Key Thought

Today's Prayer

Father, stop me and confront me when I am being led astray, especially by things that sound religious, but which are really sin. Give me a clearer and more holy understanding of your will in my life and a more powerful and holy influence upon my friends. In Jesus' name. Amen.

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.

Related Scripture Readings

They said to Jesus, "Teacher, this woman was caught having sex with a man that is not her husband. The law of Moses commands that we kill with rocks every woman that does this. What do you say we should do?" The Jews were using this question to trick Jesus. They wanted to catch Jesus saying something wrong. Then they could have a charge against him. But Jesus kneeled down and started writing on the ground with his finger. The Jewish leaders continued to ask Jesus their question. So Jesus stood up and said, "Is there any person here that has never sinned? That person without sin can throw the first rock at this woman." Then Jesus knelt down again and wrote on the ground. The people that heard Jesus began to leave one by one. The older men left first, and then the others. Jesus was left there alone with the woman. She was standing before him. Jesus looked up again and asked her, "Woman, all of those people are gone. None of them judged you guilty?" The woman answered, "None of them judged me, sir." Then Jesus said, "So I also don't judge you. You can go now, but don't sin again."

Jesus and his followers were at the evening meal. The devil had already persuaded Judas Iscariot to turn against Jesus. (Judas was the son of Simon.) When Judas took the bread, Satan (the devil) entered him. Jesus said to Judas. "The thing that you will do—do it quickly!" None of the men at the table understood why Jesus said this to Judas. Judas was the one that kept the money box {for the group}. So some of the followers thought that Jesus meant for Judas to go and buy some things they needed for the feast. Or they thought that Jesus wanted Judas to go give something to the poor people.

Jesus answered, "The man that has dipped his hand into the same bowl with me is the person that will be against me. The Son of Man will go {and die}. The Scriptures say this will happen. But it will be very bad for the person that gives the Son of Man {to be killed}. It would be better for that person if he were never born." Then Judas said to Jesus, "Teacher, surely I will not be against you!" (Judas is the one that would give Jesus to his enemies.) Jesus answered, "Yes, it is you."