Author: Jeff Englund

John 5: 17

” In his defense Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’ ”

I don’t know about you, but as far as I’m concerned, I never think of God as “working.” Maybe that is because I have a warped view of work? After all, as humans we live under a curse: Continue reading “Work”

John 5: 16

“So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him.”

If you have been wondering why Jesus chose to heal this particular seemingly ungrateful man, so have I. In this verse, John shows us the result of Jesus’ actions.

In mystery stories the detective often has to deduce the motive from the result of the action. For example, one fictional detective was confronted with three seemingly unrelated murders. Continue reading “Motive”

John 5: 14-15

“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.’ The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.”

We learn a lot from these two verses about the man Jesus chose to heal. We already know that there is no record of him saying, “Thank you!” or even acknowledging that he had been healed except that he got up and picked up his mat and walked.  Continue reading “Gratitude”

John 5: 9b-13

‘”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?’

The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.”

 

Some stories of Jesus healing people are about Jesus. Others are about the people who are healed and whether or not they are grateful for what has been given to them. The story we just read about the royal official was about a man and his family coming to faith in Jesus. This story is different.  Continue reading “Obedience”

John 5: 8-9a

‘”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.”

Having asked the invalid “Do you want to get well?” and having received a rambling semi-excuse for an answer, Jesus says simply, “Get up!” In doing so, Jesus demonstrates the awesome power of his holy nature, because the man does just that; he gets up!  Continue reading “Simplicity”

John 5: 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.'”

In this interesting scene, Jesus walks into a covered colonnade area where sick people gather, and picks one person out of the crowd who has been suffering for 38 years. He asks him, “Do you want to get well?” At face value, this would seem to be a “Yes” or “No” question. Continue reading “Hearing vs Listening”

John 5: 1-6

‘”Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. 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. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie—the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 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?’”

This passage is one of the more powerful passages in scripture. It is easy to overlook the power of the passage because of the casual way John approaches this story in his Gospel. Time has passed. We just traveled north from Jerusalem and stopped for a brief visit with the Woman at the Well in Shechem. Then as we arrive with Jesus in Cana we are met by the royal official whose son is dying. John doesn’t tell us how long Jesus stays in Galilee or what else might have happened while he was there, but “…some time later,” Jesus is heading back to Jerusalem.  Continue reading “Do You Want to Get Well?”

John 4: 51-54

‘”While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living.  When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, ‘Yesterday, at one in the afternoon, the fever left him.’

Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.’ So he and his whole household believed.

This was the second sign Jesus performed after coming from Judea to Galilee.”

Jesus returns to Cana in Galilee and is met by a royal official who’s son is dying. The royal official has decided Jesus is the boy’s only hope and so he begs Jesus to come with him to see his son. Jesus speaks rather harshly to the man saying, “Unless you people see signs and wonders you will never believe.” The royal official, undeterred speaks in the imperative saying, “Sir, come…!”

Then Jesus turns the tables on this man Continue reading “Second Sign”

John 4: 49-50

‘”The royal official said, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’

‘Go,’ Jesus replied, ‘your son will live.’

The man took Jesus at his word and departed.”

Some people in this situation might have come to Jesus and simply poured their heart out saying something like, “Rabbi, my son is dying!” Others might have tried to bring their son directly to Jesus. This man, however, appears to be used to having people do what he tells them. The text tells us twice that he is a “royal official” and we are told later in the story that he has servants. Clearly his concern is for his son, because he leaves his son at home where he can be cared for, and travels to see Jesus expecting that Jesus will drop everything he is doing and come to his house because…

… because why? Continue reading “Royal Officials”

John 4: 46- 48

‘”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. 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. ‘Unless you people see signs and wonders,” Jesus told him, “you will never believe.’”

When I read this passage, I have to remind myself about the truth about Jesus we discussed a few days ago, that Jesus is constantly using words and situations to describe his heavenly perspective.  Continue reading “Harsh”