Rest is not the reward for finishing your work. For the believers in Jesus, rest begins because Jesus finished it all.
John 5:10-18 – 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” 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.
Is it possible to be in the presence of God and yet miss Him completely? Is it possible to experience His mercy, enjoy His blessings, receive His healing, and yet never truly trust or rest in Him? Sadly, the answer is yes. In Luke 17, Jesus healed ten lepers. All ten experienced His miraculous power. All ten were cleansed. All ten received the gift. But only one returned to worship the Giver. Nine loved the healing; only one loved the Healer.
The Problem
The problem is that everyone naturally wants what Jesus can do for them, but far fewer want Jesus Himself. They want Jesus as a Helper but not as Lord. They need to know His provision demands His rule, His miracles demand His mastery, and His gifts demand His governance.
That is what was demanded in all divine appointments in John 4–5. Jesus made three divine appointments with three different people with three different problems, but one solution— salvation through faith in Jesus because every divine appointment and every difficulty we face has one destination— faith in Jesus.
The Big Idea
It is possible to experience the power of Jesus, receive the gifts of Jesus, and still miss the Person of Jesus. The question is not whether Jesus performs miracles but whether His miracles lead us to trust Him, worship Him, and rest in Him. Over the several weeks we have explored divine appointments in Personal Comfort, Physical Crisis, and Prolonged Crying.
Divine Appointment in Prolonged Crying, Part 2
Last time, we were examining the divine appointment between Jesus and a man who had been paralyzed for thirty-eight years. Jesus found him in his prolonged suffering and healed him. There we saw the Reality of Suffering, the Reach of the Savior, and now, we arrive at the final movement of the story.
The Response to the Sign (John 5:10-18)
Unlike the previous account of the desperate father seeking a miracle for his dying son, this miracle ends, not with celebration, but with controversy because the miracle itself is no longer the focus. The response to the miracle, the sign becomes the issue, producing two radically different reactions: obedience to Christ and opposition to Christ for three reasons: the Resistance of Religion, Rebuke of Religiosity, and Revelation of the Redeemer.
The Resistance of Religion (John 5:10-13)
John 5:10 ESV reads, “10 So the Jews [this is a reference to the religious leaders] said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.’” Notice that the focus shifts from the Savior to the Sabbath. The Sabbath becomes the center of the controversy. To understand why this conflict erupted, we must learn why God gave the Sabbath in the first place.
First, The Sabbath was never intended to be a prison. It was designed to be a paradise. When God finished creation, He rested not because He was exhausted, but because His work was complete. His rest established a rhythm for humanity, six days of labor followed by one day of rest. The Sabbath reminded humanity that life was about more than productivity.
It was about communion with God. It was practically resting in the providence of God that He alone provides. I was talking to a brother who said he cannot come to church because he picked up an extra shift at work. I said if six days’ work wasn’t enough, what makes you think the seventh day’s work will provide sufficiently?
Second, The Sabbath was God’s declaration that our worth is found in Him and not in our performance. After Israel was delivered from Egyptian slavery, the Sabbath became a weekly reminder that they were no longer slaves driven by endless work. No longer were they to perform for their Egyptian masters; they belonged to God. It was God’s weekly invitation to cease striving and trust Him.
I heard believers say, “Work is worship” because work allows them to provide for their family; noble, but twisted theology of work and worship. It gives their guilty minds rest, but not the rest that the Sabbath intended. By the first century, this beautiful gift had already become an unbearable burden at the time that Jesus began His ministry.
Third, the Sabbath, the very day God intended for rest, had become the most exhausting day of the week. Instead of helping weary people experience God’s compassion, religious leaders multiplied regulations until resting became harder than working. That is the resistance of religion because it has a way of making heavy what God intended to make holy.
The account before us illustrates that. Look at the clash of mindsets. The religious leaders were interested in rules. The healed man was interested in relief.
John 5:11 says, “11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’”” For thirty-eight years, what religion couldn’t do and medicine couldn’t supply, one sentence from Jesus’ mouth, accomplished instantly.
Yet rather than looking at the evidence of divine appointment, in John 5:12-13 continues, “12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.” They never asked, “How were you healed?” They asked, “Who broke our rules?” They weren’t interested in verifying a miracle. They wanted to punish the perpetrator. One received grace. The others retreated into legalism. One began moving toward faith. The others dug deeper into unbelief.
Application
Every encounter with Jesus demands a response. Ignoring Him, is still responding to Him. The tragedy is staggering. Man’s interpretation of God’s Word was used to condemn God’s Word made flesh because religion without a relationship with God blinds us to who Jesus truly is, God.
The Rebuke of Religiosity (John 5:14)
John 5:14 tells us, “14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple…” I love that because it shows that Jesus refuses to leave people with healed bodies but lost souls. Why is this man in the temple? Most likely, he is there to perform rituals and rites for his healing. But Jesus confronts him to show that external religious activity cannot cure internal rebellion.
John 5:14 continues, “and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”” Under the religious system, a physical affliction was automatically assumed to be the direct result of a specific sin, a misconception that Jesus addresses by healing the man before he even knew who Jesus was. In doing so, Jesus completely bypassed the religious system of earning favor through good works. Jesus is saying, “by grace you’ve been saved physically, as a result, now pursue spiritual restoration” because there is something worse than thirty-eight years of paralysis. It is eternity separated from God. That is Jesus’s response to the sign that shows a rebuke of religiosity because religion fights to fix outward circumstances, Jesus seeks the transformation of hearts instead of moral modification.
I remember speaking with a devout Hindu woman who condemned me for eating meat. Her dietary rules convinced her she was righteous. Yet those same rules blinded her to her need for grace. That is exactly what religion does. It convinces sinful people that they can fix themselves. Jesus says otherwise.
Application
Christ did not merely come to remove suffering. He came to remove sin. Healing is wonderful. Holiness is infinitely better. Jesus did not die to make bad people better. He died to make the dead people alive.
The Revelation of the Redeemer (John 5:15-18)
John 5 continues with, “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.”
The miracle exposed the dividing line. Religion versus redemption. Legalism versus grace. Fear versus faith. The religious leaders considered carrying a sleeping mat to be carrying a burden. God designed the Sabbath to be a gift. Religion transformed it into a burden. God intended it to produce delight. Religion produced fear. God intended the Sabbath to be a sanctuary where weary bodies recovered, anxious hearts rested, families worshiped, and souls delighted in God. Religion turned God’s sanctuary into a courtroom. Instead of asking, “How can we help people experience God’s rest,” they asked, “Which rule did they break?” They exchanged delight for duty. Freedom for fear. Relationship for regulation.
The fact is, whenever man adds to God’s Word, he subtracts from God’s grace. Jesus did not violate God’s Law; they did by adding to it. Therefore, Jesus makes one of the most astonishing declarations in John’s Gospel in John 5:17, “17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.””
John 5:18 says, “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 Jews understood exactly what Jesus was saying. Jesus was making Himself equal with God. No misunderstanding. No ambiguity.
Mark 2:27 illustrates this point better. There, Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. Therefore, the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.” Jesus didn’t abolish the Sabbath. He restored its purpose. The Pharisees believed the Sabbath existed to protect regulations. Jesus declared the Sabbath existed to restore people.
Everywhere Jesus went, weary people found the very rest the Sabbath had always promised. Broken bodies found healing. Burdened consciences found forgiveness. Hopeless sinners found grace. Jesus wasn’t breaking the Sabbath. He was revealing its deepest meaning.
Application
The Old Testament Sabbath was always a shadow. Jesus is the substance. Ultimately, Jesus is our Sabbath. Every form of human striving ends in Him.
Closing Thought
As I close, imagine a slave finally resting because he has been set free. In Deuteronomy 5:15, Israel was commanded to observe the Sabbath because God had redeemed them from slavery in Egypt. In Hebrew, the word Sabbath is shabbat, which means to rest. Jesus, the true redeemer, came so that we may find eternal rest in Him. The irony is, the religious leaders defended the Sabbath while rejecting the Lord of the Sabbath. They protected the symbol while crucifying the Savior. They embraced the shadow while rejecting the Substance.
The greatest Sabbath violation was never carrying a mat. It was rejecting the One to whom the Sabbath pointed. All Divine appointments draw us to Him and invite us to trust and rest in Him.
Action Step
Let us stop trying to prove ourselves and rest in Him who is the Lord of the Sabbath. Let us stop striving for success, acceptance, and significance— even righteousness because Jesus on the cross said, “It is finished.” He completed everything necessary for our salvation. So, stop working for God’s acceptance and rest in the blessed assurance of Christ’s finished work.
Our world has never been busier. Never more anxious. Never more exhausted. We answer every notification. Fill every calendar. Carry burdens we were never created to bear. Many people know how to take vacations. Very few know how to rest. Biblical rest is far more than taking a day off. It is laying down the impossible burden of trying to save yourself and trusting completely in the finished work of Jesus Christ.
Appeal
Don’t confuse religion with relationship, rules with righteousness, nor traditions with transformation. It is possible to be in the presence of God and yet not rest in Him. It is possible to experience His mercy, enjoy His blessings, receive His healing, and yet never truly trust in Him.
If you are heavy-laden, Jesus says, “Come to me.” For there is no cry too long, no wound too deep, no sinner too far gone, and no heart too broken for the grace of God in Jesus Christ. Come to Christ, the true and better Sabbath, and find the rest your soul has been longing for. Rest is not the reward for finishing your work. For the believers in Jesus, rest begins because Jesus finished it all.
Inductive Bible Study: Observation, Interpretation, Application
Observation: What Does the Text Say?
- What concerns did the Jewish leaders raise after the man was healed (vv. 10–13)?
- What did Jesus say to the healed man when He met him again in the temple (v. 14)?
- Why did the Jewish leaders begin persecuting Jesus (vv. 16–18)?
- What did Jesus mean when He said, “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (v. 17)?
- Why did the Jewish leaders believe Jesus deserved death (v. 18)?
Interpretation: What Does the Text Mean?
- Why do you think the religious leaders cared more about the Sabbath regulations than the miraculous healing?
- How can religious traditions become barriers to recognizing God’s work?
- What is the difference between biblical obedience and legalism?
- Why is it possible to know a great deal about God and still miss Jesus?
- Why is it important that our faith rests in Christ rather than merely in His blessings?
Application: How Should This Change Us?
- Do you keep the Sabbath? If not, what must you do to make room in your weekly schedule to have the Sabbath?
- Ask yourself, “Have I become more interested in God’s gifts than in God Himself?”
- Is there any area where legalism has replaced love?
- How has prolonged suffering shaped your relationship with Christ?
- In the passage, everyone responded to Jesus differently. How are you responding to Jesus today? Is there an area where He is calling you to deeper faith, obedience, or repentance?
