We’ve come to John Chapter 5 when Jesus now leaves the rural areas and goes straight into the eye of the storm in Jerusalem. He’s there to stir up trouble. Yeah, our sweet,little, wouldn’t hurt a fly Jesus was looking for a fight and knew exactly where to go.
He meets a lame guy, who has been lame for 38 years, using perfectly good excuses why he can do no other. And yet Jesus in a moment says, “Get up, take up your bed and walk,” illustrating the fact that God is not going to do magic for you. You’re going to be involved in every miracle He does in your life in some way. You’re going to join Him because God is looking for a relationship, not more people to wow.
Since Jesus healed the guy on the Sabbath, the religious people totally forgot about the miracle and the good news that this guy could walk. It’s the fact that they were carrying his bed, they wanted to know who to blame, and they soon found Jesus.
It’s also important to listen carefully to this week’s episode to understand that Jesus claimed to be God. We worship Jesus as God; not as a sub-god or a lesser god, but listen to the ways in which He drew attention to Himself by confessing that He was equal with God.