John 5:5-19 Healing of the Paralytic and Conflict with the Authorities

 

Verses 15-16: “The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews persecuted Jesus, because He did this on the Sabbath. “

Peter:  Why does the Master look for trouble?  There was no reason why he had to heal that man at the pool, and no reason why He had to heal him on the Sabbath, either. He must have known the healing would make the authorities furious.

 James: True enough, He could have healed the man the next day and avoided trouble. After being ill for so long a time, one more day would not have mattered. 

Peter: But why did the man feel he had to go and tell the authorities it was Jesus who cured him?  He should have been grateful and kept his mouth shut instead of squealing.  All he did was cause us problems.

John:   Maybe not. What if Jesus knew the man would report Him to the Scribes and Pharisees, but healed him anyway?

 James: You mean the Master wanted a confrontation with the authorities? That doesn’t make much sense.

 John: No, not in the sense that He was looking for trouble, but maybe He wanted to show He was going to do good even if it ended up causing Him trouble. 

Peter:  Okay, but why did he pick that man to heal? There were so many others there who were just as sick, and some were even worse off than he was.

John: You could always ask Him why He chose that one!

Peter: Yeah, right. There’s not much chance He is going to explain Himself to me.

James: More of a chance that He would explain and you still wouldn’t understand Him!

 Peter (laughing): “That’s right!”

 John: None of us ever really understands Him that much.

Peter and James (simultaneously): What do you mean by that? We’re not stupid.

 John: Well, yes we are when it comes to Him. That’s why you two were just laughing at yourselves. Why does Jesus heal some people and not others?  That’s a mystery. Or, why heal only a few people but not everyone? Another mystery.  How does He decide whom to heal and whom to leave be? Another mystery.

Peter: That’s true.  It doesn’t seem to matter who you are, what you have or don’t have, or what condition you’re in. He heals whom He wants for His reasons.

John: And we have no idea how he does it. All we know is that He works wonders and has no difficulty doing so.

James: Yes, it is almost so normal for us to see Him do something extraordinary that it’s starting to seem ordinary.

 Peter: How do you think He does his miracles? They seem so easy when He does them.  Yet they would be impossible for anyone else. 

John: I think the miracles are somehow connected to His Father.   Remember the authorities asked Him why He healed the man on the Sabbath, and He told them, “My Father is working still, and I am working (verse 17)…and the Son can only do what He sees the Father doing (verse 19)”. 

James: How does that explain the miracles?

Peter: I think the answer does involve His Father. Somehow He is in touch with his heavenly Father. Maybe His Father moves Him to work wonders.

John: Yes. He means it when He says his Father is working wonders. Since He is his Father’s Son, He should be working miracles too.

James: But His Father isn’t doing anything. God in heaven isn’t healing anyone.

John:  Maybe He is doing something beyond what we see.

Peter: Keep talking. I think you are on to something.

John:  You know how Jesus says over and over again “The Kingdom of God is near…the Kingdom of Heaven has arrived…the Kingdom of God is at hand”.  

Peter and James: Sure.

John: Well, what if miracles are the way Jesus makes the Kingdom come among us? All the healing and wonders He works are His way of giving us a taste of the Kingdom. That’s how He shows us the kingdom is real, not just some abstract idea.

Peter: Okay. That explains how miracles promote the Kingdom, but explain to us the connection to His Father.  How is Jesus doing what He sees the Father doing?

John:  God created the world, right? The seas, the earth, the mountains, the sky, the stars, the sun and moon are all the work of His hands, right?  

(James and Peter nod in agreement.

 John: Well, God hasn’t let go of all He has made. He is still holding it in his hands.  If He did let it go, everything would slip through His fingers and fall into nothingness. 

Peter: Hmm, the Father not only makes everything; He also holds it altogether… yes, I see what you mean.  By holding everything in His hands, He is creating it all at every moment.  The miracle is ongoing.

James: Even on the Sabbath! So the Father is working all the time! If He ever stopped working, even for a moment, then everything would fall apart!  

Peter: But what does the  Sacred Torah mean when it says that the Lord God rested on the Sabbath from all the work He had done?

 John: It means He contemplated it all. He sat back and enjoyed the beauty of everything He had made. It doesn’t mean that He put it down or let go of it, but that He looked on it all and felt good about making it, even loved it!

James: That makes a lot of sense to me! More sense than saying God rested because He was “tired”.

Peter: So since the Father “works” on the Sabbath by holding everything in His hands, gazing at it all, loving everything and keeping it all together, it is right for Jesus to do miracles on the Sabbath? Yes, it seems logical, but…”

John: But there is a difference that bothers you?

Peter: Well, the Master’s miracles seem a lot different from God’s.  Jesus’ wonders are a lot smaller than God’s. 

James: Also, Jesus’ miracles are quickly done and soon over, whereas God has been patiently holding the world together for a long, long time.

John: True,   but a miracle is a miracle. What does it matter if it is a slow long miracle like holding the world together, or a small,  quick one like healing a paralytic? It is still something none of us could make happen.

Peter: Maybe the Father’s miracles don’t seem so impressive to us because we are used to them. They slowly continue to occur, like the sun coming up every morning, and the crops growing, and the birds flying. We take ourselves and all the things around us for granted, and forget that God is holding everything together at every moment.  So we don’t see it as a miracle.

 John: That’s a wonderful insight. What the Father does long-term and slowly, the Son does short and swift, like healing a leper or giving sight to the blind man. And that’s why his miracles impress while the Father’s don’t.

 Peter: You know, John, what I like about you is also what I hate about you: you see things more deeply than we do.

John: More deeply? Not really. What I see is this: that compared to the way Jesus sees, all of our seeing is pretty poor. Seeing how poorly we see is what makes me look intelligent.