So Right - But Wrong!

John 5:16-30

Have you ever been so very sure that you are right - only to find out you are completely wrong? Sometimes you don't find out right away. You may go along upset at the individual who challenged you for days or weeks, then one day something is revealed to you, and there it is - you were wrong!

The men who became leaders in the Jewish religion studied the Scriptures devotedly; yet, they did not recognize the Messiah when He was standing among them. The Scriptures revealed Him, John the Baptist proclaimed Him, God testified that Jesus was His Son, and Jesus Himself confessed that He and the Father were One. The leaders remained unconvinced.

They were ready to kill Jesus for breaking the Sabbath - death was the proper penalty according to the Scripture (see Exodus 35:2). However, as Jesus pointed out, God was always at His work. We can see this to be true. People are born and die on the Sabbath. The crops continue to grow, rain falls, the sun shines. If the leaders did not see Jesus as Emmanuel, God with us, then we can understand why they believed Jesus was guilty of breaking the law.

In the verses following we find Jesus patiently teaching the men that persecuted and wanted to kill Him. He is giving them instruction on how they can find eternal life. They believe this comes from following the law. Jesus will tell them, "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."

Eventually we all must decide what we believe about Jesus Christ. We can choose to deny that He is the Messiah. For each one who is so very sure that Christ is not who He claimed to be, a day of revelation is coming. One of those days when suddenly you realize how very wrong you were! "...that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2:10-11)