Further Proofs.

As the rain teems down, I am reminded that it represents Your abundant blessings on me and Your whole creation, at the same time the enigma is that it also represents hardship and difficulty for many. The enigma of Christianity is that what appears as weakness and disaster is often actually the way to greatest blessing – even as we view the cross – perhaps apparently the greatest moment of weakness and disaster – was and is Your greatest triumph.

”Yes, there is apparently much in this world which appears as an enigma. Something beyond your comprehension. How weakness and hurt can actually be for My glory and your good. Only I, as a loving and all-powerful God – full of grace, can see the bigger picture and see how all these enigmas fit together and contribute to your good, as well as the good of all My loving children. I see everything, I see the finest details of your thoughts and motives and I am drawing them all together for my glory and your good“.

The next story in John 5:1-18 picks up the theme of healing and presents the third miracle described in the gospel. Remember, according to 20:30,31, the miracles are presented as proof of who Jesus is. So, the central question of this passage is in v 12 “Who is this fellow…?” There is no direct answer, the reader is left to draw his/her own conclusion.

There is another clue however. That is in the fact that Jesus chose to do this miracle, openly on the Sabbath, in what may appear a purposeful provocation of the people here referred to as “the Jews”. vv 10, 15, 18. This is another move by Jesus to show the difference that the coming of the New Covenant was going to make. Just as in His coming Jesus was going to replace the temple as the place to worship God, so He also was replacing the Sabbath. The Sabbath which represented rest and the opportunity to worship God was now to be found in Jesus. In Him we find our true rest and through and in Him we worship the Father in spirit and truth.

In the background we also see the storm clouds gathering. vs 16 Shows how this open confrontation of the traditions of the Jews was going to contribute to His final persecution and death.

What about the healing, which I have not yet mentioned, which actually acts as a backdrop to the main theme in this part of John’s gospel?

There is the sharp contrast to the healing in the previous chapter, where the subject was the child of an important royal official. Here the subject is a “nobody”, who has been disabled for 38 years. What is not so apparent is the answer to the question, “Why did Jesus choose this man from the number who were all needing healing?” After all Jesus took the initiative here. There is no answer and we could guess anything. It does seem to highlight the whole question of God’s election, which is another Christian enigma and best not attempted to be explained here though.

The other question is in the statement to this anonymous man in vs 14, “See you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you”. We may be tempted to link his disability to the fact that he had committed a specific sin or in his general state of being a sinner. This, according to the rest of the bible does not seem to fit eg, the story of Job. Later in John’s gospel Jesus also heals a blind man and gives an explanation that his blindness was for God’s glory. John 9:3. I take this warning that Jesus gave the man was simply to repent and turn his life around.

So. in the last 3 chapters we have been shown Jesus’ interaction with several people, with diverse backgrounds and it shows how He was interested in people from every sphere of life. What an encouragement it should be for each of us. His wings are spread over the whole of His creation, knowing and caring for each one. No-one is outside His reach.

As the story of Jesus is unfolding, I am sure we are all enjoying a growing faith as we see the proofs of who He is and what he has come to do. Enigmas? There are always things which appear strange to our limited human brain, but if we can relax and trust Jesus and let Him be who He is that takes all the tension out of these apparent contradictions.

God bless you all in the rain till next week. Stay warm.