SATURDAY,
SEPTEMBER 3, 2022
TEXT:
John 5:1-18
1.
Soon another Feast came around and Jesus was back in Jerusalem.
2.
Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there was a pool, in Hebrew called Bethesda,
with five alcoves.
3.
Hundreds of sick people – blind, crippled, paralyzed – were in these alcoves.
4.
One man had been an invalid there for thirty-eight years.
5.
When Jesus saw him stretched out by the pool and knew how long he had been
there, he said, “Do you want to get well?”
6.
The sick man said, “Sir, when the water is stirred, I don’t have anybody to put
me in the pool. By the time I get there, somebody else is already in.”
7.
Jesus said, “Get up, take your bedroll, start walking.”
8.
The man was healed on the spot. He picked up his bedroll and walked off.
9.
The Jews stopped the healed man and said, “It’s the Sabbath. You can’t carry
your bedroll around. It’s against the rules.”
10.
But he told them, “The man who made me well told me to. He said, ‘Take your
bedroll and start walking.’”
11.
They asked, “Who gave you the order to take it up and start walking?”
12.
But the healed man didn’t know, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd.
13.
A little later Jesus found him in the Temple and said, “You look wonderful!
You’re well! Don’t return to a sinning life or something worse might happen.”
14.
The man went back and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
15.
That is why the Jews were out to get Jesus – because he did this kind of thing
on the Sabbath.
16.
But Jesus defended himself. “My Father is working straight through, even on the
Sabbath. So am I.”
17.
That really set them off. The Jews were now not only out to expose him; they
were out to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was calling
God his own Father, putting himself on a level with God.
18.
So Jesus explained himself at length. “I’m telling you this straight. The Son
can’t independently do a thing, only what he sees the Father doing. What the
Father does, the Son does.”
(The
Message Holy Bible)
TOPIC:
JESUS, THE LIFE GIVER
Man’s desire to live a
good and quality life hasn’t been possible since the fall of man in the Garden
of Eden (Genesis 3:1-7ff). However, the very purpose of Christ’s coming was to
give life abundantly (John 10:10ff).
Obstacles to living
life abundantly are manifested through the activities of Satan such as illness,
sickness, demonic oppression, lack of life’s essentials, etc. Men are being
constantly deceived to put material needs first before Christ and His Kingdom
(Matthew 6:25-33).
This is contrary to
Christ’s admonition in verse 33: “Seek ye first the Kingdom of God…” Men seek
other things as against Christ but as soon as Jesus steps into any oppressive
situation Satan has placed before them, things must change (John 5:1-9).
Jesus keeps proving to
the world that He is a life giving Savior who performed many miracles to give
real life to the sons of men.
QUESTION:
Do you acknowledge Jesus as the true life giver that you need?
PRAYER:
Lord Jesus, I acknowledge You as the giver of abundant life, please let me
experience Your gift of life as I step out today, Amen.
Remain
Blessed
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