Tessera Materials

PRAYER

Creator of the universe,
you made the world in beauty,
and restore all things in glory
through the victory of Jesus Christ.
We pray that, wherever your image is still disfigured
by poverty, sickness, selfishness, war and greed,
the new creation in Jesus Christ may appear in justice, love, and peace,
to the glory of your name. Amen.

SCRIPTURE

John 5.1-9

REFLECTION

“The Pool at Bethseda, located near the temple in Jerusalem, reputedly provided possibilities for healing, but crowded conditions there and in other healing centers often prevented those who needed healing the most from obtaining it.” (Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels)

Imagine laying day after day beside the place you believed would bring you ultimate healing. You can see it and smell it, but everytime your chance comes for healing, you can’t get there fast enough. Someone else gets the healing you had hoped for.

• Have you ever had an experience where someone else seemed to get the miracle, the healing, the breakthrough that you had been hoping and praying for?
• What type of emotions does that bring up?
  

Something changes. In walks Jesus offering not only physical healing, but to be made well, physically and mentally. The man didn’t even know that it was Jesus who healed him until later in the story. Jesus came, he healed, and he quickly slipped away.

• Can you imagine the hope, the joy, the relief that stirred inside the man as Jesus healed him? Have you ever had an experience where the presence of Jesus brought that type of hope and relief to you?
• Interesting that the man didn’t recognize it was Jesus. It leads me to think perhaps there are times we experience the presence of Jesus in profound ways without knowing it. How does this idea make you feel?
  

This beautiful miracle led to the beginning of persecution from the Jewish leaders. Healing on the Sabbath was against their interpretation of the law. This theme is repeated throughout the gospels. The Jewish leaders were often focused on the letter of the law rather than the spirit of the law. Jesus constantly challenged this thinking.

Jesus “broke the rules” to heal on the Sabbath. Jesus constantly touched people considered unclean, which would have made him ceremonially unclean according to law. He went places not everyone would go and exposed himself to people many kept their distance from. Jesus knew that the spirit of the law was focused on people, meant to help God’s people experience his presence. Jesus crossed the line to bring God’s presence to people the Jewish leaders would have given up on.

• Jesus offers that hope to you still. Jesus offers his presence to us. Are there areas in your life where you need to be reminded of God’s presence with you?
• Are there people in your life who also need this hope? How can you walk in the way of Jesus to extend hope and healing to the world around you?

GIVING UPDATE

8/1/24-7/31/25
Budget YTD Need: $159,615.12
Budget YTD Giving: $156,483.04 (-$3,132.08)