JOHN 5:9b-14 WHAT DO WE MISS?

9 The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.” 11 But he replied, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ ”

12 So they asked him, “Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?”

13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.

14 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.”

As the old saying puts it, the religious authorities “could not see the forest for the trees.” In this case they missed the opportunity to see God in action among them because they were so focused on their own way of honoring God. Where Scripture commands that God’s people keep the Sabbath holy by ceasing their work as a reminder of the gift of God’s order and deliverance (Exodus 20:8-10; Deuteronomy 5:12-14), the religious leaders translated it into a burdensome list of dos and don’ts. So, when they questioned the man, they never referred to his healing, only to why he was working on the Sabbath and who told him to do so.

Although we see the error in the attitude of the religious leaders, let us not fall into the same trap by concentrating on them as intransigent sinners bent on destroying Jesus. Rather, we need to read them as a warning, an example of how easy it is for human beings to make even what God gives us into an idol. For example, we profess that God is acting in the world around us everyday. Yet we are so caught up in our daily living that we seldom notice, let alone acknowledge his works. Mostly we ignore ordinary and daily miracles. But when we are confronted by the extraordinary we are quick to attempt to explain it on the basis of human knowledge and understanding. When our focus is on the trees rather than the maker of the trees, we lose the opportunity to praise our Maker and grow in our relationship with him. We miss the assurance that God gives us in this world that he is the One who provides the miracle of our salvation, the extraordinary life eternal.

Save me Lord from settling for ordinary thinking when I encounter the extraordinary. Give me the eyes to see your hand at work in the world around me. Heal my heart so that I might rejoice and give thanks and praise to you unceasingly for all you are doing. May I always know you as the living God to follow and not settle for a dead set of human rules or expectations to adhere to. Amen.