John_5

Scripture

 

John 5:8-12

 

Then Jesus said to him, "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk." At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" So they asked him, "Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?"

 

Observation-What does it say?

 

This is one of Jesus' first recorded miracles. He noticed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years and told him to get up and pick up his mat and walk. The man obeyed Jesus and was healed. When I read the chapter through a second time, it struck me that when Jesus healed the man, he specifically told him to pick up his mat and take it with him. Why? It turns out that this happened on the Sabbath, and people weren't allowed to do any work on the Sabbath. Jesus knew that a man carrying a mat would draw attention. And he was right. The man was stopped and questioned. And when the man told the questioners that he had been HEALED, they didn't ask who had healed him, instead they wanted to know who told him to carry a mat on the Sabbath! Jesus was purposely challenging the Jewish leaders who had taken the relationship between man and God and changed it into a rigid, ritualistic set of rules to follow. He was letting them know he was here to shake things up.

 

Understanding-What does it mean?

 

I have to fight my tendency to make following God into a list of boxes I need to check off: go to church on Sunday-X, read my Bible in the morning-X, pay my tithe-X. I'm good! But that is not what God wants from me. He wants relationship. He wants time. He wants me to put Him first. He wants me to learn to hear His voice and respond to His promptings. If I need some rules to follow, here they are: Matthew 22:36-40: "Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?" Jesus replied: " 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself' All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments."

 

Life Application

 

Jesus, forgive me - again. I don't know why it is easier for me to DO things rather than to BE with You. Thank you for reminding me that I cannot ever do enough to earn my salvation - it is a gift you gave me because You love me. Help me to remember everyday to put relationship with You above all else. 

 

-Debbie Dunn