May 31, 2015 John 5:1 – 18

Download discussion questions: John 5_1-18 by a pool on the Sabbath

Samaria, Galilee, now back to Jerusalem.  The first place John records Jesus going is overwhelming in misery and human tragedy.  As one member of the group pointed out, our usual response would be to avoid such places, to go around, to find another gate into the city – anything to avoid being confronted with so much suffering.  Jesus starts there as He enters the city, and he focuses His attention on one particular man.  Jesus did not let an overwhelming situation dissuade Him or distract Him from ministering to an individual, a clear model for us in overwhelming circumstances.

The healing of the man was peculiar for several reasons.  There is no mention of his faith or belief in Jesus.  In fact, later we learn he didn’t even know who Jesus was.  Jesus asked what seems an odd question, particularly when He knew the man had been at the pool a long time:  “Do you wish to get well?”  And the man’s answer is even more unexpected.  A simple “yes” or an emphatic plea, “Will you put me in the water?” would seem to fit better.  Instead, the man launches into a lengthy explanation of the obstacles and human limitations that seem to have removed all hope from him.  Self-pity or “whining” might be apt descriptions of his state of mind.  After thirty-eight years of disability perhaps hopelessness is not surprising.  In our discussion there was an assumption that he had been by the pool for thirty-eight years until one person pointed out that the text says he had been ill that long.  We don’t know how long he had been by the pool, other than that it was a long time.  (That was a good reminder of the importance of careful observation – seeing what is in the text without jumping to assumptions.  It seems that every week I am reminded of the importance of studying Scripture in a group setting where we can help and challenge and sharpen one another.)  Perhaps the man had tried other remedies and cures and this pool was his latest attempt.

Jesus was not deterred by the hopeless response from one who knew nothing about Him and was completely centered on human solutions.  Jesus simple told him to get up, pick up his mat, and walk.  And he did.  Something about Jesus – His presence, His voice, His eyes, His authoritative manner – so affected the man that his list of excuses disappeared.  Based on the man’s initial response it seems surprising that he didn’t continue giving excuses about why he couldn’t get up, couldn’t walk.  Maybe he felt some sensation in his legs and ankles and feet that had not been there for thirty-eight years.  Somehow he simply and immediately obeyed the impossible command:  “Get up, pick up your pallet and walk.”

What a great story.  What a remarkable account of Jesus and His compassion and His healing power.  Years of Bible reading and Bible stories can desensitize us to the wonder of a story like this.

At this point the Gospel writer, John, interrupts the happy ending of the story with a fact he had not yet mentioned.  Not a significant factor for most of us today.  But first-century readers with a Jewish background might have been startled the first time they heard this part.  They probably thought immediately of the problems soon to develop in the story.  And John’s narrative does not disappoint them.  The Jews (or, as one participant in our group described them, “the Sabbath police”) challenged the man carrying the mat.  Maybe it was a gentle reminder, more likely sharp rebuke.  The first time the man has been in public and the first time he has been able to walk and he is already in trouble.  His only response in self-defense is to shift the responsibility to some unknown person who told him to carry the mat.  And by the way, the stranger had also healed him.  But he had no idea who the man was so he was not able to tell the Jews any more.

Once again, the story could have ended here, but Jesus once more takes the initiative with the man.  He “found him in the temple.”  Perhaps the man was following laws about going to a priest to confirm his healing.  Maybe he was so thankful he wanted to offer a sacrifice.  John doesn’t give us those details, only that he was in the temple.  And Jesus seeks him out and finds him there, in the same place where He had previously confronted money-changers and where presumably He was recognizable.  What did Jesus mean, “Do not sin anymore” when He met the man?  Was he warning that sin would lead to more illness?  Was the sin the man’s hopelessness and dependence on human help?  Most likely, from our discussion, Jesus was speaking in terms that linked the temporal and the eternal.  The healing the man experienced delivered him from thirty-eight terrible years.  Sin would lead to something much longer and much worse, an eternity in hell.

Now the man knew the identity of the stranger who told him to carry his mat.  He probably did not know much more about Jesus.  Rather than follow Him to learn more or to express gratitude or know Him better, the man went to the Jews (the Sabbath police) to answer their question and point out Jesus to them.  Now the one who had caused the disturbance in the temple earlier was causing even more trouble, inciting Sabbath-breaking, deserving their persecution.  We hear no more about the man.  Was he surprised or even remorseful about causing Jesus more trouble?  Was he still trying to be a good follower of the Law as a Jew?  What we do know about him has already been mentioned – his self-pity, his hopelessness, his desperation for human help, his informing on Jesus.  In him perhaps we see the effects of long-term suffering, hopefully stirring our compassion.

The “persecution” of the Jews against Jesus is not specified.  Certainly they would confront Him as they did the mat-carrying man about the impropriety of proscribed activities on the Sabbath.  But one verse changes that persecution into a passion to kill Him:  “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.”  Clearly the Jews knew He was not talking about Joseph, His mother’s husband.  The Jews recognized that even in human terms, doing the work of a father and claiming the authority of a father was to assert equality.  Suddenly Sabbath-breaking was not the main issue.

Jesus’ words provided a new perspective on the Sabbath.  Rest is not idleness.  God rested after creation, but He still continued to uphold the universe.  As several group members pointed out, God did not stop working on the seventh day, the Sabbath.  He is not the Deists’ idea of starting the universe and then leaving it on its own.  The Father’s Sabbath rest continues while He actively cares for His people and His creation.  Jesus explained that He was simply carrying on that same work, healing a crippled man even on the seventh day of the week.  The Lord of the Sabbath was clarifying the meaning of Sabbath.