Whose idea was it to have seven days in the week? I'm sure you knew the answer. It was God's plan, of course; and He also planned that we should have one rest day every week. "Six day you shall labour and do all your work.." God said, "for in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth ... but He rested on the seventh day." (Exodus 20:8-11.)
God planned the rest day for our good. You see, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath." (Mark 2:27.)
Regular rest is an important part of life for mankind; but that does not mean laziness! Six days of work was to be followed by one day of rest.
Although rest is very important for our bodies, there are many parts of our bodies that cannot take a rest, for example, our heart. It needs to keep working all the time for us.
But what is even more important is that God would never stop working for us - providing for us, and caring for us all the time. It is true that God finished creating the world for mankind in just six days. (Genesis 1:26¬31.) But that does not mean He then left His creation unattended ever since. God still cares for us, and is constantly upholding His creation. (Colossians 1:15-20. Hebrews 1:1-3.)
When Jesus was here on earth He was rejected for doing just that. As you hear of what Jesus does in this story today we will see if YOU also will reject Jesus' great love and care!
When Jesus had said to a man who had been paralysed for thirty eight years "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk," he had been instantly healed. (verses 8-9.)
Later the Jews said to the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat." But he replied, "The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" (verses 9-11.)
"So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted Him. Jesus said to them, 'My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I, too, am working.' For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God." (verses 16-18.)
The Jews were not willing to accept that Jesus was the Christ, although there was so much proof that He was the Messiah that God had promised to send. (John 5:31-47. John 3:16-19.)
But, the healed man had accepted Jesus as Lord, and had been willing to obey Him. "Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him,'See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you." (verse 14.)
Will YOU accept that Jesus "the Son of Man is LORD even of the Sabbath." (Mark 2:28.) He wants to be YOUR Lord and Saviour too. He alone can do the miracle in your life of forgiving your sins - if you will ask Him; then as your Lord He will want you to "stop sinning"; but He will be with you to give you the power to do that too! (2nd Corinthians 5:17. 1st Corinthians 10:13.)
When you see how God loves and cares for those who don't even love Him, then you can be sure God still cares for those who have trusted Him to save them from their sin! (Romans 5:6-11. 2nd Peter 5:7.)
Read in John's Gospel chapter 5, verses 8-18, of the Jews wanting to destroy the One who was "equal with God" because He cared for people every day of the week!
John Nixon, Cork, Ireland. P31HD98. Contact: jnixonj@gmail.com
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