The Love of God Gives Life
John 5 shows us that the love of God is not passive sympathy.
It is active power that gives life to the dead.
Jesus heals a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. But the religious leaders are outraged because it happened on the Sabbath.
This chapter exposes the difference between true faith and dead religion.
Jesus asks a penetrating question
When Jesus sees the paralyzed man, He asks:
"Do you want to be healed?"
This seems obvious. Of course he wants to be healed. He's been waiting for thirty-eight years.
But Jesus asks because there are people who get comfortable with their condition. They get used to their excuses. They become identified by their limitations.
The love of God does not assume. It asks. It invites. It calls us to want what only He can give.
Jesus speaks, and the man walks
The man explains his situation. He has no one to help him. He's always too slow.
Jesus does not debate the obstacles. He commands:
"Get up! Pick up your mat and walk."
And immediately the man is healed.
This is the love of God in action. It does not merely sympathize with weakness. It speaks life into death. It commands strength where there was paralysis.
God's love gives what it commands.
Religion cares more about rules than restoration
The religious leaders see the man carrying his mat on the Sabbath, and they are outraged.
They do not celebrate that a paralyzed man walks.
They do not ask who healed him.
They care more about rule-keeping than restoration.
This is the tragedy of religion without life. It can see a miracle and still find fault because the wrong day was chosen.
But the love of God does not wait for convenient timing. It acts when it pleases, and it prioritizes people over systems.
Jesus claims equality with God
Later, Jesus finds the healed man and warns him: "Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."
Then the religious leaders confront Jesus for breaking the Sabbath. Jesus responds:
"My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working."
This enrages them. They understand: Jesus is claiming equality with God.
And they're right. That's exactly what He's claiming.
The love of God is rooted in who Jesus is. He is not merely a good teacher. He is the Son of God, equal with the Father, with authority to give life.
The Son gives life to whom He will
Jesus then delivers one of the most important discourses in the Gospel.
He says:
"For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it."
This is staggering.
The same power that will raise the dead at the end of time is active now in Jesus. He gives spiritual life. He gives eternal life. He gives it to whom He wills.
That is the love of God: sovereign, life-giving love that does not wait for human permission or worthiness.
Four witnesses testify
Jesus lists four witnesses to His identity:
- John the Baptist
- The works Jesus does
- The Father Himself
- The Scriptures
All of them point to Jesus. All of them testify that He is the Son of God, sent to give life.
Yet the religious leaders refuse to believe.
Why?
"You do not have love for God in your hearts."
They study Scripture. They keep rules. But they do not love God. And because they do not love God, they do not recognize the Son when He stands before them.
Final exhortation
The love of God in John 5 is this:
Christ has the power to give life to the dead.
He does not merely feel sorry for the paralyzed. He heals them.
He does not merely understand sin. He commands us to stop and offers the power to obey.
He does not wait for us to become worthy. He gives life to whom He pleases.
Do you want to be healed?
Do you want life?
Then come to Jesus. Trust Him. Believe that the Father sent Him and that He has authority to give eternal life.
Because the love of God is not distant sympathy.
It is powerful, present, life-giving love in the person of Jesus Christ.
Closing prayer
Father, thank You for sending Your Son who has the power to give life. Thank You that He does not merely sympathize with our condition but speaks life into death. Give us faith to receive the life only He can give, and protect us from religion without love. In Jesus' name, amen.