ASCENSION LUTHERAN in LITTLETON, CO
May 24-25, 2025
Sixth Sunday of Easter
WHY DID GOD GIVE US SABBATH? – John 5:1-9
Grace to you and peace from God our Father and from our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, amen.
What a spectacular miracle. This man had been crippled for 38 years, always depending on others to carry him, and to provide food and water for him. Our text in John 5 tells us this man could always be found at the sheep gate. This gate had been the very 1st gate built by the Jewish priests when they returned from exile in Babylon, and this was the only gate that was consecrated as holy because it was to be used as the entrance for all the sacrificial lambs that were brought into the Temple to be used to pay for the sins of the people.
By this gate was a pool of water called Bethesda, which means “House of Grace.” It was always surrounded by people who were lame or blind or suffered from any number of serious illnesses. The reason they were always there was because there was a common belief that every so often an angel would touch the water and make it stir, and when that happened the first person to get into the water would be completely healed of whatever they had. Most people never used the sheep gate because of all the sick people assembled there, but it’s virtually the only gate that Jesus used. So here He was, approaching the gate and as usual He engaged with people who needed help, and this time it was this crippled man. Jesus opened their conversation with a question. “Do you want to be healed?” After 38 years of this condition certainly he wanted to be healed, but had he given up all hope by this point? He answered Jesus. “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” He had to depend on himself, and his very limited mobility to drag himself into the water just pulling his body with his arms. I’m sure Jesus saw the hopelessness in the man’s eyes as they spoke, so He said to the man, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And by the power of Jesus’ word the man was able to do exactly that. What a miracle! And then one little fact was mentioned at the end of verse 9, “Now that day was the Sabbath.” Why do you think that was included in the text? Because as we read further on in John 5 we see that was the real point of this whole encounter, at least it was for the Pharisees.
In case you’re not familiar with who the Pharisees were, they were a sect of Judaism who were very serious about their religion. They read and memorized the Scripture, and were considered the final authority by many of the Jewish people. They freely judged others and so were feared, and they took advantage of this. They bullied people and held themselves above everyone else. They declared themselves sinless, because they gave sin their own definition and then avoided contact with people they considered sinners because they simply could not associate with such degenerates. Even the name they called themselves let everyone know where they stood. The word Pharisee means “Separated ones.” They were very aggressive when it came to enforcing the laws as they understood them, so when they saw this man carrying his mat as he walked, they defined this as work and they asked him how dare he do this on the Sabbath! So the healed man was very fearful because it says in Exodus 31:14, “You shall keep the Sabbath, because it is holy for you. Everyone who profanes it shall be put to death.” So he told the Pharisees it was Jesus’ fault. He said it was Jesus who told me to pick up my bed and walk, and that’s all they needed to hear. And they sought to kill Jesus from that time on. The Pharisees misunderstood the purpose of why God gave us this commandment, “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” In fact, they didn’t understand the purpose of God’s laws at all.
Why did God give us His commandments? Are they ends in themselves, or do they have a more important purpose? Do God’s laws save you? Or is God your Savior? His Word tells us. It says in Galatians 3, “No one is justified by the Law. Why then the law? If a law had been given that could give life, then righteousness would indeed be by the law. But the Scripture imprisoned everything under sin; and the law was our guardian until Christ came, in order that we might be justified by faith.” The law was given by God not to save us, but to lead us to where we need to go, to Jesus our Savior. The Greek word translated “guardian” in the passage in Galatians 3 is pedagogue, which means a caregiver who would take your hand and safely lead you to where you needed to go, where you needed to be. That’s the purpose of the law.
God’s laws, the entire Bible, the miracles, teachings in the Bible, the sacrificial system of the Old Testament, the Sacraments, none of these are ends in themselves, but all point to the One who is the Beginning and the End, Jesus!
Likewise, the Sabbath. It’s a very practical, helpful law from God. But it’s not simply a law to slavishly obey. The larger purpose of Sabbath is to point to the One who IS Sabbath. Again, let’s just let God speak for Himself in telling us why Sabbath was given to us. We read in Hebrews 4. “8 For if Joshua had given them rest, God would not have spoken of another day later on. 9 So then, there yet remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God, 10 for whoever has entered God’s rest has also rested from his own works as God did from His. 11 Let us therefore strive to enter that rest.” Or in Matthew 11:28-29 Jesus says, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”
My goal today is for all of us to have the Sabbath and all God’s laws in their proper place in our lives and in our hearts. Does God want you and me to keep the Sabbath and to follow all of His laws? Absolutely He does. Are they ends in themselves? Absolutely they are NOT. There job is to take us by the hand and safely lead us to where we need to go. One of the 10 commandments says REMEMBER THE SABBATH DAY TO KEEP IT HOLY. The Hebrew word for remember means to think, to think about how you’ve been rescued by God from difficulties in the past, to think how you’ve been released from pain you’ve experienced in your life. It means to think, to remember, to be renewed in the Lord and His love. Remember the Sabbath, observe the rest that God gave you. But our best efforts are not what saves us. The man who had been crippled for 38 years tried so hard to get healed on his own, but he couldn’t do it. But then Jesus came along and spoke healing into that man. How many years have you been waiting and trying to do it on your own? Jesus has come to you today, and He speaks to you now.
“I FORGIVE YOU. BELIEVE IT AND RECEIVE IT AND LIVE IN FAITH BY THE GRACE I GIVE YOU NOW!” Jesus is your Sabbath; He is your rest. Can you say amen to that? AMEN!
