1st Saturday of Lent (February 28). Breaking the law

Prepare to Listen. In him was life, and the life was the light of all people.
 
Prayerfully Read John 5:9b-18 or 1-18 (if you’re unfamiliar with this story)
Now that day was a Sabbath.  10So the Jews said to the man who had been cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your mat.”  11But he answered them, “The man who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your mat and walk.’ ”  12They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take it up and walk’?”  13Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had disappeared in the crowd that was there.  14Later Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you have been made well!  Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.”  15The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the Sabbath.  17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” 
18For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.
 
Prayerfully Wonder
The crippled man Jesus made well isn’t my favorite Bible character!  When asked if he wanted health (v. 6), he whined, blamed others for not helping him.  When rebuked by the Jews for breaking the Sabbath, he shifted the blame to Jesus.  After learning Jesus’ identity, he betrayed him to the Jews.  He never expressed gratitude nor belief in Jesus.  Since John’s purpose was “so that you may believe” (20:31), it makes me wonder why this story was preserved.  What do you think?
 
When Jesus met the man in the temple, he warned him not to sin anymore.  Was his sin his reluctance to be healed—he blamed others?  Or was it his failure to recognize and believe in Jesus—he betrayed him instead?  He needed to please “the Jews” and couldn’t go against the tide and believe in Jesus.  He’s an example not to emulate, a warning to us to be courageous about following Jesus as taught in the Gospels and not as pictured by popular opinion.
 
“The Jews” aren’t identified.  Maybe they were the religious authorities, or maybe people in general, those who insisted on adherence to their interpretations of the law.  We know people like this; perhaps we too behave this way and judge those unlike us.  The story reminds us that following Jesus isn’t about making others like us.  We can’t behave like “the Jews” in this story and call ourselves Christian.  Sometimes, like Jesus we need to break the laws that harm rather than heal.
 
Reflect on your life.  With whom do you most identify in this story?  What light are you seeing about yourself; about Jesus?
 
Prayerfully Respond
Lord, you lived courageously, true to your Father’s will even when it meant breaking the law.  Help me live more like, with courage and a willingness to be different.  Amen.
 
Live obediently.  Live courageously.