The Beginning of Persecution

Well, take your Bible this morning. Turn with me to John, the Gospel of John, John chapter 5. We've been in verses 1 through 9, and we'll be in verses 9 through 17, and we will finish this portion of scripture that we started last week. Of course, this is still in our series, Christ the Son of God, Believe and Live, and we are seeing this series unfold because a lot of what we're looking at, all of what we're looking at is true to the title of the series. That comes from the theme of this book, Christ the Son of God, Believe and Live.

Now last week's message was titled, "A New Miracle is Performed." Now we established the fact that Jesus was entering, and I use this term, a new phase in his ministry. He was moving into a more public arena with greater crowds following him, and he was beginning to move into more hostile situations. In other words, he was beginning to experience, we're going to learn, persecution. If we were to break down the previous chapters in comparison to chapter 5 and the chapters that are before us, it would go like this.

Chapters 1 through 3 are characterized by uncertainty from people, the people that he came in contact with, while chapters 5, especially chapters 5 through 7, are characterized by increasing opposition. As we progress through those chapters, you will see the difference in those chapters. Now although it seems like vast numbers of the crowds are believers, we will see that they are still following with reservation or impure motives, even selfish motives we will learn. John MacArthur calls these crowds fickle, and I like that term because it is accurate. These people ultimately did, most of them reject Jesus.

Now that's just kind of the setting in the transition in Jesus' ministry. Now this week's message is almost a part 2 of last week's message. This is not a true part 1 and part 2, but both of these messages are tied together. They really are part of the same story. Last week's message was really a narrative, or the story of the man's healing by the pool of Bethsaida. This week's message is more of an interrogation or an investigation. It can almost be a standoff between the Jewish leadership and Jesus, but the two are tied together and you will see the difference in these portions of scripture when we get into the text.

Now this miracle, the miracle of healing the man by the pool, it led up to this confrontation between Jesus and the religious leadership here. Now I want to make an important note here. I did not discuss this last week, but this might help some of you. The issue here, the issue at hand, is Jesus healing this man on the Sabbath. Now that is why I titled last week's message a new miracle. Jesus had never healed on the Sabbath before, and this leads us to a question. What is the Sabbath? Now there could be some of you here.

You're maybe not as studious as you should be, or you will become when it comes to matters of the Old Testament and the Israelites and the Jewish religion. Now the Sabbath is a day which according to Exodus 20 verse 8 is a day set aside for rest and for worship. This was the day in which God rested from his creation according to Exodus 20 verse 11. I'll read you the verse. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and he rested on the Sabbath day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and he made it holy.

We see this in the actual creation account if you turn back to Genesis 2 verses 2 through 3. Now for the Jews, these people that Jesus was dealing with, this was the Sabbath day on their calendar, and it would have been what we call Saturday. And it was the day in which they kept for themselves the Sabbath, and they refrained from all forms of work. Now as we see, we will see what was defined as work or a violation of the Sabbath was hotly debated. So I wanted to take a minute to explain to you what the Sabbath is, and I know that is a very brief definition or brief explanation.

Now that leads us to the title of the message this morning, and that is the beginning of persecution, the beginning of persecution. Now we will pick up in verse 9, which is where we left off last Sunday, and we will continue on down to verse 17 with the beginning of persecution. Now I will go ahead and give you the truths which we will explore out of these verses. We will look at the Jews inquire of this man out of verses 10 through 11. We will look at the Jews demand an answer from this man, verse 12 through 13.

When it changes a little, and we will see third, Jesus reveals himself to the man out of verses 14 through 15, and then last, the Jews engaged in persecution, starting with verse 16 and on into verse 17. Now obviously this man that is spoken of in these verses is the crippled man whom Jesus had healed previously at the pool of Bethsaida. Now let's go to the text and let's start with verse 9. Now we know that he has gone to Jerusalem, he goes to the temple, and he goes to the pool of Bethsaida, and he heals this certain man, and let's pick up in verse 9. Now it was the Sabbath on that day.

Verse 10, "Therefore the Jews were saying to him who was cured," this is the man, "it is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet or your sickbed or your mat. But he answered them, he who made me well was the one who said to me, 'Take up your pallet or your mat and walk.'" Verse 12, "They asked him, 'Who is the man who said to you, 'Take up your pallet and walk,' but he who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and he said to him, 'Behold, you have become well.

Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may befall you.' The man went away, and he told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. And for this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath." And then verse 17 is a summation of the heart of Jesus in this matter, "But he answered them, 'My Father is working until now, and I myself am working.'" Now I've already given you the truths which we will explore.

We will just break these verses down, and I hope that you take notes, I encourage you to take notes for your own personal study so that you would receive and retain all that the Lord wants you to get. So let's look at truth number one, the Jews inquire of this man. The Jews inquire of this man. Go back to the text, go back to verse 9, "And immediately the man became well," remember that wonderful instantaneous miracle, "and took up his pallet, and he began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day." That is the day on which Jesus healed the man.

But notice this inquiry comes in verse 10 and 11, "Therefore the Jews were saying to him who was cured, 'It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.' But he answered them, 'He who made me well was the one who told me, or said to me, 'Take up your pallet and walk.'" And what do we see here? The Jews inquired of this man about this situation. Again, these verses are tied together. They're tied with verses 1 through 9. That is obvious.

And the language tells us in the New American Standard, uses the word "therefore," and that shows us that this is all tied together, and this helps us understand that this is part of the whole story. But I want us to notice some things about the Jews inquiring of this man. First notice their protest. Look at verse 10, "Therefore the Jews were saying to him who was cured, 'It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.'" This was a protest, and the Jews protested not necessarily according to the Old Testament Scriptures. Now, let me give you a passage of Scripture, Exodus 31 verses 12 through 14.

This is the passage from the Mosaic Law that deals with the Sabbath. But the Jews were protesting not according to the Old Testament Scriptures, but according to their traditions. That seems that according to the Old Testament Scriptures, what was forbidden was their ordinary day-to-day work or their employment. The Jews were not to engage in their during-the-week work activities on the Sabbath. But the Jewish teachings, the Jewish traditions, went a lot farther. In their teaching, they listed 39 categories of forbidden work, and one was carrying goods or carrying a burden. This was according to what is called the Mishnah.

The Mishnah was the first major explanation of the Jewish traditions, which was their explanation of their understanding of the Jewish law, and specifically this passage dealing with the Sabbath from Exodus chapter 31 verses 12 through 14. This was none other than commentary by our definition. I hope you understand what commentary is. commentary is what one person or several people, their interpretation or explanation of the Scripture. So when they came and they protested, they would come many times and they would talk about the traditions of the elders.

They're talking about the teaching from Scripture or teaching from places like the Mishnah. So when they came and protest, what were they dealing with? They were dealing primarily with their traditions. Second, notice his response. But the New American says, "But he answered them, 'He who made me well was the one who said to me, 'Take up your pallet and walk.'" See verse 10? There was this protest, and then we see a response out of verse 11. Now, if you really look at the verse, this man seems to be passing the blame on the Jesus. One of the commentators I used, D.A. Carson, says he is ducking the authorities.

There were certain Jewish authorities who did have the authority to punish people who were violating the Mosaic law. So he is really ducking the authorities. He is passing the blame. This is interesting to note here, for this gives us an indication as to how this man will respond to this entire situation. So we see here in these verses that the Jewish leadership inquired, they inquired of this man as to why he was breaking the traditions. And they thought he was breaking the law according to their interpretation of the Old Testament law because he had rolled up his mat, he had rolled up his pallet, and he was carrying that pallet or that mat.

Now let's continue. Let's look at truth number two. I want us to see that the Jews demanded an answer. They demanded an answer. Look at verse 12 through 13. They ask him, this is just a progression in this situation, "Who is the man who said you take up your pallet and walk?" Again, verse 13 has a "but." He's responding, "But he who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place." Now these next two verses are the next level from verses 10 through 11. Their anger is revealed in their carrying this situation a little farther.

There is a natural progression in that this man passed the blame on to Jesus, but they are carrying it to the next answer. The next level, they're demanding an answer. Now notice a couple of things. Notice that they demanded to know who commanded him to carry his pallet. Look at verse 12. They ask, "Who is the man who said you take up your pallet and walk?" Now the English standard uses the word "bed." The King James uses the word "bed." It's obvious what it's talking about. Now why are they demanding to know who did this? Why are they so concerned with a seeming small matter?

Now the Jewish leadership equated breaking the traditions of the elders as breaking the actual Old Testament law or the law of God. I will read you a passage of Scripture that helps you understand this, and what I mean is it will help us understand that the Jewish leaders saw breaking the traditions as equal to breaking the law of God. If you're taking notes, jot down Mark chapter 7 verses 1 through 5. This is an issue of the disciples not washing their hands according to the traditions of the elders. Notice what these texts say.

"And the Pharisees and some of the scribes gathered together around him," that's Jesus, "when they had come from Jerusalem, and it seemed that some of his disciples were eating their bread with impure hands." That is, unwashed. "For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they carefully wash their hands, thus observing," now notice, "the traditions of the elders. And when they come home from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they cleanse themselves, and there are many other things which they have received in order to observe, such as the washing of cups and pitchers and copper pots.

And the Pharisees and the scribes ask him, 'Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat their bread with impure hands?'" Now what do we have there? Jesus and the disciples were not living according to the traditions of the elders. And now what do we see in verse 12? They are demanding to know who allowed or commanded this man to carry his pallet. And the Jewish leadership, they equated this breaking of the tradition of the elders as actually breaking the law of God. Let's continue.

"Suck it, notice, the healed cripple still did not know who Jesus was." Look at verse 12, "But he who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place." Now this speaks of how Jesus had come in a mysterious manner to this cripple. Jesus had healed this sad cripple and simply slipped away without even giving his name. You might not realize it, but this is sometimes a habit of Jesus. Other times, Jesus would slip away from the crowds or situations like this. We see this in John chapter 6, verse 15.

"When the crowds came, and they came to him with impure motives," and chapter 6, verse 15 says that he slipped away from the crowds. So in this situation, Jesus had healed the cripple, he slipped away, and Jesus, and this cripple did not know, or the healed cripple did not know who it was. So we see here an escalation of this situation. And what I mean by escalation, this contention between Jesus and his action and the religious leaders and their interpretation of his actions. So there's an escalation in the situation.

They first accused this former cripple of breaking the law, and now they are after the one who gave him permission to do such a thing. Now let's continue, and let's look at truth number 3. I want us to notice Jesus reveals himself to this man. Jesus reveals himself to this man. Verse 14, "Afterward, Jesus found him," this is the former cripple man in the temple, "and he said to him, 'Behold, you have become well.

Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may befall you.'" Verse 15 says, "The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well." And we continue, verse 16, "And for this reason, the Jews began to persecute him." But what do we see? Jesus reveals himself to this man. Now so far it seems strange that Jesus would come to a man, he would heal a man, and then simply slip away without revealing himself to him. Now I want to ask you to recall in your memory the reason of the purpose behind these signs or these miracles. In John chapter 2, verse 11, the apostle John purposefully calls these signs.

And these miracles or signs were to direct people's attention to Jesus. In chapter 2, Jesus performs that first miracle of turning the water into wine there at the wedding of Cana and Galilee. And verse 11 says that disciples believed in him, meaning the sign pointed them to Jesus. Remember that? They were not caught up in the miracle, they were caught up in the miracle worker. And what Jesus is doing is, he is completing this work with this man who was formerly a cripple, he is revealing himself to the man. So that tells us the purpose of the miracle. It was a sign to point him to Christ, and Jesus is now revealing himself to the man.

First, notice that Jesus found him at the temple. Afterward, verse 14 says, Jesus found him at the temple. All of the translations that we study say found him, indicating that Jesus sought out this man, ready to finish what he had started. Remember, he's healed the man, the Jewish leaders have become involved, and Jesus is going to complete this work. So notice he found him purposely at the temple. But notice that Jesus deals with his sin. We see this in the second portion of verse 14. After Jesus found him in the temple, he said to him, behold, you'll become well. Remember, there's a miracle.

Do not sin anymore so that nothing worse may befall you. Now you might not realize it, but this is a very debated verse. This is a verse that leads some to believe that the man was crippled because of some sin or sins which he had committed. But the text does not say that. There were some who suffered because of their sin, but that's not the case here. Did not Samson suffer because of his sin? Did not King David suffer because of his sin? Yes. And there were others who suffered because of their sin. And some might think that he was suffering as a result of sin.

But here and in other places, there were some who were suffering and it had nothing to do with sin. We saw that previously in the chapter, chapter four, the nobleman, his son was near death, but it was not as a result of sin. Well, what is meant by this phrase that we see at the second portion of verse 14? First Jesus is tying the miracle to this man's greatest need. Let me repeat that. Jesus is tying the miracle to this man's greatest need. Verse 14, behold, you have become well. That's the miracle. You were healed. Do not sin anymore so that nothing worse may befall you. What is the purpose of the miracle? To point the man to Christ.

So what we see is Jesus is tying the miracle to this greatest need. And what was this greatest need? Conversion. Carson says this man had an urgent need for moral reformation. Did not the Samaritan woman have that need? Yes. Did not the nobleman have that same need? Yes. And in every situation of a miracle, Jesus is pointing people to himself. So Jesus is tying the miracle to this man's need and that's why he talks like this. Second, Jesus was saying that if your sinful condition is not dealt with, something worse will happen. What would that be? Hell, eternal punishment. Now go back to the verse. Behold, you become well. There's the miracle.

And do not sin anymore so that nothing worse may befall you. Because even though he was healed, if he was still in his sinful state, he was headed for eternal damnation and punishment. So what do we see? Jesus is dealing with this man's condition. He is saying you need a moral reformation. You need conversion. And third, notice the man's response. See, first he found him at the temple. Second, he deals with his sin and verse 15 shows us the man's response. Go back to the text. The man went away and he told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.

Here we see that the man who had been crippled, now remember, for 38 years, who had experienced a miraculous healing, an instantaneous healing instead of following Jesus and inquiring more of Jesus, he went to the Jews and he reported who had done these things on the Sabbath. You see? This is none other than a rejection of Jesus and all the love that Christ had shown this man. This man had received grace and mercy and the love of God bestowed upon him, but he is rejecting that by not inquiring more and going straight to the Jews. MacArthur describes this as one of the great acts of ingratitude and obstinate unbelief in the scripture.

I think that's very accurate. One of the greatest acts of ingratitude and pure obstinate unbelief. So we see here Jesus revealing himself to this man and this man rejecting Jesus for the company and the favor of the religious leaders. You see? Now how can we make application so far with what we have learned? The Jews, they inquired of this man who has done this work and allowed you to carry your mat on the Sabbath, they demanded an answer and it really builds to a place where Jesus reveals himself to complete this work to this man.

Jesus sought him out, he found him, he dealt with his greatest need and the man responded by going the other way. Now what must we learn here? We must see that there are those who do reject Jesus. This man rejected great light that was brought to him, the very presence of the Son of God and a wonderful miracle bestowed upon him and nothing that he deserved but what do we see? We see ingratitude and unbelief and rejection and we must see that there are those who even are exposed to a great amount of light who reject Jesus. There are those in our day who show ingratitude and who demonstrate an obstinate unbelief.

We've seen this already in the Gospel of John and we see that today. I've seen one man or one woman be converted and I've seen a spouse reject that work. A great amount of light that has been brought into their home from the conversion of a spouse and yet I have seen that spouse be filled with ingratitude and have obstinate unbelief and even stiffen their neck and harden their heart and reject that light that has come to them.

I've seen parents have a son or a daughter converted and I've seen that son or that daughter walk with the Lord and live for Jesus and I've seen those parents reject that light and turn their back on that light and even go farther and farther into sinfulness and wickedness and rebellion and what are they doing? They are rejecting that light. I'll never forget a few years ago my wife and I bumped into now she is a grown woman and one time she was a teenage girl who came into the life of our church, teenager in our student ministry days and I'll never forget this young girl. She had a very difficult home life.

Her father had died in an accident and her mom was involved in just a live in situation. Drugs and alcohol and godlessness abounded in that home and to just wrap the story up in a nutshell she was converted and grew in the Lord. God provided for her a Christian husband and she is now raising her children to love God active in the life of the church and I came back after a few years our paths crossed and she was a grown woman. I'll never forget that day she looked at me and with tears in her eyes she said thank you so much. I received a wonderful bear hug that day, gratitude and I asked her about her family.

She said I still go see my mom, I still witness but no response. What do we see? That mother, that brother, that family saw the conversion of that young girl and they see that young girl turn into a grown woman with the grace and mercy of God real in her life and what do they do? They reject it, they reject it, they reject it. They turn their back on that life and they demonstrate unbelief and you might say how did this man reject Jesus? He rejected that sign that was to point to Christ. He rejected his dealing with his sinfulness. Contrast this man with the Samaritan woman. Jesus dealt with her sin and she received it.

This man when Jesus dealt with his sin he rejected it and we must realize that there are people who even when there is a great amount of light around them they will harden their heart, some do stiffen their neck and they will even show in gratitude and I like how MacArthur says it, "obstinent unbelief." That's exactly what this man did. Let's continue, let's look at truth number four. It's the Jews engaged in persecution.

Look at verse 16, "And for this reason," see this situation has shaken out, "and for this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath." Not only did this man ignore this wonderful miracle but the Jews did as well. This had been played out before their eyes and their investigation revealed what had truly happened but they rejected the entire situation. They rejected that miracle, that sign. They rejected the miracle worker and they rejected the man too. If they received the man then if they had received the man then they would have received and accepted what had happened to the man.

They rejected the whole thing. Notice first they began to persecute Jesus and for this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus. All the translations we use use the word persecute but I want you to notice something. The original text indicates that this describes a continued persecution. In the original language the tense of the verb indicates this was ongoing and continued persecution. So what do we see here? And for this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus. It wasn't just a one-time persecution. Second notice why they persecuted him. The Jews were persecuting him because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.

This indicates that he did other works on the Sabbath and in their eyes he violated the Sabbath repeatedly. But remember he never violated the teachings of the Word of God. He only violated their traditions or their interpretations of the teachings of God. And not only did Jesus do this but he enabled and caused others to do this as well. So we see here that the Jews began this continued persecution of Jesus. This is the beginning of that hostility or hostile situations which has already been spoken of. Now question, do you think Jesus knew what he was doing when he healed that man on the Sabbath? He sure did. He went straight to Jerusalem.

He went straight to the temple. This was at one of the festivals. The text does not indicate what festival it was. The old Bible commentator Matthew Henry the Puritan, he believes this was the greatest festival on the Jewish calendar, the Passover. And he heals this man on the most important day on their calendar and he did this on purpose. Now in conclusion, we must see what Jesus' purpose was in this entire ordeal. Because if we're not careful we can think that Jesus, he's just being rebellious. We can think that Jesus just wants to just stir up a ruckus. But let's notice the purposes in this ordeal.

First, Jesus was revealing himself to the crippled man. I know it's repeated but what a wonderful act of love and mercy and grace. Even though this man did side with the Jews and there is no indication that he was ever converted, even with this rejection of Jesus, it is still a great example of Jesus going to the hopeless and going to the helpless and singling out, choosing to reveal himself to this man. It's almost as if he had to step over other cripples on that day to get to this man. And Jesus was revealing himself to this man. And see for us, we must realize that Jesus loves the hopeless and the helpless.

Because if we're not careful very quickly in our flesh, we will only want to connect with people who are like us. Jesus loved that hopeless and helpless man. The second purpose is Jesus was revealing the Jewish leadership's legalistic religion. Jesus was revealing the Jewish leadership's legalistic religion. Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath on purpose, knowing full well how the Jewish leadership would react. He wanted to reveal that they had become experts in keeping their traditions, all the while ignoring the very commands of God. We will see this more and more as we progress through the Gospel of John. Now how can this apply to us?

If we are not careful, we can love our rules more than the Word of God. If we are not careful, we can love, now listen, our rules and our interpretations of the Word of God and our convictions more than the Word of God. Now I'm not an expert on people. I'm not an expert on human nature. But I do know that in my short time of walking with God and ministering in the life of the church, some people have a propensity for legalism. Some people love rules. And some people feel a whole lot better if they can have a concrete list of rules. And if they just keep those rules, they feel like they are obeying the Word of God.

And sometimes they can be a million miles from it. And I promise you, you are no better than the Jews in that day. Because they were perfect almost. They were impeccable in their ability to live by the traditions of the elders, all the while they ignored the very teachings of the Word of God. The third purpose was Jesus was revealing the true purpose of the Sabbath and that Christ and that was Christ Himself. Let me repeat that. The third purpose is that Jesus was revealing the true purpose of the Sabbath and that purpose was Christ Himself. Now Jesus, we must understand, is the true Sabbath's rest.

The cripple man could find true rest in Christ and Christ alone. Contrast that with the nobleman in chapter 4. And the Samaritan woman and many of the Samaritan people. They found true rest in Christ. But this cripple man and the Jews did not. They held on to man-made rules and regulations. But I want to invite you to write a couple of verses down that will help us understand the true purpose of the Sabbath and what Christ is trying to teach. First, I want you to take note of Colossians chapter 2 verse 16. In this Colossian situation, Paul is writing to this church at Colossae. He did not start this church.

Most Bible commentators believe a man named Apapra started this church. But he hears about this fellowship and he hears about some of their problems and he writes this letter and he expresses a deep love and appreciation for the work of God in their fellowship. But he addresses something that is crept into the life of the Colossian church. Legalism. Jewish legalism has crept into the life of the church. And notice what he says. Chapter 2 verse 16.

"Therefore, let no one act as your judge in regard to food or drink or in respect to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath day." See, they were holding on to Jewish legalism and they were saying, "If you do not abide by these rules, these Jewish rules, you are not right with God." And verse 17. "Things which are a mere shadow of what is to come, but the substance belongs to Christ." What is Paul saying? All of these festivals, all of these Jewish teachings pointed to the true Sabbath's rest, which is Christ. And Paul is saying, "You've got Christ. Don't revert back to legalism.

You've got Jesus." And Paul is saying, "Some of you have become just like these Jewish leaders. Some of you have fallen into rules and legalism and you're ignoring the true rest which can only be found in Christ." I'll give you another verse. Galatians chapter 4 verse 10. Again, Paul, he is writing to another church, the church at Galatia. And what do we have here? The same problem, Jewish legalism, rules, legalists who have infected the life of the church, and what are they doing? They are teaching the very same thing. And what do we see in Galatians chapter 4 verse 10?

He says, "You observe days and months and seasons and years and I fear for you that perhaps I have labored over you in vain." What is he saying? Some of you have reverted back to the days of the Jewish traditions and the rules and the legalisms when actually your true rest comes from Christ. Now as we look back on this situation, what was the whole reason that Jesus healed this man to reveal himself to him? And what was the whole reason why he healed this man on the Sabbath? He was trying to reveal to the Jews and he will continue to do this through the Gospel. That he is the substance of the shadow.

The Sabbath points to Christ and man's true rest can only be found in Christ. Not rules, not religion, and not external efforts. And we as a people, we as a church, we must be careful to find our rest, our satisfaction, our joy in Christ and not in our rules about Christ or concerning Christ. And there is a terrible difference. Some of you have not been converted that long and it will take you some years to understand the difference. Some of us who have been converted a little length of time and have grown into some maturity can understand the difference. So what I want us to see is the crippled man and the Jewish leaders miss Jesus.

He was the rest, but they rejected him. And our true rest comes not in our interpretation, but in Christ himself. Let us pray. Lord Jesus, I thank you for what this text shows us. Helps us understand. Lord I thank you that our true rest can come in Jesus, not our efforts.