Some time ago the Lord spoke to me in link with the scripture from John 5:1-9 about His call to bring our thinking to a higher place.
This above named scripture is about a man who had been an invalid for 38 years.
John 5:1-9:
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.
3-4 Here a great number of disabled people used to lie – the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.
5 One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.
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?”
7 “Sir,” the invalid replied, “I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.”
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, …
Going Up To Jerusalem At A Feast Time
Jesus met the invalid man on a Sabbath near the Sheep Gate and healed him.
Before Jesus healed him, it is written that Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.
Jesus went up to Jerusalem because of a special time that was about to begin in the calendar of His Heavenly Father!
Because Jesus spoke of himself that He came to fulfill the law and the prophets, one can assume that He celebrated all biblical feasts (see Matthew 5:17).
Matthew 5:17:
17 “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. …”
The Biblical Month Iyar/Ziv
In the scripture of John 5 it is not mentioned to which Jewish – biblical feast Jesus went up to the city Jerusalem but I assume that it was in the time of the little Pessach (note: Passover) which is celebrated on the 14'th of the second biblical month Iyar/Ziv (see Number 9:10-11).
The reason of my assumption is because Jesus went to a place that was linked to the sheep gate which was surrounded by five covered colonnades (equipped with pillars) and the number “5” is linked to “grace”.
The Two Living Pillars Of Jesus
If we study about the Hebrew word for “pillar/corner column” in link with Psalm 144:12 it becomes clear that the word is “sāwit” and comes from the root word “ziv” which is linked to “brightness, flower”. “Ziv” is the second biblical month in which the little Pessach is celebrated. This feast was a sign of God's “extra grace” for all those who couldn't celebrate Pessach in the first biblical month (see Number 9:10-11).
Pessach celebrates the power of the blood of the Lamb of God.
As Jesus entered into the place of the five covered colonnades and stood in front of the paralyzed man, the man saw first the two legs of Jesus which are linked to the two fiery brass pillars as it is written in Revelation 1:15a.
Revelation 1:15a:
15a His (Jesus Christ) feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, …
With the two burning “brass pillars – feet” of Jesus, the place of the covered five colonnades was now temporary filled with seven pillars which was a sign of the accomplished work of God for the paralyzed man so that he could enter into God's rest.
The paralyzed man faced the living pillars of Boas – “He establishes” and Jachin – “In Him is strength” which were placed by Solomon at the porch of the temple (see 1 Kings 7:15.21).
1 Kings 7:15.21:
15 He cast two bronze pillars, each eighteen cubits high and twelve cubits in circumference. …
21 And he set up the pillars in the porch of the temple: and he set up the right pillar, and called the name thereof Jachin: and he set up the left pillar, and called the name thereof Boaz.
Because the paralyzed man had faith and obeyed the command of Jesus, he got filled with strength and stood up.
The Sign Of The Approach Of Jesus
The approach of Jesus is a sign for us today that teaches us to align first with God's time cycle and to bring our thinking to a higher place by finishing with an old time to begin a new season of joy even if we face people in our future who are in challenging circumstances (see Ephesians 4:23-24 i.c.w. Romans 12:2).
Ephesians 4:23-24:
… 23 to be made new in the attitude of your minds; 24 and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Romans 12:2:
2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.
The Missing Of The Real Life In Christ
It is possible that we as believers in Jesus Christ are positioned at the right time at the right place and reading as well the word of God but still feel that the real life of the word is missing in our lives (see 2 Corinthians 3:6).
2 Corinthians 3:6:
6 He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant – not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.
One of the reasons of lifelessness in the life of believers is, if they look from the realm of their own ability and not from the realm of God's ability.
People who look through the view of their own ability, try to make things happen only by their own strength.
And at the point where they are not able to make things happen, they wait on some human power to make things happen.
This is not the way how God thinks!
It is not enough to see the stirred water of God from the distance.
First of all it is important to be one with the “stirred water” which is linked to the living word of God that comes from the mouth of God (see Ephesians 5:26 i.c.w. Revelation 1:15; Matthew 4:4).
Ephesians 5:26:
… 26 to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, …
Revelation 1:15:
15 His feet were like bronze glowing in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of rushing waters.
Matthew 4:4:
4 Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’”(see Deuteronomy 8:3)
No Agreement With Self Pity
Jesus didn't come to the invalid man to carry him to the water.
Furthermore, He didn't come in agreement with the circumstance of self pity by the sick man who responded to the question of Jesus (note: if he want to get healed), that no one was present to help him or being fast enough to receive the healing.
Jesus stood on His feet and didn't lay down with the invalid. He spoke to the man and because of His spoken word (note: filled with sound and breath), the invalid was healed and arose from his invalidity.
Behind the 38 years of the sick man, the numerical value reveals God's plan, whose aim was to transform the circumstance of weakness into strength.
The numerical value ‘38’ results in the Hebrew word ‘laḩ’, which means ‘fresh, moist’ in the sense of ‘new, unused’ and the Hebrew word ‘lēaḩ’, which means ‘freshness, vitality, moisture’. (Note: The word explanation is taken from the Elberfelder Study Bible for the word ‘laḩ – fresh’ and ‘lēaḩ – vitality’, with the word key number: 3973*, 3974*)
From this it becomes clear that Jesus carried out the will of the Heavenly Father in the life of the relevant man and in this way gave him new freshness and vitality.
Jesus Christ, The Head Of The Church
The lifting of our thinking becomes clear by the following example, that if we are moving in one direction, the rest of our body follows our head.
Wherever our head is turned, our focus is.
Jesus Christ is our head and goes ahead (Ephesians 1:22-23 i.c.w. Ephesians 4:15)!
Ephesians 1:22-23:
22 And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, 23 which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.
Ephesians 4:15:
15 Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.
Not Looking Back
We can not look backwards with the view of rejection and sorrow and expect to go into our future, because our body follows our head.
God wants to bring our “head – thinking” back to the mind of Christ so that we function as a unit and not leaving a part of our thinking in the grief of the past.
Even if there were people in the past of our lives who brought our way of thinking in disorder; when Jesus Christ enters into our lives, which represents the right relationship, then the right things can happen in our lives.
The Importance Of The Right Decision
This means, that the right change of our lives is only connected to our decision that we make.
The Word of God says explicitly that we have not chosen Jesus Christ, but He chose us first.
By this choosing we make our decision (see John 15:16 i.c.w. Matthew 22:14; 1 John 4:19).
John 15:16:
16 You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit – fruit that will last – and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you.
Matthew 22:14:
14 “For many are called, but few are chosen.”
1 John 4:19:
19 We love because he first loved us.
These scriptures make clear that Jesus chose us because we chose Him by our decision (see Matthew 9:9).
Matthew 9:9:
9 As Jesus went on from there, he saw a man named Matthew sitting at the tax collector’s booth. “Follow me,” he told him, and Matthew got up and followed him.
Our Destiny Is Determined By Our Decision!
We are the persons that we decided to be and where we are today by the power of our decision.
Whatever we decided is a part of our lives. No one forced us to take these decisions.
This means that if we are in a position of rejection or humiliation, we can change the situation and leave the environment through the power of our decision (see Isaiah 60:1-2).
Isaiah 60:1-2:
1 “Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.
2 See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.
We should only go to the place where we want to be tomorrow.
Where we end today, is our destination of the day and where we want to be tomorrow, is our promise!
In all of it, it is important that we determine where we want to be, because our feet can not bring us to where our mind has never been.
Therefore, we must be able to bring some thoughts to the place where we want to be tomorrow.
The Shift Of The Sphere Of The Sabbath
It is now the time for us as people of God to shift the sphere of “Sabbath” (the resting time because of an accomplished season) from the lake of the sheep gate (place of obedience) to the temple (place of divine relationship) in the similar way as the paralyzed man did it.
The Hebrew root word for “bed” or “litter” is “nāṭāh” and means “to stretch out, extend, spread out, pitch, turn, bend, bow”.
This explanation means that at the place where we stretched out by ourselves to see something happen in our lives, it is now the time to hear Jesus speaking through His living word by submitting (bending, bowing) to it, so that we leave empowered our present circumstance and extend in the presence of the house of the Father which is linked to the real relationship – conversation and feasting with Him (see John 5:8-9.14 i.c.w. John 10:27; Luke 2:46.49; Luke 15:20-24)!
John 5:8-9.14:
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, …
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.”
John 10:27:
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
Luke 2:46.49:
46 After three days they found him in the temple courts, sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. …
49 “Why were you searching for me?” he asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?”
Luke 15:20-24:
20 So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
21 “The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
22 “But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet.
23 Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate.
24 For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate.
We are called to move from obedience into the understanding of real relationship with the Lord like Jesus and also John said:
“... Whoever has my (note: Jesus) commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.” John 14:21
“And this is his command: to believe in the name of his Son, Jesus Christ, and to love one another as he commanded us.
The one who keeps God’s commands lives in him, and he in them. And this is how we know that he lives in us: We know it by the Spirit he gave us.” 1 John 3:23-24
Divine Obedience
Divine obedience is not a legalistic obedience but an obedience that has its root in the real relationship with God, the Father.
God did no mistake when He created us and gave us a destiny because the Word of God says, that we are fearfully and wonderfully made (see Psalm 139:14)!
Psalm 139:14:
14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Amen and Amen.
In His Wisdom,
Daniel Glimm
