Lent can be a great time of discovery. It is often viewed as a time to focus on what is truly important in life. We also need to examine what is truly important in our Christian walk.
Jesus performs a miracle at the Bethesda pool in John 5:1-15. Scripture records that a man was healed after being ill for thirty-eight years. Jesus asks the man if he would like to get well and then commands him to, “Get up, pick up your cot, and walk.”
All these events were done on the Sabbath, a day set aside for worship. Many people saw this previously crippled man walking through their streets. While there should be shouts of joy, exclamations of praise, hand shakes, back slapping, and chaotic rejoicing people instead focus on our recently healed walker carrying a cot.
Tradition did not allow people to “perform work” on the Sabbath. Carrying a cot would fall into that category. It was not the law of Moses but their interpretation of it that prohibited carrying loads of any kind on the Sabbath. Folks were so fearful of ever breaking the Law that they built an artificial “hedge” around it, comprising volumes of extra rules and stipulations. In fact, this hedge created an additional 613 provisions so that people could avoid breaking a commandment. While this was done to avoid offending God, it only drove a wedge between the people and God. It created an atmosphere where the people focus on works and wrongs instead of the message and ministry of Jesus their Savior. In short, they missed the miracle.
Jesus was present. He was in their midst. The Messiah was alive, active, and at work in Jerusalem. Jesus was just footsteps from their door. The Lord performed an incredible miracle where a man’s life was transformed and physically healed. A crippled man was able to walk, perhaps for the very first time in his life. But people could only see a Sabbath infraction instead of the Savior.
Let us rejoice when a family shows up to worship instead of snickering that they are fifteen minutes late. Let us be joyful when a man arrives in the sanctuary instead of judging the clothes on his back. Let us celebrate the future when a criminal accepts Christ instead of focusing on the past. Let us see the miracle. Let us see the Savior.
God bless you on your Lenten walk this year.
