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  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.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

 

Yesterday we read that, after remaining two extra days with the Samaritans who received Him, Jesus departed from there 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.  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.  My study Bible explains that this double-basin pool, believed to have curative powers, has been discovered about 100 yards north of the temple area, near the Sheep Gate.  The water for this high-ground pool came from underground springs, and it was used to wash down the sacrificial lambs before they were slain.  It adds that this 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.  These waters were special in this sense that they were a way to indirectly participate in the animal sacrifices of the temple, as the animals were washed in the same water.  But the grace was limited to the first person to enter.  Under 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 grants healing of the soul and the promise of eternal resurrection of the body, and its grace is inexhaustible.  

Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  My study Bible cites the commentary of St. John Chrysostom, who says that Jesus singled out the man who had waited for thirty-eight years in order to teach us to have perseverance, and also as a judgment against those who lose hope or patience in much lesser troubles lasting 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."   Christ's question is relevant for the several reasons, according to my study Bible.  First, it made public the fact that the sick man kept his faith even in a situation that was seemingly hopeless; how could a paralytic ever be the first one into the water?  Next, the Lord takes attention away from the water and toward the need we have for a man to help us.  This is fulfilled in Christ Himself, who became Man to heal all.  Finally, not everyone who is ill truly desires healing.  Most sadly, there are those who prefer to remain infirm in order to have license to complain, to avoid responsibility for their lives, or to continue to pursue the pity of others.

Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.    This healing is the third of seven signs in John's Gospel.  My study Bible says that it exemplifies the divine power to restore a person to wholeness.  In patristic literature, it is referred to as the Old Testament Pentecost (also called the "Feast of Weeks"), which celebrates the giving of the Law on Mt. Sinai.  This interpretation is confirmed by the references to the Law of Moses later in this chapter.

 

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."  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 does not specifically forbid the carrying of burdens on the Sabbath, this is prohibited in Jeremiah 17:21-22 and is explicitly forbidden in rabbinical teachings.  This passage makes clear that Christ is Lord over the Sabbath through His command ("Rise, take up your bed and walk") and the man's obedience (see also Matthew 12:1-8).  Once again, my study Bible reminds us that the term the Jews in John's Gospel most often refers to the leaders, and not to the people in general.  It is meant more in a political sort of sense than religious, as all the people in the reading, including Christ, are Jews.  My study Bible asks us to remark upon the malice of these leaders:  they focus solely on the Sabbath violation, asking the man, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed'?" but ignore altogether the miraculous healing of this man who was infirm for thirty-eight years.  

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."  That the healed man was found in the temple shows his great faith; my study Bible says that he had gone there directly to thank God for his cure, rather than departing to someone's home or the marketplace.  On Christ's command, "Sin no more," my study Bible comments that while there is a general connection between sin and suffering (Romans 6:23), this connection is not always one-to-one, as the innocent often suffer and the guilty are often spared earthly sufferings (see also John 9:1-3).   Nonetheless, there are times when our sins lead directly to our own suffering in the world.  According to St. Chrysostom, the latter is the case with the paralytic.  Christ's warning, however, my study Bible adds, is that the sins that destroy the soul lead to a far worse result than an affliction of the body.  The only hope is to flee from sin altogether.  

 

The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.   This man doesn't report Jesus to the leaders of the Jews in a malicious way, but my study Bible says that he is a witness to Christ's goodness.  For although these leaders were only interested in the violation of the Sabbath, this healed man emphasizes that it was Jesus who had made him well, and he says nothing about carrying his bed.

 

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.  My study Bible explains that when Jesus declares God to be My Father, the Jews clearly understand this as an implication of absolute equality, as we see from their response and their reasoning. 

I am intrigued by the notion that Jesus once again mentions work, when He says, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."   In the recent readings that involved the Samaritan woman, when Christ's disciples came upon Him and urged Him to eat, He replied, "I have food to eat of which you do not know," and added, "My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me, and to finish His work" (see Thursday's reading).  Here again in today's reading, following so soon in the Gospel afterward, Jesus mentions work again.  It gives us pause to consider what work means to us, and what it means to Christ.  In the previous reading, He said that His work was His food, implying that a true work feeds us, a work that comes from God for us to do.  This is certainly the case for Jesus.  In today's reading, He emphasizes as part of His equality with the Father that His Father has been working until now, and He has been working.  This equality to God the Father, therefore, is not simply a matter of power or being, but apparently also of "sameness" in the sense of what God does.  God is working until now, Father and Son, and we can presume also, the Holy Spirit.  Part of this absolute equality involves God's will and nature, inseparable from what God does.  So if we really think about work, once again (as we reviewed in Thursday's reading), then we have to think about Christ's way that He frames and pictures work for us.  We so often think of work as laborious toil, or something we just have to do to take care of ourselves and our families, to get somewhere in life.  In a modern society, work can also be a status symbol; we chase after jobs or job titles that will identify us with a social status of some sort.  We might value what a person does for work because of how much money it commands, or the importance of the job within the community.  There are jobs which are looked down upon, as if there isn't dignity in whatever labor we do or is available to us.  It comes to mind that Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. put a great deal of emphasis on the value of work, and there are several quotations of his on this subject.  One is, "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.'"  He put a great deal of emphasis on service, and the grace to do it.  So, in this respect, Martin Luther King teaches us that what Jesus did in majestic dignity as God, so we can follow Christ's example in work in our own comparably limited ways; even a small effort, or something that to others might not be significant or great, becomes great if we are following in faith and love of God.  King also said, "No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence," and, "Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service."   It comes to mind that the greatness of Christ was often expressed in ways that no one else at the time saw or knew; often He chose to remain hidden or told those whom He had healed not to speak of it to others.  One thing that is often missing in a modern understanding of valuable work is the aspect of our own humility added to the mix:  King hints at this when he speaks of service, and encourages us to see whatever we do in terms of what we can bring to it.  Ultimately, to serve, asks of us first humility -- for even Christ served the will of the Father and not His own, so this remains consistent truth for us to follow in our own lives, and relying upon God's grace and faith no matter what we do.  This is true not only regarding how we do our work, but also prayerfully seeking that work we can do which will please God.  There might be something right in front of us we've been blind to, like a man waiting thirty-eight years for someone to help him.  This sense of work that Christ elevates to a property of God becomes profoundly another way in which He brings salvation and healing to the world.   In describing the effects of Adam's sin, and the fallen nature that results, Genesis 3:17 tells us that God said to Adam, "Because you have heeded the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree of which I commanded you, saying, 'You shall not eat of it': cursed is the ground for your sake; in toil you shall eat of it all the days of your life."  Work, in this exile from God, becomes toil.  But Christ's words rehabilitate and heal even work for us.  In a time when those of upper classes, wealth, and authority were marked by their capacity for leisure, Christ dignifies the notion of work by thus characterizing the action of God.  Let us consider the grace and dignity we can bring to what we do with our lives, what is before us to do, in prayerful service and devotion and faith.  Sometimes even a work for which one receives no money may be the greatest service of all in the sight of God.