JESUS, LORD OF THE SABBATH

READ JOHN 5:9b-18

9b) SABBATH: Means "seven." It is in conjuction with God's 7th day of Creation (Gen. 2:2)where God had completed the Creation and rested. The Sabbath day was and still is on Saturday for the Jews. It was a day set aside by God as a day of rest from work (See Ex. 20:9-11). By the time Jesus walked on Earth the Sabbath had been perverted by the Jewish leaders with many restrictions. They had complicated it with rules and regulations far beyond what God had commanded. Making the Sabbath Day more of a burden than a day of rest. When the Sabbath rest is spoken of in the New Testament it is not refering to the day (Saturday), but to a spiritual Sabbath, a redemptive rest. It is a perpetual Sabbath resting IN Christ. (See Col. 2:16-17 and Heb. 4:9-10)
10-13) These verses show the characteristic of how bad a burden the Sabbath Day had become to the people. The Jews, confronting this man who was healed, were not animated by his being healed and walking, but that he was carrying his pallet on the Sabbath. The fact that they were still in the pool area is an idication that they probably saw the healing or had become aware of it through other people. Jesus had been able to slip away because of the crowd that had accumulated.
14) Jesus finds the man in the temple and warns him to not sin anymore so that nothing worse will come upon him. What could be worse than an illness lasting 38 years? Loss of life and facing God's judgment! Warren Wiersbe put it best in his book, The Bible Exposition Commentary. "It is not easy to understand the relationship between this man and Jesus. There is no evidence that he believed on Christ and was converted, yet we cannot say that he was opposed to the Saviour. In fact, he did not even know who it was that healed him until Jesus met him in the temple. No doubt the man went there to give thanks to God and to offer the appropriate sacrifices. It seems strange that the man did not actively seek a closer relationship with the One who healed him, but more than one person has gratefully accepted the gift and ignored the Giver."
15-18) Why this man went and told the Jews is unknown, but the reaction of the Jews expresses to us the attitude of their hearts. They were without mercy; only wrapped up in laws and traditions. They were blind to the teachings and mercy of Jesus. They loved the darkness and did not comprehend the light. They persecuted their merciful Savior and sought to have Him killed. Jesus did not fear their persecution or threats but mercifully confronts their unbelief, which we will look at in the next session.
FATHER, THANK YOU THAT I CAN REST IN CHRIST'S FINISHED WORK! HE IS THE LORD OF THE SABBATH! AMEN