I Am Working

God has placed all of us in community with one another. However, one thing we do best is find ways that separate us and cause us to isolate ourselves from the community. The original purpose for a set of rules and regulations often has a place in determining how we can best work together and keep everyone in a situation where we all can thrive without taking advantage of someone or being taken advantage of by another. However, issues arise when the rules become more important than the rationale for the rules. The ease of reading a set of rules and determining that this is the best way to live leads people to fall into more devotion to the rule easily and ignore that the rule was placed for a specific purpose. 

The Pharisees had an unhealthy devotion to the rules and lacked the compassion necessary to understand the purpose, so they treated people harshly. Several times in the Gospels, they clash with Jesus over the Sabbath, lacking the understanding that the rules concerning the Sabbath were for man to embrace rest rather than for man to be overburdened by their regulations. In John 5, Jesus offered healing to a man on the Sabbath who had been afflicted for nearly four decades, but the primary concern of the Jewish leaders was the violation of Sabbath codes. However, Jesus confounded those leaders with His response that reminded them that God created the Sabbath for humanity, not the other way around.

15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 18 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.

The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), John 5:15-18.

The Pharisees were more concerned with enforcing their rules than with the well-being of the healed man. They criticized the man for carrying his bed, which they considered a violation of the Sabbath, but they showed no interest in his healing or the implications of Jesus’ power. The Pharisees didn’t show concern for the man’s suffering. The rules that forbid healing on the Sabbath were of less importance than the man; in contrast, Jesus saw him for who he was. Jesus’ actions were driven by compassion, and that love and compassion should take priority over legalism. Jesus looked upon the man and offered relief because he saw his suffering.  While rules and order certainly have a place within the church, there must never be a situation where we don’t show compassion for the sake of these rules. People are more valuable to God than any rule or law. God commands us to recognize suffering and pain and to work with all our might to strive to alleviate this from people who walk into our path. This tact doesn’t ignore the rules but reminds us that people come first before any rule. 

Jesus defends his Sabbath healings, stating, “My Father has been working until now, and I am working.” This suggests that God’s work of sustaining the universe and acting with grace towards people in need is continuous, even on the Sabbath.  Sabbath was meant for rest, worship, and celebration before God, but it had become a rigid institution filled with regulations. Jesus’ work of healing is aligned with the work of his Father; thus, it is also a work of mercy. The Pharisees missed the true intent of the Sabbath, which was to show God’s mercy and grace, as opposed to adhering to strict legalism. The priority of compassion over legalism indicates that works of mercy do not require rest. God initiated the Sabbath, and its importance is highlighted in the ten commandments handed down to Moses. However, the intention of the Sabbath is to do good, and if we neglect doing good work for the sake of following strict adherence, we miss the mark, which is quite literally sin. The followers of Christ must allow Christ’s examples of healing and doing good to be the priority over strict adherence to rules.

The healing at the pool illustrates God’s grace. The pool itself is called Bethesda, meaning mercy, and is located near the sheep gate, symbolizing the mercy obtainable through Christ. This connects physical healing to spiritual healing; just as the man was healed by grace, so are people saved by grace through faith. The man didn’t earn his healing but was given it freely, just as God’s gift of eternal life is for sinners. Jesus’s claim that God is his Father and that he is one with the Father is not just a statement of shared purpose but a claim to equality with God. The religious leaders found it blasphemous, but it is central to the idea that salvation comes through Christ’s divine nature, not through following the law. Through Christ’s sacrifice on the cross, our connection to God comes through faith, not the law. Since we are saved through faith and not law, our focus should be on adhering to the message of the Gospel and sharing it with the world. We need to spend less time worrying about where to draw the line on sin and focus on the ideals Christ gave us by showing each other mercy and love.

We cannot allow our biases to lift the law over compassion and work for the Gospel in the world; just as Jesus worked on the Sabbath, we are called to work for people’s healing and reconciliation, even if doing so might cause us to transgress laws and regulations. Spending our time arguing about where the line is concerning sin blinds us from God’s purpose for sending Christ, which is to save the world from sin, not put up guard rails against transgression. Christ’s mission was to show mercy to the world, not proclaim judgment over it. The church is invited to proclaim that we are working with Christ, especially when confronted by gatekeepers to the faith, because through the mercy and love of the Almighty God, the gates have been flung open to all those who put their faith in Christ and not the law. Jesus’ message is dangerous to those clinging to systems that have thrived off of strict adherence to regulations, which sees only a limited group accessing a relationship with God because Jesus opens up salvation to the world. It would be a shame if, instead of embracing the work Jesus invites us into with His mercy and love, we decided to oppose Christ and try to tell God what is and isn’t okay. Just as the Father is working, Jesus is working, and the Holy Spirit is working, may the church work with God, breaking down the barriers and sharing the Gospel.