John 5:18, commentary and pictures

After healing the disabled man at Bethesda on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders sought all the more to kill Jesus for what they called Sabbath-breaking and for calling God His own Father in making Himself equal with God. The Sabbath charge was false, for relieving suffering and doing good honors the day rather than desecrates it. Their reading of His claim to equality was correct in the highest sense, not the shared sonship the nation claimed, and on that ground they accused Him of blasphemy. By that claim He asserted equal right with God to carry on His Father's sacred work that never ceases, including healing the sick in harmony with the Father. Convicted yet enraged, the rulers grew more bitter and determined to take His life, and only fear of the people who recognized Him as Healer restrained them from slaying Him on the spot.

Bethesda Healing Setting

John 5:18 belongs to the healing of the crippled, paralytic, impotent and disabled man at the pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath during the second visit to Jerusalem. It records the Jews accusing Him of Sabbath-breaking for that healing and introduces the discourse He gave in reply to the accusation. Fear of the people kept the leaders, who wanted to take His life, from slaying Him on the spot.

He healed deliberately on that Sabbath, knowing the act would stir Jewish prejudice and cut short His work. He did so, with the command to the man to carry his bed, to expose the burden of Jewish restrictions and open the way to declare their traditions void. His act did not lessen the Sabbath law but honored it by freeing it from requirements that had made it a burden instead of a blessing.

The charge of breaking the Sabbath law was brought before the Sanhedrin and its tribunal, where Jesus, the Lord of the Sabbath, stood on trial for His life. The leaders hoped by it to condemn His teaching and weaken His influence with the people. He refused to plead guilty to any wrong or to submit to their questioning and examination, because they had no authority from the Jewish system to interfere with His work and their claim rested only on pride and arrogance. His bold declaration of His mission and work, His claims and words, were unanswerable and left His judges, looking on with mingled astonishment and rage, unable to condemn Him. Part of the accusation fastened on His command to the healed man to carry his bed, which the rulers treated as sacrilege and a Sabbath violation while overlooking the healing itself, hoping to use it as grounds to condemn Him.

Sabbath Charge Refuted

The charge was that He had broken the Sabbath because He healed and restored a suffering man, the paralytic, on that day, a judgment made according to a narrow understanding and interpretation of the law. That healing did not desecrate the Sabbath but honored it, for relieving human suffering and doing good is in harmony with God's law and the Father's plan. The Sabbath law forbids toil for a livelihood and labor for worldly pleasure or profit, not doing good.

The rest day was sanctified and set apart by Jehovah for a special purpose after finishing the work of creation, and as God ceased His labor of creating and rested on that day and blessed it, so man is to leave the occupation of daily life. It was not intended as a period of useless inactivity, but for devoting those sacred hours to healthful rest, to worship, and to holy deeds. The accusation that He broke the Sabbath was false and could not be sustained or proved. This is shown by the fact that His enemies afterward had to hire false witnesses to testify against Him, for if the charge had been true they would not have needed false testimony.

To say Christ broke the Sabbath is to stand with the Pharisees in their false accusation against Him, repeating the charge made against Him by those who sought to condemn and kill Him while He was guiltless and had presented evidence of His innocence. His works were in perfect harmony with God's law, for Christ obeyed the law perfectly in human nature, demonstrating that it can be kept. The act of healing the disabled man should have been sufficient evidence that He was the world's Redeemer and the Son of God, but the prejudice, unbelief, and opposition of the scribes and Pharisees led them to reject Him and turn the evidence against Him. His defense included that as the law allowed circumcision on the Sabbath when the eighth day fell then, making a man completely well on the Sabbath was also in harmony with the law, requiring them to judge righteously rather than by appearances.

As Lord of the Sabbath He was brought before the tribunal of the rulers to be tried for His life on the charge of breaking the Sabbath law, and stood arraigned before an earthly court. He refused to plead guilty to any wrong or admit wrongdoing, and refused to submit to be examined by them or submit to their questioning, for they had no authority from the Jewish system to interfere with His work and their claim to authority rested only on pride and arrogance. His judges looked on Him with mingled astonishment and rage, yet His words and mission were unanswerable and left them unable to condemn Him. He stood before His accusers clothed with divine grace and spoke words that pierced them like arrows of truth, offering no apology for the act complained of and giving no explanation of His purpose in doing it, but turning upon the rulers so that the accused became the accuser.

Equality With God

The leaders understood correctly that by calling God His own Father He was claiming equality with God in the highest sense, not merely using the shared language by which the whole nation called God Father, and on that ground they charged Him with blasphemy. His oneness with the Father was oneness in nature, will, and purpose, and in sharing His work and counsel. By that claim He asserted equal rights with God to do a sacred work of the same character and kind as His Father's work that never ceases, including healing the sick.

That equality affirms the Father and the Son as distinct, and it does not mean He acts independently, for the Son does what He sees the Father doing and the Father shows Him all He does. His answer that He worked as the Father worked explained His relation to the Father and the authority behind His actions. The verses that follow present the Son as doing the Father's works, giving life, and exercising judgment, and they call all people to honor the Son as they honor the Father. He is the only one with power to give life, which the leaders rejected in Satan's effort to separate the Father and the Son.

Before the Sanhedrin He took His true station and declared Himself the Son of the Eternal, thereby proclaiming His divinity and Sonship. The Son has been equal with the Father from the beginning, without change of position or authority, a fact made necessary to state plainly by Lucifer's envy and claims to equality with Christ. He defended His Sabbath work at Bethesda by affirming His Sonship and declaring that He worked in harmony with the Father as the Father worked, at the same time teaching the true meaning of the Sabbath.

Murderous Opposition Intensified

The Jews sought the more to kill Him because the two charges stood together, Sabbath-breaking for His work of healing on that day and making Himself equal with God by calling God His own Father, and their anger grew still stronger after His answer that His Father works hitherto and He works, which explained His relation to the Father and the authority behind His actions. The verses that follow set forth the Son as doing the Father's works, giving life and exercising judgment, and call all to honor the Son as they honor the Father. Relieving human suffering did not desecrate the Sabbath but was in harmony with God's law and the Father's plan.

Unable to answer His Sabbath arguments drawn from the work of God and the unceasing round of nature, having only custom and tradition against Him, the rulers evaded those points and turned their anger against Him for making Himself equal with God. They raged without bounds to seize Him and put Him to death, and were only prevented from doing so. They sought to stir up anger against Him and to turn the people against Him.

His words and works convicted them of guilt and affirmed His divine authority, yet conviction only made them more bitter and determined to take His life. His mighty works had arrested the people's notice and aroused wonder, and His searching discourse deeply convicted many so they were ready to acknowledge His divine authority, while the same words pressed guilt home upon the rulers' consciences and thrilled their hearts with condemnation. Having failed to subvert His authority or turn the people's respect and attention from Him, they denounced Him as an impostor, sent messengers over the country to warn the people against Him, and sent spies to watch Him and report what He said and did. He stood now most surely under the shadow of the cross. The plot against His life began with the Sabbath healing at Bethesda, which made it unsafe to remain in Jerusalem, so He left Jerusalem for Galilee and made Capernaum the scene of His labors.

Only the people kept the authorities from slaying Him on the spot, for fear of the people restrained them. Many recognized Him as the healer and friend of the suffering, listened with candor and fairness, defended and justified His healing of the man afflicted for thirty-eight years, and put the rulers to shame. The priests and elders therefore had to restrain their hatred and wait for a more favorable time to carry out their design. His claim of equal rights with God to do a sacred work of the same character as His Father's work that never ceases made them still more incensed.

Their claimed zeal for the sacredness of the day and for God concealed anger and fear that He was gaining influence and that His challenge to their traditions threatened their power. They treated His Sabbath miracles bringing relief to the afflicted as a pretext for hostility and as grounds to condemn Him as a Sabbath-breaker, seeking grounds to accuse Him in efforts to destroy Him and put an end to His life. His teaching exposed their failure to live by the law they claimed to defend, and their murderous intent contradicted their claim to defend the law, as shown when He challenged them for seeking to kill Him and reasoned that as circumcision was allowed on the Sabbath when the eighth day fell then, making a man completely well on the Sabbath was also in harmony with the law, requiring righteous judgment rather than judgment by appearances. They watched Him, hid their intent from the people, and planned to use accusations against Him. His faithfulness to God's commandments provoked the accusations of Sabbath-breaking and blasphemy because human traditions and requirements had been placed above God's law, and the same pattern of reproach and persecution would be repeated against His faithful followers.