“Bow down thine ear, O LORD, hear me: For I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul; for I am holy: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O Lord: For I cry unto thee daily. Rejoice the soul of thy servant: For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive; And plenteous in mercy unto all them that call upon thee. Give ear, O LORD, unto my prayer; And attend to the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee: For thou wilt answer me.”
Psalm 86:1-7 KJV,https://bible.com/bible/1/psa.86.1-7.KJV
A Gift Worth Receiving
After Jesus healed a man who had been paralyzed for almost four decades, the religious Jews were angry with Him. This may seem strange, because healing is a good thing, but Jesus performed this miracle on the Sabbath—the day of rest. In the Old Testament, God gave believers a long list of rules to follow in order to stay right with Him, and these rules included honoring the Sabbath.
But in the New Testament, Jesus was sent to change our relationship with the Father. By sacrificing Himself on the cross, He gave us access to a relationship with God—so that long list of rules was no longer needed. Throughout Jesus' life, He shows people the nature of this new relationship. But because it didn’t line up with what the religious establishment believed, they were angry with Him.
In John 5, Jesus justifies these changes through revealing His true authority. By calling God His Father, He shared that He was equal to God. This angered the religious Jews, but it gives us a ...