Year 2, Day 253: John 5

Not a Healing Story

Things are going to really heat up as we go through this passage.  Jesus heads to Bethesda, which is a place just outside of Jerusalem that is known to have a pool that was thought to have special healing capabilities.  Jesus takes a look around, finds a man that will serve His purpose, and asks Him if He wants to be healed.

You’ll notice that I specifically said that Jesus finds a person who can serve His purpose.  Yes, the man is healed.  He does get that benefit.  But ultimately, this is a story about the purposes of God.  This is a story about God’s agenda being completed.   This is not a healing story; this is a story about God’s agenda in which a person is healed.  We’ll get to that as we go through this story.

Jesus asks the man if he wants to be healed.  Clearly the man doesn’t understand what Jesus is asking or perhaps even who Jesus is because the man responds by telling Jesus that he can’t get into the pool.  The man doesn’t really have a clue about what Jesus is up to.  This is the first point to remind us that this is a story about God’s work.  The man has absolutely no clue as to what is about to happen.

This is followed by Jesus making an interesting statement.  Jesus tells the blind man that since he has been healed he should pick up his mat and walk away.  Here’s the interesting point.  Jesus tells the man to take up his bed.  This is the first thing that irritates the Jewish leaders.  They don’t argue about the fact that Jesus healed on the Sabbath – at least not in this story.  What they argue about is that the man picked up bed.  They argue about the work that the man does on the Sabbath!

What is remarkable about this whole story is that the man is simply just following Jesus’ command.  Jesus’ words put the man directly in the line of fire.  Clearly this is not a story about the healing of a man as much as it is a commentary on Jesus’ perspective on the use of the Law.  Jesus knows that the Law is good in that it reveals our sinfulness.  But Jesus is clearly making the point that the Law should not be something that keeps us from seeing God’s will, either.  Jesus’ command puts the healed man in the line of fire from the Jewish leaders in order that He can later make a greater comment about the use of the Law among humanity.

Thus, we can see this story serving a greater purpose.  The Jewish leaders are observant of a break to their legal code.  They immediately begin to investigate.  The man is at first unable to tell them who did it.  If Jesus wanted to, He could have walked away cleanly!  But again, this story is not about the healing of a man.  This story is about Jesus advancing the plan of God.  Jesus finds the man again.  Jesus certainly clearly identifies Himself – although the text doesn’t confirm that fact.  But since we know that the man can go away and tell the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who healed him, Jesus must identify Himself.  That is quite significant to Jesus’ agenda.

Work

The Jewish leaders begin to persecute Jesus because He is advocating for people to break the Jewish leader’s understanding of the legal code.  In fact, Jesus Himself is breaking the Jewish leader’s understanding of the legal code by working on the Sabbath.  When they confront Him, Jesus gives a great response.  “My Father has been working until now, so there is no reason that I shouldn’t work, too.”  Note, however, that Jesus isn’t talking about the same kind of work as the Jewish leaders.  The work that Jesus is up to is God’s work.  Jesus is up to spiritual work.  Essentially, Jesus is absolutely giving permission to do spiritual work on the Sabbath.  In fact, He implies that it should be done.  After all, if God is at work ... shouldn’t His disciples be at work, too?  What does it say about us if we aren’t up to spiritual work on the day that the Lord has set aside for it?

Equality With God

In doing this, Jesus calls God “His Father.”  As Christians, we hear this and think nothing of it.  Jesus called God His Father.  Jesus even teaches us to call God our Father as well.  After all, through Jesus we are given the right to become the children of God.  But to the Jewish mindset – to call oneself family with God is equal to calling oneself God.  Of course, we believe that Jesus was God, so we don’t see a problem with this. But to the Jew, this is blasphemy.  Therefore, the Jewish leaders begin to persecute Jesus.

Getting Around to God’s Point

Look at what comes out of this event.  Although it is antagonistic – it was doomed to be antagonistic anyway – Jesus is able to have conversation with the Jewish leaders.  Jesus is able to tell them the plan.  Jesus tells them that God is going to raise the dead and that God is going to give that same power to His Son.  Jesus tells the Jewish leaders that all authority for judgment has been likewise given to the Son.  He tells the Jewish leaders that those who hear and listen to the words of the Son will pass from death into life.

But Jesus goes further than that.  Jesus tells them the difference between them and Him.  Jesus can absolutely put aside His agenda and pursue the agenda of God.  No other human being can do this.  Pay attention here.  This is fundamental truth about humanity in contrast of the divine.  Jesus can put His agenda aside and pick up the agenda of God.  We can do that to some extent … but ultimately we eventually fall back into pursuing our agenda.

This is the absolute point of the healing story with which we began this chapter.  The Jewish leaders were not willing to follow the agenda of God.  They wanted to follow their own desires, their own rules, and their own agenda.  Instead of pursuing the work of God, they put aside the agenda of God and lived by restrictions under the Law.  Unfortunately, to some level every one of us is the same.  None of us can say that we have lived by completely putting our agenda down and following God’s way.  The only person who can make that claim is Jesus.  And make that claim He does.

Jesus’ conclusion is long, but apt.  The Jewish leaders on the whole will not come to Him.  They will not listen.  They will not read God’s Word with the influence of the Holy Spirit.  They are going to pursue their own desires.  They are going to pursue the power and control that they want.  They will not humble themselves to God’s agenda.  Again, though, this is what the whole healing was all about.  The Jewish leaders weren’t willing to humble themselves to God’s work.

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