Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well! Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God. -John 5:14-18 NRSV
Up to this time in history God had been known by many names but nothing as intimate as Father. The Jews took exception to Jesus calling God by this name because they felt that it made him equal to God. Yet Jesus did not seem to embrace a proprietary view when he taught us to pray "Our Father". I love this name because it reveals God's desire for an intimate relationship with each of us. Gone are the days of fear. Now is the time when we in a whisper cry out Daddy.
Don't you love how Jesus replies to those who would stop him from healing on the Sabbath? His words are indictment against the rules that Jewish leaders had imposed on those who followed them. This is true of anyone who follows Jesus. Our mission is not to follow words written by men but to discern what God himself is doing and follow him in it.
Teach us Father to rely more on you and not upon others. Help us to hear and follow the small voice that shouts within us.
... this devotion is part of an ongoing series on the Gospel of John.
Woo Hoo, amen.
ReplyDeleteExcellent commentary Bob. I would add that Jesus was introducing the New Covenant in which we find our Rest (Sabbath) in Him everyday, not just one day a week.
DeleteYes. Sabbath every day.
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