John 5:9-13 9Now that day was the Sabbath. 10Therefore, the Jews said to the one who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11But he answered them, “The man who made me healthy, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’ ” 12They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn since there was a crowd in the place.
The last half of verse 9 introduces the bigger story that begins to unfold in the Gospel of John. Every good story has conflict. The conflict in John has been simmering and now begins to show signs of steam and will soon come to a boiling point. The next episode illustrates those who do not believe in Jesus as the Son of God warned about in 3:18. The Sabbath has been a holy day for the Jews all the way back to the Old Testament. In Jesus’ time, certain Jews, especially of the sect of the Pharisees, had developed rules about what a person could or could not do on that day to preserve its holiness. Their beliefs stand behind the next section.
Jesus came in conflict with Jewish leaders about how to define the Sabbath as “holy” with some of the things he did on the Sabbath (see Mark 2:23–3:6; Luke 13:10–17; 14:1–6). In the story at this point, the problem was not Jesus but the healed man. The strict Jews interpreted the man’s action of picking up his mat as a form of work. Work was prohibited on the Sabbath, but how to define “work” was the problem. Carrying something from one place to another was a form of work, so this man was violating the Sabbath. The idea of lawful was according to the prevailing rabbinic teaching and not the Old Testament, which is rather broad in its description of keeping the Sabbath holy. The identity of the Jews is not clear but likely the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. The poor, neglected man stirred up the ire of the leaders who cared nothing for him before his healing.
The man’s response shows that he did not care about the narrow interpretation of the Sabbath law. The way the man speaks with his repetition of the subject once again highlights his loneliness and emphasizes the need for someone to help him. He had no one to help him and suddenly came someone who could. The man’s faith was simple, and he did not even know the name of the one who helped him, yet he was healed. It almost appears that the man is casting blame on Jesus for his healing as a form of excuse, which might be what happened, but he is simply stating what happened to him. He did not give a great theological speech but a simple testimony of what happened. The light was beginning to shine in his life, but he did not know the source. The Jews were not interested in the man’s healing and the new life and opportunities he would have but rather in their narrow interpretation of the Sabbath law. They were more concerned about themselves, meaning their ideas, than this man. Jesus did not stick around, most likely so that the man could grow in his faith. Jesus did everything intentionally to help people grow in their faith in him.
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