My Father works until now, and I work.
But let him who glories glory in this, That he understands and knows Me,
Jeremiah 9:24
That I am the Lord, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the Lord.
The healing of the paralytic at Bethesda is the story that introduces the reader to the underdeveloped theme among the Jews of who God is. Elohim, the God of the Hebrews, takes on many names, most of them more as qualifiers of Elohim’s attributes.
The healing of the paralytic at Bethesda is a reading that shocks Western eyes and reveals a disrespect for the presence of God. The healing took place on the Sabbath, but the reader is told that it was a feast for God.
For Western Christian societies, God is Spirit, the Supreme Being, the Creator of all things, the Almighty who dwells in the heavens. Elohim, the God of the Hebrews, from whom the term God in our versions comes, takes on many names, most of them more as qualifiers of Elohim’s attributes. The Hebrews do not refer to Him as God out of the conviction that *they cannot take God’s name in vain*; instead they define Him more as Adonay or as HaShem.
Elohim, while assuming personal characteristics and attributes, is rather a being without form and transcendence; the Hebrew religionist is more interested in the activities done for Him than in Him Himself.
Who is God? It doesn’t matter. What ritual must we perform for Him? That’s what’s important. People who heard of Him in ancient times did not care who He was or where He was; they got used to seeing Him in the portents that accompanied His name; so if there were supernatural works, that was more than enough. There He was.
The prophet speaking in His name was more important. That is why, since the departure of Moses, the prophet who was to come, whom Moses announced in his writings, the Messiah, is the most important person in the Jewish religious vision.
“The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear,
Deuteronomy 18:15
So when the reader is introduced to the reading of the healing of the paralytic at Bethesda, chapter five of the Gospel of John, he is faced with a big question: Where is God here? And the answer they find is: God? Why must he be here? Don’t you realise we’re having a feast? A feast for God!
It is a reading that shocks Western eyes and reveals a disrespect for the presence of God. To illustrate, if this scene had taken place anywhere else in America, it would have become a national holiday. But here in this account, despite the supernatural work of God mentioned by the angel and the healing of the lame man himself, the fact that the healing took place on the Sabbath is questioned. What an irony!
The account would have lacked spiritual value had it not been for the words of Jesus:
My Father is working until now, and I am working.
Why is this statement important and what does it establish? The Declaration establishes the need, the urgency – and the opportunity – for human beings to come to know God.
Who is God and what does He want from us?
The teaching that follows in the account is established according to the didactic of contraposition: Jesus’ words and deeds in contrast with what the law established for such situations.
The value of Jesus’ words is determined by the day on which Jesus performed the healing.
… And it was Shabbat that day. (verse 9)
People learned about Shabbat during the time they wandered in the desert. God supplied them with bread from heaven, and they learned that Shabbat meant no work.
29 See! For the Lord has given you the Sabbath; therefore He gives you on the sixth day bread for two days. Let every man remain in his place; let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.” 30 So the people rested on the seventh day.
Exodus 16:29-30
Subsequently, in the promulgation of the Mosaic Law—Torah—the Law established the following decrees regarding the day of rest (Shabbat):
14 You shall keep the Sabbath, therefore, for it is holy to you. Everyone who profanes it shall surely be put to death; for whoever does any work on it, that person shall be cut off from among his people. 15 Work shall be done for six days, but the seventh is the Sabbath of rest, holy to the Lord. Whoever does any work on the Sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
Exodus 31:14-15
Let us now return to the account of the healing of the invalid man and compare it. We find that:
- On that day, the day of healing, it was Saturday (Shabbat). As we know, healing is equivalent to “doing healing”, which is work. Therefore, the act incurs what is subject to penalty.
- Similarly, carrying the bed is equivalent to doing work, which makes the action an act also subject to the penalty of the Law. It is clear why the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him: he did these things on the Sabbath. (5:16)
- But Jesus said: My Father is still working, and I am working too. Does the Father work on the Sabbath (Shabbat)?
The account of the healing of the invalid man at Bethesda, like other similar accounts of apparent contradiction, is an examination of the beliefs of the believer to evaluate how much we know the God we profess to serve.
Shabbat is the day to work for the benefit of others. This does not mean doing absolutely nothing or paralysing the work. Shabbat means “working” but for the benefit of others. That’s why my father is working until now, and I am working. We have misunderstood it.
You will work for six days for yourself. On the seventh day, you will work for the benefit of your neighbour.
18 “And you shall remember the Lord your God, for it is He who gives you power to get wealth, that He may establish His covenant which He swore to your fathers, as it is this day.
Deuteronomy 8:18
Jesus was right. He did not break the law. His actions and the advice he gave to the sick man were in line with the law! This is not about doing absolutely nothing.
But how do you come to this conclusion?
The people of Israel were liberated from slavery on the day of rest (Shabbat). Let’s compare the following texts.
6 Now you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month. Then the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at twilight. 7 And they shall take some of the blood and put it on the two doorposts and on the lintel of the houses where they eat it. 8 Then they shall eat the flesh on that night; roasted in fire, with unleavened bread and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. … 12 ‘For I will pass through the land of Egypt on that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the Lord. … 51 And it came to pass, on that very same day, that the Lord brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt according to their armies. –
Exodus 12:6-8, 12, 51.
Now let’s compare with parallel texts:
5 On the fourteenth day of the first month at twilight is the Lord’s Passover. 6 And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. 7 On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. 8 But you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it.’ ”
Leviticus 23:5-8
The solemnity of unleavened bread lasted a full week, from one Sabbath to the next. How do we know this? The text of Leviticus is clear: no customary work is to be done on it. The same instruction is given for the observance of the Sabbath.
On the fourteenth day, the Passover lamb was eaten, after sunset (Exodus 12:6,11); the next day, the feast of unleavened bread began, which coincided with the Sabbath. (Exodus 12:15,16)
The Exodus account states that the people left just after eating the Passover lamb, and upon their departure, the feast of unleavened bread began (Exodus 12:39). The fifteenth day was the day of Shabbat, as we have already seen. This was the day when the people of Israel were liberated from slavery.
The testimony in the gospels is also valuable here for confirming everything that has been mentioned. The evangelical accounts confirm that Jesus celebrated the Passover lamb meal, which in Christian circles is known as the Last Supper. They also confirm that Jesus was crucified at the end of that week of Unleavened Bread, just the day before the Day of Rest.
31 Therefore, because it was the Preparation Day, that the bodies should not remain on the cross on the Sabbath (for that Sabbath was a high day), the Jews asked Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
John 19:31
Jesus honoured the day, Shabbat. This is the Day of Liberation. The invalid man was liberated from illness and the thirty-eight-year-long bondage of his consciousness.
If we review other similar accounts, it is clear that Jesus acted in accordance with the established principle of life in the kingdom since the foundation of the nation.
The Sabbath is a day of liberation, a day of work, freedom and blessing for the benefit of others.
16 So ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound—think of it—for eighteen years, be loosed from this bond on the Sabbath?”
Luke 13:16
The account of the healing of the invalid man at Bethesda makes it clear that Jesus was certain his work was in accordance with the work of the Father. This certainty led him to expose himself to persecution by the Jews.
My Father is working until now, and I am working…
Knowing God is not just knowledge or concepts or definitions. It is acting according to His will and doing what He wants us to do.
17 Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
James 4:17
Today, just as in the days of the invalid man at Bethesda, many people live their lives according to knowledge, norms, laws and religious rites. This way of thinking has led many astray and caused them to persecute others who do not act according to what is established. These bonds of argument will only be broken when we act according to God’s work. When we know God.
Only those who know God can work!
Go and do the same!
