46. There is healing in the camp! (John 5:13-18)
Posted by:
SeLahGirl on
February 13, 2008 at
3:14PM EST
There is healing in the camp!
(John 5:13-18)
13The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
I love this about Jesus, he was always so brilliant in understanding
how people would react. If he had allowed the guy to unmistakably know
who he was up front, it would have hindered Christ from being able to
do what he was really wanting and needing to do -- to be about the
Father's business of teaching and preaching.
Jesus knew
that as soon as people realized that he was the one who had performed
the miracle, the church leaders and curious onlookers would bog him
down forever with jealous disputes and debates trying to disprove what
had happened. He didn't have time for that at that particular moment.
Scripture doesn't tell us exactly why. But there were probably divine
encounters (that are not recorded btw) that he was to fulfill before
the silliness of men's hearts attempted to hinder all that was really
important.
Rather than walking away from this man, whose
pain had truly moved Christ with compassion, he -- BAM -- healed him,
and then disappeared into the crowded downtown to help some other
people before attention-grabbers and gossip-mongers got in the way of
him ministering to anyone else that morning/afternoon.
14Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, "See, you are
well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." 15The
man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
I think that after Jesus made sure that every divine encounter had
happened that was possible, and all the others that were in his heart
were taken care of and helped or discipled... he found the guy and
finished ministering to him. Jesus wasn't just about the physical
needs, he was so much more about the spiritual needs of people. This
second encounter with this man, was far more important that the first.
The first brought relief to his body so he could live this brief vapor
with a little more joy. But it was the second encounter that would
ensure eternal health and joy for this man.
I don't know
why this guy went straight to the church leaders. Perhaps, he just
didn't get it, or perhaps Christ never impressed him not to. It could
have been that the guy feared the church leaders and was threatened
with being put out of the synagogue if he didn't provide the whole of
the story as soon as he figured it out. Maybe Jesus heard thru the
grapevine that this guy had been threatened and the poor man was
searching for him in distress. Perhaps that is why Christ came to him
to reveal his identity and to remind him to refrain from sin. idk.
Either way, Jesus knew that revealing himself to this guy would draw
the fire of the the church leaders. But Christ was not
afraid/hindered/intimidated from doing what he deemed was right and
necessary.
16So, because Jesus was doing these things
on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. 17Jesus said to them, "My
Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working."
18For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only
was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own
Father, making himself equal with God.
The Jews had
swallowed a camel and were swatting at gnats as Jesus states at one
point. They were gobbling up huge things that were way more than
necessary as spiritual nourishment, creating laws that were burdens to
people rather than encouragement and direction in their relationship
with God. They were concerned more with forcing people to blindly obey
doctrines and the teachers of the doctrines, rather than teaching and
encouraging them to obey a God who loves them, who cares for their
physical and spiritual well being.
They swatted at gnats,
disregarded any portion or item of the law that they in their arrogance
deemed small and unimportant. They ignored the prompting of the Spirit
and commands of God regarding things that convicted them of their own
sin or that lessoned their influence and power of intimidation over the
people. They twisted and manipulated the commands of God so that they
could stand in positions as though they were God, as though they were
to be obeyed/feared as God. It was a tyranny, it was not of God, it was
arrogance and sin. It was the spirit of rebellion spawned by Satan from
the beginning when he tried to exalt himself above God. What idiots we
can become, what blind guides, when we walk in pride and arrogance. We
will fall like lightening from the heavens just as Satan did no matter
how adamantly we profess to be working for the Kingdom of God. Make no
mistake about that.
Jesus said that his Father was always
at his work, even to that specific day which was the Sabbath. That
means that even God works in some sense on the Sabbath. Later Jesus
explains further that the Sabbath was created to serve man, not the
other way around. The Day of Rest is not to hinder or restrict men from
doing good or obeying God thru service and compassion. It is something
to be honored, a blessing to enjoy, to maintain health, but it is not a
bondage meant to hinder us from performing the will of God.
Jesus states that he follows the Father's example, and that is why he
also worked on the Sabbath by serving and helping this man. The need
fell on a Sabbath. A need whose resolution was dependent upon that
particular afternoon/moment... Christ could not walk away from helping
this man just because his moment of need came on a Saturday afternoon.
Jesus remembered the Sabbath, and he kept it Holy by performing the
will of God without compromising his own health or the health of anyone
else.
How ironic that the congregation tried to kill Jesus
for making himself equal to God and calling God his Father. When this
is exactly what the church leaders were doing. They were making
themselves equal to God. So much so that the loyalties of the people
and their congregation was willing to protect their church leaders and
to take up offense at anyone that challenged their authority or their
commands. They accused Jesus not based on the Scriptures, but based on
the teachings of their church leaders. Otherwise they would have heard
what Christ was saying and discerned in their spirits that Christ was
Truth and that (unlike the church leaders) Jesus was in fact God.
But they were infected with the same blindness that seems to be
attacking the church today. They could only see the vision and
teachings of men. Scripture paled in the presence of the leaders that
they worshiped as their gods. That's why the guilt is not just upon the
church leaders in such situations. It remains the sin of the
people/congregation just as much.
Their worship of leaders, is worship of other gods.
Their worship of leaders, empowers men to think more highly of
themselves than they should (which opens the door for them to abuse the
people that are beneath them).
Their worship of leaders, empowers
Satan to use them all to wound and scatter the flock, to steal and to
kill all who have believed/trusted in the safety of the fold.
Wolves in our midst... this is a picture of what it looks like.
But there is a good shepherd that watches over his sheep, and such wolves will pay a hefty price.
And there are servant shepherds that have heard the voice of the good
shepherd. Such faithful shepherds are not only called to expose the
wolves, but they are the ones who will rescue the sheep from the very
mouths of those wolves. They are the beautiful ones who will minister
to the sheep that are left bloody and wounded. They are the ones that
the favor/anointing of God rests upon, and whose strength will not fail
in the hour of need.
There is an army of such shepherds that God has prepared and he is calling them to rise up.
They are equipped and called to minister specifically in this hour of
the church. They are empowered to apply healing balm in the name of
Jesus, they are empowered to restore life and strength to those that
have suffered attack -- been left for dead. Just as all seemed hopeless
in Elijah's day as he lay under that Juniper tree... God has prepared
servants/prophets/shepherds for this hour that no one was even aware
of. God was not taken by surprise. He has heard our cry and he will not
turn away from us. He will restore and has restored his people, his
bride. The church will rise up whole and well -- and with great power
and beauty.
The Good Shepherd wields his staff with great skill, and no enemy will stand in his presence.
There is healing in the camp.
In the name of Jesus.
Amen.
