The ad brought a smile to my face: “The most comfortable socks in the history of feet.” Then, extending its claim of good news for feet even further, the advertiser said that because socks remain the most requested clothing item at homeless shelters, for every pair of socks purchased the company would donate a pair to someone in need.
Imagine the smile when Jesus healed the feet of a man who hadn’t been able to walk for thirty-eight years (John 5:2–8). Now imagine the opposite look on the faces of the temple officials who weren’t impressed by Jesus’s care for the feet or heart of someone who had gone without help for so long. They accused the man and Jesus of breaking a religious law that allows no work to be done on the Sabbath (vv. 9–10, 16–17). They saw rules where Jesus saw the need for mercy.
At this point the man didn’t even know who had given him new feet. Only later would he be able to say that it was Jesus who had made him well (vv. 13–15)—the same Jesus who would allow His own feet to be nailed to a tree to offer that man—and us—the best news in the history of broken bodies, minds, and hearts.
What needs do you see in those around you? In what ways have you seen Jesus meet your own needs?
To learn more about the life of Christ, visit christianuniversity.org/NT111.
INSIGHT
In Luke 4:18–19, Jesus begins His ministry by quoting from Isaiah (61:1–2) that the Messiah would perform miracles. Christ’s miracles served as proof that He was indeed the Messiah. In John 5, Jesus directly confronted the religious leaders about His identity. When they began to persecute Him for working on the Sabbath, He referred to God as “my Father” (v. 17) and stated that God too worked (on the Sabbath). As evidence of His deity, Jesus pointed to the miracle He’d just performed, saying that as the Father gives life so does the Son (v. 21). In other words, He wouldn’t have been able to restore the paralyzed man’s legs if He were not doing it through the power of the Father.