Key Thought

Stop sinning! Interesting, isn't it that while all the fury and fuss were about Jesus' supposed sin on the Sabbath, the real sinner was the man who is healed. He didn't want to take responsibility for anything. He wouldn't go out on the limb to honor Jesus and follow him. Jesus warns him and he ignores it. He goes and immediately betrays Jesus into the hands of those who would do him harm. When we become ashamed to share the testimony of what Jesus is doing in our lives, the sad reality is, we are easily conscripted to do holy sounding things that actually do the Kingdom great harm. Jesus says to us, "Stop sinning!" Let's heed his warning today.

Today's Prayer

Today's Verses in Context

Later Jesus went to Jerusalem for a special Jewish festival. In Jerusalem there is a pool with five covered porches. In the Jewish language it is called Bethzatha. This pool is near the Sheep Gate. Many sick people were lying on the porches {beside the pool}. Some of the people were blind, some were crippled, and some were paralyzed. There was a man lying there who had been sick for 38 years. Jesus saw the man lying there. Jesus knew that the man had been sick for a very long time. So Jesus asked the man, "Do you want to be well?" The sick man answered, "Sir, there is no person to help me get into the water when the water starts moving. I try to be the first person into the water. But when I try, another person always goes in before I can." Then Jesus said, "Stand up! Pick up your bed and walk." Then immediately the man was well. The man picked up his bed and started walking. The day all this happened was a Sabbath day. So some Jews said to the man that had been healed, "Today is the Sabbath. It is against our law for you to carry your bed on the Sabbath day." But the man answered, "The person (Jesus) that made me well told me, 'Pick up your bed and walk.'" The Jews asked the man, "Who is the person that told you to pick up your bed and walk?" But the man that had been healed did not know who the person was. There were many people in that place, and Jesus had left. Later Jesus found the man at the temple. Jesus said to him, "See, you are well now. But stop sinning or something worse may happen to you!" Then the man left and went back to those Jews. The man told them that Jesus was the one that made him well.

— John 5:1-15 (ERV)

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