Signs, Sabbath, Savior John 5
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Purpose: To establish the truth that Jesus is Lord, and that He is seeking after those who are lost… regardless of the self-righteous religious leaders of the day.
Hopes: That people will turn to Christ for salvation and healing. That those who are seemingly unmoved by the Gospel will see themselves in light of the pharisees and experience a renewed desire to live for God and see Him change the lives of others.
John 5:1–9 (CSB)
After this, a Jewish festival took place, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 By the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem there is a pool, called Bethesda in Aramaic, which has five colonnades. 3 Within these lay a large number of the disabled—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and realized he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to get well?” 7 “Sir,” the disabled man answered, “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I’m coming, someone goes down ahead of me.” 8 “Get up,” Jesus told him, “pick up your mat and walk.” 9 Instantly the man got well, picked up his mat, and started to walk. Now that day was the Sabbath,
Understanding the Situation and the Setting (Context and Implications)
“After this”
John brings us to a third sign to demonstrate that Jesus is Lord. But, the third miracle also serves to bring to light the opposition of the Pharisees and the Sadducees to Jesus. Remember John 20… this entire gospel has been written so that we will believe the truth about Jesus and be saved and receive eternal life. And even though we know that Jesus’ crucifixion was God’s plan, without opposition it doesn’t make sense for Jesus to be killed. So John makes sure that we have a clear picture of why people wanted to crucify Jesus.
John highlights that this healing, or third sign in this discourse, happened on the Sabbath. In fact, the fact that it was the Sabbath becomes more central to the story than the actual healing.
What is the Sabbath? (4 Things):
The Sabbath is a special day instituted by the Lord to remind God’s people of a divine time-table, the seven day week. The 7 day pattern or rhythm to creation is something that should emulate. The sabbath provides rest for all who work (including servants, animals, and aliens/strangers) The Sabbath is a sign of God’s covenant with His people. The Sabbath served as a memorial or reminder of God’s redemptive work in Egypt.
It’s common for this discussion to raise questions regarding weekly worship services today. Is there a connection between the Sabbath and the Lord’s Day (Sunday)? Do we have to follow all the rules and laws required of God’s people in the OT? No, but we still have the command to gather to worship… in large part for some of the same reasons the Israelites celebrated through the Sabbath.
Worshipping on Sunday is a sign of God’s covenant with His people, it follows the pattern of a 7 day week found in creation, and it serves as a reminder of God’s redemptive work through Christ.
Do you “have” to worship every Sunday with your local church? I think the question should be answered with the following: There are very few things you should want more than to gather with the church you belong too on Sunday mornings.
If you don’t gather weekly for worship you are ignoring the clear pattern of the early church. You’re ignoring a clear teaching in scripture found in Hebrews, and you are testifying that someone and/or something else is worthy of your attention instead of gathering with God’s people.
“In short, the reasons for the Sabbath law are twofold: vertical and horizontal, theological and social.” H. P. Dressler
The Sabbath points us vertically to God and horizontally toward one another.
The Sabbath points us theologically to the truth of who God is and who we are, while at the same time making sure that we have space for rest and that we demonstrate care and concern for one another.
A couple more things:
God does not take a day off and cease to be God. On the 7th dayGod did not stop doing all that God does to maintain the universe and all that is in it.
The Sabbath is for mankind, not God. Scripture says it has been made for man because man needs it, God does not need the Sabbath, as Jesus demonstrates, He rules over the Sabbath.
The Jewish leaders had major issues with Jesus’ relationship with the Sabbath. (In fact, they had an issue with anyone who broke their interpretations of the Sabbath. They told the man who was healed to put the mat down because carrying it was work…)
The Jewish leaders accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath by working, and by working they meant healing.
Notice that the Jews did not argue with the truthfulness of the healings… they could not deny what was happening. (They didn’t argue with the man who was healed, only that he was carrying his mat on the Sabbath)
Instead of taking issues with the healings, they took issue with the way in which Jesus went about being the Messiah on the Sabbath.
The Jewish leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy by saying that He was claiming equality with God.
There are many ways in which Jesus did this in His ministry. In this passage Jesus claims to be the Son of God in John 5:19–24 (CSB)
“19 Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son likewise does these things. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works than these so that you will be amazed. 21 And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants. 22 The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. 24 “Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.”
Jesus justifies his actions with his claim, and His claim is consistent with His actions.
Jesus claims authority and declares that His actions are a sign or testimony of the Father.
In addition to claiming to be the Son of God, Jesus claims equality with God by forgiving the man’s sins. John 5:14–15 (CSB) says, “14 After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.” 15 The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.”
Remember that John wrote his gospel so that we would believe that Jesus is the son of God and receive eternal life through Him.
The single most important application of this passage today is that Jesus came to save sinners.
Additionally we see a few other lessons for us to take home:
Lesson 1: Misunderstanding the Word of God causes us to miss God and what He is doing in our midst.
The Pharisees and other Jewish leaders misunderstood the promises regarding the Messiah. They were looking for God to fulfill all the promises He made at one time and in their present circumstance. So, when God kept His promise to send a Savior to overthrow sin, death, and Satan, they missed Him because they thought it meant that Rome would be overthrown in the process. And, oh how this could be so many people today… people who are looking for God to fix our culture, save the country, restore our fortunes, and elevate our political and moral views through politics… all the while missing the truth that everything that has been broken is fixed in Jesus. And, like the Jews of he 1st century we might miss what God is doing because we are looking for a social and political movement where God has promised a spiritual movement.
Lesson 2: Jesus doesn’t work according to our rules
The Jewish leaders had interpreted and interpreted the law to the point they had expanded the law to include their perspectives as law. They equated breaking one of their laws as breaking the law of God. And, as we see in this passage (and many more) they superimposed their rules over the ways God would move.
Their rules had become the binoculars that they looked through to see if a movement was from God. The problem was that the movement of God couldn’t be seen through their binoculars… but because of their binoculars they missed what God was doing.
It’s hard to think of yourself as blind when you can see… but you might as well be blind if you can’t see what God is doing.
Lesson 3: There are two kinds of people who are often involved in the church, but who are actually outside the kingdom of God.
Those who want healing and don’t know how to find it
Those who love the rules more than the ruler.
Both of these groups are afflicted and in need of Jesus.
Some struggle with the visible affliction in their life:
Physical Emotion Mental
Some struggle with the affliction of self-righteousness:
Haughty Judgmental Paying attention to others issues and faults and not their own misunderstanding of God’s word and the Gospel of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus.
Both of these groups have a spiritual need that can only be addressed by Jesus.
I mentioned earlier that the Sabbath aims us to the Father and to one another. And, that the Sabbath makes is clear who we are and who God is. Along with the fact that through the Sabbath God provides care and compassion all people, including the servants, people from other nations, etc.
So… with that in mind…
Lesson 4: Jesus is the fulfillment of the Sabbath, and the rest your soul needs is found in Him.
Jesus is the solution to the one who has loved the rules more than the ruler.
The Pharisees would not have admitted their struggle… but you do have a struggle with following the authority of Jesus if any of the following is true:
You live by your own way and not scripture You reinterpret scripture to fit the wants and desires you have and not the will and desire of God. You filter all of scripture through your experiences instead of filtering your experiences through scripture. You have ever said that the lost can wait, you have enough on your plate for right now. You look at someone who has a great need and put obstacles in the way of them finding Christ… clothes, standing in society… You have ever thought someone should go to a different church because they don’t fit in at yours… We don’t decide this… Jesus decides, and His Gospel is for all and to all… You come face to face with the truth in God’s word, and decide that you feel more comfortable with your old ways and thinking than you do the truth.
Jesus is the hope for the one who is desperate for help and has no one else to turn too.
Jesus proves that God is not a first come first served God… the man at the pool was always missing out because someone else beat him to the water. No one can beat you to Jesus or get in the way of you receiving forgiveness and being saved by faith in Him.
No one can hinder the mercy and grace of God for you. In terms of taking action in response to our passage today: Closing Thoughts
Surrender your life to Jesus and be saved today.
Submit your life to Jesus by living according to His Word rather than your rules, the world’s ways, or the opinions of others.
If you want to live like Jesus, then you have to go where the people with needs are.
It’s wrong to have the attitude that people can come to us if they need something. Praise God that’s not His attitude toward us. Jesus came to us… like He went to the Pool at Bethsaida.
Do we really need to ask people if they want to be healed from their addictions? Do we really need to ask people if they want to be healed from their grief over the loss of a loved one? Do we really need to ask people if they want to be healed from the hurt and pain of failed relationships and marriages? Do we need to ask teenagers if they want to be healed from the hurts and scars they bear from trying to fit in or being left out? Yes… we ask, because Jesus asked
One of my greatest hopes and dreams for our church is that we are known for going to people and reaching them where they are.
Jesus said in John 5:17 (CSB), “My Father is still working, and I am working also.”
This was true then and it’s true now… may we respond to the truth of who Jesus is and be a part of what he is doing in the lives of those around us.