“Human institutions and guidelines always lead people to put rules before people, but the Gospel leads us to put people before rules.”
“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 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 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in that place.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 5:9b–18).
(1) As I meditate on the account of Jesus' seven signs (miracles) recorded in John 5:1–18, I have divided the third miracle—the healing of the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years—into two parts. Today, I would like to meditate on the second and final portion, verses 9b–18. When I read today's passage, John 5:9b–18, in both the Korean and Greek Bibles, the first thing that caught my attention was the concept of the Sabbath held by the Jews (v. 10). The reason is that the day on which Jesus healed the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years was the Sabbath. 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” [Σάββατόν ἐστιν, καὶ οὐκ ἔξεστίν σοι ἆραι τὸν κράβαττόν σου (Sabbaton estin, kai ouk exestin soi arai ton krabattón sou)] (v. 10). Furthermore, because they thought that Jesus was “breaking the Sabbath” [ἔλυεν τὸ σάββατον (elyen to sabbaton)], they “were seeking all the more to kill Him” [μᾶλλον ἐζήτουν αὐτὸν οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι ἀποκτεῖναι (mallon ezetoun auton hoi Ioudaioi apokteinai)] (v. 18). What, then, was the Jewish understanding of the Sabbath that led them to speak this way to a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years and, furthermore, to seek even more earnestly to kill Jesus?
(a) The reason the Jews responded with condemnation rather than celebration when they witnessed the glorious healing of a man who had been bedridden for thirty-eight years, and even went so far as to seek to kill Jesus, was their distinctive and distorted Sabbath legal system and their religious vested interests, which they guarded as though their lives depended on them. Within the context of the Korean Bible and the Greek text, particularly the expression ἔλυεν τὸ σάββατον (elyen to sabbaton, “breaking the Sabbath” or “violating the Sabbath”), an AI explanation available on the internet identified three central aspects of the Sabbath that help explain why the Jews were so outraged.
1. The thirty-nine categories of prohibited work in the Mishnah: Human traditions that went beyond the original purpose of the Old Testament
The essential purpose for which God gave the Sabbath in the Old Testament was rest, the restoration of life, and worship directed toward God. However, after the Babylonian exile, Jewish religious leaders became preoccupied with the idea that the nation would not be destroyed if only the Sabbath were observed perfectly. Consequently, they subdivided the standards of what constituted prohibited work on the Sabbath to an extreme degree.
In the Shabbat tractate of the Mishnah, the Jewish collection of oral laws, thirty-nine major categories of work prohibited on the Sabbath were established. These are known as Avot Melakhot. The Mishnah was the first written legal compilation to bring together Judaism's most important oral laws—laws that had been passed down from one generation to another. Shabbat is the Hebrew word for the Jewish Sabbath. Its meaning includes “to cease” and “to rest.” Even today, Orthodox Jews strictly refrain from the thirty-nine categories of work specified in the Mishnah during Shabbat, including turning on lights, driving, spending money, and carrying objects. Avot Melakhot refers to the thirty-nine primary categories of work prohibited on the Sabbath, which Jewish tradition established in the Mishnah in connection with observing the biblical Sabbath commandment.
The sin of carrying one's bed: Among these thirty-nine prohibitions was the strict prohibition against transferring an object from a public domain to a private domain, or from a private domain to a public domain (carrying).
Therefore, in the eyes of the Jews, the act of the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years carrying his bed and walking was an act of “unlawful labor” that directly violated God's law and threatened to undermine their social order. To them, the rule prohibiting the carrying of an object was far more important than the joy of seeing a human being liberated from a miserable life.
2. Legalism that turned the Sabbath from a day of life into an instrument of control and hierarchy
The Jewish religious leaders, including the Pharisees, used the process of monitoring and inspecting how carefully the people observed the detailed Sabbath regulations they had established to protect their own spiritual authority and vested interests.
According to their Sabbath regulations, healing someone on the Sabbath was permitted as an exception only in an emergency in which the person's life was in immediate danger. This principle was known as Pikuach Nefesh. If a person's illness was not immediately life-threatening, treatment had to be postponed until the Sabbath had passed.
Although the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years was a long-term, seriously ill patient, he was not someone who was about to die within the next few hours. Therefore, according to the Jews' reasoning, Jesus could have healed him the following day, after the Sabbath had ended. Instead, they judged that Jesus had deliberately performed an act of healing (work) on the Sabbath, disregarding their religious authority and guidelines. This was, in effect, a direct challenge to their authority.
3. They regarded Jesus' “breaking” of the Sabbath as blasphemy against God
In verse 18 of today's passage, the decisive reasons the Jews sought even more earnestly to kill Jesus were not only that He was “breaking the Sabbath” [ἔλυεν τὸ σάββατον (elyen to sabbaton)], but also that He was “calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.”
The Greek word elyen (ἔλυεν) carries a stronger meaning than merely violating a law through an accidental mistake. It can convey the idea of “loosening,” “destroying,” or “abolishing.” In other words, Jesus was deliberately breaking apart the very Sabbath system that the Jews had established. For the Jews, the Sabbath was the most sacred covenantal sign between God and Israel (Exodus 31:13). Therefore, anyone who violated the Sabbath was regarded as someone who insulted God and deserved the death penalty by stoning.
Furthermore, when Jesus said, “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (Jn. 5:17), the Jews were utterly outraged. According to Jewish theology, the only One who could work on the Sabbath was God Himself, who sustains the entire universe and gives life. Therefore, when Jesus declared that He, too, was doing the work of giving life on the Sabbath just as God did, the Jews received this as outright blasphemy and resolved that He must be put to death (Internet).
(i) Has the Korean church's understanding of the Lord's Day been substantially different from the Jewish understanding of the Sabbath? Here, I wonder whether the concept of the Lord's Day throughout the history of the Korean church has been all that different from the Jewish understanding of the Sabbath. For this reason, I believe that even today, the concept of strictly observing the Lord's Day, which many Korean Christians are so determined to uphold as sacred, is not purely biblical but has become mixed with the Jewish understanding of the Sabbath. How should we view this serious problem, and how should we return to the teaching of Scripture?
· Many Korean Christians who profess to observe the Lord's Day faithfully have, surprisingly, a deep foundation of Sabbath legalism resembling that of the Jews who condemned Jesus and sought to kill Him in today's passage (Jn. 5:9b–18). An AI explanation available on the internet has organized three perspectives on how to approach this serious problem and return to the essence of the Word of God.
a. Why did Sunday in the Korean church become like the Jewish Sabbath? (Historical background)
In the early Korean church, missionaries—particularly those from the American Presbyterian tradition—taught very strict guidelines for observing the Lord's Day based on the Puritan tradition.
Legalistic regulations and a means of control: People were prohibited from spending money or engaging in buying and selling on Sunday and were instructed to devote themselves exclusively to worship and Bible study.
The combination with the Jewish concept of the Sabbath: This Puritan-style legalistic understanding of Sunday gradually combined with the ritual-centered nature and works-oriented religiosity of traditional Korean Confucian culture. As a result, the Lord's Day became distorted into a retributive concept of the Sabbath: “If you do not refrain from these activities, you will be punished; if you observe these things thoroughly, you will be blessed.”
The loss of its essence: Consequently, just as the Jews in John 5 did, people began evaluating and condemning one another's faith based on outward behavior—what someone did or did not do on Sunday, such as attending worship, serving at church, or spending money. The Lord's Day thus became a system of control.
b. The biblical distinction between the Sabbath and the Lord's Day: From regulation to liberation and resurrection
The first thing we must correct if we are to return to Scripture is our understanding of the essential difference between the Sabbath and the Lord's Day.
The Jewish Sabbath and the Christian Lord's Day are fundamentally different.
First, the days themselves are different. The Sabbath is Saturday, the seventh day of creation, whereas the Lord's Day is Sunday, the first day of the week, when Jesus rose from the dead.
Second, the character of the days is different. The central emphasis of the Sabbath is the prohibition and restriction against performing any work, whereas the central emphasis of the Lord's Day is praise and liberation because the Lord has conquered death.
Third, their spiritual meanings are different. The Sabbath signifies the completion of the first creation and rest under the Law, whereas the Lord's Day signifies the beginning of the new creation and a foretaste of the eternal rest we will enjoy in the future.
Finally, the attitude of faith is different. The Sabbath was observed with fear and a sense of obligation because violating it could result in death. The Lord's Day, however, is a day to be observed in the freedom and celebration of rejoicing in the risen Lord.
The Old Testament Sabbath was completely fulfilled through the cross and resurrection of Jesus Christ (Col. 2:16–17). Therefore, the Lord's Day, on which the believers of the early church gathered, was not a day that inherited the legal obligations of the Sabbath. Rather, it was a day of celebration commemorating Jesus' resurrection and proclaiming liberation from the condemnation of the Law and death. To observe the Lord's Day like the Jewish Sabbath is like sewing back together the curtain of the Law that Jesus tore apart through His death on the cross and crawling back underneath it.
c. How can we return to the essence of the Word of God?
Using today's passage in John 5 as a mirror, we must restore the true essence of the Lord's Day in the following ways.
First, we must prioritize the restoration of life over religious rules. The Jews became angry because they thought the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years had violated the Sabbath regulations, even though they were witnessing an event in which his life had been restored. The same applies to the Lord's Day today. Sunday should not be a day of religious obligations and service that exhausts believers. Rather, it should be a day of healing and liberation, a day when souls that have been bound for thirty-eight years find true rest and come alive in Jesus Christ.
Second, we must move from worshiping the day to submitting to the reign of the Lord. The Jews idolized the Sabbath day itself. However, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath” (Mk. 2:27–28). The heart of observing the Lord's Day is not to preserve Sunday as though it were a time that must be kept unchanged and untouched. Rather, it is to surrender our lives to the sovereignty of Jesus Christ, who is the Lord of that day.
Third, we must extend the meaning of Sabbath rest beyond the isolation of one day into the rest of everyday life. In verse 17, Jesus said, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” God's work of giving and sustaining life is not confined to one Sabbath day. It continues every day and forever. Therefore, the joy of the resurrection and the spiritual fullness we receive on the Lord's Day must flow into the lives we live from Monday through Saturday as the “rest of everyday life,” through which we give life to and care for our neighbors.
Conclusion: Deepening our meditation
Today, countless members of Korean churches observe the Lord's Day while watching and judging one another through the eyes of the “Jews” in John 5. The condemning voice that said, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed” (v. 10), is being repeated today in statements such as, “It is Sunday, so why are you skipping worship to go on an outing?” or “Why are you spending money?” As I meditate deeply on this passage, I hope that the Korean church will lay down the heavy burden of the Law and recover the genuine joy of the Lord's Day—the joy of singing about the true freedom and resurrection joy that the Lord gives us (Internet).
(2) Second, I became particularly interested in Jesus' words to “the man who had been healed” (John 5:10), or “the man who was cured” (v. 13), when He met him in the temple: “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you” (v. 14). The reason is that I wonder whether it is biblically correct to think that all illnesses come as a result of sin. On the other hand, Job was described as “blameless and upright, one who feared God and turned away from evil” (Job 1:1, 8). Nevertheless, painful sores appeared on his body from the sole of his foot to the crown of his head, and he sat among the ashes, scraping himself with a piece of broken pottery (2:7–8). Since this illness did not come as a result of Job's personal sin, but occurred because God, in His sovereignty, permitted Satan to afflict him (1:12; 2:6), would it be biblically correct to conclude that not all illnesses come as a result of sin?
(a) This question concerns one of the most important theological issues that many Christians struggle with when reading the Bible: the causes of suffering and illness. To state the conclusion clearly from the beginning, it is biblically correct to understand that not every illness is caused by a person's specific, individual sin. The Bible does not attribute the causes of illness to only one source. An AI explanation available on the internet has organized three biblical perspectives on how we should reconcile Jesus' words in John 5:14 with the events recorded in the Book of Job.
1. The macro perspective: The illnesses of all humanity originated in sin (the fundamental cause)
When we look at the entire biblical narrative, it is true that the fundamental reason illness, suffering, and death exist in this world is the Fall of humanity into sin. There was no illness or pain in the Garden of Eden as God originally created it. However, after Adam and Eve sinned, the curse came upon the earth (Genesis 3). As a result, the human body became subject to deterioration and vulnerable to disease. In this broader sense, the very fact that human beings become ill is a consequence of a world that has been corrupted by sin.
2. The micro perspective: Not every individual's illness is caused by that individual's personal sin (Job and John 9)
However, the Bible does not teach that every illness experienced by an individual is “God's punishment for a particular sin committed by that person.” To interpret illness in this way would be no different from adopting the retributive reasoning of the Jews.
The example of Job: Job 1–2 clearly testifies that Job was a man who was blameless and upright and who feared God in his generation. His painful and severe skin disease was not the result of his personal sin. Rather, it was a trial and a testing permitted by Satan within God's absolute sovereignty and providence.
The man born blind in John 9: When the disciples asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?” Jesus answered decisively: “It was not that this man sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (Jn. 9:3). In other words, illness and suffering can come even upon righteous people within God's profound purposes and sovereign will.
3. How, then, should we understand John 5:14?
When Jesus said to the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years, “Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you,” His words were closely related to the particular circumstances of this man's life.
The particular circumstances of this man: Jesus' words strongly suggest that this man's particular illness was closely connected with some specific sin in his past. Biblical scholars consider it highly possible that he had lived a morally reckless life in his younger years or had committed a serious sin before God, resulting in his physical disability. The Lord knew his past and was urging him to repent, calling him not merely to physical healing but also to spiritual healing.
The meaning of “something worse”: Here, “something worse” refers to more than simply the recurrence of physical illness. It refers to eternal judgment and the punishment of hell that a person will face if he continues living in sin. The Lord was warning him: “Now that your physical body has been healed, do not return to your former sinful habits and bring yourself to eternal destruction.”
Conclusion: Maintaining biblical balance
We must not use Jesus' words in John 5:14 as a general formula to claim that “all illnesses are the result of sin.” Rather, they were a personal and particular message that Jesus gave to this specific man who had been ill for thirty-eight years. The Bible presents various causes and purposes associated with illness:
1. Illness that comes as a consequence of sin: The man who had been ill for thirty-eight years in John 5:14, or illness following David's sin.
2. Illness through which God's glory and purpose are revealed: The man born blind in John 9:3 and Lazarus in John 11.
3. Illness through which spiritual growth takes place and trust in God's sovereignty is developed: Job's sores and Paul's thorn in the flesh.
Therefore, when someone becomes ill, we must abandon the condemning attitude of the Jews that asks, “What sin have you committed?” Instead, we should trust in God's sovereignty even in suffering, as Job did, or, like Jesus, become instruments through whom God's life-giving work is manifested in the midst of suffering (Internet).
(3) Third, when I read John 5:9b–18 in the Greek Bible, I was somewhat puzzled to discover that two different Greek expressions were used: one translated as “the man who had been healed” (v. 10), [τῷ τεθεραπευμένῳ (tō tetherapeumenō)], and another translated as “the man who was cured” (v. 13), [ὁ δὲ ἰαθείς (ho de iatheis)]. Why did the Apostle John use two completely different Greek words to describe the miracle of Jesus healing the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years?
(a) The Apostle John's use of two different Greek expressions in verses 10 and 13—tetherapeumenō (τεθεραπευμένῳ, “the man who had been healed”) and iatheis (ἰαθείς, “the man who was cured”)—was not simply an attempt to avoid repeating the same word. According to an AI explanation available on the internet, this is a distinctive and carefully constructed linguistic feature of John's Gospel, deliberately intended to contrast the Jews' perspective toward the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years with Jesus' perspective. The following are three observations concerning the nuances of these two words and the theological background of their placement in the passage.
1. Tetherapeumenō (θεραπεύω) in verse 10: “The man who had been healed”—treatment viewed from the Jews' religious and social perspective
Verse 10 describes the scene in which the Jews confront the man who had been healed over the Sabbath regulations. The underlying verb of tetherapeumenō is therapeuō (θεραπεύω), which means “to treat,” “to heal,” or “to serve and care for someone.” The English word “therapy,” meaning treatment or therapeutic care, is derived from this Greek word.
Social care and religious activity: This word does not refer only to the physical restoration of a person's health. It can also broadly encompass the act of caring for and treating a patient, as a physician or nurse would do, or healing through religious rituals.
An instrument of accusation for the Jews: In the minds of the Jews, therapeuō represented “medical labor”—a deliberate act of treatment that was absolutely forbidden on the Sabbath. Therefore, by placing this word in the context of the Jews' conversation, the Apostle John exposes the fact that they were defining and examining this miracle not as an event in which a soul had been saved, but as an illegal incident involving a prohibited medical activity (therapeuō) on the Sabbath.
The significance of the tense (perfect passive participle): This word is used as a perfect passive participle. In other words, it describes a person who is in a state resulting from an act of healing that has already been completed by someone else. The Jews look at him as though to say, “You have already received medical treatment, haven't you? Who, then, was the person who performed that illegal work on the Sabbath?” This reveals that they were intensely preoccupied with identifying the person who performed the healing—the “physician” or agent of the treatment.
2. Iatheis (ἰάομαι) in verse 13: “The man who was cured”—the immediate and transcendent healing accomplished through Jesus' divine sovereignty
Verse 13 explains that the man who had been healed did not know who the person was who had cured him. The underlying verb of iatheis is iaomai (ἰάομαι), which means “to heal,” “to cure,” or “to restore to health.”
Fundamental and supernatural healing: In Greek biblical usage, iaomai is often used to describe a fundamental and supernatural restoration accomplished by God, including immediate healing and restoration to wholeness, going beyond human medical efforts or ordinary care (therapy).
The Lord's power transcending the Law: The healing Jesus performed was not some gradual medical procedure (therapy) that might be subject to Sabbath regulations. Rather, it was the divine work of the Creator God [iaomai (ἰάομαι)], through which the nerves and muscles of a man who had been incapacitated for thirty-eight years were immediately and completely restored to life through a single word spoken by the Lord.
The significance of the tense (aorist passive participle): This word is used as an aorist passive participle. It conveys the idea of a person who was healed completely through a single, instantaneous intervention by God. Through this word, the Apostle John proclaims that while the Jews were arguing over whether the man had violated the Sabbath law by receiving treatment, God's immediate and sovereign healing, which transcended human reasoning, had already been accomplished in this man.
3. The theological message the Apostle John seeks to reveal through the contrast between these two words
Ultimately, through the difference between these two words, the Apostle John powerfully communicates the following profound spiritual truths.
Human rules (therapeuō) versus God's sovereignty (iaomai): The Jews attempted to confine Jesus' miracle within the religious category of human society that they could control—“the act of medical treatment” [therapeuō (θεραπεύω)] (v. 10)—and condemn Him accordingly. However, the healing Jesus performed was an act of complete restoration [iaomai (ἰάομαι)] through divine sovereignty, something beyond human control.
Religion confined by obligation versus the Gospel that gives life: The Jews were angry that the man had performed the labor of receiving treatment (therapeuō) within the regulations governing the Sabbath day. The Gospel, however, focuses on the fact that a life that had been as good as dead for thirty-eight years had, through God's grace, been healed (iatheis) once and for all and received new life.
Conclusion: Bringing our meditation to a close
The Apostle John concealed such sharp theological insights even in his choice of individual words. In verse 10, the Jews are still watching the man's condition as someone who has received treatment (tetherapeumenō) through their legalistic standards. However, in verse 13, the man who had received the Lord's grace has already entered into the reality of God's once-for-all healing and divine touch (iatheis), which the world's legal system cannot undo or control.
As I follow the nuances of the original Greek words, I become increasingly aware of the spiritual blindness of human religious dogma, which prevents people from seeing God's mighty work of giving life.
The enormous contrast between the narrow framework of human treatment (therapeuō), through which the Jews condemned the man, and the great work of divine restoration (iaomai) accomplished by Jesus is truly mysterious (Internet).
(i) Are we attempting to confine the Lord within the religious guidelines and institutional frameworks we have created? As I meditate on the contrast between these two Greek words, I find myself asking whether today's churches and believers have sometimes tried to confine the Lord within the religious guidelines and institutional frameworks we have created, rather than longing for God's supernatural work (iaomai). What are the dangers of this tendency among Christians to confine the Lord within religious guidelines and institutional structures created by human beings? And how can we overcome these dangers?
· The three dangers of the religious tendency to confine God within our own framework
a. We become spiritually blind and fail to recognize God's living work even when we witness it.
Just like the Jews in today's passage, when the framework of our faith (therapeuō) becomes rigid, we may fail to recognize God's supernatural work (iaomai) as a miracle or an act of grace, even when we see with our own eyes a man who had been ill for thirty-eight years carrying his bed and walking. Instead, we begin to see everything through the lens of illegality and condemnation, asking only, “Why did you violate my regulations?” Eventually, this can lead to the tragedy of rejecting and resisting the new things God is doing in our lives and churches today.
b. We lose the power of the Gospel and degenerate into a lifeless religion that exhausts people.
God's grace is like living water that continually flows and moves. However, when we preserve it in a container made of human guidelines, as though freezing it in place, Christianity ceases to be the life-giving Gospel and becomes a burdensome system of obligations that merely checks people's behavior and compliance with rules. Instead of enjoying the joy and freedom of salvation, believers become bound by regulations, constantly wondering, “Should I do this or should I not?” Eventually, like adherents of other religions in the world, they become exhausted under the weight of religious obligations.
c. We sit in God's place and build a “religious Tower of Babel.”
When we perfectly observe the guidelines we have created, we can fall into a strange form of religious self-satisfaction and self-righteousness. The moment we begin thinking, “I have observed the Lord's Day perfectly, and I have served this much, so I am righteous,” the grace of the Lord's cross disappears from our focus, and our own deeds take its place. We then become people who possess religious privilege and spiritual superiority, easily judging and condemning other members of the body of Christ who fail to meet our standards.
· Three ways to overcome these dangers and restore the Lord's transcendent reign (iaomai) by breaking out of our own frameworks
a. We must shift the center of our faith from “keeping rules” to “personal relationship and fellowship.”
After healing the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years, Jesus “met him again” in the temple in verse 14 and engaged him in a personal conversation. What the Lord desired was not a robot who perfectly observed the Sabbath regulations, but a person who would turn away from sin and walk with Him.
We must continually change the central question of our Christian life. Instead of asking, “Have I fulfilled all my religious obligations this week?” we must ask, “Am I personally connected to the living Lord today and living under His reign?”
b. We must stop practicing a faith centered on “my own work” and focus on “God who is at work” (Jn. 5:17).
The reason human beings create guidelines is that they want to control things and take the initiative themselves. However, Jesus said, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
We must surrender the initiative in our faith to the Lord. We must open the boundaries of our own therapeuō—the limitations of our personal experiences, denominational theology, and human thinking—and give God room to work freely according to His sovereignty in our lives and in this generation. We must make room for prayer and leave space for obedience so that the Holy Spirit can work supernaturally beyond our understanding. We need to practice trusting in the supernatural work of the Holy Spirit, who works beyond the limits of our thoughts.
c. We must put away our condemning attitude and embrace a heart of compassion.
The Jews saw the patient's bed—an object—but Jesus saw the miserable thirty-eight years of his life. Human institutions and guidelines always lead people to put rules before people, but the Gospel leads us to put people before rules.
The most powerful weapon for breaking down the rigid religious guidelines that have become established within us is the Lord's tears and compassion. Before approaching our brothers and sisters with the measuring stick of the Law and asking, “Why is that person like that?” we must remember the undeserved grace through which the Lord healed us instantly and unconditionally (iaomai), even though we ourselves were lying at the pool of Bethesda, wasting away for thirty-eight years. We must recover a compassionate perspective that embraces the suffering of our brothers and sisters (Internet).
(4) Fourth, I have a question concerning why the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years, who had told the Jews: “The man who made me well, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk’” [Ὁ ποιήσας με ὑγιῆ, ἐκεῖνος μοι εἶπεν· Ἆρον τὸν κράβαττόν σου καὶ περιπάτει (Ho poiēsas me hygiē, ekeinos moi eipen: Aron ton krabatton sou kai peripatei)] (Jn. 5:11), later went to the Jews and told them: “It was Jesus who had healed him” [ἀπήγγειλεν τοῖς Ἰουδαίοις ὅτι Ἰησοῦς ἐστιν ὁ ποιήσας αὐτὸν ὑγιῆ (apēngeilen tois Ioudaiois hoti Iēsous estin ho poiēsas auton hygiē)] (v. 15). Before meeting Jesus in the temple, the man “did not know who it was” (v. 13) who had healed him. Only after Jesus deliberately went to the temple and found him [εὑρίσκει (heuriskei)] (v. 14), and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you” (v. 14), did he come to know who Jesus was. I wonder whether, after that encounter, he deliberately went looking for the Jews and told them that Jesus was the one who had healed him (v. 15).
1. “Shifting the blame” for his own safety and survival (the most likely motive)
During the frightening interrogation by the Jews that began in verse 10, following the latter half of verse 9, the man must have felt tremendous religious and social pressure and fear. At that time, anyone who openly violated the Sabbath law faced a serious situation in which he could be socially ostracized or, in extreme cases, even stoned to death.
In verse 11, the man had already made an excuse, saying that “the man who made me well” (ekeinos, ἐκεῖνος—“that very man”) had instructed him to do so, thereby shifting responsibility to the person who had performed the healing.
Then, in verse 13, Jesus disappeared into the crowd, leaving the man unable to identify Him by name or say who He was. While he was in this predicament, he encountered Jesus in the temple in verse 14. After Jesus found him (heuriskei, εὑρίσκει) and gave him the serious warning, “Sin no more,” he may have felt fear rather than gratitude. Ultimately, in order to protect himself and save his own life, he may have gone to the Jews and reported that “the real instigator who told me to violate the Sabbath was not me, but this man named Jesus.” In doing so, he redirected the legal responsibility and condemnation that had been directed toward him onto Jesus.
2. The intentional nature of the Greek word apēngeilen (ἀπήγγειλεν): “He went and reported”
The Greek verb used in verse 15 to describe the man's action of going to the Jews and telling them is apēngeilen, from the root verb apangellō (ἀπαγγέλλω). This word does not carry the nuance of casually passing along information to someone one happens to meet while walking down the road. Rather, it strongly conveys the meaning of “reporting,” “notifying,” or “formally informing” an authority or official institution.
In other words, he did not simply happen to encounter the Jews while walking along the road. As soon as he learned Jesus' name, he deliberately went to the religious leaders and made what amounted to an official report or denunciation. Through this word, the Apostle John suggests that the man's action was calculated and intentional.
3. The hardness of the human heart that leaves the place of grace and returns to the framework of the Law
When we consider this man's behavior from the perspective of the “religious guidelines and institutional frameworks created by human beings,” which we have been meditating on throughout this passage, his actions leave us with a profound sense of spiritual sadness. He had experienced an extraordinary miracle of liberation through Jesus' iaomai—divine healing. The thirty-eight-year curse had been broken.
However, when he encountered the powerful religious control and guidelines of Jewish society, particularly the Sabbath law, he was unable to remain in the realm of true freedom that Jesus had given him. Instead, he chose to walk back into the very legal system of the Jews that had oppressed him and submit once again to their regulations. This scene reveals the hardness of the human heart and spiritual ignorance of someone who, in order to survive safely within the guidelines of the Jews, exchanged the life-giving grace of the One who had healed him for an accusation that would satisfy the Jews.
Conclusion: The tragic irony presented by the Apostle John
The Apostle John powerfully contrasts this man's behavior with that of the man born blind in chapter 9, who appears shortly afterward in his Gospel. Even in the face of the Jews' severe threat of excommunication, the blind man in chapter 9 continues to defend Jesus and boldly confesses that He is “from God.”
In contrast, although the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years received physical healing, his soul remained in a state of bondage to the Law, still concerned about the Jews' opinions and focused only on protecting his own interests.
He deliberately went to the Jews and informed them about Jesus. This sobering reality presented in the Gospel—that physical healing does not automatically lead to the salvation of the soul—serves as a powerful spiritual warning to us today as well. It is truly tragic to see a man who had spent thirty-eight years lying helplessly and had finally regained the ability to walk turn away from the Lord who gave him freedom and rush back into the arms of the religious authorities—the Jews who had condemned him—and kneel before them by reporting to them (Internet).
(a) I believe that we see this same tragic behavior in ourselves today. Although the Lord has set us free through the truth (Jn. 8:32), I believe that many aspects of our thinking, seeing, speaking, and acting still resemble those of the hypocritical Pharisees, who continued to follow human traditions and customs. What, then, must we do, and how should we live?
(i) The man who had been ill for thirty-eight years in John 5 may not simply be a figure from the distant past. He may be a reflection of our own lives today. His tragedy was that, even after experiencing a miraculous liberation from a life of bondage lasting thirty-eight years, he fled back into the safety of social reputation and religious conventions that were immediately familiar to him. This tragedy continues to be repeated every day. Although the Lord has set us free through the truth (Jn. 8:32), we still remain trapped within human traditions and the framework of religious hypocrisy. An AI explanation available on the internet suggests three practical directions for what we should do and how we should live.
a. [Thinking] We must focus on “life,” not on “religious systems.”
The reason we think like the Pharisees is that we fear the "eyes of others" and "institutional evaluation" more than anything else. To overcome this, we must shift the standard of our faith from mere outward form to life itself.
A Shift in Questioning: We must abandon the question, "Did I perfectly fulfill my religious duties today, and did I appear holy to others?" Instead, we should ask, "Is my soul alive and breathing in the Lord today? Are the fellow believers around me being brought to life?"
The Primacy of Essence: The forms of worship, church customs, and traditional programs are merely vessels designed to hold life. We must adopt Jesus’ perspective—which prioritizes the nurturing of life even if the vessel itself is broken (5:17)—as the foundational principle for our daily thinking.
b. [Looking] We must walk out of “the courtroom of the Jews” and remain in “the temple of Jesus.”
The tragedy of the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years was that he feared the accusing eyes of the Jews who were interrogating him—their courtroom—and consequently abandoned the grace of Jesus, who had come to find him—the temple.
Fixing our gaze: We must boldly walk out of the courtroom in which we constantly worry about people's opinions, traditional church customs, and the question, “What will others think of me?” Our eyes must remain fixed solely on the cross of Jesus Christ, who rescued us from the bed of sin and death.
Enjoying the safe refuge of the Gospel: We must recover our spiritual instinct to find our security not in perfectly observing the rules of the Law, but exclusively in the grace of the Lord. We must cultivate the assurance of the Gospel that we are safe only in His grace. We must recognize that the Lord's approval is incomparably greater than the approval of people.
c. [Speaking and acting] We must stop making self-protective accusations and instead bear witness to grace.
The man chose to accuse or report Jesus by saying, “The one who told me to do it was Jesus,” in order to protect himself. We must act in the opposite way.
Rejecting concern for appearances and religious hypocrisy: Religious pretense and hypocrisy are defense mechanisms through which we attempt to prove, “I have no problems.” We must stop condemning others or hiding behind established customs in order to conceal our own weaknesses and sinful nature.
Boldly bearing witness to grace: Like the blind man in John 9, we need the courage to say, “He is the One who gave me life. I obey only His Word,” even when the world and those who hold religious power threaten us. We need obedient footsteps that go beyond the boundaries established by people and quietly carry our beds along the path of grace where the Lord has commanded us to walk.
Conclusion: Crucifying the Pharisee within us every day
The truth setting us free means that we no longer have to live imprisoned by the expectations and judgments of human beings.
What we must do is clear. Every morning, in our time of meditation, we must crucify the religious nature of the Pharisee that lurks within us and the hardness of heart that constantly worries about people's opinions. Then, holding firmly to the grace of the Lord who brought us back to life unconditionally through a single word, even though we had been wasting away for thirty-eight years, we must live as genuinely free people who respond only to the Lord's Word rather than to the customs of the world (Source).
(5) Fifth and last, I would like to meditate on the meaning of Jesus' words: “My Father is working until now, and I am working” [Ὁ πατήρ μου ἕως ἄρτι ἐργάζεται, κἀγὼ ἐργάζομαι (Ho patēr mou heōs arti ergazetai, kagō ergazomai)] (Jn. 5:17). Jesus spoke these words even while facing persecution from the Jews and a situation in which they were seeking even more earnestly to kill Him. As I meditate on these words, I would like to apply their meaning to our lives. In particular, I want to consider how we should apply the lesson, “Since the Lord continues to work until now, I also work,” to our everyday lives.
(a) Jesus' declaration, “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (v. 17), expresses the Lord's powerful determination not to cease His work of creation and salvation, even in the midst of intense persecution and threats to His life. The Greek words translated as “is working” are ergazetai (ἐργάζεται) and ergazomai (ἐργάζομαι). These words refer to more than ordinary labor. They signify the holy work of giving life and restoring the essential purpose of creation. An AI explanation available on the internet has organized three practical directions for how we can apply the Lord's ongoing work—which did not cease even in the face of the Jews' fierce opposition—to our lives today.
1. Become conscious of the Lord's work throughout every area of everyday life, beyond the limits of “religious time.”
The Jews wanted God to remain confined within the “religious time” of the Sabbath. However, Jesus declared that the Father had been working “until now” [ἕως ἄρτι (heōs arti)—continuously, right up to this very moment].
Application to our lives: We must break away from a form of “religious Sabbath observance” that confines our faith to one day, Sunday, or to the inside of a church building.
Practical application: We must confess that every area of our lives—from our homes and workplaces to our social relationships, from Monday through Saturday—is a mission field in which God is working to give life. Every ordinary moment of our lives, whether we are handling documents at work, taking care of household responsibilities at home, or meeting our neighbors, must become a holy channel through which we work together with the Lord (work with God).
2. Do not stop doing the work of love and giving life, even in the midst of the world's persecution and condemnation.
Even in the frightening situation in which the Jews were glaring at Him and seeking to kill Him for violating the Sabbath, Jesus did not hesitate to give life to the man who had been ill for thirty-eight years.
Application to our lives: Today, the world or a legalistic church culture may oppress and condemn us in the name of reputation, customs, and traditions when we try to live according to God's Word. Temptations may come in the form of statements such as: “Why do you have to act so differently from everyone else?” “Why don't you simply follow tradition and make things easier?”
Practical application: We need the courage to continue doing the work of the Gospel—giving life to a soul, forgiving others, and showing love—even in the midst of every kind of spiritual pressure. We must be willing to participate in the work of giving life by breaking through the selfish boundaries and cold attitudes that people have established and approaching our suffering neighbors, helping them take up their beds and walk.
3. Set aside our own strength and zeal, and align ourselves with “the work of the Father.”
The reason Jesus could work on the Sabbath was not that He was pursuing His own ambitions or acting out of His own zeal. Rather, He participated in what the Father was doing. In the following verse, John 5:19, Jesus said: “The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.”
Application to our lives: We must be careful that our determination, “Since the Lord is working, I will work diligently as well,” does not turn into an expression of our own fleshly zeal or religious addiction that leads to burnout. Trying to accomplish something through our own strength exhausts us.
Practical application: Every morning, in our time of reading God's Word and prayer, we must first ask: “Heavenly Father, what work of giving life are You already doing in the circumstances of my life today?” Then we must discover the places of grace that God has already opened before us and place our feet in obedience, offering our time, resources, and hearts to participate in His work. Rather than making our own zeal the driving force, we need to learn to place ourselves within God's unceasing zeal and participate in what He is doing.
Conclusion: Keeping pace with the Lord who never ceases working
The path Jesus walked when He declared, “I am working, too,” appeared in the eyes of the world to be an unlawful violation of the Sabbath. However, in the eyes of God, it was the fulfillment of true Sabbath rest through the restoration of a broken world.
Now, we must break free from the narrow frameworks of human-made regulations and keep pace with God the Father, who, even at this very moment, is actively carrying out His life-giving work throughout the entire world and in every aspect of our lives. Since the Lord continues to work until now, I sincerely hope that we, too, will become the hands and feet of the Lord, joyfully participating in the work of giving life today without fearing the world's opinions or judgments. May we become true partners in the work of the Gospel, participating in the ongoing work of our Lord (Internet).