Observations from John 5
(Part 1)
By Jonathan Mitchell
1. After these things there was a festival (or: Feast) pertaining to the religion and culture of the Jews, and Jesus went up into Jerusalem.
The opening phrase, "After these things," introduces a new geographical setting: Jerusalem. We will find this same phrase, introducing a different setting, at the beginning of chapter 6 (where Jesus has gone back north, to the Sea of Galilee). Jesus and His disciples had been north of Jerusalem, in Samaria, and then had gone north from there back to Cana in Galilee (the location of the wedding, and Jesus' beginning Sign). John says nothing about His trip down south, from Galilee, but lets us know that this is a new setting, from which the following narrative flows. John does not here indicate what festival (or: Feast) this was. The first episode is a healing of a lame man, and then the central theme of the rest of the chapter is discussions of, and information about, the Father. This theme is woven into the responses that Jesus makes to those who question Him about His activities, and into disclosures regarding the Father and His relationship with Him. John 1:1 opens with the Logos, and Its/His relationship with God and creation. The great theme, begun below, is this same relationship, but now revealed as being between Jesus (the Logos incarnated) and the Father.
2. Now within Jerusalem, at the sheep gate [which is within the northern city wall], there is a constructed pool [for bathing or swimming] - the one being normally called (or: named) in Hebrew "Bethzatha" (means: House of the Olive; [other MSS: Bethesda, which means: House of Mercy]) - presently having five covered colonnades (porticos; porches supported by columns). [note: that this structure existed when John wrote this (the verb is present tense) is evidence for this being written prior to A.D. 70 and the destruction of Jerusalem]
Notice that in coming from the north, Jesus would logically first encounter the gate in the northern wall of the City. It is also of note that John points out that the term given for this gate is "the sheep gate." The Lamb of God comes to the "sheep gate." John does not miss any opportunity to point us to symbols.
He even gives us the name of the pool, in Hebrew. The alternate MS readings for this term each have symbolic meanings: "House of the Olive" (i.e., the source of olive oil, used for anointing; also, Paul used the olive tree as a symbol for Israel - Rom. 11:17). Or, "House of Mercy" - symbolic of what God, in Christ, was bringing to Israel, and the world. John is the only one to record this incident, and we read the details of his description as being important to his Gospel theme.
Biblical numerologists have assigned the number 5 as a symbol of Grace. So it is further of note that John gives the number of "covered colonnades." The act by Jesus, below, is certainly an expression of grace. But more than that, it speaks of Christ's association of Grace with "the sick (weak; infirm) folks, of blind people, of those being lame (crippled; or: missing a foot), [and] of withered (dried up) folks," listed in the next verse, who were crowded together, seeking mercy and grace.
3. Within these and filling them [was] a crowd of the sick (weak; infirm) folks, of blind people, of those being lame (crippled; or: missing a foot), [and] of withered (dried up) folks [A & later MSS add: periodically receiving (reaching in and taking out) from the moving (or: agitation) of the water].
As with the Samaritan woman at the well, we come, in John's narrative, to another place of water, where Jesus will impart Life.
5. Now there was yet a certain man there, having continuously [spent] thirty-eight years within his illness (weakness; infirmity).
6. Jesus, having seen this man presently (or: habitually) lying [there], and intimately knowing (or: knowing from personal experience) that he already continues having [spent] much time [thus], He says to him, "Do you continue purposing to become sound in health?" (or: "Are you habitually intending or presently wanting to become restored to your original healthy condition?")
As with the Samaritan woman, Jesus initiates a conversation (Jesus, the Logos, is the Beginning of the new situation for people) - this time, also, speaking to the need of this man. Jesus is walking in the open heaven (or, there was something about the man's attire, weathered skin, or something else that was an indicator to Him about the man), so John informs us that He was "intimately knowing (or: knowing from personal experience) that he already continues having [spent] much time [thus]." Before He addresses the man. John had already told us, in vs. 5, that the man suffered from this illness for 38 years.
Jesus asks the man if becoming sound in health is his purpose and intent (presumably for being at this pool). If that place was also a place for bathing, it would have been possible that someone daily brought him to the pool to socialize and watch the bathers. But Jesus strikes to the center of the man's issue.
7. The ill (infirm; weak) man considered and answers Him, "Sir (or: Lord; Master), I do not regularly have a man, to the end that he should cast me into the pool whenever the water may be disturbed (or: stirred up; or, perhaps: = rippled by a wind). But within which [time, or, situation] I [by] myself am in progress of coming (or: going), another one is always stepping down (or: descending) before me!"
The man's reply may have been the source for vs. 4, above, which has later MS witnesses. There may have been a local belief about "whenever the water may be disturbed." Neither Jesus, nor John (if the critical texts are correct in not including vs. 4), address the issue of the water being "stirred up." But this was the man's belief, and he may have been waiting to be healed in this manner, for decades. We cannot be sure about the reality of what people expected to happen at the pool, but what we observe is years of being at the water - and this calls to mind that the Samaritan woman would have been coming to the well for years, coming for water. In both cases, Jesus answers their thirsts.
8. Jesus then says to him, "Get on up (or: Proceed to rise up), pick up your pallet (or: mat; cot) and go to walking about!"
In Jn. 4:50, Jesus tells the man, "Be proceeding on your way..." So once again, the Logos is seen in action, and vs. 9 informs us about the incarnation of this Logos to the ill man. Jesus gives an imperative, and the healing happens instantly...
9. And immediately the man becomes sound and healthy, and he was raised up (or: was aroused), and at once takes up his pallet (or: mat; cot) and began walking about. - now it was a sabbath on that day -
Observe that it does not say that the man believed on Jesus, or that he even asked for His help. The Logos was uttered:
"immediately the man becomes sound and healthy."
This "aroused" him, and, we suggest, at the same time "he was raised up." The verb can be rendered either way, so conflating the meanings seemed the right thing to do. Note the passive voice of the verb: termed by theologians "the divine passive," it tells us that it was God that aroused him and raised him up. Being raised up, the man "at once takes up his pallet (or: mat; cot) and began walking about." When invaded by the creative Logos, it becomes easy to obey Its instructions. And so it is, with us.
Next, John inserts some information for us: this happened on a sabbath day, and this created a problem for the religious authorities Judeans...
10. The Judeans (= religious authorities) therefore, were saying to the man having been attended and cured (having received the therapy and healing), "It is sabbath (or: It is a sabbath), and it is not permitted, from [our] existence, for you to lift up or carry the pallet (mat; cot)."
This Gospel makes reference to "the Judeans" frequently. The common translations often render this term "the Jews," but modern scholarship recognizes that this adjective (used frequently as a substantive, as here) better refers to those who are residents of Judea, and in the Gospels, specifically are members of what has been termed Second Temple Judaism. The term should not be understood as speaking broadly about a race of people, "the Jews," but rather about the local geographic context, time period and interpretation of Israel's religion - within that context. Keep in mind that the disciples and followers of Jesus were mainly "Jews," by race, and also largely Galileans, by geographic context. This understanding will inform our understanding of many texts. Outside of the Palestine context, the terms might well be rendered "the Jews," in contrast to "the Gentiles," but should still be seen through the lens of their religious setting, in Second Temple Judaism.
The statement made by these Judeans presents its basis as being, "from [our] existence." The common versions poorly render this phrase, "it is not lawful." However, we suggest that these folks are drawing on their history, as a people (since the Law {Torah} was given, at Sinai). From their very existence as Israel, work was not to be done on the Sabbath - and to lift up and carry a pallet was thought to be "work." The phrase used here is the third person singular of the verb, "to be," prefixed by the preposition "from": ex-estin (from it existing; from it continuously being). It is true that the origin of their being a People was based upon the Law, but a literal rendering of what John actually wrote suggests a more emphatic expression by the speakers. They are outraged! John needs to be read with close attention to detail.
11. Yet he considered and answers them, "The one making me sound and healthy: that one said to me, 'Pick up your pallet (mat; cot) and go to walking about.'"
The man appeals to a higher authority than their traditional interpretation of the Law. It was the authority of the creative Logos operating within the Healer.
13. Now he, being the one being healed, had not perceived so as to know who He is, for Jesus, as a swimmer turning his head to the side, slipped out of the crowd being [there], within the place.
Jesus was not trying to draw attention to Himself; He was not trying to build a large, physical following. His mission was more focused, and His intent was to begin this earthly mission with a small group of committed disciples (who were specifically and personally called by Him, and who were expected to leave their jobs, homes and families to physically follow His as apprentices of what He was in the process of inaugurating).
Also, specifically being in the presence of Judeans, He did not reveal Himself to the man, as He had to the Samaritans (chapter 4). As He had said to his mother, in Jn. 2, His hour had not yet come - and with God, "timing is everything."
14. After these things, Jesus is presently finding him within the temple grounds (or: courts), and says to him, "Consider (See; Take note), you have come to be sound and healthy! No longer continue in error (or: Do not further make it a habit to stray from the goal), so that something worse may not happen to you (or: to the end that something worse should not come to be in you)."
We should note that, in this account, Jesus did not come to Jerusalem with a "triumphal entry" (as given in Mat. 21; Mk. 11; Lu. 19). Remember, John's Gospel is more theme-oriented and is not a sequential record of the events in Jesus' life and ministry. His presence in Jerusalem in this passage may indicate that He came to Jerusalem on a previous occasion, prior to "riding into town" with everyone shouting "Hosanna!" Or, this passage may simply have a theme in mind in which Jesus' mode of entry into the City did not play a part - for John's purposes. Scholars consider "The Gospels" (Mat., Mk., Lu. and Jn.) as a genre of ancient literature that are unique; they were written to proclaim a message about Christ; they contain history, but were not written to be "histories." Of the four "Gospels," John is unique among them. In our investigations of them, we will endeavor to be alert to recurring themes (such as, e.g., the Signs; the theme of the Logos; the necessity to be born back up again to a higher place; etc.).
So, in vs. 14, Jesus encounters the man from the Pool who is now "sound and healthy." Like we will see elsewhere, Jesus gives him a directive, implanting in him a new path of life where he is not "continuing in error." The alternate rendering imparts the way that he should live: "Do not further make it a habit to stray from the goal." The Logos (Jesus' words to him) empowers him and creates the ability within him to follow this new way of life. This parallels the experiences of the Samaritan woman and of the royal officer (along with his household, and his son). The Logos, having become flesh, continues creating.
15. The man then went away and told [other MSS: informed] the Judeans (= religious authorities) that Jesus is the one making him sound in health,
16. so on this account the Judeans (= religious authorities) kept in hostile pursuit and were persecuting Jesus [other MSS add: and were seeking to kill Him], because He kept on doing these things on a sabbath.
We can gather, here, that the Judean religious authorities knew who Jesus was and then confronted Him about violating the sabbath, and thus breaking the Law of Moses. This seems to be their main complaint against Him. But John tells us that Jesus answers this charge with the following reason:
17. But Jesus decidedly answers them, "My Father is continuously working and keeps on being in action until the present moment (or: up to right now); I, Myself, also am continually working (or: and so I, Myself, continue active, regularly performing in [His] trade)." [thus: it was not God's sabbath]
Observe the astounding new worldview that Jesus springs on them: God is not finished with His creation, and, as noted in the bracketed comment in my translation, therefore the seventh day of the Judean week was not God's sabbath (time of resting from His finished work). What a statement: "My Father is continuously working and keeps on being in action until the present moment (or: up to right now)." So of course the incarnate Logos is "also am continually working." Notice that He did not tell them that healing a person was not actually work. He said that it was. He was a healer, doing a healer's work.
Paul got the message:
"Consequently, since someone [is]* within Christ (or: So that if anyone [is] in union with [the] Anointed One; or: And as since a Certain One [was] in Christ), [there is] a new creation (or: [it is] a framing and founding of an essentially different kind; [he or she is] an act of creation having a fresh character, a new quality): the original things (the beginning [situations]; the archaic and primitive [arrangements]) passed by (or: went to the side). Consider! New, essentially different things have come into existence" (2 Cor. 5:17).
Well, obviously Jesus was walking and working in the realm of the Christ. He, and the Father within Him (2 Cor. 5:19), were in the process of producing a new creation - and healing was a part of this work. The "archaic and primitive [arrangements] passed by." The Law, being an inferior arrangement in comparison to the "better arrangement" (Heb. 8:6ff) went to the side. Now, "New, essentially different things have come into existence," and Jesus, together with His Father, was in the process of constructing them. Jesus had moved beyond the Mosaic Law and into the new creation, with its new covenant. The new sabbath lay a little ahead of that time. Heb. 4 spoke of this:
10. for the person entering into His rest also caused himself to rest from his own works (actions; deeds), just as God [did; does; will do] from His own.
11. We should at once with diligence hasten, then, to enter into this rest (or: that ceasing down [from work]; completely stopping), so that one would not fall in the same example (or: result of a pattern) of incompliance (or: stubbornness; disobedience; lack of conviction; [p46 reads: lack of faith and trust]).
God's rest (Heb. 4:3), in the book of Hebrews, is an allusion to Israel's history with regard to their entering the Promised Land, following their deliverance from Egypt. We read of this in Heb. 3:15-4:11. But figuratively Israel, during the time of Jesus' earthly ministry, was still wandering in the wilderness. Recall the proclamation of John the immerser,
"A voice! One repeatedly crying out (shouting; exulting; exclaiming; imploring): 'Within the midst of the wilderness (desert; desolate place; abandoned and uninhabited region) you folks prepare and make ready the road of [the] LORD (or: "A sound! One is continuously crying out within the midst of the desert: you folks prepare the road...)" (Mat. 3:3).
Second Temple Judaism was still in the wilderness. It was not yet the Day of the Lord's sabbath.
18. On this account, therefore, the Jews (= the religious authorities) were all the more continuing in seeking to kill Him off, because not only was He habitually loosing and destroying (or: breaking down; dismantling) the sabbath, but further, He was also repeatedly saying that God [is] His own Father - making Himself equal to God (or: casting Himself as the same thing as God; constructing Himself as even, on the same level, in God; formulating Himself as an equal with, or in, the Deity).
Observe that I offer the rendering, "the Jews (= the religious authorities)," in the first clause. Not all those in Judea were "all the more continuing in seeking to kill Him off," and for this reason I did not render the term, "the Judeans."
According to the reasoning of the Jews, by Jesus healing on a sabbath He was "habitually loosing and destroying (or: breaking down; dismantling) the sabbath." But not only that, they reasoned, "He was also repeatedly saying that God [is] His own Father - making Himself equal to God."Now the bold reading of that last clause is a straight-forward rendering of the Greek text. However, the semantic range rendered "equal to" leaves some ambiguity. So the parenthetical options are also worth considering:
a) casting Himself as the same thing as God;
b) constructing Himself as even, on the same level, in God;
c) formulating Himself as an equal with, or in, the Deity.
Each nuance is instructive and worthy of our meditation. In b), the term "even" means "on the same level." Now since the Christ was an Anointed Man who was also the Incarnated Logos, we might ponder how these Jews saw Jesus' words about Himself, and compare the "evenness" to which the risen Christ has brought us:
"He jointly roused and raised (or: suddenly awakens and raises) [us] up, and caused [us] to sit (or: seats [us]; = enthroned [us]) together in union with, and among, the heavenly people, and within the things situated upon [thus, above] the heavens, within and in union with Christ Jesus" (Eph. 2:6).
Using a "family metaphor," Paul instruct us:
"He also marked out beforehand (determined, defined and designed in advance) [as] copies (joint-forms) of the image (material likeness; portrait; form) of His Son (or: He previously divided, separated and bounded conformed patterns from the image/form of His Son) into the [situation for] Him to be (or: to continually exist being) the Firstborn among, within the center of, and in union with many brothers (= a vast family from the same womb; Gal. 4:26)!" (Rom. 8:29).
It was not a matter of "making Himself on the same level as God," but rather a matter of God raising Him to that place as the Head of the Second Humanity, the Last Adam (1 Cor. 15:42-49), which is a corporate new creation that also includes us. Ponder that. We see a similar picture in Rev. 3:21,
"To (or: In; For) the person who is habitually conquering (repeatedly overcoming; normally victorious) I will continue granting [him or her] to sit (or: be seated) with Me within My throne, as I also conquer (or: conquered; overcome; overcame and was victorious) and sit (or: sat down) with My Father within His throne."
To be continued...
Jonathan
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