“that you may marvel …” (John 5:20, NKJV)
In this teaching we look at John 5:1-20, and what this teaches us about Jesus and the sabbath. It will largely confirm what we have discussed thus far, but also enrich the beauty of the new dispensation, where every day is a sabbath day (Heb. 4:9)! It’s a long section to quote, but the context is immensely important for today’s discussion:
“After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath. The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, ‘It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.’ He answered them, ‘He who made me well said to me, ‘Take up your bed and walk.’ Then they asked him, ‘Who is the Man who said to you, “Take up your bed and walk”?’ But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, ‘See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.’ The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.’ Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God. Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.’”
We sometimes forget that the four gospels are actually part of the old covenant – the new covenant only strictly came into being once Jesus had announced it, along with the instatement of communion, and only really came into effect after Jesus had arisen from the dead. Rom. 15:4’s guideline with regards to typologically reading the old covenant stories is likewise applicable to what occurs in the gospels: “For whatever things were written before were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope.”
We’re not absolutely sure which of the feasts it is that verse 1 refers to, but I agree with Jon Courson in his Application Commentary – NT that it was probably the celebration of Pentecost, which is associated with “the celebration of the giving of the law”. Because the temple was in Jerusalem, the Jews, including Jesus, went there to celebrate this feast, as the law required of them: “No matter from which direction or elevation one traveled, it was always ‘up’ to Jerusalem because Jerusalem was where the temple was, where worship took place, where the Word was taught.” Note thus specifically that the entire episode is founded on the tradition of the law, and that Jesus was specifically chosen during this time, and in these circumstances, to demonstrate how the law loses its power, despite its status (Rom. 8:3).
In the verse above Paul note that the law is made powerless through the flesh, which is subjected to “the law of sin and death” (Rom. 8:2). The lame man becomes a clear symbol of this. John Darby’s Synopsis offers an excellent typological analysis in this case: “The poor man who had an infirmity for thirty-eight years was absolutely hindered, by the nature of his disease, from profiting by means that required strength to use them. This is the character of sin, on the one hand, and of law on the other. Some remains of blessing still existed among the Jews. Angels, ministers of that dispensation, still wrought among the people. Jehovah did not leave Himself without testimony. But strength was needed to profit by this instance of their ministry. That which the law could not do, being weak through the flesh, God has done through Jesus. The impotent man had desire, but not strength; to will was present with him, but no power to perform.”
Please take note of this: the law is utterly unable to bring about change, therefore Jesus had to come! Hear what Gal. 4:3-5 & 9-10 says on this matter: “Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons … But now after you have known God, or rather are known by God, how is it that you turn again to the weak and beggarly elements, to which you desire again to be in bondage? You observe days and months and seasons and years.”
One of the earliest references to Bethesda is Nehemiah’s assignment in the restoration of the city of Jerusalem: “Then Eliashib the high priest rose up with his brethren the priests and built the Sheep Gate; they consecrated it and hung its doors. They built as far as the Tower of the Hundred, and consecrated it, then as far as the Tower of Hananel.” In this lies a great truth – typologically this gate is Jesus – John 10:7 – “Then Jesus said to them again, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.’” He also points out the way to the third dimension (which is why a high priest had to restore it, the only one who can enter the Holy of Holies). The “sheep of Your pasture” (Ps. 79:13) = believers (Ps. 23: 1-2;80:1; Jer. 23:3-4; Ezek. 34:11-12, 23-24; Mic. 5:4; John 10:11, 14, 27-30) are set free through “that great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant” (Heb. 13:20). We are set free from the hard, merciless law, and instead Jesus carries “them in His bosom, and gently lead[s] those who are with young”, through the Spirit that is within them. Remember what Jesus says in John 7:37-39: “On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, ‘If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’ But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”
This feast is the one after Pentecost (which we referred to earlier, which celebrated the law in the Old Testament, but decidedly pointed to the fullness of the Spirit which would come with Pentecost and the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2). This is the third dimension feast, the Feast of Tabernacles, where Jesus made this watershed (!) declaration.
Something in the Believer’s Bible Commentary sheds enormous light on the importance hereof: “Though not mentioned in the OT, the Jews had a ceremony of carrying water from the Pool of Siloam and pouring it into a silver basin by the altar of burnt offering for each of the first seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles. On the eighth day, this was not done, which made Christ’s offer of the water of eternal life even more startling. The Jewish people had gone through this religious observance, and yet their hearts were not satisfied because they had not truly understood the deep meaning of the feast. Just before they departed for their homes, on the last day, that great day of the feast Jesus stood and cried out to them. He invited them to come to Him for spiritual satisfaction.”
Note the foregrounding of the pool of Siloam here, or rather, the bath of Bethesda. Isa. 22:11 prophesied about this: “You also made a reservoir between the two walls for the water of the old pool. but you did not look to its Maker, nor did you have respect for Him who fashioned it long ago.” And of the waters of Siloam that flows into it: “Inasmuch as these people refused
the waters of Shiloah that flow softly …” (Isa. 8:6)
Do not miss the semantic parallelisms in these Scriptures: “waters … that flow softly” directly link to carry “shall gently carry them in His bosom”. How beautifully this points to the sketch of the Anointed Shepherd in Isa. 49:10: “They shall neither hunger nor thirst, neither heat nor sun shall strike them; for He who has mercy on them will lead them, even by the springs of water He will guide them.” Amen!
The law is the words of God on the hard tablets of stone of religious law. Despite all this these words of God were glorious, but not as glorious as the “grace and truth [that] came through Jesus Christ” (John 1:17). In 2 Cor. 3:6-11 the hard law is juxtaposed with the soft “promptings of the Spirit”. Rom. 7:6 (Ampl.) states it as follows: “But now we are discharged from the Law and have terminated all intercourse with it, having died to what once restrained and held us captive. So now we serve not under [obedience to] the old code of written regulations, but [under obedience to the promptings] of the Spirit in newness [of life].”
The glory of the old covenant in contrast to the awe-inspiring glory of the new covenant is beautifully spelled out in 2 Cor. 3:6-11: “who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit;for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness exceeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.”
Seen in this light Gal. 5:4’s terrifying juxtaposition of law and grace makes much more sense: “You have become estranged from Christ, you who attempt to be justified by law; you have fallen from grace.” This obviously extends to all strict adherence to the law, including those who fervently hold onto the observation of the sabbath. We may never refuse the waters of Siloam that flow softly.
The high priest who was called to restore the Sheep Gate was named Eliashib, which means “God will restore” in Hebrew. What does God want to restore for the sake of his sheep? What does the scroll of Isaiah prophesy about Bethesda, and about the waters of Siloam? How long was Israel in the desert after they had received the law? Exactly thirty-eight years. How old was the man waiting for the Messiah’s fountain of healing? And in Hebrew gematria 38 means “His glory”, “His heart”, and “The Lord has made public his salvation”! Be amazed at how his glory is restored the moment we move away from the law.
- Selah: Do you live Mark 2:27?
- Read: 1-4; Luke 1; John 1:1-14; Matt. 1; Luke 2:1-38.
- Memorise: 4:5-6 (Note the synchronicity of this teaching and Matt. 17:11!).
- For a more in-depth understanding: Re-read the teachings of Day 324-325.
