John 5 - Jesus and the Sabbath
I guess we know this story quite well. It opens fairly straight-forwardly. Jesus is in Jerusalem, at a pool called Beth-zatha. The pool had a reputation as a place of healing - and so there are various sick people there - the blind, the lame and the paralysed. But Jesus' attention is particularly drawn to a man who had been there for 38 years.
Jesus knew the man had been there a long time. But Jesus asks rather a strange question - "Do you want to be made well?" (v6)
This starts up a dialogue. Clearly the man is totally unaware of who Jesus is. Rather than saying "Yes, please heal me" - which would after all, be an appropriate request of the Son of God - the man outlines the practicalities - or rather the difficulties - of his situation: "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me". (v7)
The pool was believed to have healing power when the waters were stirred; it was believed to be stirred by an angel and the first one in would be miraculously healed. But the man is lame, and has no one to help him. See how difficult his predicament is.
But Jesus responds to the predicament - simply with a word: "Stand up, take your mat and walk". The man is unquestioningly obedient to Jesus' words - he has faith. And immediately he is healed.
So far so good. But then John introduces a key point - v9b "Now that day was a Sabbath."
This is a highly important clue to interpretation. Of course the Sabbath was a holy day. And remember this was what God had commanded. Ex 20:8-11 is clear about that
Ex. 20:8-11 "Remember the sabbath day, and keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God; you shall not do any work"
But note Ex 32
Or remember Ex 32:14-16: "You shall keep the sabbath, because it is holy for you; everyone who profanes it shall be put to death; whoever does any work on it shall be cut off from among the people. Six days shall work be done, but the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to the LORD; whoever does any work on the sabbath day shall be put to death. Therefore the Israelites shall keep the sabbath, observing the sabbath throughout their generations, as a perpetual covenant."
And note:
Jer 17:21-25: "Thus says the LORD: For the sake of your lives, take care that you do not bear a burden on the sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the sabbath or do any work, but keep the sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. Yet they did not listen or incline their ear; they stiffened their necks and would not hear or receive instruction. But if you listen to me, says the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but keep the sabbath day holy and do no work on it, then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall be inhabited forever."
So keeping the Sabbath is serious stuff - God had commanded that it was holy and that people should not work on the Sabbath - and the penalty for breaking the Sabbath was death!
And recall what Jesus has done - he has approached the man, offered to heal him (v6) and, most importantly, told him to "take up your mat and walk". This command was seen at the time as work - the later Jewish text, the Mishnah, has a whole section on keeping the Sabbath and this explicitly forbids the carrying of mattresses. This might seem to us like an insignificant point - but remember that God had commanded the Sabbath to be kept, and God had said they should do no work on the Sabbath. And the penalty in Exodus for not keeping the Sabbath was death!
So the Jews investigate - this is understandable, even commendable - keeping the Sabbath holy at the time was important.
But the man who is now healed will not accept responsibility - I want to call him Bob - he has no name in the story! But perhaps we should give him a good Jewish name - Reuben or Samuel.
But the healed man says (v11) - "The man who made me well said to me "Take up your mat and walk". Its his fault!
Then they ask who this man is - the healed man does not know - later Jesus found him - (v14) and in v15 the man tells the Jews it was Jesus who had healed him.
And then comes v16: "Therefore the Jews started persecuting Jesus, because he was doing such things on the sabbath."
Jesus' answer in v17-18 is crucial.
But Jesus answered them, "My Father is still working, and I also am working."
For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God."
"My Father is still working, and I also am working." Here Jesus justifies what he has done on the Sabbath by saying this - "my Father is working, and so am I". What is he on about?
Some crucial background:
Recall Gen 2:2-3: "And on the seventh day God finished the work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all the work that he had done. So God blessed the seventh day and hallowed it, because on it God rested from all the work that he had done in creation."
But Jews of Jesus' time strongly affirmed that God could not rest on the Sabbath during their day. It had been one thing for God to rest on the seventh day of creation - that was way back then in the paradise of Eden.
But in their day it was quite a different matter. Now, in the present, God could not cease to be active, even on the Sabbath - or history would come to an end. If God stopped working, "all nature and life would cease to exist" (Brown, p217). For they did not think that God had started the world going and then left us to our own devices. As if God was a big clock maker who had wound up the spring and then gone Awol - and the clock just kept ticking. No God remained active in creation in our present; God continued to sustain the world - and so did not stop working, even on the Sabbath! Gen 2 might have spoken of God resting from the work of creation back then, but now - now that creation was up and running, and all of us were running around - there was no Sabbath rest for God any longer. This was a commonly held view in Jesus' day. And you can understand it.
It's a bit like they had seen Bruce Almighty - if you've seen the film, you'll recall that God can't take a holiday without finding Bruce to take over for a bit. And when Bruce does take time off, the backlog of prayers that mount up is ridiculous. God can't take time off.
For Jews in Jesus' time, two particular points were noted - people were born and people died on the Sabbath.
With regard to being born, only God could really give life - several verse in the OT speak of God giving life and breath to us.
And only God could deal with the fate of the dead in judgment - again that makes sense doesn't it.
This meant that God was active on the Sabbath, and kept working on the Sabbath - particularly giving life and judging those who died.
So you can see why Jesus says: "My Father is still working". Of course - even on the Sabbath! BUT - and here is the crux - Jesus also says "and I also am working."
This is clearly an exalted claim. God is working on the Sabbath - that was agreed. Jesus has just done work on the Sabbath - and he claims that he is allowed to and that like God the Father he is working too. Why? Because he is one with God the Father. He does what God alone can do - work on the Sabbath - and which no one else is allowed to do because he is one with God.
So you see this is a claim to divinity - to being equal to God. When Jesus calls God "My Father", he is not speaking of God as "Father" as we might. He is claiming a unique relationship as God's unique Son. This is what John has said back in Chapter one - Jesus is the Word, who was with God, and who was God, who is now made flesh, he is God the only Son, who is close to the Father's heart (1:18).
And indeed the Jews get this exactly right: - v18 "For this reason the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he was not only breaking the sabbath, but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God." They get it right - but they think Jesus is wrong!
But the stage is set for a discussion of Jesus in relation to God - and Jesus doing what God alone can do.
I think it helps to see that the rest of the passage focuses on precisely the two things that God was thought to do on the Sabbath - give life, and judge.
For the following the discussion focuses on Jesus' power to give life and to judge.
Hold that thought a minute - because the next section starts with what is really a parable.
v19: Jesus said to them, "Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished."
Jesus doesn't use parables much in John's Gospel, but here is one.
"the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise."
The could be called the parable of the apprentice.
The background to this is that in Jesus' time - and in many societies since, a son would follow his father's trade, and so a son would in effect be his father's apprentice. How would a son learn the trade - say being a carpenter for example? Well, by watching his father. This is precisely what Jesus says here:
"the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise."
So the son makes exactly the same furniture as the father does - and as his father before him - you know that furniture for which the family has been famous for generations. The son does what the father does - and The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.
What this means is that the son is in a way the exact copy of the father - they do the same things! The son is a copy of the father. But this is not about making the same furniture. It's about much more than that.
Its about giving life! Its about judgement! These are what God does on the Sabbath. They are also what the Son does!
All of this explains v18 - with the apprenticeship model in mind, "calling God his own Father" is saying that he is an exact copy of the Father and he does what the Father does - and hence making himself equal to God the Father - and as God works on the Sabbath, so does Jesus.
I said that the passage focuses on Jesus' power to give life and to judge - just like God the Father. BUT it's not just about giving life to a baby. Note v21
"Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes."
This is also about resurrection life! Of course, the Jews believed that God "raises the dead and gives life". BUT here we are told that the Son - Jesus - gives life - resurrection life. But the key is that this is "to whomever he wishes". Resurrection life is at the discretion of the Son.
And what about judgment? Of course God is judge - a fundamental OT doctrine. But note v22-23:
"The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Anyone who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him.
And then v24 puts both themes - giving life and judgment - together.
"Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life."
It is hearing Jesus' word that is important. And believing that God has sent Jesus. And to this one Jesus gives eternal life - and not judgement.
Why is all this significant for us?
What difference does it make to us that Jesus is the giver of life and the judge?
I guess there's not much that's more fundamental than giving life, and judgement. So in Jesus, we are encountered by the One who does and gives these absolutely foundational things. We do not have to go anywhere else or to anyone else. Here is life from death. Here is judgement leading to life for those who honour the Son.
And the one who gives life - and the one who judges - is not some remote abstract deity whom we must fear. Our God is not completely shrouded in mystery, or lost in the unknowable. No - we know this God in Jesus Christ - God has come to us - and people have seen and experienced God face to face in Jesus! The one who gives life, the one who judges - has come to us as Jesus. The one whom the Father has shown everything - has now come to us!
Perhaps because we have somewhat lost the fear of judgement we don't see how important this is. It is not popular to think that there will be a time of judgement. It sounds a bit like a horrible exam - and we all prefer internal assessment.
But there will be a day of judgement and think what it would be like if you had absolutely no idea about the judge - or about the criteria for judgement. It would be terrifying!
BUT - note v22 and 24 "The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son … Very truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgment, but has passed from death to life."
We know the judge - the judge is the Son! Jesus. And if we hear his word and believe in God who has sent Jesus, we have eternal life - beginning now! We do not come under judgement - we have already passed from death to life!! Amazing. It is as if there is no exam at the end - If we have believed Jesus we have already come to life!
And really these things both speak of the Lordship of Jesus - Lord over life, Lord over death - Lord over judgement.
I think we need to be reminded of these things.
Driving - every so often do something stupid! Need to be reminded of the basic rules - always look before you pull out, always make sure the gap is sufficient before you try to get across an intersection.
So too we need to be reminded that Jesus is the giver of life, the one in whom we have already passed from judgement to life! The Lord of All!
Or sometimes we need to take stock periodically - and make sure we have things right - that we haven't somehow replaced Jesus with something else. Is Jesus still Lord of life for us? Do we still know that he is the giver of all life, the judge of all, the Lord of all?
We need to "take stock periodically" in many things in life. The oil in a car can be fine - and isn't much affected by one trip - but over time, it deteriorates, and if you don't change it eventually, you're in trouble.
Leaves in guttering; moss on the path. Things build up - every so often we need to have a tidy up - every so often we need to make sure that we still firmly believe Jesus is Lord of life, Lord over death.
Let me go back to a subtle part of the narrative of the man born blind. There is a subtle hint in the introduction, of the issue of whether Jesus is really one with God, really Lord of All.
Recall that in v17 Jesus says "My Father is still working, and I also am working" - thereby making himself equal to God.
But earlier in the narrative the man born blind is definitely looking for a human being.
Note v7 which literally reads: "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool".
He is - understandably - looking for a human helper.
But note v11:
"But the man who had been cured answered them, "The man who made me well that one, or that man, said to me, 'Take up your mat and walk.'" They asked him, "Who is the man (ti/j e0stin o( a!nqrwpoj) who said to you, 'Take it up and walk'?"
They are all looking at the human level.
And then v15: "The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well."
Note it is not Jesus the Son who made me well - and there is no confession of who Jesus is - the Saviour of the World was the confession of the Samaritan woman.
Here Jesus is consistently viewed simply from a human perspective. The man who wants to be healed sees Jesus simply as an able-bodied man - a set of capable arms and legs to carry him into the pool. And in v12 the Jews ask "Who is the man?" - even though he has just healed the lame man. Surely he must be more than this?
And from v17-29 the texts explains just how much more this Jesus is. Yes, of course he is a man. But how much more that this he is! He is the one who is still working - still doing the work of giving life from the dead, and of judgement leading to the resurrection of life! And note v26: "For just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself". That is almost the definition of deity - to be uncreated - to have life in himself. So much more than a man.
So the man who has been made well sees Jesus only as a man … and misses so much! He does not see Jesus as Living Water. He does not see him as one with the Father, as the Father's only Son - as the one who gives life and wholeness, and who judges with the outcome being resurrection life.
There is no mention of him becoming a disciple. There is no confession from him. He fades from the story … he makes no progress!
How easy it is to get it wrong! How easy it is to miss Jesus! If the recipient of a healing miracle can miss Jesus, miss seeing that he is the Son who is equal to God then the threat is that so can we.
The threat to us is that we are like him - that we too miss Jesus. The man is not named; perhaps this is intentional and we are to see that the threat is that his name is Paul, or Sue, or Steve or Mary!
The threat is that we see Jesus purely in human terms - missing the point - that he is the giver of life and the judge, and the Lord of All. That he is so much the copy of his Father that when we have seen him we have seen God.
So John writes that we might come to see who Jesus is.
Do we too miss Jesus? Or do we come to him - continually - for life.