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Commentary on John 5 (1)
In chapter 5 of John, there is a story about a man who had been sick for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda.
This is literally a patient for 38-year at the house of mercy.
The Lord, the Word, approaches the sick man.
When Jesus saw him lying down and realized that he had already been sick for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?” (John 5:6).
It is very important that Jesus said to this patient, ‘Do you want to get well?’
When the Lord says this, there is no need for another answer to analyze the content or intent.
If you want to get well, just say, Yes, Lord, that’s right, I want to get well.
The question of whether you want to get well contains two things: first, whether you have a heart's desire to be cured, and second, whether you want the word of God to work on you.
The Lord always asks questions like, “Do you want to get well?”
Psalm 107:20 also says that when God's people cry out, He sends his word and heals them and deliver them from the destruction.
Because we do not have the ability to heal things on our own, the Word of God comes in from outside and heals us within.
It's still like that now.
That is why the faith that responds to the Word of God by saying, “Yes, I want to be healed” is so important.
But even now, they do not know the principle of the Word coming within me and healing me, they believe that the Lord is healing them from outside and cry out, "Lord, heal me"
No. If we accept the word of the Lord, the word works within us.
When Jacob says that seven years seemed like a few days because he loved Rachel (Genesis 49:20), this is not Jacob's original selfish nature.
It is a new creative constitution that appears when Jacob loves another person.
In this way, when you love someone other than yourself, you are healed into a new self.
That's why it is said that by giving birth to children and raising them, one's personality becomes complete through that love.
Just as the word came to Jacob and he became a completely different person, there is a process in which the word comes into us and heals us into a completely different being.
Therefore, when God asks, “Do you want to get well?” you must immediately answer, “Yes, Lord, I want to get well. Please heal me.”
However, the reaction of this patient for 38 years is very interesting.
This is also the response of all humans to Christ, the Word.
The One who said, “Do you want to get well?” is Ho Logos, the God of creation.
He is the Word who brings into being what is not, who brings the dead back to life, and who governs all things.
When the Lord says to the storm, 'Stop,' the wind becomes calm, meaning that he is the head of all creation.
Even though God, the Word, approaches us as the God of salvation, he gives an odd answer.
This is the element of unbelief in all humans and the essence of sin in Adam.
When the waters stir, there is no one to put me into the pool (John 5:7). He says this.
Because of this ugly human nature, God's power is still limited.
This is the state of being caught up in fleshly notions.
He wants to get better, but no one put him in a pond, no one there to help him.
He also wants to go in himself, but he always puts the blame on others, saying that others go in first.
Aren’t there still many people like this?
Disbelief always wants a sign.The water has to move.
And, as people say, they are caught in the stereotype that you have to go into a pool to get better.
Even now, many people are caught up in the stereotype that they need to pray for healing.
Of course, it is right for a person with strong faith to pray for someone whose faith is weak.
However, there are many people who are not interested in the power of the Lord and his words, “Do you want to get well?”
For 38 years, this patient was filled with the idea that he would get better only if someone put him in the pool when the water was stirred.
The idea that something must be seen and that there must be an actual action to enter the pool is what prevents us from saying “Amen” and receiving the words of Christ.
He preaches the Word to have the same faith as Abraham and David, and if we have the faith that the Word of God, who 'died on the cross for our sins and rose again for our righteousness' (Romans 4:25), has come into us, we will have the same faith as Abraham and David, but there are many people who try to imitate the acts of faith like Abraham and David, not knowing that if they have faith in the Word that came into them, they will be equivalent to the faith of Abraham and David.
If we receive what the Lord has done through the word of God, it becomes righteousness and then life and healing, but the fixed notions of faith waste time.
Just as Israel wandered in place in the wilderness, this patient was made to waste time by lying down for 38 years.
Many people say 'Word, Word', but they say that no matter what, you must pray, receive gifts, and receive power.
It is no different from a foolish salaried worker who gratefully receives a bonus and refuses to receive his regular salary.
In fact, as long as you receive the Word of God as it is, it is all contained within it.
There is righteousness, there is salvation, there is healing, there is glory, there is power and authority.
However, due to the wickedness and stubbornness that prevents people from accepting the Word of God as it is, fasting and prayer are also necessary depending on the person.
Today, the last day of all these days, if you hear the Son's voice, all those who were dead in Adam will come back to life, but the important thing is that it takes time to say Amen and receive the word.
The focus of what God wants to say through John 5 is that Jesus Christ, who asked, “Do you want to be healed?” is the Word who created heaven and earth and is the sovereign over the rise and fall of all things, but the human fleshly mind waits for another remedy.
In John 5:8, Jesus said to him, Get up, pick up your bed, and walk, it was so.
In fact, there was no need for the water to be stirred or for help from anyone to get into the pool.
He got up and walked as he was told.
Without realizing it, he believed that what he had said had come true, so he got up and started walking.
It was not that ‘the patient who had been lying down for 38 years believed the word and got up by holding on to it’, but the Lord told him to get up, pick up his bed and walk (John 5:8), and by those words, the sick person who had been sick for 38 years was cured and got up and walked.
In this way, through the Gospel of John, God presents a simple formula that if you receive the Word of God with faith, it will be as it is.
This formula is first presented through a patient for 38-year, and then followed by the words of John 5:24.
He says, “Whoever hears my word and believes on him who sent me has eternal life.”
You don't have to make any effort to gain eternal life.
There is no need for any signs to occur or for you to control your body and try to be holy.
By hearing the word of Christ and believing, you can gain eternal life.
However, after receiving the word, the word must be fulfilled one by one through me.
So, grace is something you receive, but truth is the principle of going to God and making that grace your own.
It is a process that takes a long time.
For example, the Israelites woke up from their sleep and crossed the Red Sea unexpectedly, but after receiving the law on Mount Sinai, they trained to obey God's word step by step.
They never skip a step.
Making sure to collect only one day's worth of manna in the morning and making sure to follow the guidance of the pillar of cloud and pillar of fire is training to obey the Word.
Therefore, we do not have to do something to gain eternal life, but we must train in godliness to fulfill God's work, that is, the word and to live within the word only after the word of eternal life comes into us.
The powerful message that the Gospel of John gives is that when Jesus Christ, the Word (Ho Logos), speaks, as long as we receive the words, it will be as it is.
So, when Christ speaks, I am persuaded by those words, and it is said that the authority and ability to serve (i.e. rule) by spreading the gospel and persuading others through those words is revealed to anyone who receives the words.
Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.
Translated by Nancy Chung
COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION
To God be the glory.