John 5.
Tyler Durden: How's that working out for you?
Narrator: What?
Tyler Durden: Being clever.
Narrator: Great.
Tyler Durden: Keep it up then... Right up.
--from Fight Club
We can't find life by just being clever enough. A paralyzed man used to sit by a pool and wait to be magically healed. It had to be a dreadful existence, never being the first one in, hoping day after day that he would be in the right place and the right time and something miraculous would happen. He never found life in the pool. He only found it when he met Jesus.
The religious leaders used to sit with the Scriptures all day long, picking them apart and attempting to follow them down to the last little detail, convinced that they would find life. They never found life in their study or their rule-keeping. Jesus said to them, "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you possess eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life." (v. 39-40)
Real life is found only in Jesus. He clearly says that not even rigorous study of the Scriptures compares to him; in fact, without him, study of the scriptures or any other spiritual activity is meaningless. Our efforts this month to read John's gospel are beneficial only to the extent that we embrace the One who is the subject of the book. Jesus himself is life. He doesn't give life or offer a path to life or point toward life. He is life.
Once this man met Jesus he left the pool--there was no reason for him to stay there. How tragic would it have been if he had said, "you know, the pool scene is comfortable and familiar, and I think I'll just stay here on my mat." Yet that's exactly what the religious leaders did. They saw life, then refused to accept it and decided to remain at their pool, so to speak. They chose the comfort of the familiar and dead over life in Jesus because it included change, uncertainty, and relinquishing of control.
What pool do you sit beside today? How's that working out for you? If Jesus comes along and says, "pick up your mat and walk," are you willing to walk away from it?
A couple of things really stand out in today's chapter. First, the man at the pool didn't know it was Jesus that healed him. It's not like others in Jesus' ministry who were waiting for Him to come to their town. This man was just waiting and hoping and along comes the Healer. Sometimes Jesus shows up and we may not even know it's him. He may show up in a conversation, in a movie, in a song, in a therapy session, etc. He can show up anywhere, so it's important to keep our eyes and ears open to see and hear him...everywhere.
ReplyDeleteThe other thing that stands out to me is verse 35-36. John was a torch, blazing and bright, and you were glad enough to dance for an hour or so in his bright light. But the witness that really confirms me far exceeds John’s witness. It’s the work the Father gave me to complete. These very tasks, as I go about completing them, confirm that the Father, in fact, sent me.
Sometimes Christians think that the best way for their friends to meet Jesus or be convinced of Jesus' truth is to take them to hear a great speaker - or really any speaker. Jesus flips this thinking on its head by indicating that it's not the one who proclaims that gives the best evidence of who he is, but the works that he did. I think for those who live around us, the best evidence they could see concerning Jesus is us living and doing what Jesus did and would do today. This is why it's important to get to know neighbors, so they can see the good works, so they can see the love we have for each other, and praise our Father in heaven. They need to see us living like Jesus...not like "Christians."
Something really huge struck me in this chapter. Jesus's presence here was fulfillment of so many old testament prophecies....and yet, the ones who witnessed many of the miraclulous events that did the fulfilling, and lived to write and tell about it, weren't even true scholars or students of the scriptures. The Pharisees, who sat around, studying and arguing over the finer points of the scripture, missed the whole point; and the ones who saw it all happen firsthand didn't even know what they were supposed to be looking for. Isn't that ironic? Picture it: the SERVANTS at the wedding feast when He turned water into wine, the BLIND man in the temple courts, the CRIPPLE with his mat by the water....even His disciples: they were simple fishermen, not well-educated Jewish scholars. He truly came to regular people, whose simple faith could be captured without deep anaylsis.
ReplyDeleteI'm realizing freshly the meaning of 'the faith of a child,' this week. We have been doing this study together as a family, nightly. The littlest ones have absolutely no barriers to their faith, no preconceived notions, no skepticism, and lots and lots of questions. The older sits and observes, contributes little to the discussion, yet takes it all in. I understand what He meant when he said that. It really is beautiful.
Thanks for providing this opportunity. Our family is already being transformed by it.
Yes, John even says a few times that they didn't realize until later that Jesus was fulfilling certain prohpecies.
ReplyDeleteBut I think the Parisees did get it. It wasn't that they didn't understand what was happening, it was that they understood all too well. I think some of the ruling council were the most convinced that Jesus was the Messiah, but they hated that the Messiah came and criticized them, that he did not respect their authority.
When Jesus quotes Psalm 22 from the cross and fulfills its prophecies (as we'll see in ch. 19), the Pharisees would have been the first to realize that Jesus was predicting his own resurrection at that time, because they knew the Scriptures so well. Ironically, while Jesus' inner circle was despondent at his death, I think the ruling council was scared to death, more convinced that he would rise than his own disciples were.
It's obviously not a question of knowledge, but a question of trust and love. The "least of these" loved Jesus and trusted him, and that made all the difference.