Jesus was always going places he didn’t belong. Rabbis avoided contact with sinners and unclean people, but Jesus spent almost all of his time with them.

“The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.” Isaiah 61:1-2

There were plenty of poor, sick and oppressed people to help. When they heard about Jesus’ miracles and his teaching they came to him in droves.

Other times, however, Jesus went out looking for someone to help . . . and he went to places other rabbis wouldn’t go. He also did things other rabbis wouldn’t do and it sometimes got him into trouble.

A powerful theme in today’s passages is that Jesus was God, and everything he did was right.

Jesus Heals a Lame Man

Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a Jewish Festival and went to the pool of Bethesda where water was stored for the city of Jerusalem.

The Romans had sheltered the pool with a roof supported by five sets of pillars. Disabled people gathered there because they had heard that if they stepped into the water at the right moment they might be healed. One of the men there had been disabled for thirty-eight years.

That was a long time for someone to survive with a disability in those days. It was almost longer than an average lifespan. Someone had taken good care of this man even before Jesus found him that day, but he was still discouraged. He had lost all hope of being healed except through the mythical power of moving water.

Jesus asked him if he wanted to get well – then told him he could get up, roll up his mat and walk away.

At once the man was healed. He picked up his mat and walked – straight into trouble. Jewish leaders caught him carrying his mat and accused him of doing work on the Sabbath.

The man explained that someone had just made him well and told him to carry his mat as he left the pool. The authorities didn’t care about the healing part of the story, but they wanted to know the identity of the healer. The man didn’t know who had healed him and Jesus had disappeared into the crowd.

Later Jesus found the man at the temple and warned him to stop sinning or something worse might happen to him.

Jesus Claims to be God

The man went away and told the Jewish leaders it was Jesus who had healed him and they rebuked Jesus for performing work on the Sabbath.

That didn’t make sense to Jesus. If his Father told him to make someone well on the Sabbath, he was going to do it. God the Father could never be wrong.

“In his defense Jesus said to them, ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.’” John 5:17

Claiming God as his Father made Jesus appear to be equal with God and if he wasn’t telling the truth, his claim was blasphemy. But if he was God as he claimed, the supernatural works he did would prove it.

“Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.” John 5:19-20

Jesus the Judge

Jesus had power to heal, but the Father had also given him the power to raise the dead and to judge sinners at the end of the world.

“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out – those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself, but him who sent me.” John 5:28-30

Jesus was going to judge the world according to Word and will of Father because he and his Father were one.

Testimonies about Jesus

Anyone who made the kind of claims about himself that Jesus did needed to have at least two corroborating testimonies to verify his claims.

Jesus mentioned that John the Baptist was one true witness to his divinity. John burned like a lamp for a while, before he was locked away in Herod’s prison. People who believed John might accept his testimony about Jesus.

But Jesus didn’t have to rely on human testimony. He had two other infallible witnesses to who he was: the miracles he was performing and the words his Father said about him from heaven when he was baptized.

“I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works the Father has given me to finish – the very works that I am doing – testify that the Father has sent me. And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me.” John 5:36-37

Jesus didn’t expect everyone to accept him because he knew that some people didn’t love God and therefore would never recognize who Jesus was. They were more concerned about making their way in this world than pleasing God. It made them insensitive to the work of the Father through his Son.

“How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” John 5:44

Jesus and Moses

The Pharisees tried to prove their righteousness by scrupulously keeping the Law of Moses. Sadly, no one could fully obey the Law of Moses so being judged by that standard was a hopeless prospect.

“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.” John 5:45

Jesus wanted them to dig deeper into what Moses actually said.

“If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” John 5:46-47

How wonderful it would have been for the Pharisees to see how the Law of Moses was fulfilled in Jesus. Not only did he keep the Law perfectly, he also was the way of salvation for people who failed to keep it.

Sabbath Test

The teachers of the Law constantly criticized Jesus for breaking the Sabbath. He did things on the Sabbath, like letting his disciples pick grain in a field because they were hungry, and healing people who were sick.

When the Pharisees confronted him Jesus pointed out that there were precedents in the Old Testament for breaking the Law to take care of people. David fed his hungry men sacred bread taken from the altar at the tabernacle; some of the priests had to work at the temple during the Sabbath; and it was always lawful to perform acts of mercy on the Sabbath.

But Jesus had one more reason he was allowed to do what he did on the Sabbath:

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’” Luke 6:5

As Lord of the Sabbath everything Jesus did on that day was permitted. That didn’t stop the Pharisees from trying to catch him in Sabbath violations anyway.

One time Jesus went to a synagogue and was teaching when he noticed a man with a crippled hand. Some of his accusers were there and they watched closely to see what Jesus would do.

“Jesus said to the man with the shriveled hand, ‘Stand up in front of everyone.’

Then Jesus asked them, ‘Which is lawful on the Sabbath: to do good or to do evil, to save a life or to kill?’ But they remained silent.

He looked around at them in anger and, deeply distressed at their stubborn hearts, said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.’ He stretched it out, and his hand was completely restored.

Then the Pharisees went out and began to plot with the Herodians how they might kill Jesus.” Luke 6:3-6

Jesus Carries On

Jesus knew that the Pharisees were plotting to take his life, so he withdrew from them. But he went on healing people anyway and he asked them not to spread the word about it. He wasn’t looking for fame, and he didn’t need to stir up trouble with the authorities.

Jesus was doing exactly what Isaiah had said he would do.

“Here is my servant whom I have chosen, the one I love, in whom I delight; I will put my Spirit on him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not quarrel or cry out; no one will hear his voice in the streets. A bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out, till he has brought justice to victory. In his name nations will put their hope.” Isaiah 42:1-4

Jesus couldn’t be diverted from his mission no matter who threatened him. He would carry on until the Father told him the mission was complete.