John 5:10-18

SABBATH CONTROVERSY

Text 5:10-18

10

So the Jews said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath, and it is not lawful for thee to take up thy bed.

11

But he answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

12

They asked him, Who is the man that said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk?

13

But he that was healed knew not who it was; for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in the place.

14

Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing befall thee.

15

The man went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who made him whole.

16

And for this cause the Jews persecuted Jesus, because he did these things on the sabbath.

17

But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh even until now, and I work.

18

For this cause therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only brake the sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

Queries

a.

Why did the Jews ask the man about his Healer?

b.

What prompted the man to tell the Jews that Jesus healed him?

c.

What does Jesus mean by the word working in John 5:17?

Paraphrase

But the Jews told the man that had been healed over and over again, Today is the Sabbath day and it is not permissible according to law for you to take up your stretcher. The man answered, The Man Who made me well, that Man spoke authoritatively and told me, Lift up your stretcher and walk. The Jews asked him, Just Who is this fellow Who told you to take up your stretcher and walk? But the man did not know Who his benefactor was, for Jesus had quietly slipped away unnoticed because there was a great crowd there. Afterwards Jesus finds the man in the temple and says to him, Look! You are well, stop sinning lest a worse thing come upon you. The man went away and said to the Jews, It is Jesus of Nazareth who made me well! Now because of this the Jews stalked Jesus to persecute Him because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus replied, My Father is working even now on the Sabbath and therefore I also am working. On account of this the Jews were more determined to kill Him because He not only violated the Sabbath traditions but He also said God was His own unique Father, making Himself equal with God.

Summary

The Jews discover that Jesus healed the man and also commanded the man to break their Sabbath traditions. They increase their hate and determination to kill Jesus, for He has made Himself equal with Jehovah God.

Comment

Sabbath laws are legislated in Exodus 20:10; Exodus 23:12; Exodus 31:12-17; Jeremiah 17:21 (cf. also Nehemiah 13:15). An example of punishment for Sabbath breaking is found in Numbers 15:32-36. Rabbinical tradition said one who inadvertently carried a burden on the Sabbath could sacrifice for his sin. But wilful disobedience brought interdict and death by stoning. These Jews cared not a bit that the man had been relieved of his long and helpless condition. As we have commented before (John 3:1), the Pharisees had added manifold and ridiculously impractical regulations to Sabbath-keeping laws, Their purpose, of course, was to make a system of meritorious law-keeping, hoping thereby to attain righteousness. Mercy and love upon a hopelessly ill man was beside the point with themsomeone had broken the Sabbath traditions and he must be punished, Jesus told the Pharisees later that they neglected the essential matters of the Law such as justice, and mercy, and faith (cf. Matthew 23:23-24).

The man did not even so much as know Jesus-' name. But John 5:11 gives us insight into the man's attitude. The Jews have attacked him for violating the Sabbath, but the man points out to the Jews that the Man who healed him had told him to take up his bed. It is not that the man is seeking to lay the blame on Jesus, but he thinks the Jews ought to see that if a Man was able to miraculously heal him, that same Man ought to be able to give commands concerning the Sabbath!

Contemptuously, in John 5:12, the Jews asked the man, Just Who is this fellow that told you to pick up your bed? The Jews undoubtedly knew who the Healer was. They probably asked His name to get legal testimony to use against Him later. Who else was traversing Palestine healing the sick and restoring sight to the blind? The rulers of the Jews were not above reverting to deceit!

But the man could not answer (John 5:13), for Jesus had silently glided from the midst of the great multitude gathered there. The word exeneusen comes from a Greek word which means to swim, glide, float, The crowd was the reason for Jesus-' departure. The Lord's action here certainly shows that His primary mission was higher than the mere healing of every infirm body. Notice also from this instance that Jesus is able to heal even when the person does not know Him as Christ.

The present tense of the verb finds in John 5:14 seems to indicate that Jesus was looking for the man. Now we see His higher purpose for this manthe healing of the man's soul. Most commentators think this verse indicates the man's illness was due to his previous sinful life. All sickness, however, is not the result of personal sin; but much sickness can be logically and scientifically traced to indulgence and immorality. Jesus uses the present tense again (continued action tense) when He says Do not continue sinning. If this man now wilfully continues in sin something worse than thirty-eight years of infirmity will befall himhe will be lost forever in the abyss of Hell to suffer eternal and excruciating punishment.

There are two views as to the man's running to the Jews upon discovering Jesus-' name: (a) The man sought to clear himself with the authorities. He felt if Jesus had the power to heal, He also had authority to issue commands to break the Sabbath traditions. The man may have been referring the Jews to Jesus in all innocence. He could not defend his actions, but Jesus could! (b) He was ignorant of their intense hatred and determination to kill Jesus and unwittingly betrayed Jesus. Whatever the situation, the man's actions must have conformed to the purposes of Jesus for He did not chastize the man.

The antagonism of the Jews toward Jesus really began in John 2:13, and was fanned by His increasing popularity in John 4:1. But now it turns into a white-hot hate. They stalk Him like wild beasts of prey (indicated by the verb ediokon). Henceforth they will pursue His every move, seeking occasion to trap Him and do away with Him (cf. Mark 2:23 to Mark 3:2).

Jesus-' answer (John 5:17) definitely shows His recognition of Sonship early. In performing this work of mercy on the Sabbath, He is merely doing what His very own Father-God is continuing to do each day of the week (Sabbath included). The Father causes the rain to fall, the sun to shine and the grain to grow on the Sabbath as well as on Monday or Friday. Jesus, being equally a part of the Godhead, works also on the Sabbath. What a strange paradoxical contrast! The Jews, by placing legalistic prohibitions against work on the Sabbath, put a heavy yoke of meritorious work upon the necks of the people which they were not able to bear. Jesus, on the other hand, by doing works of mercy and love, found the genuine rest and peace in doing the will of the Father! As the Pharisees understood it, man was created to be a keeper of Sabbath lawsJesus knew the truth that the Sabbath was made for man (cf. Mark 2:27).

Give the Jews credit for more intellectual honesty than some of our modern scholars. The Jews at least understood Jesus-' claim of equality with God, and they saw the alternatives. Either Jesus was telling truth and must be worshipped as God, or He was a blasphemer worthy of death. Some of our modern Doctors of Divinity would have us believe Jesus-' claims for equality with God to be a philosophy evolving from the second century church.
The word equal in this verse comes from the Greek word isos. The Anglicized form of this word is used in the English language as a prefix meaning equal, Thus, an isosceles triangle is a triangle with two equal sides. Paul used the same word (isos) in Philippians 2:6 where Jesus, existing in the form of God, counted not the being on an equality with God a thing to be grasped.

Quiz

1.

What does the Law of Moses legislate concerning the Sabbath?

2.

Why would the man think Jesus had authority to command him to take up his bed on the Sabbath?

3.

What was Jesus-' higher purpose in seeking the man in the temple?

4.

How does the Father work until now?

5.

What is the difference between Jesus-' view of the Sabbath and the view of the Jews?