For a description of the (Y2) reading plan, see the “About” page.
John 5
The lame man at the pool must not have been a religious man. If he was, surely he would have told Jesus that it was unlawful for him to carry his mat around on the Sabbath. Perhaps he would have asked Jesus to come back and heal him on a day when he could accept the gift. As it was, I doubt that thought ever even crossed his mind!! It makes me think what a shame it is, though, that there are so many people who, in so many other ways, let religion get in the way of their accepting God’s grace. Like the Jewish leaders, they lost the forest in the trees. I mean, who sees a lame man walking and says, “the law forbids you to carry your mat” (John 5:10b)?!
Jesus called out the Jewish leaders’ problem. They looked to the scriptures to give them life. That’s a lot like worshiping the creation instead of the creator. In this case, they put their faith in the testimony rather than the subject of that testimony, who is Jesus Christ. In fact, they were so focused on the law that they missed the point altogether.
The same is true for any set of religious practices. Religion has no power to save. Only Jesus can do that. The apostle Paul wrote quite a bit about the truth Jesus stated here. Of those who trust in the law, Jesus said, “Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.” (John 5:45b). I pray that I will always have the eyes and the heart to see who Jesus is, to receive His boundless grace, to obey Him out of love and gratitude, and to pin my hope on nothing less. Because there is no mercy in the law.
1 Chron. 12-13
One of David’s first acts as king is to bring the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem. Why was this significant? The Ark of the Covenant was the Israelites’ representation of God’s presence among them. David acknowledged that God’s presence had been neglected during the reign of Saul. Not a good thing! By bringing the Ark of the Covenant to be with him in Jerusalem, David was putting God’s presence front and center of the kingdom God had entrusted him to rule. A very good thing!
They ran into a bit of a snag, however, because they forgot that an unholy people can’t just waltz into the presence of a holy God without following the provisions He made for that to happen. In this particular case, they attempted to move the Ark in a way that seemed good to them rather than the way God prescribed to move it. In doing so, they found out the hard way that man’s best efforts at holiness are woefully inadequate.
Thankfully, God has made such provision for us through Jesus Christ that we can now enter into His presence without any special fanfare or procedure. Christ’s sacrifice covers us and makes us righteous in God’s sight. Even so, any who have not followed God’s provision to enter into His presence will find out the hard way what happens when their unrighteousness collides with a holy God.