Mercy Work

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.

Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered Him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.

Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” But he answered them, “The Man who healed me, that Man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” They asked him, “Who is the Man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

John 5:1-18

1986. That was thirty-eight years ago. That’s a long time to be sick! Maybe you have suffered for a long time. No doubt, like this man at the Bethesda pool in John 5, chronic pain and illness is very hard day in and day out. What were his feelings? Hopeless? Helpless? Cynical? We don’t really know, except that when Jesus asks him if he wants to get well, his answer is not straightforward. It seems that he is relying on himself or someone else to do something for him – get him to the stirred-up water so he can be healed. He has no one to help him, and also his own efforts are never enough. The man reflects his heart when he says, “I have no one…while I am trying to get there…” Oh, the wonderful mercy of our Good Shepherd, Jesus, that steps in! This man doesn’t know that what he needs is standing right in front of him! Jesus’ pursuing mercy seeks this lost sheep, the helpless man, and heals him. Oh, the lavish, generous, and powerful mercy of God!

I love how John then mentions, “Now that day was the Sabbath”. Almost like, this would have been a “normal” weekday miracle of Jesus, except He did it on the Sabbath. Why is this mentioned? Is it a problem? Well, it was for the Jewish leaders. Many very specific man-made laws had been put in place to ensure the keeping of the Old Testament commandments, including not carrying your mat on the Sabbath. This was so they would be righteous enough to be acceptable to God by obeying all the law.

We may ask, is mercy “work”? Is striving “working”? Apparently, yes to both but for different reasons. I just found out that Bethesda means mercy. Just love that. Jesus gives mercy to the invalid man. Jesus offers mercy to each of us. Yet the religious leaders overlook this powerful act of mercy, because they say He is breaking the Sabbath. When challenged by the Jewish leaders, Jesus says He is always working, just like His Father. He is always doing the “work” of mercy, upholding the universe by the word of His power (Hebrews 1:3), carrying out to completion the good work He started in His children (Philippians 1:6), working for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works. So, is striving “working”? If you Google the definition of striving it says, “to make great efforts to achieve or obtain something”. How were the Jewish leaders striving? How do we strive? They were and we often do the same, making great efforts to obtain God’s acceptance or favor from a heart of self-righteousness. Jesus says in Mark 7:6-7, “This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me; in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” The irony is that Jewish leaders weren’t so concerned about the sixth commandment, “you shall not murder” as they were about keeping the fourth commandment. They try all the harder to kill Jesus, not just for breaking the Sabbath, but for making Himself equal with God. (John 5:18). Later in John 6:28-29 when asked, “What must we do to do the works God requires? Jesus answered, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.’”

I’m so thankful and often need the reminder that Jesus has done the work for me. I can rest. I can stop striving and relying on my own works. It is finished. While God created us for work, we are not to rely on our work for our righteousness. It’s so subtle. We rely on God’s work in Jesus Christ, His finished "work" of the cross. We can rest in His mercy and grace and live in the good works He has prepared for us:

Did we in our own strength confide, Our striving would be losing;
Were not the right Man on our side, The Man of God’s own choosing… Jesus!