John – Chapter 5:17-30
“Therefore, whoever desires to be saved must think thus about the Trinity.” Athanasian Creed This is the first long, uninterrupted monologue of Jesus in the Gospel. It is an eschatalogical (end-times) discourse, evidenced by the terminology, “to raise the dead,” “to make alive,” “to do judgment,” “to pass from death to life,” “eternal life,” “the resurrection of life,” “the resurrection of judgment,” and “the Son of Man.” Jesus presents himself as the Son of God in whom and through whom the Father himself works and brings to pass His final purposes. When Jesus is present, one is placed before life and death. There is no middle ground. v.17-18 “My Father is working until now, and I also am working” – Jesus doesn’t defend His healing on the Sabbath out of humanitarian interest but on the basis of His identity, e.g. “I work because of who I am, and this is who I am.” Philo understood the Sabbath as the continual working of God, with absolute ease and no toil or suffering, i.e. creatio continua. The act of healing the paralytic isn’t only an act of providential care but an act of new creation (5:11,15), accomplished through the Word Incarnate (1:14), whose food it is to do the will of the Father who sent Him (4:34). The freedom of healing on the Sabbath was the freedom of the Creator who “rested” on the Sabbath. In Biblical use, the Sabbath is associated with God’s freeing Israel from Egypt and the giving of the law (Ex 20:2,8-11; Ex 31:12-17; Deut 5:12-15,28-33). Jesus presents Himself as the Sabbath rest of God (Heb 3:-7–4:7). v. 19-20a “The Son can do nothing on His own” – Some would say that Jesus is imitating the relationship of a son apprenticed to his father’s trade, or student to teacher. Rather, the opposite. The earthly relationship of son to father is an incomplete picture of Jesus’ relationship to His Father. This is evidenced by the double-amen, the use of definite articles, and the healing of the paralytic is the working of the Father until now. The Son is obedient because He is the direct and perfect expression of the Father’s will and as such is the image of the Father. v.20b-23 “Greater works than these He will show Him” – Certainly the “signs” of Jesus ramp up in intensity, culminating with the healing of Lazarus…