In our quest to discover the Jesus, Son of God, in John’s gospel, we may need to see Him, the Light, against the backdrop of the darkness that opposed Him. “Opportunity” was His watchword, every impossiblity an opportunity to create a new reality through creativity.

John 5:1-2, 5 NIV
[1] “Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. [2] Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades…
[5] One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.”

Thirty-eight years! That’s a long time to be without hope. Jesus’ question didn’t even arouse anything but pessimism.

John 5:6 NIV
[6] “When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, “Do you want to get well?”

The paralytic didn’t know this crazy stranger who asked a stupid question. “Do you want to get well?” What did He think? Of course he wanted to get well! Why would he lie there, day after day, next to a pool that was reputed to have healing powers when it bubbled up, if he didn’t want to get well?

His tired, worn-out response said it all. “No one! I have no one to help me!” So, that settled it. He would always lie there, helpless and alone, to the end of his days, and never walk again.

Opportunity!

What if he walked, not because he went into a pool that could do nothing for him but because he did what this crazy stranger told him to do?

John 5:8-9 NIV
[8] “Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” [9] At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath…”

Oops! Big Brother was watching! Something this amazing had to have been noticed. The ever-watching Pharisees were also on the lookout for…opportunity! Not to recognise God when they saw Him but to find another excuse to get rid of Him. He was a threat to them and they hated Him for it.

The Sabbath! The religious leaders’ flash point.

John 5:9-10 NIV
[9] “At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, [10] and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”

The hypocrites’ opportunity was not to praise God for a great miracle but to embroil the healed man in Jesus’ “guilt”.

John 5:13-15 NIV
[13] “The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. [14] Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” [15] The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.”

So, it was Jesus who healed the man, was it! They went in the attack.

John 5:16-18 NIV
[16] “So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. [17] In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” [18] For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

Sabbath was their trigger, using their view of the law to condemn Jesus. Now they had Him. He was actually saying the unthinkable…calling God His Father!

Let’s think about this situation.

It’s amazing what people will do to achieve their ends. Jesus saw opportunity in the lame man’s dilemma. Grace stepped in and the lame man walked again. The Pharisees saw opportunity to condemn their opponent. They accused and added another nail to His coffin and, inadvertantly, to their own…