The Gospel Series Part 6c

SABBATH CONTROVERSIES AND WITHDRAWAL

A lame man healed in Jerusalem on the Sabbath (Jn 5:1-9)

Jn 5:1 We don't know exactly what feast this was, but it was probably one of the mandatory ones. Jesus obeyed the law, he never invalidated it (Matt 5:18)

Jn 5:2 Bethesda means house of mercy.

Jn 5:4 This was the prevailing wisdom of the day. Angels are not involved in healing.

Jn 5:5 38 years? The same amount of time Israel wandered in the wilderness. Is there a connection here?

Jn 5:6 Jesus asks if he wants to be made well. Some people don't, they just want to feel sorry for themselves.

Jn 5:7 Contrast his response with the previous story in Mark 2:11-12. In that story the person doesn't say anything. When Jesus gives him an impossible command "arise", he did so. Here, Jesus just asks if he wants to be made well, and he comes up with excuses. Perhaps he didn't believe Jesus had the ability to heal him.

Jn 5:8 A similar command is given in Mark 2. "rise" - present active imperative; the expression of a parent to a lazy child to get up.^[1]

Jn 5:9 Here, the story says he was made well, then got up. Previously in Mark, the person just got up. This person was healed first, and then got up. In Mark, the healing was at the same instant the person got up, which was impossible for him. It would appear the person in Mark had more faith than this guy, even though both were healed.

This event is just after the story in Mark 2. An interesting study would be to examine these two healings, and notice the differences and similarities between them. This is left to the interested student. A few have been noted here, but there are more.

Effort to kill Jesus for breaking the Sabbath and saying He was equal with God (Jn 5:10-18)

Jn 5:10 Once again, what the Pharisees were mad about was breaking their additional laws and rules. There was no specific law in the Torah prohibiting carrying your bed on the Sabbath.

Jn 5:12 They didn't seem to care about his miraculous healing! The Pharisees couldn't see past their additional laws. Here a man was healed, and all they care about is their rules.

Jn 5:14 Jesus found him in the temple. Jesus always finds his people at a place of worship.

"Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you". The hint here is this man's infirmity was the result of sin in his life. But we must be careful as this is not always the case. Remember Job!

Now we move into a section that certainly will get the Pharisees really mad. In verses 17-30 Jesus claims to be equal to God. If anyone ever says Jesus didn't claim to be God, point them to this chapter. Jesus is equal to the Father in nature (vs.17-18), Power (19-21) and authority (22-30)

Jn 5:17-18 Both the Father and the Son are continually working. At what? Holding the universe together! Both were involved in creation, thus they are equal in nature.

And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. (Colossians 1:17)

Consist really means to 'hold together', as in holding each atom together. Inside the atom are positive charges, and as anyone knows who has played with magnets, like charges repel. What holds the atom together? The power of Jesus himself. This idea is also in other places in the Bible.

who being the brightness of His glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, (Hebrews 1:3)

Discourse demonstrating the Son's equality with the Father (Jn 5:19-47)

Jn 5:19-21 Jesus is equal with God in Power.

Jn 5:22-30 Jesus is equal with God in authority.

Jn 5:24 Note the use of the past tense, "has passed from death to life". It's already a done deal.

Jn 5:25 Dead can mean spiritually dead, i.e. refers to Christians.

Jn 5:28-29 See Revelation 20.

In the rest of this chapter, we see four examples of the witness that Jesus is who he claims to be.

Jn 5:31-35 John the Baptist witnessed Jesus was the Son of God. - #1

Jn 5:36 Jesus own works validated who he was. The teacher of Israel (Nicodemus) knew Jesus was from God by his works (John 3:2) - #2

Jn 5:37-38 The Father said Jesus was his Son. At Jesus' baptism and the mount of transfiguration the Father thundered from heaven Jesus was his Son. - #3

Jn 5:39-40 The Bible testifies of Jesus. - #4

Jn 5:39 "search" - as in a person stalking game.

Jn 5:43 "his own name" - a reference to the antichrist.

Lesson: In the volume of the Book

In John 5:39, Jesus makes the statement, the Scriptures testify of Him. But exactly how much? By the following two examples we will find how literal that statement is.

First, a strange passage at the end of Numbers about the cities of refuge the Lord commanded Moses to instruct the Israelites to make.

'These six cities shall be for refuge for the children of Israel, for the stranger, and for the sojourner among them, that anyone who kills a person accidentally may flee there. (Numbers 35:15)

There is to be cities of refuge for people who are guilty of manslaughter. Clear so far. In verse 24, the city is to judge between the accused and the avenger of blood (next of kin). If the accused is not guilty of murder but manslaughter, he is offered refuge in the city. As long as he stays in the city, the avenger of blood cannot touch him. But if he goes outside the city, the avenger of blood can kill the accused without guilt (v 27-28). How long does this protection last? This is the part that should perk your ears up. Until the death of the high priest. After that, he is free to go, and the avenger of blood can not touch him lest he be guilty of murder. But this is strange, why the death of the high priest? This could be one day or 50 years, the amount of time was unknown. Whenever we find something weird like this, rejoice, for a treasure is behind the strangeness.

To unravel this, first we consider Jesus' death on the cross. Was it murder? Certainly the Jews plotted against Him, so in that case it was murder. But what did Jesus say? "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they do." (Luke 23:34). So according to God, Jesus' death was manslaughter, not murder. He died for our sins, we put him on that cross.

So according to Numbers, we are able to go to the city of refuge. And who is that?

The name of the LORD is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. (Proverbs 18:10)

As long as we stay there, we are safe. For how long? Until the death of the high priest. And who is our high priest?

Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of the heavenly calling, consider the Apostle and High Priest of our confession, Christ Jesus, (Hebrews 3:1)

Isn't it nice how it all fits together? Truly the entire scripture speaks of Jesus. Whenever you come to a passage that seems strange, try looking at it to see how it speaks of Jesus and see if that helps clear it up. Every detail speaks of Him.

Controversy over disciples' picking grain on the Sabbath (Mt 12:1-8, Mk 2:23-28, Lk 6:1-5)

Mt 12:1-2 What's wrong with this? Nothing. It's expressly allowed by the Old Testament (Deut 23:25). They were not stealing the grain. The problem (from the Pharisee's point of view) is given by Luke in Luke 6:1. It's not they were eating from the field, it's the way they were - rubbing their hands together to separate the grain. By the Pharisee's rules, this amounted to harvesting, which was work, and thus not allowed on the Sabbath.

Mt 12:3-4 1 Samuel 21:4-6 - When David needed food, his need overrode the law.

Mt 12:5 The priests work constantly while on duty, even on the (gasp!) Sabbath. The point is several things can override religious law.

Mt 12:7 Hosea 6:6

Mt 12:8 A claim to be God.

It appears Jesus sometimes went out of his way to offend the Pharisees. Was he just mean? No. Is he invalidating the law? Definitely not. (Mat 5:17). The reason he brings this up is given by Mark

And He said to them, "The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. (Mark 2:27)

Jesus is making a point about the Pharisees legalism - it's got to go. And before we get too comfortable, the same problem can occur in our lives. It's so easy to make additional laws and rules that God didn't make, all in the name of "clarifying" what God has said. He says to keep holy the Sabbath, and from that come hundreds of rules. We must guard against the same error the Pharisees were guilty of.

Healing of a man's withered hand on the Sabbath (Mt 12:9-14, Mk 3:1-6, Lk 6:6-11)

For this story, we will look at all three accounts to get a complete picture of this event. If we only read one, we can miss some key points.

Mt 12:9 "their" synagogue. It's no longer God's, but theirs. They were so busy in their service for the King they forgot about the King. It's an easy mistake to make. It happened to the church at Ephesus. See Revelation chapter two.

Mk 3:2, Mt 12:10 The Pharisees "watched closely". Was this a setup by them to trap Jesus? If it was, it didn't work out very well.

Mt 12:11-12 An illustration they would hopefully understand to explain why healing was acceptable on the Sabbath.

Mk 3:5 Once again, Jesus gives someone an impossible command to follow.

Lk 6:11 Their plan backfiring, they were filled with rage. They were so blind to the work of God they didn't even notice the man was healed. All they could think of was Jesus slipped out of their trap.

Withdrawal to the Sea of Galilee with a great multitude from many places (Mt 12:15-21, 4:25 Mk 3:7-12)

^[1] Missler, Chuck John page 26

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