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We have a record of two deeds that Jesus did on the Sabbath, one recorded in Matthew, Mark and Luke and the other recorded in John. Both events had the same consequences. Lets look first at the event in the first three Gospels.
What was the Fourth Commandment (Ex. 20:8)? "Remember the Sabbath Day and keep it Holy." Now the Jewish teachers were noted for their interpretation of the 10 Commandments. They would interpret them as it best suited at the time (situation ethics). As a rule, they had become lax on most of the commandments but on the fourth, they had gone the other way. In their desire to incriminate Jesus, they were applying this law to the prohibiting of doing good and the necessities of life.
Notice it was something again that His Disciples did. They satisfied their hunger by eating corn from a field through which they were passing. Why didn't the Pharisees accuse them of a more obvious crime, that of stealing? The Deuteronomic Code as recorded in Deut. 23:25, allowed this, yes even encouraged it as a neighborly deed, showing mercy to their fellow man that their basic needs might be fulfilled. But it wasn't the eating of the corn was it? It was the "plucking" of the ear that they interpreted as reaping. Reaping or harvesting was not allowed on the Sabbath.
Notice the disciples were no match for the Pharisees, but Jesus was. He used their method of justification, that which was accepted in their own arguments and in their own courts, and is still accepted in our courts today, that of "president". David had established a "president", who could argue with David. As recorded in I Samuel 21:6, David ate of the Bread of the Presence in the Temple, that which was for the priests only, which was against the Law. but, in this case it was justified, and notice this, not because he was king, but because he was very hungry. Thus the "president" was set, the Law must be tempered with mercy.
Now Jesus reminds them of the duties of the priests which were necessary to the service of the Temple worship, stating surly they were guiltless, "But", He said, "I tell you something greater than the Temple is here", referring to Himself. If the Temple service justified the priests eating the Bread of the Presence, the service of Christ would much more justify what the Disciples did. Thus Jesus justified those labors that are done on the Lord's Day that are necessary to sustain life, to perform a service, to aid or allow the service of worship.
He goes on to say, "I desire mercy not sacrifice." Now, what does that mean? This is a quote from Hosea chapter 6. To sacrifice our energies in the midst of God's provided food, is foolish and contrary to God's wishes. God had provided, the Disciples had partaken of it. To the Pharisees He said, If you had known about what I have just told you, you would not have condemned them." "It is not enough just to know the scriptures, we must know their intent." As Teachers of the Law, they should have known that it was not wrong to use that which God provides to sustain us, besides, "the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath." Here Jesus asserts His Sonship with God, His part of the Trinity upon which he bases His authority for that which He did. Having thus silenced the Pharisees, He went into their Synagogue Matthew Henry, in his commentary, brings out an interesting point. Jesus was headed for the Synagogue that Sabbath morning when they passed through the corn field. The corn was provided for breakfast and the resulting accusations by the Pharisees was a lesson for the Disciples from which we can learn. We must be careful that nothing happens to us on the way to church that makes us unfit to worship. "Having thus silenced the Pharisees, He went into their Synagogue." Notice what happens in the Synagogue. (Matt. 12:9-14) Christ encounters the man with a "withered hand". Here Christ further shows that works of mercy are lawful on the Lord's Day. Notice the question that the Pharisees put to Jesus, "Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?" Nothing is recorded to indicate that the afflicted man made any effort to approach Christ or that Christ had approached him at this point, but, probably the Pharisees noticed the compassion in the eyes of Jesus when He saw the man and knowing of His habit of filling the needs of others, anticipated what He would do and asked the question, not out of the desire to learn but out of a desire to entrap Him.
So, again, Christ uses their own method of deciding the legality of a question, "precedent", established legal procedure, used in the past, and He uses an example to made His point. "If a sheep should fall into a pit on the sabbath Day, would you not pull it out?" Obviously, they would for this was allowed in the Fourth Commandment. Then He argues, "Is not man better than a sheep?"
The question was asked about healing but notice Christ answers about doing good, opening up a whole area of activities allowed by Law on the Lord's Day, "Anything done from the principle of love and charity." Notice that then Christ healed the man even though He knew of the problems it would create for Him with the Pharisees. Often we are called to take a stand that is not a popular one, it is our Christian duty to do so at whatever the cost.
Notice in the healing of the man, Jesus commanded him to do something that , of himself, he could not do. "Stretch out your hand". The man had never before used that withered hand and probably never moved it, but, upon the command of Jesus, he stretched out his hand and it was restored like the other. With the command came the Grace to do as he was commanded. This is one of the great characteristics of the will of Christ in our lives.
What about the Pharisees? Christ had hurt their pride, their hypocrisy was showing, their religion was lacking and they got together to see what they might do to destroy Him.
Our second story is recorded in John 5:1-47. This miracle is recorded only in the book of John. This one and probably the one we just completed, occurred in Jerusalem.
The Time: It was the Feast of the Passover, late March or early April. The Place: He was in Jerusalem at the Pool of Bethesda. It was an opportune time to meet men of good faith, for the faithful all over Israel went to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of the Passover. The Pool of Bethesda is believed to have been located near the Temple, we are only told here that it was near the "sheep market" which was probably located at a point where most people would pass on the way to the Temple making it convenient to purchase sacrifices.
The pool was called in the Hebrew, "Bethesda", meaning, "The house of Mercy". It was believed that when the waters of this pool was stirred by the "Angel of the Lord", that the water had healing power and would heal any manner of sickness to the first person that stepped into the pool after the stirring of the waters.
This, perhaps, to us seems unfair. What about the others who may have been un-attended or perhaps sleeping or even physically unable to move fast enough to be "first"? The pool was surrounded by five porches on which the sick would lay. These porches were provided for their convenience.
We are obligated as well as limited in our efforts to aid, encourage and do whatever is in our power to help those who are seeking the healing power of the Lord whether physical or spiritual. But rest assured, the actual healing will be done by the Lord.
Many questions come to mind when we read this story. Why was only the "first" healed? Why were the Hebrews, for thousands of years, the only people to know the Lord? Why are many called but few chosen? Obviously we are not able to understand the plan of God, nor are we required to. In the case of the Pool of Bethesda, we are reminded that it had been many years sense the Jews had a Prophet. God had not spoken to them for a long while yet He had not forsaken them. He was in their midst and this act of "stirring the waters", was a sign of His presence that brought hope and assurance to the faithful. Physical healing to one person was secondary to the spiritual healing of thousands.
It also taught a lesson that is as meaningful today as it was then. When God calls, we must not linger. Always be ready for we know not when God will call.
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