Jesus Begins to Reveal His Christological Truth in His Relation to the Father in the Inquisition against Him - Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent

The Gospel Reading of Wednesday of the Fourth Week of Lent (John 5:17-30) immediately follows the Gospel Reading of Tuesday of the Fourth Week of Lent (John 5:1-16)

 First, the man whose paralysis was healed by Jesus was investigated by a certain group of people because he was carrying a mat on a Sabbath day.

Then, the man told investigators that the man who healed him told to carry the mat. At that time, he did not that the man who healed him was Jesus. But, after that, Jesus came to him and spoke to him. After that, the man told his investigators that it was Jesus who healed him.

Therefore, the investigator began to persecute Jesus for performing a healing work on a sabbath day (John 5:16).

At first, his accusers alleged that Jesus violated the commandment on the sabbath commandment (Exodus 20:8-11; 31:12-17; cf. Deuteronomy 5:15), which prohibits from doing any types of work, based on the fact that God rested on the seventh day upon completing the 6-day works of Creation and blessed that day (Genesis 2:2-3).

To this Jesus responded:

My Father is at work until now, so I am at work (John 5:17).

What does Jesus possibly mean by this statement?

This means, as Philo Judaeus (a.k.a. Philo of Alexandria) stated:

For God never ceases from making something or other; but, as it is the property of fire to burn, and of snow to chill, so also it is the property of God to be creating. And much more so, in proportion as he himself is to all other beings the author of their working. (Therefore the expression, "he caused to rest," is very appropriately employed here, not "he rested." For he makes things to rest which appear to be producing others, but which in reality do not effect anything; but he himself never ceases from creating. On which account Moses says, "He caused to rest the things which he had begun." (Legum allegoriae (Allegorical Interpretation, I-3).

God the Father, the Creator, did not go on retirement from the seventh day on – just because He rested on the seventh day upon the completion of His Creation works in the first six days. Jesus implied that the Father’s works continued on beyond the seventh day, which has become known as sabbath and encoded into the Law. Not only that, Jesus made it clear that he was now carrying the Father’s work as it is meant to continue on – until what the Father prophesized against Satan (Genesis 3:15) is fulfilled and the Kingdom of God is completely established, as envisioned in Revelation 21:1-22:5. So, this reminds us that our God is not distant God, resting somewhere infinitely afar. God has been, is, and will be actively working and involved with us, through His only begotten Son, as well as, the Holy Spirit, by virtue of Trinity.

The above statement of Jesus also explains why the Father in heaven sent His only begotten Son to us out of His love (John 3:16; 1 John 4:9). It is for us to be saved and to live, not to perish, by believing in God, through the work of the Father as performed by Jesus on earth. And, the Father’s work can be done even on a sabbath day by His Son, as necessary. This is also affirmed in some rabbinic tradition, such as Philo’s.

By this statement, Jesus apparently wanted to tell his accusers that performing the third sign: healing the paralyzed man by the mikvah of Bethsaida (John 5:1-9) on a sabbath day was an extension of his Father’s work done by him on His behalf.

Now, how did the accusers of Jesus react to his justification of doing a work (healing the paralyzed man by the mikvah of Bethsaida) as doing his Father’s work?

They grew more hostile to Jesus, increasing their desire to kill Jesus not only for violating the sabbath commandment but for calling God his father, thus, equating himself with God, in justifying his violation as doing the Father’s work (John 5:18).

This did not stop Jesus from speaking further truth about performing a healing work on sabbath and his Christological truth in his relation with the Father – though it endanger him even more. So, he went on saying:

Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for what he does, the Son will do also. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes. Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life.

Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself. And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation (John 5:19-31).

And Jesus went on further, and the rest of his words to his accusers are in the Gospel Reading of Thursday of the Fourth Week of Lent (John 5:31-47).

In his words above (John 5:19-31), Jesus focused on his unique relationship with the Father (cf. John 10:30, 38; 14:10-11) , in response to the accusers’ indignant reaction to his justification of healing the paralyzed man on a sabbath day as doing his Father’s work (John 5:17-18).

Frist, Jesus tells that his work is in accordance with his Father’s will because he does not do any work on his own. He also speaks of his intimate relationship with the Father, referring to His love for him. Therefore, the Father has reveals to him what is in His will, all of His works. And the Father will show him even greater works later than the signs which he had performed so far: Turning water into the choicest wine (John 2:1-11), healing royal official’s son (John 4:46-54, in the Gospel Reading of Monday of the Fourth Week of Lent), and healing the paralytic man by the mikvah of Bethsaida (John 5:1-9). And Jesus also refers “greater works than these”(John 5:20) at least to the four more signs that he will perform: multiplying bread and fish to feed the crowd of more than 5,000 (John 6:5-14), walking on the water (John 6:16-24), healing the man born blind by the mikvah of Siloam (John 9:1-7), and raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:17-45).

In particular, in John 5:21, saying “just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes, “Jesus refers to Deuteronomy 32:39, where God the Father says, “It is I who bring both death and life, I who inflict wounds and heal them, and from my hand no one can deliver.” And raising Lazarus from the dead (John 11:17-45), is an example of raising a person from the dead as the Father does. And because of this, we, too, will be raised from the dead upon his return, as Paul describes (1 Corinthians 15:36-58).

Then, in John 5:22-30, Jesus speak of another work that he does on behalf of his, and it is to bring the judgement to separate those who are with God for eternal life and those who are not, or against God, for condemnation. Father’s quality as the judge, lawgiver, and king (Isaiah 33:22) is entrusted and endowed in Jesus (John 5:22, 27). By saying, “the hour is coming” (John 5:25, 28), Jesus is making an eschatological statement on his return as the Judge and the King. It is when we all will be held accountable of ourselves to him (Romans 14:12) and he will execute the judgement as described in Revelation 20:1-15. And this will be done by Jesus because it is in his Father’s will. And his judgement is just because it will be done in accordance with his Father’s will (John 5:30).

A message from Jesus’ words in John 5:17, 19-30, is that Jesus is the servant of his Father in heaven. As the Father’s servant, Christ the Son, was incarnated upon the Assumption in the womb of Mary by the power of the Holy Spirit (Luke 1:30-35), namely, incarnating the Theos-Logos (Word-God) in the human flesh of Jesus (John 1, 14). Being sent to us, Jesus is authorized to carry out the Father’s work, which continues beyond the completion of the Creation, especially to fix many problems inflicted on the Creation ever since the fall of Adam and Eve (Romans 5:12-21; cf. Genesis 3:1-24).

The First Reading (Isaiah 49:8-15) reminds us that God did not send the Son in Jesus simply as the judge at the eschaton but to with His רַחֲמִים/rachamim, which is usually translated as “compassion”, as well as mercy (cf. חֶסֶד/chesed – covenant love, merciful love). Rachamim, along with chesed, really reflects another character of God, besides שָׁפַט/shaphat (judge), מֶלֶךְ/melek (king), חָקַק/chaqaq (lawgiver, commander). This is why God says:

Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you (Isaiah 49:15).

This is how God’s rachamim (compassion, mercy) works on us. That is why Jesus calls us to be merciful like Him (Luke 6:35). Not to mention, the Father has shown and bestowed His mercy to Jesus in sending him to us. Out of mercy, he works and perform signs, because God wants us to be with Him through him (i.e. John 17:20-23).

Though the Hebrew work for “womb” in Isaiah 49:15 is בֶּטֶן/beten, the Hebrew word, רַחֲמִים/rachamim (compassion, mercy) also in this verse, has its roots in רַחַם/rachem, which is another Hebrew word for “womb”.

Womb is the seat of compassion given by mother to her child. But, Isaiah 49:15 tells that God’s רַחֲמִים/rachamim is far greater than mother’s mercy for her child, especially through His Son, Jesus, whom He loves (John 5:20; 3:35; 10:17; i.e. Matthew 3:17; 12:18).

Are you with Jesus and destined to be benefited from his mercy, which is his Fathers’ for repenting and converting your heart, for eternal life? Or are you not with him, as these accusers were, and will be judged by him as you judge others, as they judged Jesus against the Law?