John 5:1-18 - This is Jesus: Equal with God

Preached on February 24, 2008, by Eric Schumacher.

Topics: Gospel Of John The Trinity

© Eric M Schumacher – Preached February 24, 2007 at Northbrook Baptist Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

The chapter that we are entering this morning marks a shift in John’s Gospel. Up to this point, there has been hesitation, reservation and concern about Jesus. Nevertheless, there has been no outright persecution and no official opposition. That is about to change.

Chapter 5 marks the beginning of a hatred for Jesus that will only increase in intensity until he is dead. The central issue in this passage will be the central issue in the controversy surrounding Jesus. That issue, which is the central issue of the Gospel, is Jesus’ identity as the Son of God, the Messiah.

It is interesting to note that as Jesus’ identity becomes more explicit, the controversy becomes more intense. As Jesus’ identity is more clearly revealed, the opposition to him intensifies. As Jesus’ identity is shown and taught through his signs and words, the people become more divided and the crowds depart.

This should remind us that it is not enough to have the truth about Jesus preached to us clearly. We should not think that all we need is sermons and Sunday School curriculum and songs and books and blogs that make the person of Jesus plain, and that, having him laid plainly before our eyes, we and those we witness to will repent and rejoice and believe and follow Christ.

Our hearts—like the hearts of the Jewish leaders and the crowds—are not naturally good and hungering for Christ. They are not even neutral, ready to be persuaded to Christ. Our hearts are dead. In chapter 6, Jesus will say—and in saying so cause many disciples to turn back from following him—“no one can come to me unless it is granted him by the Father.” The default response of the human heart to the truth about Jesus is to hate him and seek his death.

No, it is not enough that the Gospel is taught clearly in this church. No, it is not enough that you explain the Gospel clearly to those you witness to. For apart from the drawing of the Father and work of the Spirit in regeneration, you and I and the world will respond to Jesus with hatred.

I say this to remind us from the example of this Gospel that the truth of Jesus is a dividing two-edged sword that separates friends and families. Do not think that your zeal for Jesus will make life easy. It will cost you your life.

I say this to remind you to approach church and child-raising and discipleship and evangelism with the desperate prayers of a humbled soul. For, no matter how clearly and simply or passionately and deeply you present the Gospel, apart from Christ you can do nothing.

I say this to encourage humility and self-examination as we progress through the next several chapters. It is easy to scoff at and scold the Jews as evil villains, which they are. But, apart from the grace of God, we are the Pharisees.

1-9a – The Healing

Verse 1

John tells us that after some time in Galilee, Jesus returned to Jerusalem for “a feast of the Jews.” John often ties Jesus’ signs and teachings to the feast Jesus attended. Often, Jesus’ sign and teaching are related to the meaning of the feast. But, on this occasion, which particular feast it was is unimportant. John will let us know in a few verses the context of Jesus’ miracle, which is what causes the controversy to ensue.

Verses 2-5

The setting for our passage in a pool called “Bethesda,” which is near the Sheep Gate. The “Bethesda” pool was actually two pools, which were both surrounded by four colonnades, which formed a trapezoid. The two pools were separated by a fifth colonnade.

These five colonnades provided ample shelter for invalids—the blind, lame and paralyzed. That was a good thing, because invalids would be brought there during certain seasons when an angel of the Lord was expected to stir the water. The first person to enter the water would be healed.

John draws our attention to one invalid in particular, a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. We are not told what specifically his ailment is; but, given his words, it appears that he is paralyzed or at least quite lame.

Verses 6-7

Jesus, we are told, saw the man lying there and “knew” that he had already been there a long time.

Jesus asks him, “Do you want to be well?” Some have taken this to be a lesson in attitude. In order to be healed, you must first desire the healing. That would be strange if true, given that Lazarus was dead when Jesus healed him! Rather, what this question and its answer are intended to show us is the man’s perspective regarding why he is still an invalid.

The invalid answers, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”

This reveals something of the man. He doesn’t answer Jesus question. His answer almost comes across, “Well, duh! Of course I want to be well! But, I can’t get to the water!” Don Carson comments that his words are “the crotchety grumblings of an old and not very perceptive man who thinks he is answering a stupid question.”

Whether the man thinks Jesus’ question stupid or not, he cannot see past the waters for healing. He has absolutely no knowledge of who Jesus is, despite the fact that Jesus did many signs in Jerusalem. It never registers that perhaps Jesus has a source of healing independent of the waters. He sees no hope of healing beyond getting into the water.

Verses 8-9a

Jesus then speaks with authority, commanding the man to “Get up, take your bed and walk.” At once, we are told, the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

As we move through the passage, we cannot help put see that this anticipates the greater works that Jesus speaks of in verses 25-29—the day coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. Jesus, in this healing, gives us a glimpse of his sovereign, end-time authority.

It is significant that Jesus told the man to “take up his bed.” These beds were small mats, which could be rolled up and easily carried on the shoulder by a healthy adult.

On the one hand, this is proof of the healing. The picture we have is not of an otherwise lame man able to rouse enough strength to weakly limp home. Rather, he is able to pick up his bed and walk.

On the other hand, this command is issued by Jesus to set up the controversy in this chapter. We see that in the information John gives us in the second half of verse 9.

9b-15 – The Controversy

Verses 9b-10

John informs us that “that day was the Sabbath.” That bit of information is not incidental. It sets the context for the miracle, for this fact is what will gain the ire of the Jews.

When the Jews saw that man carrying his bed they told him, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”

The Sabbath was the central sign for the Old Covenant. The Scriptures had clearly forbidden “work” on the Sabbath. The question that arose was, “What constitutes work?”

The Pharisees defined, down to the smallest of details, what constituted work. The leading opinion of rabbis had identified 39 categories of “work,” which included carrying anything from one domain to another. That was forbidden except in the case of compassion—you could carry a bed with an invalid in it, but not an empty bed.

There are numerous events in the Gospels in which Jesus’ ministry triggers a controversy around the issue of the Sabbath, each of which plays a part in the Jewish leaders’ desire to kill Jesus. The multiple Sabbath controversies teach a variety of truths about Jesus and his appearance. Here, the occasion serves as an opportunity for Jesus to reveal the nature of his relationship to the Father.

I am reminded when I read Jesus’ command and that this happened on the Sabbath that Jesus knew exactly what he was doing. He could have commanded the man to get up, leave his bed and walk. But he didn’t. He commanded the man to carry his bed, something which the Pharisees did not approve of on the Sabbath.

In some sense then, Jesus provoked this controversy. That is not rare for Jesus. In chapter six, Jesus will tell the crowds, “Whoever feeds on my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life.” Surely, he could have found a way to word that that would have been a bit easier to swallow (no pun intended).

I am reminded here of what we will see throughout the Gospel: Jesus is in complete control. He entrusts himself to some, but not others. He draws a crowd by multiplying fish and loaves, and then repulses them with talk that sounds like cannibalism. When the Jews want to kill him, he hides himself and escapes. But, when his hour has come, he identifies himself to the soldiers in the Garden. During his trial, Jesus is in complete control of the dialogue. If he wants to stay silent, he remains silent. If he wants to speak, he speaks. And when he does speak, he only gives out only the information that he wants to give. Jesus is in complete control from start to finish. He knows exactly what he is doing.

Verses 11-13

The man responds to the Jews by placing the blame squarely on Jesus—“The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’”

The Jews ask, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” Their concern shifts from the man carrying his bed to the one who told the man to carry his bed. One man carrying his bed is bad enough. But, if there is a man going around commanding people to break the Sabbath, he is of greater concern.

Notice that the man mentioned his healing, but Jews do not mention the healing in their question—only the “work” of carrying the bed. Two things have happened: (1) A healing, a wonderful work of God, has happened, and (2) one of their traditions has been broken. And, in typical Pharisaical fashion, they are more concerned that their traditions are being ignored than with whether God is at work. Unbelievable, the blindness of a Pharisee! They are so blind that they forget the purpose of the Law and the God who gave it.

The man is unable to answer their question; he did not know who healed him. Apparently, he did not even stop to ask the name of the man who healed him after he was healed. And now, he cannot point out the man because Jesus had withdrawn into the crowd.

Verse 14

After the man’s encounter with the Jews, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”

Jesus’ words clearly imply that this man’s physical ailment (of 38 years!) was the result of specific sin in his life. Some argue against that by pointing to chapter 9, where Jesus says that the man’s blindness was not due to his sin or his parents’ sin, but so that the works of God might be displayed in him. It is wrong to take Jesus’ words in that one instance regarding one man’s illness as a blanket statement to be applied to all illness: Since that man’s illness was not caused by specific sin, then no illness is caused by sin. (Likewise, it would be wrong to apply Jesus’ words here as a blanket statement: since one man’s ailment was the result of specific sin, then all ailments are the result of specific sin.)

What this passage reminds us of is that there are tragedies (physical illness and otherwise) that are the result of specific sin. In Psalm 95, the grumbling of the Israelites provoked the Lord to afflict them with wandering in the wilderness until their entire generation died off. In Acts 5, the lies Ananias and Sapphira told to Peter resulted in them being instantaneously struck dead. In Acts 12, because Herod did not give God the glory, the Lord struck him down; he was eaten by worms and died. In 1 Corinthians 11, the Corinthians were eating the Lord’s Supper in an unworthy manner (without love for one another) and, as a result, some were weak and ill, and others had died. In 1 John 5:16, John differentiates between “sin that leads to death” and “sin that does not lead to death.”

There are instances in which tragedy and illness and death are occasioned by sin. Jesus’ words to this man indicate this was the case.

Jesus warns this man not to continue in this sin, lest something worse happen to him. That “something worse” is what Jesus speaks of in verse 29, the “resurrection of judgment.” In other words, Jesus is saying, “as unpleasant as these 38 years of being an invalid have been, if you do not repent, you will face something much worse.” Jesus is issuing an urgent call to repentance. This indicates that the man is not presently repentant and not a believer of any sort in Jesus.

Now, if you are like me, you are probably asking the question right now, “How do I know if my suffering is related to a specific sin or if it is merely the result of living in a fallen world?” That is a difficult question to answer. After pointing out these instances once in a sermon, I had a dear old Christian woman approach me and with great concern ask, “Do you mean that the sickness I’ve been experiencing is the result of some sin I am committing?” I certainly do not want to encourage paranoia.

On the one hand, there are some who think that every piece of suffering that enters you life is due to either a specific sin or a lack of faith. If only you would repent of all sin and exercise perfect faith, then your suffering would depart and your life would be full of health, wealth and prosperity. That perspective is dangerous and unbiblical. First of all, Jesus told his disciples that they will be delivered up to tribulation, betrayed by family members, put to death and hated by all because they love and follow him. Certainly persecution for the Christian faith is not the result of our sin; it is the result of our faith! Furthermore, that perspective screams for an answer of what to do with the suffering and crucifixion of Jesus! If ever there was a life free of sin and full of faith, it was Jesus’ life—and it was a life of poverty, persecution and death! So, we should not regard all suffering as the result of sin.

On the other hand, this leads some to never even consider the possibility that suffering is due to sin. This too is unwise. Jesus and his apostles clearly indicated that there were occasions when persons or churches suffered due to specific sin. It would be foolish to rule out the possibility of such spiritual discipline today.

I believe both are a reality—suffering due to sin as spiritual discipline and suffering due to life in a fallen world through which we are called to persevere in faith. I believe that I have experienced both in my own life. There have been a few, rare occasions when I was very sick, one time when I even thought I would die, and it was clear in my conscience that there was sin that I needed to repent of and flee from. And, so I did! But, most occasions of suffering, such as having the flu a few weeks ago, have merely been part of living in a fallen world, reminders of my need for redemption and resurrection.

I do not have an easy answer for how to determine when suffering is due to sin and when it is not. I would simply encourage us to let every instance of suffering be an occasion to examine our hearts and minds and lives. Read the Scripture, pray and ask God to reveal to your conscience any sin that might be the cause. Let every occasion of suffering point you back to the truth that we live in a world under the curse of sin and we desperately need redemption.

Let every occasion of suffering remind you of verse 29—that there is coming an hour when Jesus Christ will raise us all from our graves, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Earthly suffering can be terribly, excruciatingly painful and unpleasant. But, regardless of how painful it is, there is something worse that can happen to us—eternal destruction. All suffering should encourage faith and repentance, lest something worse happen to us.

Verse 15

Jesus’ warning seems to go right over the head of the man. The man does not believe in Jesus. The man shows no interest in repentance. The man does not so much as thank Jesus. Instead, he repays he healer by going away and turning him in to the Jewish authorities.

This man is a real picture of spiritual dullness. He is the negative counterpart of the positive example we see in chapter 9. In chapter 9, the blind man that Jesus heals defends him to the authorities and believes in Jesus. This man blames Jesus and turns him in! As one commentator put it, this man is “a picture of those who will not let themselves be moved to enter the Kingdom of God.”

This man is an example of one more type of response to Jesus that falls short of saving faith.

Beware of what you put your confidence for salvation in. This man is a perfect illustration of the truth that you can experience a miraculous healing and be lost. You can see and even personally experience “might works of God” and go to hell.

We cannot say, “I know I’m saved because I’ve seen so many miracles in my lifetime!” Judas had seen many miracles, and yet, in this Gospel, Jesus will call him “a devil” and “the son of destruction”! In fact, Jesus said that there will be many on the final day who will say that they prophesied and cast out demons and did many mighty works in his name, and yet Jesus will cast them out.

If I have said it once, I have said it a hundred times—the reason that John wrote this Gospel is that we might believe in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, whom the Father sent to be lifted up on a cross, to die as the Lamb who takes away the sin of the world, to rise from the dead as the resurrection and the life, so that whoever believes in him will not perish but have eternal life and, even though he die, yet shall he live.

You can experience a miracle and be blind to who Jesus is. Salvation has come to the one who repents of his sin and confesses Jesus as Lord, trusting that he died on the cross for their sin and rose from the dead.

Verse 16

John tells us that the reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus is because “he was doing these things on the Sabbath.” This indicates a pattern that goes beyond this incident. Jesus, more than once (even in this Gospel), did things on the Sabbath that aroused the anger of Jewish authorities.

Verse 17

Jesus’ defense of his actions on the Sabbath is simple. He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

The first part of his answer stems from the question: “Does God keep the Sabbath?” In Genesis 2:2-3 we read:

And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done. ³ So God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it God rested from all his work that he had done in creation.

It is interesting to note that in Genesis, the seventh day, unlike the previous six days, is not said to have an end, which would seem to imply that God is still resting. In that context, of course, the “work” that God did was the work of creating the heavens and the earth. When that work was finished, God rested from it.

But, that does not mean that God is idle. Of course, God is continually upholding the universe. He is providing food for his creatures, commanding the wind and rain, and so forth.

Rabbis asked the question: “On the Sabbath, does God rest from his normal work of providentially upholding, maintaining and ruling the heavens and the earth?” If God does not rest from that work, is he is law-breaker? If he does rest from that work, then who keeps the universe running!?

Some rabbis tried to get around this dilemma by referring to two “rules of thumb” for the Sabbath: that (1) one may not carry anything from one domain to another and (2) that one may not lift anything greater than ones stature. First of all, the entire universe is God’s domain and, therefore, he cannot carry anything from one domain to another. Second, there is nothing greater than God’s stature, and therefore he cannot break the Sabbath in that way.

Regardless of the argument, all rabbis agreed that God was continuously working.

Jesus does the startling thing of applying their conclusion about God to himself: “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” If “my Father” does it, then it is right for me to do it!

That is a startling claim on two accounts. First of all, Jews would refer to God as “Father” in corporate worship. They may refer to him as “my Father” in prayer, but always adding a phrase like “in heaven” to keep from indicating an undue familiarity with God. No Jew would ever speak of God as “my Father” in the familiar, intimate way that Jesus does here. Jesus claims a familiarity with God the Father that, in the ears of the Jews, is like treating God as an equal.

Second, everyone would agree that the Father is continuously working. But—the Father is God! He can do that! Men are mortals! They cannot assume to do what God does. But, that is exactly what Jesus assumes—whatever the Father does, he can do. Jesus makes himself out to be the Father’s equal!

This is Jesus defense against the charge of Sabbath breaking—I am equal to God the Father.

Verse 18

This was not lost on the Jewish leaders. We read in verse 18 that the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Jesus now for a second reason. The first reason that they wanted to kill Jesus was that he was breaking the Sabbath. But now they had an even greater reason to kill him—“he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”

Next week, in verses 19-30, we will see Jesus brilliant defense of his statement, in which he establishes his right to do what God is doing and his equality with the Father, yet in way that shows him innocent of blasphemy.

For now, let’s close with two words of application.

First, the Jews, like the invalid, are another example of a wrong response to Jesus. Here is the lesson, in the words of the Apostle Paul: “they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.”

Why did the Jews want to kill Jesus? Because they thought that he was blaspheming God! They were zealous to uphold the honor of God’s name. And, the way in which they were seeking the glory of God was by seeking to kill his Messiah! It is possible to think that you have a zeal for God, while you are actually opposing his work and purposes!

Paul writes about the Jews in Romans 10:2-4:

…they have a zeal for God, but not according to knowledge. ³ For, being ignorant of the righteousness of God, and seeking to establish their own, they did not submit to God's righteousness. ⁴ For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes.

The Jews have a “zeal for God, but not according to knowledge.” They are ignorant of God’s righteousness—his saving righteousness which is in Jesus. They are ignorant of Jesus Christ put forward as an atoning sacrifice for sin, to be received by faith. They are ignorant that through Jesus Christ, God the Father is just and simultaneously able to justify the one who believes in Jesus. They missed that the Law spoke of Christ, pointed to Christ. And so, while they thought they were being zealous for the righteousness of God, they were opposing it, opposing him and seeking to kill him.

That leads to my second application: Jesus is the Son of God, who is equal to God the Father. If Jesus is equal with the Father, then how you respond to Jesus cannot be separated from how you respond to the Father.

You cannot claim to love God and hate Jesus. You cannot claim to know God and be ignorant of who Jesus is. An ignorance of the person of Jesus is an ignorance of God, because they are equal. A lack of love for Jesus is a lack of love for God, because they are equal. Dishonoring the Son is dishonoring the Father, because they are equal. Disobeying the teachings of Jesus Christ is disobeying the Father, because they are equal.

This is what Jesus will make clear in our passage for next week. In verse 23, we will see that those who do not honor the Son do not honor the Father. In verse 24, we will see that to “hear” Jesus’ word is to believe the Father who sent him. Therefore, if you do not listen to Jesus, you do not believe God.

What this means is that the love of a Mormon for “God” is not satisfactory, since they do not love the Jesus of the Bible. The zeal of a Muslim for “God” is not acceptable, since they deny the biblical Jesus. The devotion of a Native American to the “Great Spirit” is not God-honoring since it is not faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God who was crucified for sins and rose from the dead.

And what this means for you and me is—there is no salvation in a generic, all-American “belief in God,” like loving baseball, Mom, and apple pie. There is no salvation in the generic God of sappy e-mail forwards. There is no generic belief in a generic God.

Salvation is only found in a specific, particular, truth-informed, genuine faith in the person and work of Jesus the Messiah who is God’s Son, who died on the cross for our sins and rose from the dead.