Good Short Summary of John 5

Andreas Kostenberger has a good summary of John 5, which we finish reading today:

“For John, then, this fourth sign by Jesus [the healing of the lame man] points beyond itself to who Jesus is: the eternal life-giver. Tragically, Jesus’ opponents, in their concern for legal obedience, miss the coming of the one who is life itself; in their concern for the study of the Scriptures, they miss the coming of the one of whom the Scriptures spoke (5:39-40, 45-47); and their discipleship of Moses keeps them from following their Messiah (9:28).”

—Andreas J. Kostenberger, John (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament)

Today’s Scripture

John 5:31-47

Start Planning Your Sabbath Today

[Note to my subscribers: As usual, this post went live on my blog at 3:30 AM this morning, but yet again we had some technical difficulties in sending it out via email, which is why you are only just now receiving this. The reason is a good reason: my subscriber number keeps increasing, and so I keep burning through the limits set by the email provider. —AF]

Jesus makes an interesting point when the Jews attack him for healing the lame man on the Sabbath:

“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

The practice of ceasing work on the 7th day comes from Genesis 1, where God rests on the 7th day and ceasing from the work of creation. However, the rabbis also acknowledged that Sabbath doesn’t mean that God stops caring for and upholding Creation, and Jesus makes the same point.

There is a sense in which God never takes a day off (since nothing would exist without God’s continued care).

The good news is that we are not God.

How can you start planning today for a true Sabbath day this weekend?

Today’s Scripture

John 5:16-30

Do You Actually Want Things to Be Different?

[Archeologists have excavated the Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem, where this incident takes place; I’ve been there.]

I’m convinced that many people would rather stay in the pain they know than risk changing the way things are in their lives. Chances are you know someone like this: constant complaint, but never any meaningful change.

I love how Jesus cuts to the heart of the matter when he sees the crippled beggar laying with the others by the Pool of Bethesday in Jerusalem:

“Do you want to get well?”

In other words, Jesus asks him, “Do you actually want things to be different?”

The man’s answer? An excuse:

Well, I’m stuck here and other folks get to the water first and it’s not my fault and blah blah blah.

How many times have I done the same thing? How many times have you? How many times have you listed a litany of excuses while never taking the responsibility to put yourself in a position to change?

Jesus, as usual, cuts through the crap. [Pardon my French.]

“Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.”

To the man’s credit, he does! His desire to get well meets Jesus’s ability to make him well.

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I think that’s how it works: we have to want what God wants for us.

Do you?

Today’s Scripture

John 5:1-15