Briefly prepare your heart in silence, and ask the Holy Spirit to awaken your sense of anticipation that God is about to speak to you through His Word. Then, before you read, I invite you to pray this prayer based on Psalm 103:8
Lord, You are compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in love.
Teach me how to love as You love.
Amen.
Reading
Jesus had just healed a man from a disability that had bound him for 38 years, and all the local religious leaders could do was persecute him for not sticking to their narrow legalistic understanding of Sabbath-keeping.
We need to think carefully and clearly about Jesus’ response to their criticism. He said:
‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’
By this, Jesus certainly did not mean that He never rested. The Gospels are clear that He did rest, and that He carved out meaningful time to be alone with the Father in restful communion. But, even in His resting, He was always alert to the whispers of the Father. He said in John 4 that His food was to do the will of the Father (John 4:34) and its very clear that this was not a pursuit that respected the boundaries of one day or the next.
For Jesus, the Sabbath was just as much a day to express God’s love and mercy and compassion as any other day! For Jesus, healing on the Sabbath was not a sin. It would have been a sin not to heal on the Sabbath, when the Father had prompted and empowered Him to do so.
For us today this passage does not contain an overt command, but in it we see that our Lord Jesus set us an amazing example. We too are called to permanently pursue the Father’s will, and to always be alert to opportunities to express the Father’s love and mercy in acts of kindness and compassion.
But first a quick word of caution:
In this world of so many needs, it would be easy to become overwhelmed by this example of Jesus. However, remember that there were many sick people gathered around the Pool of Bethesda, and Jesus only healed one of them (John 5:1-12). He must have sensed the prompting of the Father (through the Holy Spirit within Him) to minister healing to that one man. We will also need to be sensitive to the Spirit and follow His leading so that we may know which needs we are called to meet and which are the responsibility of others.
May the Spirit lead, guide and empower us in this endeavour today.
Contemplation
Please take time to ponder what Jesus has commanded us. Turn these declarations over and over in your mind. Keep them in mind throughout the day and live in step with Your King, Jesus.
As a disciple of Jesus Christ:
- I will stay sensitive to the Holy Spirit.
- When He prompts me, I will act to meet the needs of others, in His power and with the resources I have at my disposal.
Lord Jesus, please empower me, resource me, and use me as an instrument of Your Kingdom of love and compassion. Amen.
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