The Lord Repudiates Sabbatarianism
The Lord had healed the impotent man on the Sabbath day (John 5:9), and the Jews, with murderous intent in their hearts, and seeking an excuse for His death, charged Him with breaking the Sabbath law (verse 16). The Lord, however gave an unanswerable reply to their accusations. The significance of it struck home with telling force against the Jews, although the full import of it cannot be appreciated without a thoughtful reading of the narrative in John. Christ declared: “My Father Worketh Hitherto, And I Work!” (verse 17).
The Lord pointed out that God does not keep the Sabbath rest. His Sabbath’s rest was originally broken by man’s sin, and now He works continuously. The sun rises and sets on the Sabbath day as on any other day; God overshadows His people for good on that day as on any other day. That was obvious to the Jews, they could appreciate the point. But what they hated about the statement was that, in using the title “Father,” the Lord claimed to be the Son of God. In addition, He added the statement, “and I work.” Thus He claimed that all He did when He healed the man was done through God’s power (verse 19), and that it was God who was working through Him, so if the Jews were going to accuse Him of breaking the Sabbath, they would have to accuse God also.
The defense was unanswerable. If the Jews acknowledged that the cure had been performed through God’s power, obviously they had no claim against the Lord, who was merely the medium of such power. If, on the other hand, they rejected the fact that this was evidence of God’s power, then they would be forced to acknowledge that Christ inherently had a power higher than that of other men, and, in doing so, they would have to acknowledge His authority. When the Lord declared, “and I work,” He meant that He did the things of God, and to do God’s will on the Sabbath was legitimate; it did not constitute a breaking of the law. As the Lord told the Jews on another occasion, “the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are blameless” (Matthew 12:5). Unlike normal Israelites, every day of their lives was devoted to doing the will of God, and one day in seven made no difference. In fact, on that day, the work of the priests was doubled. Thus they “profaned the Sabbath,” made it a common day, and yet were blameless, because their work was God’s work. The Lord claimed to be doing Yahweh’s work, and who could deny it?
How Christ Claimed The Titles of Isaiah 9:6
And so the Jews shifted their attack. They now claimed that He blasphemed by saying that God was His Father. The Lord did not evade the charge; He acknowledged that He was the Son, and proved that the prophetic titles attributed to the Son were fulfilled in Him. In fact, in His answer, He clearly shows that He is the Messiah, the Son promised (Psalms 2:7; Isaiah 9:6; John 5: 19-21). He is the Shiloh (Genesis 49: 8-10; John 5:23). He is the authoritative prophet who was to come (Deuteronomy 18:15-19; John 5:24).
First He claimed to be “the Son” promised. “The Son,” He declared, “can do nothing of himself” (John 5:19). As soon as the Lord applied such a title to Himself, the minds of the Jews must have reverted to the prophecy of the Son —”Unto us a Son is born . . .” (Isaiah 9:6). The Lord was applying the promise to Himself. There are five titles given to the Son in that prophecy, as there were five porches surrounding the pool called the House of Mercy, or Bethesda (John 5:2). Those five titles the Lord now claimed.
He is The Wonderful (Isaiah 9:6), because, as He told the Jews, ” . . He will show him greater works than these that ye may MARVEL” (John 5:20).
He is The Counselor, because, as the Father had previously caused to be raised from the dead whom He would (cp. 1st Kings 17:22; 2nd Kings 4:32-35), so authority had been conferred upon the Son to “quicken WHOM HE WILL” (i.e. according to His counsel—John 5:21).
He is The Mighty God, because the Father has committed all Judgment Unto The Son, and He exercises the authority of the Father (John 5:22; Matthew 28:18).
He is The Everlasting Father (or Father of Eternity), because He reveals the Father unto men. “He that honoreth not the Son Honoreth Not The Father” (John 5:23; 14:8,9).
He is The Prince Of Peace because in Him men pass from a relationship to death to a relationship to life—they pass From Death Unto Life.
The Jews must have listened in amazement and with growing indignation to such claims. But how could they refute them? The healed man before them testified to Christ’s power. This they could not reject, and therefore they could not legitimately reject Christ’s claim.
The Purpose of the Miracle Explained
The Lord continued in His discourse to reveal the point and power of the miracle. As He had strengthened the impotent man, so He could strengthen all those who, recognizing their need, sought His strength. He spoke of a resurrection from the dead: first a spiritual resurrection, and then a bodily resurrection. In our natural state we are all “dead in trespasses and sins,” and have need of the life-giving influence of Christ. We are like the impotent man lying by the pool of Bethesda, unable to do anything of ourselves, and utterly dependent upon someone else to help us.
Christ will do that!
“The hour is now,” He declared, “when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live” (John 5:25). The hour is NOW! If men listen to Christ NOW they can live in a spiritual sense. And if they do that, they will live in the future in the absolute sense. So Christ continued: “Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto a resurrection of condemnation” (John 5: 28,29).
The Origin of the Organic World – Part One