In this passage, Jesus heals a lame man on the Sabbath. There is much in this passage of Scripture that should shock us about Jesus. But Jesus continues to shock us today by rescuing us out of our sinful and hopeless state. Just like the lame man here in John 5, we too can take up our bed and walk in newness of life as we put our trust solely in Jesus Christ.
On Trinity Sunday, we celebrate the mystery of God's Being as three Persons - Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. In Psalm 8, David is encouraging us to praise the Lord for His majesty displayed in the heavens and the earth. Whether we look at the heavens or the earth, we see the glory of the Lord.
On Pentecost Sunday, we celebrate the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. God's Spirit is not only involved in creating us and sustaining us and re-creating us as children of God and citizens of God's eternal kingdom, but God's Spirit is also involved in the restoration of all things that is to come. Therefore, "bless the Lord, O my soul!"
On Ascension Sunday, we celebrate that Jesus is King of the universe. All those who have acknowledged Jesus Christ as their sovereign King can rejoice that Christ has ascended to His heavenly throne and has empowered all who have put their trust in Him to be His witnesses to the end of the earth. With Jesus Christ as our King, the church cannot lose.
We learn from the healing of the royal official's son that Jesus must be more to us than any miracle. Our God is worthy of worship even when our request is not answered in the way we would like because He is the true sign and wonder. When we face trials of various kinds, we can trust in Jesus and Jesus alone.
In this passage, Jesus is urging us to lift up our eyes and see the many opportunities we have to share the good news of Jesus Christ with those around us. May God help us to be faithful labourers in the spiritual harvest awaiting us.
In this passage, the conversation between Jesus and the Samaritan woman turns to the topic of worship. God is seeking true worshippers who will worship Him "in spirit and truth" (John 4:23). Regardless of who we are or what we've done, if we have put our trust in Jesus Christ and worship what is true about God, then we are the true worshippers God is seeking.
In this passage, Jesus meets a Samaritan woman at a well, and He offers to quench her thirst forever. If we're thirsty for something more than what this world has given us, then we can come to Jesus who will give us abundant life in Him, so that we will never be thirsty again.
In this passage, we are encouraged to give thanks to the Lord for raising Jesus Christ from the dead. Because God acted to save Jesus from death, we can know that all those who put their trust in Jesus Christ will also be delivered from death on the last day. May we therefore joyfully celebrate the Lord's day, not just on Easter Sunday, but every Lord's day that we gather together to triumphantly declare what the Lord has done for us.
In this passage, we see the steadfast love of the Lord on display. When the psalmist was near death, the Lord responded to his distress and became his salvation. Unlike the psalmist, Jesus would actually die. But three days later, Jesus would be raised from the dead, later ascend into heaven, and will one day come again to raise His people from death to life. Because of Jesus' resurrection from the dead, all who believe in Him will also conquer death. What ought to be our response to the Lord's goodness? We ought to "give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; for his steadfast love endures forever!" (Psalm 118:1, 29)