Picking up from where I left off yesterday…following the healing at the Pool of Bethesda. “The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.’ But he replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’’ So they asked him, ‘Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?’ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’ The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. So because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.’ For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” John 5
Jesus was not breaking the Law of God. He was breaking the traditions and regulations that had grown up around that law. The Law of God said, “Remember to observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. You have six days each week for your ordinary work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath day of rest dedicated to the LORD your God. On that day no one in your household may do any work.”
Over several centuries a host of regulations were adopted as clarification of what it meant to do “work.” Those regulations and traditions were man’s best attempt to cover all the bases.
For example, if your donkey fell into a pit on the Sabbath, could you get him out? No. You could provide a bit of food and water, but he had to stay there until it was no longer the Sabbath. If your son suffered a bad burn on the Sabbath, could you give him medical care? No. You could stabilize the wound by covering it, but you could not put on salves or give him herbs for pain. Could you carry anything on the Sabbath? You could carry no burden save for lifting your infant child. Could you travel on the Sabbath? No. You could walk only as far as you could throw a stone, although you could go to the temple.
There were hundreds of such tiny rules for every imaginable situation under each of the Ten Commandments. The Jews, especially the Pharisees, were supreme rules-keepers. They called perfection in following all the regulations “righteousness,” but some of it was simple silliness.
Jesus and the Jews were on a collision course because of clashing priorities. To Jesus the healing of an invalid was of a higher value than the keeping of a man-made regulation. In fact, Jesus said something in response to their accusation that must have taken them aback…”My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” To suggest that God worked on his own Sabbath was akin to heresy. To then assert that God was his Father was worse. To then imply that he was working in partnership with God was the straw that broke the camel’s proverbial back.
This is the first gospel mention of the Jews response of persecuting Jesus and trying to kill him. But their reaction didn’t come just from this Sabbath day healing. He had similarly healed others. His popularity had grown…remember the ‘vast’ crowds? He was a complete challenge to “The Way Things Are Done.” From this point on he walks ever deeper into danger.
We too are surrounded by the expectations of others. All forms of media envelop us in a sea of suggestions, requests, influences, or outright demands. Political correctness, ever changing, never stable, influences the news we hear and the spin it takes. In this secular world, we too are subject to the regulations and traditions of man.
For a strong and good LIFE, for a stable place to stand, we can never go wrong by following the example and words of Jesus. For a sense of surety, self-worth, and hope for our children, he is the center of life. For each of us he is the hope of eternal life.
Prayer: “Awesome Father of Jesus, collect our scattered minds and set them on the path of righteousness. Our world grows ever more complex and unfriendly. Competing voices call for our attention, our desires, our children and our resources. We say again with David, set our feet on a rock and give us a firm place to stand. Put a new song in our mouths so that we might trust and praise you. Steady us father, so that we do not turn aside from the path you have set before us. May your love and your truth always protect us. In Jesus’ name, Amen.”