Signs, wonders, and miracles, in and of themselves, don’t prove that something is of God. But, on the other hand, when they are of God, it’s a dangerous thing to reject them.
Read John 5:10–16. What lessons can we take away from the amazing hardness of the religious leaders’ hearts in regard to Jesus and the miracle He had just performed?
When Jesus revealed Himself to the man who had been healed, the man immediately told the religious leaders that it was Jesus. One would think this would be a time to praise God, but instead, the leaders “persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath” (John 5:16, NKJV).
Healings were allowed on the Sabbath only in an emergency. This man had been disabled for 38 years; thus, his healing was hardly an emergency. And then, too, what was the necessity of having him take up his bed? One would think that someone with the power from God to perform such a miracle would also know if it was permissible to carry a mat home on the Sabbath day. Clearly, Jesus was seeking to take them to deeper biblical truths beyond the man-made rules and regulations that had, in some cases, stifled true faith.
What do these other accounts teach about how spiritually hard people can become, regardless of the evidence? (Read John 9:1–16; Mark 3:22, 23; Matt. 12:9–14).
How could these religious leaders be so blind? The likely answer is that it was because of their own corrupt hearts, their false belief that the Messiah would deliver them from Rome now, and their love of power and lack of surrender to God. All these helped cause them to reject the truth that stood right before them.
Read John 5:38–42. What was Jesus’ warning? What can we learn from these words? That is, what could be in us that blinds us to the truths we need to know and apply to our own lives?
Supplemental EGW Notes
[In Christ’s] days the Sabbath had become so perverted that its observance reflected the character of selfish and arbitrary men rather than the character of God. Christ set aside the false teaching by which those who claimed to know God had misrepresented Him. Although followed with merciless hostility by the rabbis, He did not even appear to conform to their requirements, but went straight forward keeping the Sabbath according to the law of God.
In unmistakable language He testified to His regard for the law of Jehovah. “Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets,” He said; “I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled” [Matthew 5:17–18].—Prophets and Kings, p. 183.
May the Lord work upon the hearts of those who have received great light, that they may depart from all iniquity. Behold the cross of Calvary. There is Jesus, who gave His life, not that men might continue in sin, not that they may have license to break the law of God, but that through this infinite sacrifice they may be saved from all sin. . . .
We have been asked why it is that there is so little power in the churches, why there is so little efficiency among our teachers. The answer is that it is because known sin in various forms is cherished among the professed followers of Christ, and the conscience becomes hardened by long violation. The answer is that men do not walk with God but separate company with Jesus, and as a result we see manifested in the church selfishness, covetousness, pride, strife, contention, hard-heartedness, licentiousness, and evil practices.—Testimonies to Ministers and Gospel Workers, pp. 161, 162.
The spirit of the truth makes better men and women of those who receive it in their hearts. It works like leaven till the entire being is brought into conformity to its principles. It opens the heart that has been frozen by avarice; it opens the hand that has ever been closed to human suffering; and charity and kindness are seen as its fruits. . . .
Day by day men and women are deciding their eternal destiny. I have been shown that many are in great danger. When a man will do or say anything to gain his end, nothing but the power of God can save him. His character needs to be transformed before he can have a good conscience, void of offense toward God and man. Self must die, and Christ must take possession of the soul temple. When, by rejecting the light that God has given, men abuse and trample upon the conscience, they are in fearful danger. Their future eternal welfare is imperiled.—Mind, Character, Personality, vol. 1, pp. 319, 320.
The above quotations are taken from Ellen G. White Notes for the Sabbath School Lessons, published by Pacific Press Publishing Association. Used by permission.