have an honest to God real experience with Jesus themselves. We see here that many of the Samaritans came to see Jesus based on the testimony of the woman, one who may not even had the best reputation in town, having gone through five husbands and living with the sixth without the legality of marriage. Nevertheless based on her words, they urged him to stay a while, which he did. They were open to investigate the possibility that he was the Messiah, as she had asked them, “Could this be the Christ?” After several days of listening to Jesus and we are not told here if he did any miracles, but rather just talked with them, many more of them came to know that he was the Christ, the Savior of the world. Some simply believed because of the woman’s testimony, but many more believed because of their encounter with Jesus. The point here is they were open to listening to him. He came as a Jew because that is how God had decided to reveal Jesus to the world, but he came for the whole world, which here we see he had already expanded to the Samaritans. We could learn a great lesson here in that we can share our testimony about what Jesus did in our lives, but it still requires the openness of those who still need to see and listen to Jesus. Some may believe based on our testimony, but some may not believe until they encounter Jesus for themselves and the truth is he will met them right where they are. He will stay, tarry with them, speaking to their hearts and mind, convincing them he is the Christ, the Savior of the world. People can refuse to listen, close their minds from the truth about him, and we already know it is because they love the darkness, they would rather live completely within self, serving only their own needs, even those who do great humanitarian deeds, if they do not do it for the sake of Christ, they do it for the sake of self. But if people are open minded as these Samaritans where they will see the truth about Jesus.