My Father has been working until now, and I have been working

 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  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.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.

- John 5:1-18

 Now after the two days He departed from the region of Samaria and Jacob's well (see this reading and this one) and went to Galilee.  For Jesus Himself testified that a prophet has no honor in his own country.  So when He came to Galilee, the Galileans received Him, having seen all the things He did in Jerusalem at the feast; for they also had gone to the feast.  So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine.  And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.  When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.  Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."  The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"  Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives."  So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.  And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"  Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better.  And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."  So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives."  And he himself believed, and his whole household.  This again is the second sign Jesus did when He had come out of Judea into Galilee.

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  John does not tell us which particular feast this is, but patristic commentary teaches that this feast is the Old Testament Pentecost, taking place fifty days after Passover (also called the "Feast of Weeks" or Hebrew Shavuot), which celebrates the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  The references to the Law of Moses later in the chapter confirm such an interpretation.

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.  This was a double-basin pool, which was believed to have curative powers, and recently it has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area.  It is, indeed, near the Sheep Gate, as the text tells us.  My study bible says that the water for this high-ground pool came from underground springs and was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  It explains that the pool functions as a type of Christian baptism.  Under the old covenant, a great multitude waited to enter the water for physical healing after an angel touched it.  The waters were special, it notes, in that they were a way of indirectly participating in the animal sacrifices of the temple, since the animals were washed in the same water.  But this grace was limited to the first person to enter.  In the new covenant, baptism is given to all nations as a direct participation in Christ's own sacrificial death (Romans 6:3-6) without the mediation of angels.  Therefore, baptism gives healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body -- and an inexhaustible grace.

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  St. John Chrysostom comments that Jesus singles out this man who had waited for thirty-eight years so that we are taught to have perseverance, and as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles which last a far shorter time.

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.   My study bible lists several reasons why Christ's question to this man is relevant.  First, it makes public the fact that the sick man kept his faith even in a situation which is seemingly hopeless; how could a paralytic ever be the first to enter into the water?   Second, Jesus draws attention away from the water and toward the need we have for a man to help us -- which is fulfilled in Christ Himself.  He became Man to heal all of us.  Third, not all ill people truly desire healing.  There are many reasons why some would sadly prefer to remain infirm.

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.   My study bible explains that although the Law itself doesn't specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, it is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22 and explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.   That Jesus is Lord over the Sabbath is made clear by the command He gives and also by this man's obedience (see also Matthew 12:1-8).  My study bible also remarks upon the malice of these leaders.  They focus only on the Sabbath violation, asking "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?" but they ignore altogether the miraculous healing.  Please note that in these verses, the term the Jews is used only to refer to the leadership; all the people in the story are Jews, including Jesus, the healed man, and the multitude.

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."   My study bible notes that the fact that this man was found in the temple shows his great faith.  He had gone directly there to thank God for his cure, rather than to someone's home or to the marketplace.  Jesus tells him to sin no more;  my study bible says that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), that connection isn't always one-to-one, as the innocent often suffer and the guilty are often spared earthly sufferings (see also 9:1-3).  Regardless, there are times when our own sins lead directly to our personal suffering in this world.  St. John Chrysostom states that this was the case with this paralytic.  But Jesus' warning here is that sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body.  The conclusion is that our only hope is to run from sin altogether.  We should also remember that in this context, it is possible to view additional sin as a way of discounting the grace that has been given by God in this man's healing, a refusal to recognize its action in his life.

 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.  The healed man does not report Jesus to the leaders in a malicious way; rather he is testifying to Christ's goodness.  Although the leaders are interested only in the violation of the Sabbath, the healed man nevertheless emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and says nothing about carrying his bed. 

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.   Jesus declares God to be My Father, and the leadership clearly understand the implication of absolute equality therein. 

Jesus' statement of equality with God will get Him fully into disputation with the religious authorities, who regard it as blasphemy and absolutely forbidden, punishable by death.   This particular subject and dispute will continue in the reading that follows.  But here, let us note Jesus' particular emphasis on working.  In Greek, this word for work (ἐργάζομαι/ergazomai) is linked directly to the word for energy (ἐνέργεια/energeia) which literally means "working," "action," or "activity."  It is also linked to the concept of God's grace -- God's action at work in the world.  So, Jesus' emphasis on His work focuses us in on what God does in the world.  In this third sign in John's Gospel, God's divine power is exemplified in that it can restore a person to wholeness.  Jesus teaches His followers that "you will know them by their fruits" (Matthew 7:16).  He was speaking (in the Sermon on the Mount) of "false prophets."  John the Baptist has made similar statements about individuals.  But what is true for human persons is also true of God the Trinity, and God's work in the world.  Jesus gives us evidence, in His signs, of God's presence at work in the world -- and by the fruits of God's power and work, we know God.  This is also, of course, true of the Holy Spirit, Third Person of the Trinity.  As we are also asked in the Sermon on the Mount to "Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven" (Matthew 5:16), so the "works" that we do must be an extension and expression of the energies that are at work within us as believers.  As the Holy Spirit, Christ, and God the Father may be at work within us, transforming us and giving our identity shape through faith, so our own works -- energies -- may express also the light of God, and be cause for God's glorification in the world.  These are powerful things to think about, but they establish a direct link between God's energies, or grace, and our own energies and work and life in the world.  Our actions taken in our lives reflect who we are; therefore the joy and glory in the fullness of faith reflects out into the world.  This is, once again, a dynamic and organic process.  Faith is not something we necessarily control; its work and action in us are a product of human and divine synergy -- just as Christ has taken on human form and is both divine and human so that we may follow and be "like Him."  How do we take on this grace, this energy?  How can our works or actions take on this reflective character that glorifies God and shines the reflected light of faith?  Working within us, God's grace/energies tune us in to our own need for transformation, and give us new ways to express who we are at various opportunities in life.  Let us consider how we can live to this grace and within its energies, sharing them in our lives and reflecting the light He shines in healing this beleaguered and paralyzed man.  Those energies, like this healing, give us wholeness and help to make us "unstuck" in life.  Let us consider all the ways in which they work for good, and so that we may face our own reality and true (or not) desire for healing.