Our new nature and living unto spiritual purity are again evident as we turn to chapter 5. “Do you wish to get well?” In John 5:1-16, this question is one Christ asks of us as well. This question was not asking if the man wanted to be well physically. The question is about his spiritual condition. It is the same for us.
Our physical well being is directly tied to our spiritual well being, and often it is the spiritual condition which drives our physical condition. That is not to say that every person who believes on Christ receives physical healing. However, we cannot be whole in the human realm if we are not in good standing before Christ. Those who are not healed physically have learned to accept and embrace their physical limitations while not allowing the physical to affect the strength of their faith and belief.
We would prefer to have the benefits of following Christ without the discipleship, surrender, repentance, and baptism by fire. If we truly desire to be well, Christ grants the strength and grace to follow Him in ministry, deed, and word.
There were some in the multitudes following Christ who only saw Christ healing and did not hear or observe the part about turning away from sin. In verse 14, we must understand that “well” refers to forgiveness of sin. Coupling the two statements together, “you have become well” and “do not sin anymore”, helps us understand that Christ forgave His sin which was the basis for physical healing.
It is the same for us. The basis for our wholeness as a person is our right standing before God. We must seek this first before we can be made whole physically.
Christ again points to our new nature. Once we have forgiveness through Christ and have been justified by faith, we have the ability to avoid sin and to live unto righteousness. This is enabled only through the Holy Spirit imparting a new nature to us.
This, then, helps us understand verse 10. Was it lawful for the man to carry his bed on the Sabbath? The answer is no, at least according to how the Jews chose to interpret the law of Moses. Christ later indicts the Jews for their absolute trust in Moses for their salvation. Christ exposed the inconsistencies of the Pharisees in John 7:22-23, when He points out that they will circumcise a baby on the Sabbath just to keep the law. Why is that not forbidden work? The circumcision is performed as a sign of belonging to God. And when a man is suffering and could be made well, even on the Sabbath, circumcision to seal an infant’s belonging to God is fine, but healing the man is not. Christ performed a sign of belonging to God through the spiritual and physical healing performed in the man. Still, the scene plays out in such a way that the Jews appear very cold-hearted.
The Jews, scribes, and Pharisees had forgotten that from the law of Moses we also received the two greatest commandments according to Christ: (1) Love the Lord with all your heart, mind, and strength, and (2) love your neighbor as yourself. Here, the Jews violated the second greatest commandment while seeking to uphold the lesser laws of Sabbath rest and circumcision. Is there any love for the man in the statement, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet”? At the same time, they freely circumcise babies on the Sabbath.
The Jews were holding to righteousness and salvation by works and were no longer seeking to please God from the heart. The only attempt to please God was through outward works. This they claimed to result in acceptance before God. Our works-based self-righteousness springs only from our old, sinful nature. Christ rightly proclaimed in John 7:28 that they do not know God.
It was the Sabbath, and they were nearby the temple. There would have been a large number of Jews in the vicinity to attend the temple ceremonies. The Jews would have preferred the man remain in his sickly condition if it meant strict adherence to the Sabbath laws. Is this really love for neighbor?
In Matthew 12:1-14, Christ rebuked their lack of compassion in the scenes of the disciples threshing grain on the Sabbath and Christ healing on the Sabbath. The issue in Matthew 12 is not so much what Christ did on the Sabbath but the lack of compassion in the hearts of the Jews. Christ as much as said, “You could have offered Me and My disciples food. Instead, you would have us go hungry and then accuse us of wrongdoing.” The same attitude is found toward the man who was healed. They would have preferred the man continue to suffer until the Sabbath ended.
It begs the question of the whole purpose of the church and Sabbath. Are they not a place of rest, healing, compassion, and forgiveness? The Sabbath was given to us originally to provide rest from our labor. The temple also was symbolic of our forgiveness of sin, our being able to come before a holy God to worship Him, and our acceptance before God.
The temple and the Sabbath do, then, represent healing. We are healed spiritually, are we not? And our spiritual healing leads to being made whole physically. Are not broken relationships made whole when we are right before God? Are we not able to tolerate unpleasant conditions for the sake of Christ? Are not our mental and emotional condition improved when we are accepted by God?
Forgiveness of sin and spiritual healing are appropriate on the Sabbath and the whole point of attending church, thus, physical healing is likewise appropriate. Viewed in this way, the scribes and Pharisees all but admitted that the temple was not a place to find spiritual healing (reconciliation with God) on the Sabbath. Yet this was the whole point of the temple, Sabbath rest and worship, and the practices of worship of God.
In John 5, the Jews offered no assistance to the man who moments before was unable to walk on his own. “Here, let me carry your bed for you. Is there anything I can do to help you?” These words did not cross their lips. They were more concerned about obeying a lesser law for their salvation than expressing compassion for their neighbor.
So in John 5:45, Christ’s rebuke of the Jews is, “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father; the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.” That is, they are trusting in strict adherence to the law of Moses for their salvation. However, as noted above, in so doing, they violated the two greatest commands God gave to Moses.
If there is tension in the law of God, it is often placed there by our lack of understanding. For the Jews, the law of Moses collided with itself, and they chose strict adherence over true love for their neighbor. In Deuteronomy 10:16, we read, “So circumcise your heart, and stiffen your neck no longer.” See also Acts 7:51.
Even through the law of Moses, God was concerned more about the condition of the heart than strict adherence to the law. See Psalm 51, as an example. Then, in Malachi, the prophet on behalf of God indicted the priests and Jews for their mere ritualistic homage to the law, even though this was a compliment. They were barely trying to obey the law, and certainly there was no heart-felt effort to understand the meaning behind the law.
We run the same risk. We would prefer to know what is expected of us and then work our way to salvation. But our salvation is not by works, and any such salvation by works springs only from our old nature. Our salvation consists in belief on Christ, and belief on Christ is manifested through our actions. Our actions must be consistent with the imitation of Christ and His righteousness.
The teaching and rebuke from Christ which follows in John 5:19-47 can be summarized as follows, “You do not know Me, for if you knew the Father, you would believe on Me. You do not know the Father because your heart is far from what He desires. The Father desires compassion, not ritual adherence; a heart broken over sin, not ritual sacrifice; and a heart desirous of pleasing God, not an expectation that God will honor strictly following regulations with the blessing of life.”
Again, we see in John 5 Christ’s exhortation unto holiness of heart first which is enabled through the new nature imparted to us by the Holy Spirit. Our actions betray our belief on Christ when we do not understand the heart of God.
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