Trinity Church of Tri-Cities

Scripture: John 5

Jesus on Trial

Beloved Church of Jesus Christ, this series covers miracles from the various gospels and today from the Gospel of John. John, as you may remember from the very first verse in his gospel, presents Jesus Christ as the son of God, as God Himself. He reported, for our blessing and instruction (praise God!), the words and works of Jesus, and then what men did with them, how they reacted to Jesus, how they responded to Him. And that is the way Jesus is presented in this chapter. First Jesus performed a miracle of healing for the lame man at the pool of Bethesda, and then we see the reaction of men and how Jesus dealt with that reaction in teaching.

All the gospels, and now this one event in particular God has given to us as the revelation of Himself in Jesus Christ for our salvation. In this passage, the miracle itself is recounted in verses 1-9 only, and then the rest of the chapter records the reactions: of the healed man, of the Jews, and of Jesus response to the Jews. Because of this miracle, the Jews place Jesus on trial; they begin their accusations. That opposition, that attitude of hatred, will finally lead to the time they would crucify Him.

First, then, consider this miracle. It was the time of the feast in Jerusalem. The gospel doesn’t tell us which feast, whether Passover, Pentecost, Tabernacles, Purim, or even, as some suggest, just the weekly feast of the Sabbath. Next, John describes the pool near the Sheep Gate, called Bethesda. Bethesda is a beautiful name. Beth. . .house, and the rest of the name means mercy, compassion, or kindness. This is the house of kindness, the place of mercy.

It is thought to have been 360 feet by 130 feet by 75 feet. In its five porches or colonnades, there was a great multitude of sick and diseased people. Since they were all waiting for a miracle, it would seem that these people had diseases that were incurable, that Bethesda was the place of last resort. Verse 4 tells us that an angel stirred the pool at certain times, and whoever, or those who went first into the pool were healed of their diseases.

I need to note that there is disagreement among biblical scholars whether or not this verse about the angel should be included in the Scriptures. Apparently this verse is not found in the oldest manuscripts of this Gospel. If we want to consider the account of this stirring up of the water by an angel reliable we are still faced with a problem. Unlike any other miracles in the Bible, there is no identifiable person mentioned as God’s agent. God, for example, wrought the miracles in Egypt through Moses. God brought the son of the widow at Zarephath to life through Elijah.

There is another explanation offered by some scholars, and that is that this pool was fed by mineral spring. Mineral springs often have therapeutic value. Perhaps there was a periodic infusion of new waters, some agitation, and so with new infusion of healings waters, those who went in first received the greatest benefit.

Among all those laying about in various stages of illness, Jesus singled out a particular man. The Bible tells us that he had an infirmity, a sickness. It was a kind of illness that kept him from getting to the pool. Was he a paralytic? Lame? Blind? We don’t know. What we do know is that he had been in that condition for thirty-eight years. Did he spend all that time at the pool? Not likely. But thirty-eight years is a long time. He had been in that condition since before Jesus was born.

Here is another significant fact: He had been unable to find healing for thirty-eight years, the same number of years Israel was condemned to wander in the wilderness. And just as it was for this man, all during their thirty-eight years in the wilderness, they had not been able to pass through the waters into the promised land of rest.

Jesus appears, the New Testament Joshua and on the day of rest, the Sabbath, leads this man into rest through His healing power. Jesus, as our text tells us, knew that he had been in that condition a long time, and asked him, “Do you want to be made well?” To which the man replies, “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.”

What a life of frustration that man must have led. His own efforts, although he seemed to have made them many years, were useless. He simply could not make it in time. He seemed to be friendless, no one to help him down into the water. “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.”

Let me make four observations here:

1) Out of all the sick and weary people gathered there, Jesus chose one man to heal. He could, of course, have healed them all. But He didn’t. He chose one of them. Consider your own life, you, living in a world of people sick under the death sentence brought by sin. Why did Jesus choose you to save? Do you not find this a wonder? Is this not sovereign grace?

2) Consider the command Jesus gave to this man who couldn’t walk. “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.” You must know and believe, that when Jesus gives you a command, He doesn’t ask you if you have the power to obey it, but with the command Jesus provides the ability to obey Him. Isn’t that wonderful?

3) In verse 13 we read that the man didn’t even know who it was who healed him, who it was who brought him into this Sabbath rest. So the question comes to you, sitting here this morning. Do you know this Jesus who brought you into His Father’s house that you might have rest?

4) When Jesus found him, verse 14, He said, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”

It would seem to be clear from this statement from Jesus, that the infirmity this man had for 38 years was the result of his sins, was in consequence of his sins, or was a punishment for his sin. Now, we know that not all illnesses are God’s direct punishment for sin. A little later John recorded that Jesus healed a blind man, and when the disciples asked, “Who sinned, this man or his parents?” Jesus replied, “Neither he nor his parents sinned. But this was done that God might be glorified.”

However, with this man at the pool, Jesus specifically implies that it was the consequence of his sins. It’s true, isn’t it, that the Lord often catches us in our sins, and brings bad consequences upon us for them. This is His way, and this is His way with His covenant children. Be sure, He says, your sin will find you out. This is a great blessing for every covenant child of God. God will not let us continue in sin, will not let our sin remain hidden to our eyes, but brings calamity or sickness to expose us, to make us conscious that we have left Him.

So when we cry to Him, He delivers us, and then, as He did to this man He says to us, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” God is not mocked. When we ignore, forget, or resist His mercy, His kindness, His rescue, we are inviting Him to visit us with more severity next time, perhaps even (and God forbid!) the great and fatal tragedy of just leaving us in our sins.

Let’s return to this man. When the Jews saw him carrying his bed on the Sabbath, they accused him of breaking the law, of breaking the Sabbath. You will remember that the law of God through Moses prescribed the death penalty for the breaking of the Sabbath. So the Jews put Him on trial, you might say. Was this really breaking the Sabbath? The Lord had said that they were to bear no burdens on the Sabbath. But what kind of burdens was God referring to?

I believe Nehemiah 13:15-18 will help us understand what God was talking about: “In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, “What evil thing is this that you do, by which you profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath.” (NKJV)

The kind of burdens God was talking about in His command about the Sabbath, were commercial burdens, loads of goods to sell and buy. In the days of Nehemiah the people of God were carrying on with business on the Sabbath. But the burden this man carried did not speak about earning a living, but spoke about grace, the grace and power of Jesus who freed him from the burden of that infirmity.

Well, the Jews wanted to know who told him to take up his bed and walk. So when Jesus had come to him and warned him about sinning again, he went to the Jews and told them that it was Jesus. So, now, it is Jesus the Jews go after. And here we see that Jesus provides Himself a substitute for this man. Instead of the man being on trial, Jesus is on trial. Instead of the man dealing with the accusation of breaking the Sabbath, Jesus is accused of breaking the Sabbath.

They accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath and gave two items of evidence: Offense number one: on the Sabbath Day is considered work. Offense number two: He told the healed man to take up his bed. Jesus is then accused of inciting another man to break the Sabbath Day. Jesus’ response to these accusations begins in verse 17: “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”

We confess that the work of creation was the work of God the Father. Yet, although He rested the seventh day, yet He continued to work, upholding, governing, preserving, the creation. He continued to be the Lord of life and death. He brought life. “For,” said Jesus in verse 21, “as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”

Again, this is the wonderful sovereign power of grace, that God has chosen you and me to receive the gift of life. “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” But now the Jews have another accusation to bring. Jesus said that God was His Father, and that meant He was making Himself equal with God. Now they have three accusations against Jesus:

1. He broke the Sabbath by healing on it.

2. He broke the Sabbath by having a man to carry his bed on the Sabbath.

3. He made Himself equal with God. Blasphemy. And you will remember that when the Jews ran out of charges at His final trial, the high priest put Him under oath, saying, “Tell us, are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed.” And when Jesus said, “Yes,” the high priest tore his robes crying out, “Blasphemy!”

That will come later. But now we see these fingers pointing at Jesus, we hear these serious charges laid against Him, and it would seem that the Jews have taken Jesus and put Him on trial. Jesus, however, takes this whole courtroom scene and turns it upside down. He begins with this statement: “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” (Jn 5:22-23 NKJV)

For He had given them notice before that, that just as the Father gives life to whom He will, so does the Son. The Son is God, and therefore these men are bringing accusations against God Himself. And that is a terrible and dangerous thing to do.

So Jesus tells them that the Father has given Him authority over all men to execute judgment. Then He goes on to tell of the great day of judgment – verses 28-29 “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth – those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (Jn. 5:28-29 NKJV)

Beloved, this statement confronts everyone who has witnessed the wonderful work of Christ our Lord, giving life, raising the dead, healing this man, bringing him into the promised land of rest, giving him the true meaning of Sabbath. Do you think that only these people 2000 years ago witnessed His work? Let me tell you that everyone over the last two thousand years who has read this gospel is one of those witnesses that is confronted by this miracle of Jesus.

Our keeping of the Sabbath, our celebration of the great work of Christ, our worship of the Triune God, our rest of joy and celebration in Christ, is a witness to the world of the work of the Son. Through that witness, men and women everywhere are confronted with the Christ, who will bring all men into judgment on the last day.

Now Christ brings His charges, He is the accuser, He is the judge, and these Jews, these scribes and Pharisees are in the dock, in the seat of the accused. They had sought to prosecute Him, but He is prosecuting them. What charges does He bring? All the charges Christ brings concern their relation to Him. In some sense, no sinner is merely charged with breaking some laws, but with the rejection of the person of God in Christ Jesus. They rejected Him, the Creator, the law-giver. Christ then, as prosecutor, brings witnesses to the stand, witnesses for the prosecution:

5) Moses. . .”Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you – Moses, in whom you trust. For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (Jn. 5:45-47 NKJV)

And what are their reactions? Jesus tells us: They rejected all this testimony:

They rejected the testimony of the Father: “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.” (Jn. 5:37-38 NKJV)

They rejected the testimony of John the Baptist: We read in Matthew that Jesus said to them, “Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you. For John came to you in the way of righteousness, and you did not believe him; but tax collectors and harlots believed him; and when you saw it, you did not afterward relent and believe him.” (Mt. 21:31-32 NKJV)

They rejected witness of the Scriptures: “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.” (Jn. 5:39-40 NKJV)

They rejected the testimony of Moses: “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” (Jn 5:46-47 NKJV)

The Scriptures tell us that no one is to be condemned except at the testimony of two or three witnesses. Jesus has brought together five witnesses for the prosecution, bringing charges against them. What shall we say now? First to you and to me: Jesus has brought all these witnesses to our attention that we may believe that Jesus is the Christ, that He is the Son of God, that He has the power of life and death, that He has come to us that we might believe, that believing we might have life through His name.

Jesus warns us, each and every one, that the Father, that the works of Jesus recorded in the gospels, that the words of John the Baptist recorded in the gospels, that all the Scriptures, that the five books of Moses, all testify of the Son, all bring us into a relationship with the Son. So that the question is this. . .”What do you think of the Christ? What will you do with Jesus, who is called the Christ?”

We should all remember that these five witnesses that Jesus brought for the prosecution of the Pharisees, were first of all witnesses that they and we might believe, and if, we don’t, just like for the Pharisees, these will testify against us.

Second, this is our message to the world, this is our presentation to the world through the gospel. We present Jesus Christ. Not a set of morals. Not a system of laws. Not a new philosophic system. Not a new paradigm of reality. But, through the Scriptures, we must bring men and women into contact with Jesus Christ. And in that contact, let us begin perhaps with ourselves; the wonder of the Jesus who confronted us, most of us from our youth. The wonder of the Jesus, who, seeing all the many in the world equally helpless, equally hopeless, equally unable to find healing, to find life, came to us and gave us life, hope and the wonder of the Sabbath rest purchased through His body and blood.

In that contact, let us recount how by nature, we too, resist all the evidence that Christ has presented to us in the Gospels, from the Father, through John the Baptist, the Scriptures, and Moses. In that contact, let us recount that Christ substituted Himself before the great court of Almighty God, and took our place as the accused, took our place as the condemned.

In that contact, let us bring forth the testimony God has provided us, that in our contacts with the unbelieving world, they may not face just someone who is pro-life, anti-abortion, someone who condemns the homosexual, but someone who carries the Word and presence of Christ, presenting Himself to every sinner by many infallible proofs.Amen