John 5:31-47:Why do We harden Our Hearts? Thursday 4th Week of Lent

Breakfast with the Word: Thursday of the 4th Week of Lent

John 5:31-47

 

 

 

As we said yesterday, after the healing at the pool of Bethesda which happened on the Sabbath day, the Jewish began to seek ways to persecute Jesus. In His defence, Jesus tells them that if His Father in heaven is still working, He is also still working.

Because of this, they tried all the more to kill him, not only because of the healing on the Sabbath but because Jesus was calling God His own Father and hence making Himself equal with God.

 

Because of this, Jesus began to teach them about Himself and how related He is with the Father. The gospel of today is still a continuation of that discussion. But The gospel of today  John 5:31-47 is like a proof of the divine origin of Jesus.

 

 

Read More.

 

The Source of Life

 

If God says So: Reflection on the Feast of Saint Patrick

 

If You want to be made Well

 

Signs that You have Faith in God

 

Rest on the Mercy of God

 

God’s Love for the World:  Laetare Sunday

 

Love is the Most Important

 

Why It looks as if God is not working in your life

 

 

The Gospel of Today.

 

In today’s gospel of John 5:31-47, we see that hunger and longing from Jesus to make people understand who He is. Jesus uses this opportunity to teach the people the need to believe in His words and believe that He comes from the Father.

 

In this discussion of John 5:31-47, Jesus brings up many witnesses that give testimony to Him. Jesus makes the people understand that He does not bear testimony to Himself, otherwise, His testimony would be false.

 

To believe who He is, Jesus points to the testimony of John the Baptist, who though is a human testimony but was like a light.

 

He also referred to the miracles and the works that He does. His works alone can testify who He is. Jesus also pointed to them that even the Father has given testimony about Him, but the people do not believe in Him.

 

Jesus tells the Jews that they search the scriptures to find eternal life, not knowing that the scriptures also testify about Him, yet they could not believe in Him.

 

 

Hardened Hearts.

 

 

Despite all that Jesus says and continues to say, despite the signs and wonders He works and continues to work, the Jews and most of the Pharisees remain blunt to His message.

 

They remain stiffened and adamant to his words and his messages. This might be because they had made up their minds about Jesus and were frightened of Jesus’ popularity with the people.

 

 

Reason for Their Unbelief.

 

 

In today’s discussion of John 5:31-47, Jesus gives some important reasons why the Jews have decided to remain blunt at heart, despite the testimonies about Him.

 

His reasons are:

1. They do not have the love of God in their hearts

2. They seek the glory of human beings instead of the one sent by God and

 

3. Inability to believe what Moses wrote. Because to believe what Moses wrote is also to believe about Him. This is because Moses also talked about Him.

 

Likewise, If we do not have that sincere love for God, we would hardly have time for Him and believe in His words. The first thing that should come into our relationship with God is love. Do we truly love God?

 

Like what Jesus also said, today people seem to worship human beings more than they worship God. They do not believe that God is real, but they believe that this prophet or that man of God is real.

 

Today, we have overlooked God but seeking where it works and where it does not work. Today, faith in God is gradually going into extinction. We read the bible and what it says about our relationship with God but we harden our hearts still like the Jews and the pharisees.

 

Many Christians today even treat the word of God as if it is nothing. The question today is “Where is our faith?

Are we open to the message of Jesus? Have we made up our mind never to hear anything concerning God again, and yet we need His grace? How many times do we read, hear and listen about Him, yet we block our hearts?

 

How many times do we hear what He does? What of the ones He does for you? Why do we block our hearts that we find it so difficult to think about our souls? Our eternal end? Why do we only remember God only when we are in need? And when things become difficult? We then run away when we feel everything is fine.

 

Why have we become like the Jews and close our eyes, ears and hearts to anything that concerns God? Why do we allow some situations and challenges to make us lose faith in God? Despite these, God so much loves us, but yet we harden our hearts to His words.

 

What He does for You is Enough.

 

What Jesus does for us is enough to convince us to accept and love Him. If we cannot appreciate the lord for the little things He has done, Let us appreciate Him for the suffering He underwent because of us.

 

Let us use this Lenten season and open our hearts to Him, appreciate His love and keep His word. In John 14:15, He says that the only way we can show that we truly love Him is to keep His words.

 

When we keep the word of God, we are not doing that for God. We do them for ourselves. Let us love Him sincerely and open our minds and hearts to Him. This is a call for a change of heart.

 

May God never allow you to stumble, and He always be with us especially in these trying times. Amen