Who Works on the Sabbath?

Tuesday, December 31, 2013     Who Works on the Sabbath?    

John 5:9b-18

I woke up early on a Sunday morning in Jerusalem. As the water was heating for my coffee, I accessed ESPN on my smartphone and checked football scores. To my delight my university team was still playing, and I followed the game as they won with a field goal as time expired. My wife wasn’t too happy when I cheered their victory; “Don’t you know what time it is?” she asked, forcefully! Yes, I did! It was 6:00 AM Sunday morning in Jerusalem, but it was still Saturday night in Doak Campbell Stadium. I was experiencing two different time zones at the same time.

Our passage for today illustrates that Jesus was operating in a different theological time zone from the religious leaders in Jerusalem. Jesus knew it was the Sabbath when he healed the man. Jesus knew that for the Jews, it was a day of rest, as commanded by God; but Jesus said he was working because his Father was working. Isn’t God resting on the Sabbath?

I think Jesus wants us to see that God is working again. This time He is doing a new work to birth His New Creation through the life of the Messiah. Jesus was operating in a completely different sphere of time than the Jews.

With this in mind, can you begin to see the hidden message in John’s signs? (Hint: There are seven signs.) John stopped counting the signs for us at the second sign, and we will continue to identify and count the signs ourselves. The healing at the Pool of Bethesda is sign number three. We will continue to discover signs until we get to the seventh sign and the birth of God’s New Covenant.

The symmetry of the scriptures, to all of God’s creation, is astonishing.

Sē’lah

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(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

Jesus Heals a Lame Man

Monday, December 30, 2013      Jesus Heals a Lame Man    

John 5:1-9a

The Pools of Bethesda are quite large and deep. The local legend was that the waters had healing properties. When an angel would stir the water, it would bubble up, and the first person in the water would be healed. (Verse 4 provided this information, but the verse is not in the most ancient copies of John, so it has been deleted in most modern translations.) Jesus’ question to the crippled man frames the issue: is he satisfied living life as a beggar, or does he want a better life? Jesus was neither putting down the man’s poverty or his physical condition. I believe his concern was the man’s willingness to accept his condition as the way things were and would be for the rest of his life.

Jesus stings me a bit in this episode. I remember visiting the remains of the Pools of Bethesda and thinking how good it would be if Jesus could come and heal my damaged emotions. I recalled the Apostle Paul’s anguish in crying out to God for healing for his thorn in the flesh, only to hear the Lord respond, “My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness” (1 Corinthians 12:8). I have found it quite a challenge to trust that God’s grace is sufficient for me to leave the weariness of my place by the Pools of Bethesda and follow Jesus’ imperative to, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!” (John 5:8). Some days I do better than others. How about you?

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

Friday, December 27, 2013        Jesus Heals an Official’s Son

John  4: 43-54

When Jesus was back in Cana, John says Jesus performed the second miraculous sign. Jesus’ own commentary was that many people were more interested in his signs than they were in going where the signs were pointing them. When I was in Israel, as we were boarding our tour bus in Caesarea to continue our journey to Jerusalem, I noticed some in our group taking photos of the road sign pointing to Jerusalem. If they would have been satisfied with their photo of the road sign, and never journeyed on to Jerusalem, they would have been like the people in Galilee responding to Jesus’ signs.

But the government official from Capernaum was not like that; he was more like the Samaritan woman. He clearly believed Jesus was the only hope for his child: “The official pleaded, “Lord, please come now before my little boy dies” (John 4:49). Like the Samaritan woman, he chose to believe what Jesus told him. When he returned home and found his son well, his choice to believe Jesus turned into saving faith for him and his entire family: “And he and his entire household believed in Jesus (John 4:53b).

John’s commentary reminds us that the miracles of Jesus have a specific purpose. Jesus’ signs are given so that “you may continue to believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing in him you will have life by the power of his name” (John 20:31). This gift of life is how Jesus defined his own mission: “I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (John 10:10b The Message). Have you found your life in Jesus, the Messiah, the Son of God?

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.

Many Samaritans Believe

Thursday, December 26, 2013         Many Samaritans Believe    

John 4: 27-42

If you have experienced a time in your life where you were so caught up in the joy of what you were doing, that you had no sense of time or hunger, you are most blessed. Handel wrote The Messiah, perhaps one of the most loved pieces of music of all time, in just a few short weeks. He seldom stopped to sleep or eat, and after he completed his work, he described it as a heavenly vision. I wonder if that was how Jesus was feeling after the Samaritan woman shared her experience with her neighbors. What had been planned as a brief stop to purchase food turned into an extended stay where many more people received the Good News that Jesus was the Messiah. Most often, in our hindsight, we can see over a long period of time where God has been shaping and molding people to conform them to His will. Occasionally, we may get to be a part of a great flood of God’s grace, saving, healing and redeeming His people. Interestingly, the people around us may not know what is happening, just as Jesus’ disciples that afternoon in Samaria didn’t realize the magnitude of the change that was coming to the Samaritan woman’s small village.

That Samaritan revival began so innocently. The woman simply told her neighbors and friends how she had experienced Jesus. She had no great theological insights or understanding. She had an encounter with Jesus and told others about her wonderful experience. Can starting revivals be so simple? What was your most recent encounter with God’s grace? Have you told anyone?

“Let the redeemed of the Lord say so” (Psalm 107:2a NRSV).

Sē’lah

<><  <><  <><  <><

(Selah is a word that appears in the Book of Psalms that I often use as the Complimentary Closing in my correspondence. Its meaning, as I use the word, is to pause and think about these things.)

These meditations are written by Alex M. Knight as he seeks the life in Christ as his way of life.  The meditations are published on the BLOG, http://seekingthelifeinchrist.blogspot.com/ and they are also distributed on the Constant Contact email server. You may subscribe to this email service by sending an email to: amkrom812@gmail.com. The BLOG is also available on Amazon Kindle, by subscription.

Publications by Alex M. Knight:

·        Seeking the Life in Christ, Meditations on the New Testament and Psalms has been published and is now available at Amazon.com in paperback and Kindle.

·        The second edition of  First Think – Then Pray is available on Amazon Kindle.

·        Meditations on The Story of My Life as told by Jesus Christ has been released as an e-book on Amazon Kindle.

Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188.