John 5:15

Wouldn’t you know it—the man leaves the encounter with Jesus and notifies the Jewish leaders the name of the person that had healed him.  Now he knows his name—Jesus! John 5:15 EFP

Wouldn’t you have done the same thing?  There is no malice in the healed man.  He has no desire to bring harm to the very man who healed him.  He honestly did not know Jesus’ name a few minutes prior.  But he is subsequently questioned by the authorities and now he is simply doing his civic duty.

But there is already an underlying agenda developing with the powers that be.  The man is not the only one who makes note of the name—Jesus.  The same name elicits two diametrically opposed responses.  To the religious leaders the name is beginning to take on a threatening dimension.  Suspicion, derision, resistance, and resentment will in time give way to murderous results. 

But now one special man, once disabled and despondent, also knows his name.  Jesus.  I imagine it is not the last time he mentions that name.  He has a personal story, irrevocably intertwined with the man who delivered him from bondage.  Gratitude, relief, wonder, and sheer joy produce in him a passionate desire to share the good news with anyone willing to listen.  I have to ask, “Where is my passion?”  Does the name of Jesus elicit such a response in me today?  Yes, it does!