Read John 5:9b-15
I’m Concerned For Both Your Physical And Spiritual Needs.
It was on the Sabbath day that Jesus healed the invalid next to the Bethesda pool. Jesus told the man to pick up his mat and walk. The Jewish leaders were furious with the man because he was carrying his mat on the Sabbath. In their eyes, he was “working on the Sabbath.”
A man just got healed after being an invalid for 38 years, instead of rejoicing and praising God, the religious leaders looked past this demonstration of God’s love and power and focused on the mat. In reality, the mat was a testimony of God’s power. All they could see was the breaking of a misinterpreted law.
The man told the Jewish leaders that the one who healed him told him to pick up his mat and walk. Immediately they wanted to know who the man was who healed him. But he didn’t know his name. Later Jesus found the man at the temple and said to him, “Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”
The man who was healed wasn’t just hurting physically but spiritually. Jesus was concerned for both.
1. He healed the man physically,
2. But later went back and told the man to stop sinning or something worse may happen to him. Jesus was concerned for both.
I remember taking a group of teens and adults to an older lady’s house, who was a widow, and had a bunch of work needing done in and outside the house. We did so on the Sabbath. I remember later being confronted by a man from our church for working on the Sabbath. I respected the man’s opinion but I said I didn’t see it as work but as a healing opportunity for a woman fully overwhelmed by the surrounding tasks needing done. To me, working on the Sabbath is when I selfishly do something for my pleasure versus for the benefit of another and for God’s glory. I didn’t want to miss the opportunity to rejoice over the healing of this lady’s spirit because of being legalistic about God’s law.
When we were all done, we celebrated in her house and prayed with her before we left. The JOY in this lady’s heart spoke a thousand words.
Lord, help me invest in both the physical and spiritual needs of others. Then let it be an opportunity to rejoice in your great love and great power.
