No one in all of history has been as controversial as Jesus. What do you make of Jesus? Everything hangs on this question. In the passage, we see him as what appears to be a conflict starter, a Sabbath breaker and a blasphemer. We must keep in mind however what Jesus said elsewhere … that he ‘came to seek and save that which was lost’.

Why would Jesus heal on a day and in such a way that it would create conflict?  The answer is that he wanted to bring the wrong attitudes and misunderstandings of the Jewish leaders into the open.  With the Sabbath, whilst it is good to set aside one day of the week for rest, it also points to the healing/rest we experience when we no longer try to justify ourselves. We are to rely instead on what he has done on the cross to make us right with God. With the charge of blasphemy, the Jewish leaders did not realize who Jesus was and is. It was completely true for him to call God his Father.

Is there anything that is holding you back from Jesus?  He will not share himself with any ‘idol’ which prevents us from trusting completely in him. In this passage Jesus spoke the words and the man was healed. There is a reminder here that we do not have this true healing/rest as a result of what we do but only as a result of what he did.