John - Week 12

Thirty-Eight Years 

READ 

John 5:5-7 

5 One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him and knew he had been ill for a long time, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?” 7 “I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to put me into the pool when the water bubbles up. Someone else always gets there ahead of me.” 

This account in John 5 of the person Jesus met at the pool provides valuable information. It tells much about the way Jesus worked and the objections of unbelievers. In response to Jesus’ question, the lame man gave a reason why he was not able to get well. He did not realize he was talking to the Great Physician. 

REFLECT 

Spend some time thinking about how you can empathize with people who are in worse condition than you are. What is a suggestion you would have for others? 

RESPOND 

As the man at the pool, do you sometimes look to the wrong source to provide the health you need? In Bible times a common medical treatment was rubbing with olive oil and praying for God’s healing. So also, believers today should use the latest medical treatment and pray for healing. 

 Pick Up Your Mat 

READ 

John 5:8-9 

8 Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” 9 Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up his sleeping mat and began walking! But this miracle happened on the Sabbath, . . . 

Jesus did not tell the man how to get to the front of the line at the pool. Instead, He spoke words of healing to him. Imagine the number of people who had observed this man’s bad condition for 38 years, and now suddenly he is walking and carrying his mat. There would be no way anyone could deny a miracle had taken place. But wait! It happened on a Sabbath day and that could cause problems. 

REFLECT 

Some healing takes place over time, but this was instantaneous healing by the words of Jesus. How would you have felt if this were you? 

RESPOND 

A comment about healing that you could tell your care giver is that all healing comes from God. If this were not true, an incision would never heal after surgery. Ask a fellow believer to pray that you will have a positive witness to your health care provider at your next appointment. 

Objection 

READ 

John 5:10-14 

10 …so the Jewish leaders objected. They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! The law doesn’t allow you to carry that sleeping mat!” 11 But he replied, “The man who healed me told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’” 12 “Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded. 13 The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd. 14 But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.” 

In the days Jesus was on earth the Jews had added other restrictions to what the Old Testament law prescribed and they were always looking for violators. They saw a major violation as they saw this man carrying his mat. The man now healed did not know how to answer. He was wise enough to realize, however, that anyone who could heal him had authority to tell him what to do no matter what day it was. From this passage we learn that Jesus healed some who did not know who He was. If one could only heal his followers, his healing could be suspect. Jesus healed even unbelievers, as shown here. Then Jesus appeared to him, apparently identified Himself and told him not to sin anymore. 

REFLECT 

What lesson can you draw from the fact that Jesus healed unbelievers? 

RESPOND 

Talk with another believer about what experiences you have had that make you so grateful to Jesus that you don’t want to sin anymore and dishonor Him. 

Always Working 

READ 

John 5:15-17 

15 Then the man went and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” 

Faith in Jesus should be lived out. Notice what the man did after he was healed. Also notice what the unbelieving Jews were most concerned about: not that a man sick for 38 years had been healed, but only that Jesus went against their laws of the Sabbath.  

REFLECT 

Have you gone to others and told them how Jesus has made you spiritually well? 

RESPOND 

When a friend or loved one becomes well from some physical problem, do you remember to thank God for His healing power, whether it is instantaneous or gradual? 

The Father and the Son 

READ 

John 5:18-19 

18 So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God. 19 So Jesus explained, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.” 

This passage is a key one in revealing that Jesus claimed to be God. John 5:18 reveals the Jews understood clearly that Jesus claimed to be equal with God and this is why they wanted to crucify Him. Those who think that Jesus was not God and did not claim to be God fail to believe what the religious leaders of His day believed. The Father and Son were essentially one although different persons. This is similar to asking a son who is the head of a business for a favor. If he says no there is no reason going to his father because he will also say no. If you’ve seen one you’ve seen the other. 

REFLECT 

What have you told those who come to your door claiming that Jesus is not God? Has this week’s posting helped? 

RESPOND 

As you disciple others you do not need to be an authority on counterfeit religious groups; you just need to warn others not to get involved in them. How are you doing this?