John 5-6

[wolfpurplemoon]

Jesus goes to a pool that is supposed to heal people when the water is stirred up, but the people are lying about on the walkways waiting for the water to move so Jesus heals one of them and then slips away. I'm sure he could've easily healed the lot of them.

A bunch of Jesus' disciples quit following him because he told some people that they had to eat his flesh and drink his blood to be saved, they are offended so go home, all except for the core twelve.

Comments

..so Jesus heals one of them and then slips away.

[ken stechauner (from livejournal.com)]

Please do not take offense to what I am about to say here. As I read your entries (not all but several) I can't help but notice that you seem to regularly ignore some common rules of reason. Not always, but often. This is one example. It seems that you assume that because it is not specifically reported that it must not have happened. Or, simply that the leaders confront him immediately after Jesus tells him to get up. The fact is that we can not assume that he did not heal anyone else. It simply does not say. Here it is:


"Then Jesus said to him, 'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.'
At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked."

****How much time passed between the statement above and the statement below?****
****What was Jesus doing during this time? Healing others by the pool, maybe?****

"The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, 'It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.'"


All we know is that at some point the leaders saw someone carrying something. This was forbidden because of the Sabbath. How much time was there between when he got up and the leaders confronted him? We can not assume that these events took place one directly following the other.

Johns narrative was never meant to be a detailed, minute by minute, chronological account of Jesus work during this time - it is an overview with a few specific examples to reveal the power of love that Jesus wields.

--Ken

Re: ..so Jesus heals one of them and then slips away.

[wolfpurplemoon]

Surely it would have made Jesus seem even more divine if the author had stated that he healed every person there? If you were trying to convince people to follow your fledgling religion then it'd be an obvious thing to write.

Re: ..so Jesus heals one of them and then slips away.

[marci38.livejournal.com]

I heard a preacher once who focused on the question Jesus asked the man, "Do you want to be healed?" Now that may seem like a rhetorical question, but I've known several people over the years who enjoy being sick and probably would be upset if they didn't have something to complain about and in their heart of hearts don't want to be well. It may be that Jesus asked several people this question and this man was the only one to respond.
Also, as the previous person stated, John is not a minute by minute account. It is not written as an historical account. John records very few miracles compared to the other gospels. The miracles he does include are there in the same way you might use research in a paper you write. I know that when I wrote research papers, I did not include every scrap of information that I had uncovered, just the info that went with my thesis. John does the same thing. One of the points of this story is that it shows another reason why the leaders wanted to kill him as well as a demonstration of Jesus'power

Marci

Re: ..so Jesus heals one of them and then slips away.

[ken stechauner (from livejournal.com)]

@wolfpurplemoon: Obviously not in this particular narrative. Sit down and read the entire book of John in one sitting. You will come to the inescapable conclusion that this book is an overview.

Besides, you are missing the point. Obviously the number of miracles performed had no sway on some people. People still did not believe in him even after they knew all that he did. You still can not assume he left right away.

A Role Model for Atheists!

[vitaminz80.livejournal.com]

No matter what anybody says, I respect anyone who makes an effort to investigate someone else's beliefs. I think it's awesome that you're doing this and while I can make this comment and that comment, just like the other guys, the last thing I want to do is discourage you from reading. I can't help but pray your reading turns into what it has for me and someday you may in fact see the Bible in a completely new light... but for now, go for it and please, you can ask me any questions you'd like - as I said, I respect you and will look forward to your posts!!

Re: A Role Model for Atheists!

[kelli flanagan (from livejournal.com)]

Love this response, vitaminz.
An honest search results in Truth.