John 5.15-30
This amazing discourse is in response to the attack of the religious leaders because Jesus healed on the Sabbath. It turns out that Jesus' authority over the Sabbath was just the tip of the iceberg of His power, plans and authority. Jesus sees Himself equal with God. Jesus sees the Father at work and joins in that work. Jesus is the object of the Father’s love. Jesus has complete access to the Father’s knowledge. Jesus is the source of life from the Father. Jesus judges on behalf of the Father.
We have all heard the saying, “Familiarity breeds contempt”. Something like that can happen to us as we consider who Jesus was and is. Jesus; God made flesh, was fully human, no doubt. Sometimes we focus so much on His humanity that we believe we can treat Jesus as a peer and we forget that He is fully God. We began to treat Jesus with familiarity rather than reverence, as a personal spiritual valet rather than God. This manifests itself most clearly and the worship of the church which can at times degenerate into a concert to entertain us, a therapy session to fix us, or a drug to make us feel better about ourselves. Any model of worship that is focusing on us and our wants and agenda is misguided and if it goes on long enough will end up in ruin. We will do well to remember, “He created all things and they were created for Him” that includes the church, worship, and us. Jesus is no genie that is here to do our bidding. Rather we exist to bring Him glory. As we do that our lives will reflect a pattern of holiness and will be fully manifested in the resurrection of life on the last day.
“Lord, forgive me when I treat You with anything other than absolute reverence and worship. AMEN”
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