The man … told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. John 5:15.

As the restored one went on his way with quick, elastic step, his pulses bounding with the vigor of renewed health, his countenance glowing with hope and joy, he was met by the Pharisees, who told him, with an air of great sanctity, that it was not lawful to carry his bed on the Sabbath day. There was no rejoicing at the deliverance of that long-imprisoned captive, no grateful praise that One was among them who could heal all manner of disease. Their traditions had been disregarded, and this closed their eyes to all the evidence of divine power.

Bigoted and self-righteous, they would not admit that they could have misapprehended the true design of the Sabbath. Instead of criticizing themselves, they chose to condemn Christ. We meet with people of the same spirit today, who are blinded by error and yet flatter themselves that they are right, and all who differ from them are in the wrong.

The man on whom the miracle had been wrought entered into no controversy with his accusers. He simply answered, “He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.” …

When the Jews were informed that it was Jesus of Nazareth who had performed the miracle of healing, they openly sought to put Him to death, “because he had done these things on the sabbath day.” These pretentious formalists were so full of zeal for their own traditions that to sustain them they were ready to violate the law of God!

To their charges, Jesus replied calmly, … “I am working in perfect harmony with my Father.” This answer furnished another pretext to condemn Him. Murder was in their hearts, and they waited only for a plausible excuse to take His life. But Jesus steadily continues to assert His true position. “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” …

God works through whom He will by ways and means of His own choosing, but there are ever some to act the part of the criticizing Pharisees….

God designs that all shall believe, not because there is no possibility of doubt, but because there is abundant evidence for faith.—Signs of the Times, June 8, 1882.

From From the Heart

Do you want to be made well? John 5:6.

The healing of the sick man at Bethesda has a lesson of priceless worth to every Christian, a lesson of solemn and fearful import to the unbelieving and the skeptical. As the paralytic lay beside the pool, helpless and well-nigh hopeless, Jesus drew near and asked, in tones of pity, “Wilt thou be made whole?” Be made whole! This had been the burden of his desire and prayers for long, weary years. With trembling eagerness he told the story of his efforts and disappointments. No friend was at hand to bear him with sturdy arm into the healing fountain. His agonizing appeals for help fell unheeded; all around him were those who sought for their own loved ones the coveted boon. When at the troubling of the waters he painfully sought to reach the pool, another would be hurried down before him.

Jesus looked upon the sufferer and said, “Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.” There was no assurance of divine help, no manifestation of miraculous power. What marvel, had the man made answer, “It is impossible! How can I be expected now to use my limbs that have not obeyed my will for thirty-eight years?” From a merely human standpoint, such reasoning would appear consistent. The sufferer might have given place to doubt and thus have permitted that God-given opportunity to pass unimproved. But no; without a question he seized his only chance. As he attempted to do what Christ had commanded, strength and vigor came; he was made whole.

Would you, doubting reader, receive the blessing of the Lord? Cease to question His word and distrust His promises. Obey the Savior’s bidding, and you will receive strength. If you hesitate, to enter into a discussion with Satan or to consider the difficulties and improbabilities, your opportunity will pass, perhaps never to return.

The miracle at Bethesda should have convinced all beholders that Jesus is the Son of God….

At Christ’s command, the paralytic had borne away the simple mat on which he had lain; and now Satan, ever ready with his insinuations, suggested that this act might be construed into a violation of the Sabbath…. It was hoped that a controversy on this point would destroy the faith inspired in some hearts by our Savior’s act of healing.—Signs of the Times, June 8, 1882.

From From the Heart

But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. John 5:38.

As at different times during Christ’s work divinity flashed through humanity and He stood transfigured before the people, the Jewish leaders were deeply impressed. But as they talked it over with one another, their unbelief strengthened, and the evidence that should have convinced them was rejected. The strongest evidence was no evidence to them, while the weakest, most superficial arguments, if against the truth which the Savior brought, were sound in their estimation. They had started upon a path leading to eternal ruin….

Christ saw that the Jewish teachers misinterpreted the Word of God, and He urged upon them a more diligent study of its precepts. In Him were fast being fulfilled the types and shadows of the Jewish economy. If they searched the Scriptures as they should, they would find that He claimed nothing which was not rightfully His.

Had the Jews searched God’s Word as they should, they would have seen that Jesus of Nazareth is the Messiah. But they searched with proud, selfish ambition as a guide, and they found a Messiah of their own imagination. Therefore when the Savior came, a humble man, bringing to naught by His teaching long-established theories and traditions, presenting truth entirely opposite to their practices, they said, Who is this invader that dares to set aside our authority? Christ did not come as they had expected; therefore they refused to receive Him and called Him a deceiver and an impostor. Instead of listening to Him that they might learn the truth, they listened with evil intent, that they might find something over which to cavil. And when once they had set their feet in the path of the great leader in rebellion, it was an easy matter for Satan to strengthen them in opposition. Christ’s wonderful works, which God meant to be heaven-sent evidence to them, Satan caused them to interpret against Him. The more marked the way in which God spoke to them by His works of mercy and love, the more confirmed did they become in their resistance. Blinded by prejudice, they refused to acknowledge that Jesus is divine….

He was God in human flesh, and He could not but work the works of God.—The Review and Herald, March 26, 1901.

From From the Heart

He who has seen Me has seen the Father. John 14:9.

The fact that the people were more interested in Christ’s teaching than they were in the dry, tedious arguments of the Jewish teachers maddened the scribes and Pharisees. These teachers spoke with uncertainty, interpreting the Scriptures to mean one thing and then another. This left the people in great confusion. But as they listened to Jesus, their hearts were warmed and comforted. He presented God as a loving Father, not as an avenging judge. He drew all, high and low, rich and poor, to see God in His true character, leading them to call Him by the endearing name, “Our Father.”

By loving words and by works of mercy, Christ bore down old traditions and man-made commandments and presented the love of the Father in its exhaustless fullness. His calm, earnest, musical voice fell like balm on the wounded spirit. He was revealing the image of God mirrored in Himself. He presented to His hearers the truths of the prophecies, separating them from the obscure interpretations which the scribes and Pharisees had attached to them. He scattered the heavenly grains of truth wherever He went.

Determined to hear what Christ said to His disciples, the scribes and Pharisees kept spies on His track. These spies noted His words and reported them to the Jewish authorities, who, when they heard them, were almost beside themselves with ill-concealed rage, which they interpreted to be zeal for God.

As the members of the Sanhedrin counseled together, there were not wanting men with strong, determined prejudices who advised that this man who claimed so much be at once put down….

They saw that Christ’s influence over the people was fast becoming greater than theirs. They longed to crush Him for daring to make their traditions of none effect, but they feared to move openly because of the people. They thought that if they worked secretly, watching His words and actions, they would soon find such accusations against Him that He could be put on trial for His life….

Christ was giving the rulers of Israel light which would make them inexcusable. Nothing was left undone that could be done to convince them of their error.—The Review and Herald, March 5, 1901.

From From the Heart

He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. John 1:11.

At the first advent of Christ, which was in apparent obscurity, the angels of heaven could scarcely be restrained from pouring forth their glories to grace the birth of the Son of God. The glorious manifestations of heaven were not entirely restrained. The wonderful event was not without some attestations of a divine character. That birth, so little prepared for on earth, was celebrated in the heavenly courts with praise and thanksgiving in behalf of sinners….

He who came in human flesh and submitted to a life of humiliation was the Majesty of heaven, the Prince of life, and yet the wise men of the earth, the princes and rulers, and even His own nation, knew Him not. They did not recognize Him as the long-looked-for Messiah. Notwithstanding mighty miracles did show forth themselves in Him, notwithstanding He opened the eyes of the blind and raised the dead to life, Christ suffered the hatred and abuse of the people He came to bless. They regarded Him as a sinner and accused Him of casting out devils through the prince of devils. The circumstances of His birth were mysterious and were remarked upon by the rulers. They charged Him with being born in sin. The Prince of heaven was insulted because of the corrupt minds and the sinful, blasphemous unbelief of His people. What a baleful thing is unbelief! It originated with the first great apostate, and to what fearful lengths it will lead all who enter upon its path is seen in the Jews’ rejection of their Messiah….

The leaders in Israel professed to understand the prophecies, but they had received false ideas in regard to the manner of Christ’s coming….

The very One who died for sinners is to judge them in the last day; for the Father “hath committed all judgment unto the Son” and “hath given him authority to execute judgment also, because he is the Son of man.”

What a day that will be, when those who rejected Christ will look upon Him whom their sins have pierced. They will then know that He proffered them all heaven if they would but stand by His side as obedient children; that He paid an infinite price for their redemption; but that they would not accept freedom from the galling slavery of sin. They chose to stand under the black banner of rebellion to the close of mercy’s hour.—The Review and Herald, September 5, 1899.

From From the Heart