Text: John 5:1-30 (NKJV)
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed... 5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” 7 The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” 9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.
And that day was the Sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, “It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.” 11 He answered them, “He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’” 12 Then they asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” 15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. 16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24 “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. 25 Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. 28 Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 29 and come forth— those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 30 I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me."
Devotional Thoughts and Commentary:
So the basic idea of the story is that there is a disabled man in Jerusalem who was healed by Jesus. What happens after that was quite the stir though. Within Judaism, there is a reverence for the Sabbath day (see #4 of the 10 Commandments). That 4th Commandment had been expounded upon by the Jewish religious elite. The idea was that people naturally like to get close to the line, inevitably with at least some of them stumbling over it. If rules were made to prevent people from getting close to the line, the transgression of that secondary line would be pretty insignificant. Over the ages however, that secondary line had taken the same weight in the minds of the religious elite in Israel as Commandment #4.
The first alleged violation of the Sabbath occurred when the cured man obeyed Christ in carrying his cot away. The religion police (not far from that, actually) see him carrying his bed. Oops, that's a no-no on the Sabbath since they had interpreted carrying one's own cot as working. In their exchange, it is interesting to note that the religious elite avoid acknowledging that the man had been supernaturally cured focused on who had told him he could carry his bed and not on who had cured the incurable. How stonehearted and ignorant! Anyway, the man didn't really know who it was that had healed him, but in a later encounter, he runs into Jesus and tells the religious elite He was the healer. Now, the Jewish religious leaders are passively acknowledging that Jesus had the power to and in fact had healed the man, but what do they do? They "persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath." So one who was to them at least endued with power from God as the prophets of old was the enemy because He had walked across their imaginary, secondary line.
Now, we get into the meat of the theology from this passage. Jesus had just performed an amazing miracle. As per the purpose of His miracles, the following words showed exactly what that purpose was- He claimed to be God and had just performed an act proving that to be the case. This basically blew the minds of the Jewish leaders. Not only did He break the Sabbath but He has made Himself out to be God! Actually, this is a very important truth for us here. Jesus is God. The religious scholars of His day understood it, but many deny it today. This passage is clear proof that He claimed to be God though many deny that He ever made such a claim.
Now picture the situation- you have these very stuffy, self-righteous types. They are fuming from a violation of their secondary line in the sand. So fuming in fact that they are trying to justify executing Jesus. Then their rage starts to bubble over from His claims to be God. The natural human thing to do would be to slink out the side door, but in this situation, that was not in the plan for Jesus. Nope. He stands up to them telling them not only that He is God but explains the details of that. He brings out His power, judgment, and authority over death as well as bringing up the resurrection, which was a controversial theological topic among the Jews of that day.
In the same speech as He claimed to be God, Jesus claimed uniqueness in person from God the Father. In verse 30, He expressed the unique wills of Jesus Christ, the Son of God in human incarnation, and God the Father. Hard for us to wrap our minds around; however, only a couple years later in His life we see Him praying such as Luke 22:42. His human will wanted to give up, but His divine will was the same beat as that of God the Father.
Application(s):
Belief in Christ as the Son of God who saves people who believe in Him. That is the primary application. Right doctrine and the ability to defend it would be the secondary applications here.
Other Studies from John
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