T E X K I N G ’ S B U S I N E S S
December,. 1942
Jesus Christ. “Wilt”—are you willing to be helped? "Thou”—is it strictly a personal and Individual matter? “ Be made”—do you admit that you cannot get help for or from yourself? “Whole” —are you wanting to receive merely a little help? The impotent man, thinking all he heeded was to have some one place him In the pool before any one else stepped In, said that he had no man to help him. Helpless and hence hope less he was, and In that condition he became the object of the mercy of the Great Physician. It is when utter help lessness is acknowledged that Jesus Christ works. Then the word of power came, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” There must have been something compelling in the attitude o f Jesus as He spoke these words. In spite of the man’s knowledge of his helplessness, he did rise up and walk. That is all the Saviour asks—simple obedience to His word of power. “Immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked.” m . T h e O b j e c t io n t o M e r c y (10-17) The Jews, seeing the man carrying his bed, objected because the occasion was the Sabbath. But the healed man declared, "He that made me whole . . . said unto me, T¿ike up thy bed and walk.” But he could not tell who it was that had healed him. Afterwards Jesus found the man and warned him to sjn no more (v. 14). While not all sickness is traceable to Individual wrongdoing, evidently this man’s trouble was caused by sinful ness. In any case, the measure of our understanding and acknowledgment of our sin will be the measure of our reception of -the mercy bestowed by the Lord. The Jews began to persecute Jesus when they found it was He who had helped this man. They overlooked the good deed which had been done to the impotent man, failed to see the mani festation of /the presence of God in their midst, and were blind to the mercy that flowed from the Lord Jesus Christ. They could see only their wrong interpretation of the injunction: “Bear no burden on the sabbath” (cf. Jer. 17:21). They pressed the command of God to a point which made them •willing that men should suffer if only their own religious rites were correctly observed. For the same reason many a Christian will allow impotent sin ners to wait in hopelessness beside the “house of mercy” before they will lift a hand to make that name a reality. But the Great Physician is ever ready to-give to men the grace, and mercy and blessing from God, if they will humbly receive. In this blessed minis try toward all helpless, hopeless sin ners such as we are, the Lord Jesus
Christ could say, “My Father worketh even until now, and I work” (v. 17, R. V.). Praise His name! Points and Problems 1. John 5 sets before us one of the miracles of John’s Gospel. This Gospel contains fewer miracles than any of the other Gospels. The reason is that the synoptic Gospels are mainly con cerned with the work of Jesus, where as John’s Gospel is mainly devoted to the words of Jesus. In all, there are eight miracles performed by Christ in John, seVen before ,His resurrec tion and one after. These miracles were performed and were recorded for a very definite purpose as explained in John 20:30, 31: “Many other signs truly did Jesus. . . But these are writ ten, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye m i g h t have life through his name.” In the “signs” , of John’s Gospel, therefore, we are ex pected to see the deity of Christ and the way of salvation presented. It should be carefully noted that the word used for “miracle” in John is the Greek word which means “sign.” The events of this Gospel that are termed miracles are signposts point ing to Him who is the Son of God and to the salvation He has provided. 2. "I have no man . . . to put me into the pool" (v. 7). It seems very strange that in thirty-eight years this man could find no one to have enough compassion upon him to get him into the healing waters. Is there any way to account for such neglect? We know that the man Was suffering as a result of his sin. After his healing, Jesus said to him, “Sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee” (v. 14). Quite likely this man had been the worst among sinners. Men had no use for him. They evaded him. They felt that liis healing would be a detri ment to the community. But Jesus picked him out as the object of His healing touch in order that He might display His boundless g r a c e upon him (cf. Mk. 2:17). 3. "Take up thy bed" (v. 8). Why? Because he would not need it any more there at the pool! He was never to go back to that place to lie down again. He must not make any provi sion for a relapse into his former con dition. It is a sad sight to witness souls touched by the glorious gospel of Christ trudging back to Bethesda to lie down in their old habits and sins. When sinners come to Christ, they ought to make a clean break with the'past. 4. "And immediately the man . . . walked" (v. 9). He walked in the way of fellowship with the Lord’s people. He went to the temple (v. 14). He also walked in the way of witnessing (v. 15).
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