This time I'm first :-).
The first line that struck me was ...
When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had been ill for a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be well?"
... this might seem like a strange question for Jesus to ask but I think I understand it. Sometimes change, even for the better, is scary and it can be easier to have things remain the same, even when they are bad ... the badness you know may be preferable to the goodness you don't.
Next ...
Jesus found him in the temple area and said to him, "Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you."
... ok, this creeps me out a little. Is Jesus saying that the guy was crippled because he had sinned, that if one sins, bad things will happen to them? I thought God caused the sun to rise on both good and bad alike, so to speak.
And ...
Therefore, the Jews began to persecute Jesus because he did this on a sabbath.
... Jesus here seems to be saying (through actions) that the Sabbath was made for men, not the other way around ... the spirit of the law trumps the letter.
3 comments:
Crystal:
I read the man as a lazy good for nothing, and it seems to me Jesus treated him accordingly.
He used tough love if you please. Reminds me of myself as a Probation Officer. (People used to say, "the Lord is my Probation Officer: a bastardization of the 23rd Psalm)
Dealing with hundreds of men I had to make snap judgments. Some I dealt with as a mother; others as a father. Some seemed to need TLC; others a kick in the pants. Both efforts designed to promote their well being.
Maybe God treats you and me like that two; perhaps alternately a pat on the head and a kick in the pants. Both done lovingly.
No, no no!!! My plastic Jesus doesn't do tough love! Yikes ... it's so hard for me to let God be God :-)
interesting comment, Larry, I had never thought of it that way but it makes Jesus's statements make more sense. Sort of an OT approach from Jesus.
I could split the baby, maybe the lame man wasn't lazy but had more of a psychosomatic disease. Interesting.
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