Chapter 5 of John's Gospel begins with the healing of the man next to the pool. From this healing account we get the phrase, do you want to be made well. However, that exchange is not my focus. The focus this morning is on the resulting conversation with the religious leaders. Essentially Jesus points out the fact that the religious people were missing the whole point. They were caught up in the actions of human beings, instead of remembering the origin of those actions and of humanity.
One of the issues Jesus addresses is the searching of the scriptures. Jesus reminds the religious leaders that they search the scriptures to find eternal life. But when the door to eternal life stands right in front of them they miss him. I wonder how many times Jesus has been right there in front of me and I have missed it? How many times have I chosen my own wisdom and understanding while ignoring the one who holds all the wisdom and understanding is right there? The religious people had a fairly terminal problem, they knew too much. They knew how to run their lives, they knew how to keep the law. They knew all the rules and regulations which draw you close to God. The tragedy is through all this they did not know God.
I am a huge advocate of education. I also think we should be always reading, hearing and learning all we can about God. This should never be at the expense of knowing God. The giver of live, Jesus, is right here with us, and that which we are searching for is found in him. When will I, we, the church stop leaning on our understanding and start running to Jesus?
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