The religious leaders did not ask, “Who healed you?” but rather, “Who told you to do this on the Sabbath?” They were more concerned about a broken rule than a miraculous healing.
According to the Pharisees, carrying a mat on the Sabbath was work and was therefore unlawful. It did not break an Old Testament law, but the religious leaders’ interpretation of God’s command to “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8). This was just one of hundreds of rules they had added to the Old Testament law. (Life Application Study Bible)
BIG IDEA: Don’t let religious traditions become more important that PEOPLE.
There is a big difference between teaching people to obey the commands of Scripture and demanding people to follow man-made rules.
“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
Jesus was accused of two crimes:
1. Breaking the SABBATH
“The day on which [the miracle] took place was a Sabbath” (v. 9b).
“By the seventh day God had finished the work he had been doing; so on the seventh day he rested from all his work. And God blessed the seventh day and made it holy, because on it he rested from all the work of creating that he had done” (Genesis 2:2-3).
“Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a Sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither your, nor your son or daughter, nor your manservant or maidservant, nor your animals, nor the alien within your gates. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:8-11).
As the religious leaders condemned Jesus for breaking man-made rules regarding the Sabbath, people today often judge others for breaking man-made rules regarding Sunday worship.
Do we need to keep the Sabbath rules?
• The NT never commands believers to observe the Sabbath. All of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the NT except the Fourth Commandment.
• The Sabbath was the sign to Israel of the Old Covenant. Since we are now under the New Covenant, we are no longer required to keep the Sabbath.
“The Israelites are to observe the Sabbath, celebrating it for the generations to come as a lasting covenant. It will be a sign between me and the Israelites forever, for in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, and on the seventh day he abstained from work and rested” (Exodus 31:16-17).
By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear (Hebrews 8:13).
• The NT reveals that the early church met together on Sunday.
On the first day of the week we came together to break bread. Paul spoke to the people and, because he intended to leave the next day, kept on talking until midnight (Acts 20:7).
Now about the collection for God’s people: Do what I told the Galatian churches to do. On the first day of every week, each one of you should set aside a sum of money in keeping with his income, saving it up, so that when I come no collections will have to be made (1 Corinthians 16:1-2).
• Paul rebuked the Galatians for thinking God expected them to observe special days (including the Sabbath).
But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable principles? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again? You are observing special days and months and seasons and years! (Galatians 4:9-10).
• Paul warned those who observed the Sabbath not to condemn those who didn’t.
One man considers one day more sacred than another; another man considers every day alike. Each one would be fully convinced in his own mind (Romans 14:5).
Therefore do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath day. These are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ” (Colossians 2:16-17).
• Nowhere in the NT are we told that Sunday has replaced Saturday as the Sabbath. In other words, the Sabbath rules do not apply to Sunday. Sunday is not the “Christian Sabbath.”
The Sabbath had two purposes:
(1) It was a time to REST.
(2) It was a time to REMEMBER what God had done.
Both are still necessities for all believers. For the majority, Sunday is the best day for these needs to be met.
The Sabbath commemorates a finished CREATION; Sunday worship celebrates a finished REDEMPTION.
2. BLASPHEMY
a. “My Father”
The Jews did not object to the idea that God is the Father of all, but they strongly objected to Jesus’ claim that He stood in a special relationship to the Father—a relationship so close as to make Himself equal with God. (NIV Study Bible)
b. “I, too, am working”
The rabbis enforced the prohibition against work on the Sabbath but agreed that God Himself continues working. For instance, God sustains the universe every day. Jesus was claiming that He is God’s Son, and as such, if God can continue to work while commanding rest, so can He.
“On the human level, what Jesus did that day, and what He said that day, cost Him His life. They never forgave Him.”—G. Campbell Morgan
“For this reason the Jews tried all the hard to kill him” (v. 18a).
In the end, it was religion that would condemn and crucify Jesus as a religious duty.
Be careful that your man-made religious traditions destroy the joy and vitality of other believers.
Life-Changing Encounters with Jesus
Part 3: The Lame Man at the Pool (John 5:1-18)
The religious leaders did not ask, “Who healed you?” but rather, “Who told you to do this on the Sabbath?” They were more concerned about a broken rule than a miraculous healing.
According to the Pharisees, carrying a mat on the Sabbath was work and was therefore unlawful. It did not break an Old Testament law, but the religious leaders’ interpretation of God’s command to “remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy” (Exodus 20:8). This was just one of hundreds of rules they had added to the Old Testament law. (Life Application Study Bible)
BIG IDEA: Don’t let religious traditions become more important than ____________________.
There is a big difference between teaching people to obey the commands of ____________________ and demanding people to follow ____________________ rules.
“In essentials, unity; in non-essentials, liberty; in all things, charity.”
Jesus was accused of two crimes:
3. Breaking the ____________________
“The day on which [the miracle] took place was a Sabbath” (v. 9b; see Genesis 2:2-3; Exodus 20:8-11).
As the religious leaders condemned Jesus for breaking man-made rules regarding the Sabbath, people today often judge others for breaking man-made rules regarding Sunday worship.
Do we need to keep the Sabbath rules?
• The NT never commands believers to observe the Sabbath. All of the Ten Commandments are repeated in the NT except the Fourth Commandment.
• The Sabbath was the sign to Israel of the Old Covenant. Since we are now under the New Covenant, we are no longer required to keep the Sabbath (Exodus 31:16-17; Hebrews 8:13).
• The NT reveals that the early church met together on Sunday (Acts 20:17; 1 Corinthians 16:1-2).
• Paul rebuked the Galatians for thinking God expected them to observe special days—including the Sabbath (Galatians 4:9-10).
• Paul warned those who observed the Sabbath not to comdemn those who didn’t (Romans 14:5; Colossians 2:16-17).
• Nowhere in the NT are we told that Sunday has replaced Saturday as the Sabbath. In other words, the Sabbath rules do not apply to Sunday. Sunday is not the “Christian Sabbath.”
The Sabbath had two purposes:
(3) It was a time to ____________________.
(4) It was a time to ____________________ what God had done.
Both are still necessities for all believers. For the majority, Sunday is the best day for these needs to be met.
The Sabbath commemorates a finished ___________________; Sunday worship celebrates a finished ____________________.
4. ____________________
a. “My Father”
The Jews did not object to the idea that God is the Father of all, but they strongly objected to Jesus’ claim that He stood in a special relationship to the Father—a relationship so close as to make Himself equal with God. (NIV Study Bible)
b. “I, too, am working”
The rabbis enforced the prohibition against work on the Sabbath but agreed that God Himself continues working. For instance, God sustains the universe every day. Jesus was claiming that He is God’s Son, and as such, if God can continue to work while commanding rest, so can He.
“On the human level, what Jesus did that day, and what He said that day, cost Him His life. They never forgave Him.”—G. Campbell Morgan
“For this reason the Jews tried all the hard to kill him” (v. 18a). In the end, it was religion that would condemn and crucify Jesus as a religious duty.
Be careful that your man-made religious traditions destroy the joy and vitality of other believers.
LIFE GROUP QUESTIONS
Warming Up
1. Read John 5:1-18.
2. Review Sunday’s sermon notes. What part of this passage most challenges, puzzles, or encourages you?
Look to the Book
3. Read verse 14. Is there a connection between sin and suffering? What does Luke 13:1-5 teach us? What did Jesus mean when He warned about “something worse”?
4. Read Hebrews 4:1-11. Verse 9 talks about “a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.” What is this Sabbath-rest?
5. If Sunday is not the “Christian Sabbath,” how do you think God wants us to celebrate Sunday?
6. Other than the fact that Christ’s resurrection took place on Sunday, what other reasons might there be for the day of worship being changed from Saturday to Sunday?
7. Verse 18 tells us that the religious leaders were trying to find a way to kill Jesus. What was it about Jesus that made them so angry?
So What?
8. Are you guilty of judging others for not following one of your religious traditions? People are more important than traditions. Ask God to help you decipher between man-made rules and God-given commands.
Is there a connection between sin and suffering?
1. The issue is not whether this man was a pre-eminent sinner, but whether some tragedies in Scripture (and this one in particular) are seen as the outcome of specific sin. The answer is surely affirmative (e.g. Acts 5:1-11; 1 Cor. 11:30; 1 John 5:16). This does not mean that everyone who commits these sins will inevitably fall ill or die; it does mean that some instances of suffering are the direct results of specific sin.
2. Syntactically, the two clauses, “Stop sinning” and “something worse may happen to you,” cannot be interpreted independently. They are tied together: the meaning is “Stop sinning lest something worse happen to you.” The unavoidable implication is that the bad thing that has already happened was occasioned by the sin which the person must not repeat.
3. Luke 13:1-5 has its own message for those who look on the tragedy of others: they must not interpret such tragedy as signifying that those who have suffered are morally inferior. We are all guilty; unless we repent, we too will perish. Meanwhile, it is of the Lord’s mercies that we are not consumed. But Luke 13:1-5 says nothing to the person who is suffering, and is therefore irrelevant here.
4. It is a commonplace in many strands of Jewish and Christian theology that suffering and tragedy are the effluent of the fall, the corollary of life lived in a fallen and rebellious universe. In that sense, all sickness is the result of sin, but not necessarily of some specific, individual sin. In Matthew, Jesus’ healing ministry functions in part as a sign that the deadly effects of the fall are being rolled back (Matt. 8:16-17) by the one who came to save His people from their sin. But although suffering and illness have this deep, theological connection with sin in general, and although John elsewhere insists that a specific ailment is not necessarily the result of a specific sin (9:3), there is nothing in any of this that precludes the possibility that some ailments are the direct consequences of specific sins. And that is the most natural reading of this verse.
5. If so, it is just possible John is also telling us that the reason Jesus chose this invalid out of all the others who were waiting for the waters to be stirred, was precisely because his illness, and his alone, was tied to a specific sin. (D. A. Carson)
