Good morning. After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. It does not say which one, but it must’ve been one of the major ones that expects all males to go up to Jerusalem. The beginning of the next chapter has the Passover at hand; so unless John skipped a whole year, this was not the Passover. There is in Jerusalem a pool, which is called Bethesda. Because he said “is” and not “was”, some argue that the gospel of John was written before the destruction of the temple in 70 A.D. However, John likes to use what is known in the Greek as the historical present. He uses the present tense instead of the past tense to describe an event - to draw you into the scene. It’s like someone telling a joke and saying, a man goes into a bar and… instead of a man went into a bar and…. You feel like you’re right there in the bar. So this very well could have been why John used the present instead of the past tense. There was a multitude of people around the pool waiting for the moving of the waters. Whoever stepped in first was healed. There was a man who had been ill for 38 years at the pool waiting for the stirring of the waters. I can’t even begin to imagine what that was like. There is no way that you would have any hope left, as is evident by the discussion that follows. Do you wish to get well? Are you serious, dude? I am here, aren’t I? I don’t have anyone to help me, so everyone beats me into the water. Get up, pick up your pallet and walk. Immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Some people say that a person was not healed because he did not have any faith. It is obvious that this man had no faith at all. He had a little bit of hope, but it was more like someone hoping to win the lottery. He must’ve felt something, otherwise he would not have gotten up and started to walk. Now it was the Sabbath that day. We’ll see next time the problems that causes. Father, help the reader to have a safe, happy time with his/her family.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners

  Good morning. So, was the law a bad thing? We know that the law is good, if one uses it lawfully (not to control people, as some were), realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous person, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane…, and whatever else is contrary to sound teaching, according to the glorious gospel of the Blessed God, with which I have been entrusted. I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, even though I was formerly a blasphemer etc. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief, and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus. Formerly Paul was good in the eyes of the law, but unrighteous in the eyes of God. Despite that, God was more than able to use him in a magnificent way to bring the gospel to the Gentiles. Father thank You that Your Grace is gre...
Read more

Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me

  Good morning. Paul then gives a list of a lot of things that he has gone through as an apostle. I do not write these things to shame you, but to admonish you as my beloved children. For if you were to have countless tutors in Christ, yet you would not have many fathers, for in Christ Jesus I became your father through the gospel. There could be many people that you listen to either in church or through the Internet or other means; but there was only one person (as a general rule it was a person) that lead you to Christ. Therefore I exhort you, be imitators of me. He was saying that just like a child imitates his or her father, they were to imitate him. He says that again seven chapters later. Since it is easy to forget some things about people we have not seen in a while, Paul says that he sent Timothy to them to remind them of his ways which are in Christ, just as he taught everywhere in every church. Some have become arrogant, as though I were not coming to you. I shall find ou...
Read more

Philip, who was one of the seven deacons, went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching Christ to them.

  Good morning. Therefore, those who had been scattered went about preaching the word. Philip, who was one of the seven deacons, went down to the city of Samaria and began preaching Christ to them. This is the area where Jesus had the discussion with the woman at the well. Remember from Acts 1:8 that after Jerusalem, Samaria was mentioned. Samaritans were looked down upon by the Jews and considered more or less half Jews. A lot of the Jews of the northern kingdom were taken away and replaced by others who were not Jews. They intermingled with the Jews that were living in the northern kingdom. Even though Samaria was not far away, the disciples had not come there to preach the word before this. The disciples may have even thought that it was impossible for them to get saved, just like the Gentiles. The crowds with one accord were giving attention to what was said by Philip, as they heard and saw the signs which he was performing. Even though he was “just a deacon”, God worked throug...
Read more