After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades.3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “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.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’”12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
The Pharisees are not even interested in the fact that a man, lame for 38 years now walks! All they care about is that this man is walking with his mat, which was forbidden by THEIR laws.
For the first time in the Gospel of John, we have an incident revealing the fundamental opposition to Jesus on the part of the Jewish religious leadership. And we have here, as well, the evidence that it was a religious opposition. This is, of course, the bitter irony of the Gospel story, it was the religious people, the devout people, the very people who should have welcomed the Lord Jesus with open arms and understood his mission, the people who should have been thrilled at the knowledge that the messiah had come among them.
They should have rejoiced with all their hearts at the kindness Jesus had shown to this miserable man; should have marveled at God’s power; should have wondered in humility what was happening among them… they should have fallen at the Savior’s feet to worship him, and, instead are quibbling about the fact that this man, paralyzed for thirty-eight years, and now walking…was violating their understanding of Sabbath sanctification. But they care more about their own made-up rules, their own understanding of what it means to be religious.
This is what religious unbelief often does. It hides behind laws, thinking to be safe. The law about burdens was speaking of the burdens of one’s trade, of a man’s work. They decided that even carrying a roll or a mat is a violation.
But just as we said that we are not unlike the lame man, so we must say that for many, if not for the grace of God that has humbled us, we would be no different than these Pharisees who seek to be self-justified instead of God justified.
This is what a religious, self-righteous spirit does, it is critical, it looks at everyone else and is quick to see them as defined by their faults…by their sins…by all that they don’t understand but that I so piously do understand. It exalts self, this critical spirit, it has no place for love and Christian charity and worse yet, because it is always critical of others, it never, never deals with the sin in its own heart.
Oh, we must be careful of this spirit…it is not too far from any of us.
The Pharisees question the man and he cannot defend the action of taking up his bed and walking, for his enemies were learned men, they were to put it bluntly, better arguers than he was. The man could only say in his defense, “Look, the guy who made me well said to me, take up your bed and walk.” What a great defense! I am only doing what Jesus said. That is the only defense we need, don’t you think?
When the world or for that matter the religious attack us or question us about our actions our life, our words…when they question us about the way we raise our children, or for how our homes are run, for how we worship, for our saying no to certain things in this world…When they question us about our morals, why we do and don’t do…may it be that our response is simply, “I do that which the Lord has told me to do…”
But here it starts to get difficult. Jesus will later return to his man and give him the reason for his 38-year ailment, nothing thus far has been said about a change in the man’s spiritual condition. His body had been healed and it is no wonder that the Savior now comes to rebuke him and restore the soul.
“See you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”
In essence Jesus says this happened to you because of your sin, which, you better leave…or something worse will happen to you because of your sin. It is certainly true that the Bible teaches that much suffering and trial that comes to us is NOT the specific punishment for some sin. For instance, think of Job, his suffering was not because of his sin.
In the margins of my bible I have listed at least 9 different reasons why God sends suffering and trial, and only one of the nine is because of the person’s sin:
1. As punishment for their sins; but also
2. Sometimes for the sins of others;
3. For the perfecting of their character and to strengthen their faith;
4. For the revelation of some dimension of God’s character and ways;
5. For loyalty to Jesus Christ or to share in his sufferings;
6. To learn what they do not yet know;
7. To test their faith;
8. To produce a greater joy;
9. They even suffer as a sign of God’s favor.
We commonly make two mistakes in this regard:
First, is when we think our trials are NEVER because of our sin. Second, is when we think our trials HAVE TO BE because of our sin. You say, “How are we to know?” This is very important: Only the person who walks with Jesus by the power of the Spirit, and is truly submissive to God…only the person who day in and day out seeks Christ and gives Himself to knowing His Word and His presence, will ever be able to discern this. And those who do NOT seek the Lord this way, will most of the time not know but most often, they do not care to know, not really.
Has this come upon me because of my sin? The answer could very well be, yes, it has, you are going to have to do honest, heart work.
Prayer: Father, I know that I am not in control and that I should humbly and joyfully bow before You as the One who controls all things and yet in my pride I feel as though my will should always be done, in my timing as I see fit. Forgive my arrogance. Help me to work hard at what you have set before me, but to know that I do not know the answer to all things, or even to most things and therefore to live trusting that You DO know all things. Give my faith, strength to boldly go where You send and DO what You have set before me, through Jesus Christ my Lord, Amen.
Gospel Song: What a Friend We Have in Jesus