The Smoking Gun (John 5:10-16)

The next few verses to look at are John 5: 10 to 16....focusing on the v.16 " For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on Sabbath."

The story of Jesus' trial later in the Book of John is often told. The movie Passion of Christ goes through the trial, conviction and crucifixtion of Jesus. But what is tough to track is what is Jesus' crime? What exactly did He do? Well.... these verses tell us the event that pushed the Jewish officials over the edge. Jesus was arrested and brought forward to be put to death because of His so-called "illegal acts". Well here is the evidence they had on Jesus. This is the basis for their case....the "smoking gun"!...............Jesus healed a paralyzed man on Sabbath!..... You see, I guess they thought Jesus was one who healed people for a profession. On Sabbath you aren't suppose to work, so He violated the rules when He healed this man and He needs to be put to death???? Ok is that corrupt or what! Those against Jesus really thought they had Him now. They could build a case on this and take it to the government. Herod and Pontius Pilate even heard the case and felt Jesus did nothing wrong. But the masses still wanted Jesus put to death.

Man can take things to ridiculous extremes. The case against Jesus was completely bogus. It is important to realize that Jesus led a perfect life. Yes, He was convicted of a crime He did not commit. He was helping a paralyzed man on Sabbath!

The story shows how brave and unwaivering Jesus was! He would stir up the culture and power structure at the time, while risking His own life. It also shows how gravely corrupt man can get. They will twist and contort God's laws to support thier dark and self focused ways. To think they put someone to death for this is deeply troublesome. But for masses of society to agree to put our Messiah, God's only begotten Son to a torchurous death is sickening and beyond comprehension! The culture was dark and sucked in by satan's self focused plan. I sometimes wonder if Iwould have been in the crowd yelling niavely, "Crucify Him, Crucify Him!". Only by God's grace would I be on the right side of the crowd.

We need to watch our lives so that we do not drift into dark ideologies of society. There are many dark areas in our culture today. Look around. We could be supporting something totally contrary to God, if we are not careful.

Heavely Father, protect me from the masses. Protect me from the evil plots of man. Let me know when I need to counter my culture. Keep me in Your righteous way. Amen.