Jesus on Trial: The Incident and Indictment
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Trial of the Century
Trial of the Century
It’s nothing new that reporters and news casters like to use hyperbole to get people’s attention. The phrase “Trial of the Century” has been used dozens of times in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries as a means of highlighting the significance of big, important trials.
Trials for treason, murder, custody, and beatings have all been categorized by some news outlets as “trial of the century.”
What if there was a trial that was of eternal importance? Is there anything that could rise to that acclaim?
I would contend, yes. In fact that trial has already happened and is continuing to happen. That is the trial of the nature and identity of Jesus. In some ways, we could look at the book of John as being a record of Jesus’ defense in favor of the title - “the Christ, the Son of God” (John 20:30-31).
As we continue our look through the book of John we’re examining his arguments in favor of this verdict about the nature and ministry of Jesus.
As we come to chapter five, we get to see Jesus on trial in a sort of preliminary hearing. Beginning today, we’ll get to examine a few elements of this trial. First of all…
The Incident and Indictment (John 5:1-18) - today we’re going to look at what led to this initial examination. Next week, Armal will continue with...
Jesus’ Defense (John 5:19-29) - as he looks at what Jesus has to say about himself regarding the charges before him. The following week, we’ll consider...
Witness Testimony (John 5:30-47)- as we get to consider other factors and voices that speak in Jesus’ defense.
So, let’s begin where every trial begins...
The Incident: Healing on the Sabbath (John 5:1-13)
The Incident: Healing on the Sabbath (John 5:1-13)
We’ve already read this portion of the text so let’s consider a few elements of this incident.
The scene:
around a festival - the festival is not noted by John, but only the day -
a pool in Jerusalem near the sheep gate - the pool was believed to provide some healing to the in-firmed
on a Sabbath - a day of rest
The man - one of many around the pool:
paralyzed for 38 years - at least 38 years old
Would likely have to be carried to that position by friends or family, or would have crawled there
Something to consider - some have noted that people with paralysis deal with so much more than just a lack of mobility
bladder and bowel control issues
likely resigned to begging or the generosity of others to survive
the interaction with Jesus:
It appears that there were several people around - and yet Jesus chose this specific man. - it wasn’t his character or holiness that prompted Jesus to choose him. - the same thing for us. Jesus doesn’t choose us because we deserve it, but because he chooses us.
He asked if he wanted to be healed - (v. 6)
The man responded with an excuse (v. 7) - no one to help him.
Jesus said simply - Get up, take your bed and walk (v. 8)
So, here the tension begins to increase. John gives us a brief aside noting that this was on a sabbath.
Jesus and the man part ways, but the man is seen by the religious leaders. It’s quite possible they would have recognized this man. In the very least, the nature of his attire and his aroma would have given them some clues as to his status - and yet the leaders are not impressed by his healing but by his breaking of the law.
So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”
There is a bit of back and forth. These leaders want to know - not who healed him, but who told him to “take up your bed and walk.” - but the man did not know.
So the gist of this encounter is the man who was healed is accused of lawbreaking by the leaders and they want to know who gave him permission to walk.
Which brings us to the next part of the trial:
The Indictment: Breaking the Sabbath and Equality with God (John 5:14-18)
The Indictment: Breaking the Sabbath and Equality with God (John 5:14-18)
Sometime later - maybe the same day or another day, Jesus and this man meet again.
Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
Rather than showing gratitude for his healing - or even any sort of transformation - the man moves to get out of the cross-hairs of the religious leaders.
John gives us a brief summary of the religious leaders’ conclusion:
And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
Their initial claim was that Jesus’ healing work and the fact that he urged this man to pick up his bed and walk broke Sabbath laws.
This really begins to beg some questions - what is is the Sabbath and how was Jesus breaking these rules?
The Sabbath, one of the ten commandments, was initiated by God to be a day of rest. God modeled the Sabbath in creation by resting on the seventh day. In the 10 Commandments, God instructed the people of Israel this way...
“Remember the Sabbath day, to 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. On it you shall not do any work, you, or your son, or your daughter, your male servant, or your female servant, or your livestock, or the sojourner who is within your gates. For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
So then, this begs the question, what is work? It seems that in the mind of the religious leaders, healing a man on the Sabbath was work. According to the Mishnah - a set of rules and guidelines designed to help people obey the commandments, picking up a mat was work (Stern). I understand that even walking too far, was considered work to them. In all, there were about 39 different categories of activities that were qualified as work. All of them were prohibited. In their mind, Jesus was breaking those rules.
But beyond that, Jesus received a second indictment, equality with God.
But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
So this simple act of kindness and consideration gets turned into an indictment that included breaking one of the ten commandments and even blasphemy.
Next week, Armal is going to pick up the narrative with Jesus’ defense.
Before we conclude our time together today, I think it’s important that we reflect on some...
Contemporary Considerations
Contemporary Considerations
I think it is important to look at the encounter for what it is - because ultimately, this trial of eternity has huge significance for all of us. But I believe there are also things that we can look at in order to apply to our lives today.
First of all,...
When left to our own devices, we corrupt God’s good gifts
When left to our own devices, we corrupt God’s good gifts
If we were to place ourselves in the story as some of Jesus’ antagonists, we would find just how often we mess up the things that God has blessed us with.
Let’s think about the Sabbath. Sabbath was meant to be a refreshing day for worship. The religious leaders made it into an onerous legalism - letter of the law vs. spirit of the law (they added 39 categories of activities that could be considered work.) Jesus act of kindness and compassion paled in comparison to their view of how He broke the laws. David Stern wrote in his Jewish New Testament Commentary, “Note, however that the Judeans ignored the miraculous healing and concerned themselves only with the infringement of their version of the Law; they could not see that the formerly crippled man’s ability to carry his mat attested to God’s glory.” (p. 169)
How often do we take the good things of God and corrupt them? We judge ourselves by our intentions and yet judge others by their actions - when in the end it should be Jesus doing the judging. We might even place onerous burdens on people coming to faith, when Jesus calls us to repent and believe and then works his sanctifying work in us for the rest of our lives.
But in addition to thinking about the Sabbath, we can also see how we corrupt God’s good gifts in the way that...
The healed man threw Jesus under the bus - rather than showing gratitude or even a desire for healing, the man seemed to quickly tell the Jews just who healed him so that he could be justified for breaking the “law.” He wanted to get the attention off of himself. In many cases, that would be a good thing, but here, he seemed to be ungrateful and even fearful - but of the wrong people. How often do we see life in Christ as a burden rather than a blessing? instead of gratitude for all the Christ has done for us - our redemption, eternal life - we live in the gloom of thinking we can’t have any fun or enjoyment in life.
We equate sin with sickness - This has lessened in recent years, but we tend to be tempted to think that when someone is sick or suffering that it must be related to sin. The two can be related but not always - John 9 (encounter of the man born blind - the disciples asked who sinned - Jesus said neither). Sometimes God uses sickness, and struggle to display his glory - even the Apostle Paul noted that God’s power is “made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor. 12:9.
But I think that there is something else a play here. Not only can we see ways that we corrupt God’s good gifts, but we can also observe that...
Jesus seemed to be instituting a proper perspective on work and ministry
Jesus seemed to be instituting a proper perspective on work and ministry
Returning to the idea of the Sabbath - it seems that the Sabbath wasn’t intended as a day to do nothing, but a day to not work. Many commentators have suggested that this work would refer to a means of livelihood. In Jesus’ case, we don’t exactly understand how he maintained his livelihood. There is some thought that he went into the carpenter trade like his step-dad - until his public ministry began to take off. His act of healing this man was an act of compassion - not of work. Even the man’s act of carrying the mat was not a means of gainful employment.
In our lives, are we taking time to rest? Are we setting aside time to be refreshed from our week’s work?
Are we honoring God on our days off? Are we blessing others? or are we pleasing ourselves?
But there is one other contemporary consideration. In this encounter..
Jesus seemed to poke the religious bear
Jesus seemed to poke the religious bear
In response to the religious leaders, he said, John 5:17 - ...“My Father is working until now, and I am working.” He could have taken a different approach, but he seemed to use those words specifically to drive home the point that he is no ordinary man. He is not a magician. He is not a miracle worker. He is the Son of God.
This is ultimately the issue that each of us need to address. Who is Jesus?
C.S. Lewis masterfully raised this issue in his book Mere Christianity:
“I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about him: "I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept His claim to be God." That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a mad man or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool, you can spit at him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
By poking the religious bear, Jesus brought his identity to the forefront. He challenged the religious leaders to decide if Jesus was just another teacher or if he was something more.
He is forcing us to do the same.
Closing thoughts
Closing thoughts
As we close, lets reflect on a few questions.
What does this encounter reveal about Jesus?
What does this encounter reveal about Jesus?
Diety
Compassion
Intentionality
What does this encounter reveal about us?
What does this encounter reveal about us?
suspicion
corruption
defensiveness?
How should we respond?
How should we respond?
Being a beggar for so long, the man had likely built up a lifestyle around begging. The healing would have changed everything - are we willing to reorient our lives around Jesus? -
CS Lewis famously said:
“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”
Like a good lawyer, the Apostle John has set up his entire Gospel as a means of driving people toward belief in what we might consider to the the Trial of Eternity. This encounter in John 5 seems to be just one of many hearings as the trial ultimately leads each of us to a verdict. Are you willing to acknowledge who He is? Are you willing to trust Him?
Let’s pray
Benediction
The Lord bless you and keep you;
the Lord make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you;
the Lord lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
Sources:
Burge, Gary M. The NIV Application Commentary: John. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2000.
Carson, D. A. The Gospel according to John. The Pillar New Testament Commentary. Leicester, England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991.
Crossway Bibles. The ESV Study Bible. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2008.
Lewis, C.S. Mere Christianity. New York, NY: MacMillan, 1953,
Milne, Bruce. The Message of John (The Bible Speaks Today). Downers Grove, IL. Inter-Varsity Press, 1993.
Stern, David H. Jewish New Testament Commentary. Clarksville, MD; Jewish New Testament Publications. 1989
https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/702-it-would-seem-that-our-lord-finds-our-desires-not