The imagery here is certainly powerful. In our day we would see a superhero coming in
victory but a bloody victory not the sanitized version suitable for the
kids. His garments are stained with
blood as though he had been in a winepress, completely covered in blood. The victory was won through much bloodshed. The work was His alone, no one was found to
assist with the salvation. Little did
Isaiah know that the blood on the garment was His own blood, not the blood of
the enemy and His great strength looked like complete helplessness and weakness
at the time and only three days later did they see the might of His power and
strength. We are called to boldness in
witness but also to lay down our lives against those who would take them to
stop our proclamation. The paradox is
what we are called to sort out in our lives.
After a season of time spent up in Galilee, Jesus goes to
Jerusalem. He comes to the pool at
Bethesda where people come for healing by going into the water when it is
stirred up, based on the belief that angels have done this and that healing is
then possible. It is superstition not
religion, but it is hope. The Romans
ascribed the healing power of the pool to one of the Greek gods, Asclepius, who
was worshipped as savior for his healing power.
Like yesterday’s reading, Jesus poses a challenge to the expectations of
the man who believes the water has the power of healing. Jesus, again like yesterday, offers healing
on the terms of proclamation only, not based in any curative powers the water
may have. His command to take up your
bed and walk required the man to break the Sabbath restriction against work but
he was willing to believe and acted on that faith. Not only was this breaking the law, it was
also even more amazing a healing because a man unable to walk for 38 years has
now strength enough not only to walk but to carry his bed! Why he later blamed Jesus for the “sin” is
strange and Jesus’ words to him are a rebuke that seems to associate his former
condition with sin.
Again, the problem at Thyatira is the same as at
Pergamum. At Pergamum, the sin was that
of Balaam and the Nicolaitans and at Thyatira it is that they tolerate that
woman Jezebel. The sins, however, are
the same, sexual immorality and food sacrificed to idols. Clearly, these are important issues that the
Jerusalem council got right at the beginning.
The promise is for those who overcome and the promise of judgment is for
those who will not repent of these sins.
We live in a world gone crazy with sex, a world filled with internet
pornography and a world where “hook-up” websites proliferate. Do you think this word is for the church
today? We live in a world bound by
sexual sin that is celebrated in all its varieties and churches join the
celebration. The church needs to talk
about all sexual sin, not just homosexual sin.
If the man could be healed of his infirmity after 38 years, there is
plenteous healing and deliverance in Jesus for those who want healing of these
things as well.
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