Saturday 19th November
Read John 5:9b-15
“The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, 10 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.’
11 But he replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me, “Pick up your mat and walk.”’
12 So they asked him, ‘Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?’
13 The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.
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.’ 15 The man went away and told the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well.” (NIVUK)
The Nuremberg defence of the atrocities of the Holocaust was quite straightforward – they ‘were just following orders’. It never occurred to them to question those orders. Blind obedience however was found to be culpable by the judges at Nuremberg.
The no-longer-invalid man, carrying his mat on the Sabbath, when accused immediately defended himself by blaming the man who told him to pick it up and walk. He was not accountable.
It really is never our fault. When challenged or accused we instinctively provide an excuse or explanation that at the very least shares the responsibility for our actions as widely as possible. Consider the original sin and the all-too-human response when challenged.
“When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it. 7 Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realised that they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
8 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the Lord God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the Lord God among the trees of the garden. 9 But the Lord God called to the man, ‘Where are you?’
10 He answered, ‘I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.’ 11 And he said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree from which I commanded you not to eat?’ 12 The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me – she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.’ 13 Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The snake deceived me, and I ate.’” (Genesis 3:6-13) (NIVUK)
How instinctive for you is it to confess your sin? Or is it often someone else’s fault?
