I woke up early on Sunday morning in Jerusalem. As the water was heating for my coffee I accessed ESPN on my smartphone and checked football scores. To my delight my university team was still playing and I followed the game as they won with a field goal as time expired. My wife wasn’t too happy when I cheered their victory; “Don’t you know what time it is?” Yes, I did! It was Sunday morning in Jerusalem but it was still Saturday night in Doak Campbell Stadium.
Our passage for today illustrates that Jesus was operating in a different theological time zone from the religious leaders in Jerusalem.
The Pools of Bethesda are quite large and deep. The local legend was that the waters had healing properties. When an angel would stir the water it would bubble up and the first person in the water would be healed. (Verse 4 provided this information, but the verse is not in the most ancient copies of John so it has been deleted in most modern translations) Jesus’ question to the crippled man frames the issue; is he satisfied living life as a beggar, or does he want a better life?
Jesus clearly does not believe all illness is caused by sin, as we shall see in a few more chapters when Jesus heals the man that was blind from birth. In this case, perhaps the man’s sin was that he got drunk and fell down stairs. Or, perhaps Jesus thought it was sin for the man to accept his condition and reconcile himself to life as a beggar.
The intriguing issue for me is Jesus raising the difference in time zones. Jesus knew it was the Sabbath when he healed the man. Jesus knew that for the Jews it was a day of rest, as commanded by God. But, Jesus says he was working because his Father was working. Isn’t God resting on the Sabbath?
I think Jesus wants us to see that God is working again. This time He is doing a new work to birth His New Creation through the life of the Messiah. Jesus is operating in a completely different sphere of time than the Jews.
With this in mind, can you begin to see the hidden message in John’s signs? John stopped counting the signs for us at the second sign, and we will continue to identify and count the signs ourselves. The healing at the Pool of Bethesda is sign number three. We will continue to discover signs until we get to the seventh sign and the birth of God’s New Covenant.
The symmetry of the scriptures, to all of God’s creation, is astonishing.
What word or phrase in these verses
attracts your attention?
Reflect on that word or phrase.
What insights come to you?
How does this passage touch your life today?
10-Mar-12 John 5:19-30
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