12.09.07
Christ’s Authority Over the Sabbath: Through the Healing of the Paralytic (John 5:1-47)
Christ’s Authority Over the Sabbath
Through the Healing of the Paralytic (John 5:1-47)
It is thought that this was near or at the end of the first year of ministry of Christ. During this time His fame grew, as did the jealousy of the Pharisees. The second year of His ministry, which Christ was now entering, was to be a year of great public favor. Nearly all this year was spent in Galilee, but there was a feast, presumably the Feast of the Passover in Jerusalem, which He attended before going ahead into Galilee. There is a difference of opinion as to which this unnamed feast was, but the circumstances of His ministry as a whole seems to favor this being the Passover.
The Pharisees had often revealed their antagonism to Jesus during His previous ministry in Galilee. This antagonism had been veiled because of the popularity of Jesus due to His teaching and miracles. Now that Christ had come to Jerusalem, that popularity would no long be an advantage Jesus could count on, and the disdain for Jesus came out in the open. What was the occasion where we see it rear its ugly head? Over the question of the Sabbath.
The Sabbath was divinely instituted as a sign of the covenant between God and His people Israel
Exodus 31:13-17 “Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy. 14 “‘Observe the Sabbath, because it is holy to you. Anyone who desecrates it must be put to death; whoever does any work on that day must be cut off from his people. 15 For six days, work is to be done, but the seventh day is a Sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day must be put to death. 16 The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. 17 It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested.’” Observing the Sabbath marked Israel as a set-apart people and reminded them of this as well.
There was no institution among the Jews that was held with more care and compassion than this. It came from God to Moses – and carried from generation to generation. No working, just rest. Lengthy rules were formulated about what kinds of knots one could tie on the Sabbath, if you could make a fire, what you could or could not carry. The Sabbath had become a burden by the thousands of restrictions and rules that are truly too numerous to mention. Even thought the Mosaic law was sufficiently stringent as given by God, the Pharisees deemed it too lax and amplified and defined it more – in an attempt to capture every ‘what if’ that could be. (page 159-160 address this at length).
Jesus walked by a pool near the Sheep Gate. The pool is said to have had five covered porticoes. Hodges notes:
The rediscovery of the Pool of Bethesda has, of course, confirmed John’s knowledge of the topography of ancient Jerusalem. The reference to the somewhat strange number of ‘five colonnades’ (or ‘five porches’) is now explainable due to the fact that the pool was a double pool surrounded by Herodian colonnades on all four sides, while the fifth colonnade stood on the dividing wall that separated the northern and southern pools.
What did Christ see? A man who had been an invalid for 38 years. Looking on to verse 14, we would conclude that the man’s infirmity was the result of divine discipline due to sin. For 38 years this man had hoped for healing from the waters of the pool…but this hope had never been realized.
Of note – observe that divine discipline can NEVER be removed until the sin that brought the discipline is acknowledged and the person asks God to forgive that sin. It seems that the God who had imposed the discipline on the man had prevented him from finding a cure in the waters of the pool.
Jesus asked if he wanted to get well. Showing his despondency and loss of hope, the man let Jesus know that there was no one to assist him. Christ responded to this by commanding him to get up and to pick up his mat and walk. This command demanded obedience, which was impossible apart from faith in the One who had given the command. And the man picked up his mat and walked.
Now, what happened next did not jibe with Pharisaic tradition – one could not carry any burden on the Sabbath day. This man was publicly seen to be violating, not the law of Moses, but the traditions of the Pharisees. The Pharisees, who were jealous for their traditions, immediately challenged the man. What was his defense? Look at verse 11. The One who has the power to heal has the right to be obeyed. So who was this person? The man didn’t know.
In verse 14 we see the man in the temple. Perhaps he had gone there to offer thanks and sacrifices to God. While there, Jesus approaches him. The man went away and now became a witness to the power of Christ. He informs the Jews of who healed him, now that he knew it was Jesus. The result? In verse 16 we see it is persecution of Jesus by the Jews because He did these things on the Sabbath. What was Christ’s response to this persecution? Verse 17. Christ’s statement was very strong and clear. He referred to God as His very own Father. Now the Jews had another reason to persecute Him! This was blasphemy. Since Jesus Christ claimed God as His Father, they saw Him as guilty of blasphemy. And in verse 19 we see the authority that had been given to Him was proof of His person. To this, the Jews had a problem with arguing. They acknowledged God as the Creator, as the One that would give life to the righteous in the resurrection, and that God had the power to judge all men. Christ claimed that the authority vested by the Father in the Son proved the equality of the Son with the Father.
Christ affirmed that He would exercise His authority when the time was right. Look at verse 25 and 27. If He claimed to have authority but never used or exercised it, then we may have a reason to question what Jesus claimed. Also in those verses, Jesus refers to Himself as Son of God and Son of Man. Son of Man is the title that is Jesus’ favorite and in every instance – when used as a title – refers to Christ alone (the only exception is in Acts 7 in the speech of Stephen). It expresses dignity, dominion and authority. Son of God was less common on the lips of Christ, but was frequently used by the apostles, and it expresses an essential filial relation to God (for a detailed look at these 2 phrases, go to pages 161-163 in the book).
In anticipation of the objections of His opponents that would say He was bearing witness of Himself, He presents 5 other witnesses to His person.
- the witness of John the Baptist (vs. 33-35)
- the testimony of His works (vs. 36)
- the witness of the Father (vs. 37) – baptism, this is my Son…
- the witness of the Scriptures (vs. 39) – OT
- the testimony of Moses (vs. 45-47) – study of the types
There was abundant evidence to believe Jesus’ claims that He was the Son of God, the Son of Man, co-equal with His Father, and the One on whom the Father’s authority had been conferred.
How much evidence is needed to convince us of the reality of Christ’s claims?
