In John 5:17-41, as I paraphrase, or
interpret, what I gleamed from these verses.
Jesus is calling out the Jews for their ignorance in not recognizing
that the Son of God is standing right before their very faces. They focus so much on their rules and
regulations that they can’t see their nose to spite their
faces. Jesus is standing right in front
of them and out of their own ignorance, jealousy and inflated egos they don’t
even recognize that the person their precious Word has explained is coming, has
in fact arrived.
They are so focused on crossing their
T’s and dotting their I’s, in keeping their rules of no healing on the Sabbath,
that they are focusing on compartmentalizing the Word they say the love. If they were so in tuned and so educated on
the Word, wouldn’t they have recognized that in front of them was the Word made
flesh, in Jesus?
Jesus is calling them out for their
foolishness, and for living with blinders on, to the truth in front of them. Have you ever seen a horse and buggy? If you have, you will notice one of the things
about the horse is that the horse has on blinders. As the horse matures in training and shows
his behavior to be trust able and safe, the blinders can be removed, but until
that time you train a horse with blinders.
The purpose of the blinders are to allow the horse to only focus on what
is in front of them, and to trust that their owner will keep them safe. The blinders can keep them from harming
themselves, and the people they are carrying to safety.
People have blinders on in life
too. We wear blinders to the people we
love, to our jobs and even to the violent world we have been accustomed to
living in. In these verses, Jesus is
telling the Jews that they are basically, wearing blinders to the life that is
manifesting past the rules and regulations they so strictly enforce. Jesus is telling them, you love this Word so
much, but yet you fail to recognize in human form, what your Word tells you.
In no way is Jesus downplaying the
greatness that is the Word of God, but what he is saying, is you can be so
focused on the written Word, that you fail to see it manifested in life,
right before your eyes. They wanted to
kill the Son of God over healing a man on the Sabbath, but yet, the Word shows
us over and over, that God will be sending a new “Sacrificial Lamb” into the
world to end sin forever more.
You can become so engrossed in one way
of thinking ,that it actually becomes death to you, no matter how Holy the
original thought, or purpose was. That
is the case for the Jews.
Jesus is telling them over and over, that
he is the Son of God, that he is the “Sacrificial Lamb” that God has talked
about in the now New Testament. But the Jews, being jealous of Jesus, because of
the miracles he has been performing, and what they thought was a threat on their
ability to education and control what the people were being fed, through their
teaching, never saw the truth of who he is.
How disappointing this must have been to
God. I am sure at a point these men
entered into the word of God for nourishment, for understanding, for direction
of their own lives, and they have made the very Word they clung too
Legalistic.
I can see in my mind, how Jesus in a very
calm voice was telling these men, look how do you not see it, as it is so
clear, that I am the one that my Father has been talking about. I am the one, who is coming to be about my
Father’s work. I am not coming to work
against you, I in fact am coming to work with you, to bring healing, closeness,
faith and hope to the people we both love so much.
He even in verse 5:35 brought back their
example of how Jesus needed a living testimony and they called upon John the
Baptist.
Jesus says and even in your testimony
you are wrong, as a mere human cannot begin to hold evidence, when you are
coming against the testimony of God.
John the Baptist, was the lamp that kept on burning and shining to show
you the way and you believed in him, for a while, but that too burnt out, but
now you call on him to give testimony as to who I am. My Father sent him to light the path for me
so that I may come. You can see the
floundering of the Jews who once, mocked John the Baptist of his work, but are
now using him to make a case against Jesus.
Jesus at this time goes in for the
jugular, but in a very respectable way, of course. Jesus then says the Father himself has
already testified for me, you would have seen this had you searched for my
Father’s face and voice. Had you not
been so concerned with reading only the Black and White of the Word, and took
some time to actually seek my Father for his voice, for his face, if you would
have actually had a real life relationship with my Father, there would be no
need for this conversation now.
If you would have chosen to focus on the
Face of my Father and a relationship with him, you would have already known by
connecting to my spirit, who sent me.
You would be able to see my Father’s resemblance in me, but since you
desired only to have the Black and White of my Father’s Word and not the life
that lies between the pages, you can’t see my Father in me. You can’t see my Father’s works happening in
this world. You only see someone doing
something your limited understanding allows you.
Jesus is telling all of us with these
very powerful, thought provoking words, that it is not enough to read the Word
of God and not know the Face, Heart and Voice of God. His Word is not a book that you read to get
from one page to another. His Word is
life and power. His Word brings
transformation and healing and if you take the time to read one word at a time
and ask the Father for understanding and revelation, of his Word, all of these
things can and shall be yours.
He is telling us that though Jesus is
God’s Word made Flesh, it is still of up most importance, to seek God’s Face, and
know the Heart of God, because in doing that you will know the Heart of
Jesus. If you read the Bible as a story
book, will you be impacted by the Word, I am sure you will, because there is
life in each Word. But if you read the
Bible word for word as it is nourishment to your soul, not only will you be
impacted, but you will be changed. You
will see the Face of God, hear the voice of God, and come into the Praise of
God.
We are told to seek God’s Face and not
just his Hand. To me these verses were
kind of the same thing. Don’t be so
foolish to read the words as just words, for the Face of God is missed if you
read the Bible that way. Relish each word;
find the power and strength in each word.
Speak to God as you are reading the Word. Ask him for understanding and revelation or
even, how the words you are reading can be applied to your life.
The Bible is a book, yes, but it is
unlike any other book we will ever read.
This is a book that will take a broken hearted sinner and bring him
healing, restoration and freedom from the evil that devours him. The Bible is our Doctor, our Therapist, our
Minister, our Best Friend and our Guide.
The Bible is all of these things because the Bible is the Word of our
Lord, and the Manifestation of our Savior in earth.
This is not a book you should study like
the Jews did. This is a book you should
take your time with. This is the book
that you must read between the lines to reveal the truth in. If you read the Bible the way the Jews read
the Bible, you will miss exactly what the Jews missed… Jesus, Healing,
Forgiveness, Truth, Love, Redemption, Power, Authority, Praise, Goodness,
Peace, Kindness, Patience, Long-Suffering… you will miss the Face and Voice of
your King of Kings… You will miss God!!
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