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I am using the YouVersion 49 Week Bible Challenge for these devotions. Today’s readings are John 5; Jeremiah 17; Nehemiah 3; and Job 10.
Jeremiah 17:19-25
Thus said the LORD to me: Go and stand in the People’s Gate, by which the kings of Judah enter and by which they go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem, 20 and say to them: Hear the word of the LORD, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who enter by these gates. 21 Thus says the LORD: For the sake of your lives, take care that you do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. 22 And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your ancestors. 23 Yet they did not listen or incline their ear; they stiffened their necks and would not hear or receive instruction.
24 But if you listen to me, says the LORD, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, 25 then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they and their officials, the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and this city shall be inhabited forever.
John 5:16-18
The Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus for breaking the Sabbath rules. 17 But Jesus replied, “My Father is always working, and so am I.” 18 So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder to find a way to kill him. For he not only broke the Sabbath, he called God his Father, thereby making himself equal with God.
Sometimes we lose sight of how radical Jesus’ ministry, teaching, and practices were. We’re so used to seeing the Pharisees as unreasonable and overly legalistic. They were always criticizing Jesus and pointing out how he was dishonoring the traditions and teachings of Moses.
Reading today from Jeremiah I’m reminded of how true this is. Jesus was teaching a radical departure from what many Jewish people had learned. God spoke through the prophet Jeremiah about keeping the sabbath in no uncertain terms. God was clear, “do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work.”
So questioning the man who was healed and upbraiding him for carrying his bed (cf. John 5:9-11) after he was healed is not as unreasonable as we might think. No burden-carrying allowed. This wasn’t just the Oral Law (later written down and called the Mishnah). This was the word of the LORD through the prophet Jeremiah.
And now Jesus is directly commanding a man to carry a burden. I guess literally he is not carrying it “out of his house.” But that is a pharisaical spin which would be totally abhorrent to Jesus. But there is something far more important and earth-shattering at work here. The account in John 5 is not just about a man being healed by Jesus. That would be enough. Or even Jesus doing it on the sabbath; though that is the issue that will define the moment for all. This is an account where Jesus is showing himself to be God in the flesh.
“The Word became flesh,” John records (John 1:14). And the Word is asserting himself as lord of the sabbath. Jesus has made himself equal to God by his action, his command, and his speech. This will never do according to the Jewish leaders. But this is the case. Jesus has spoken. It shall be so.
One more thing interests me in today’s readings. I’m struck by Jesus’ warning to the healed paralytic. “Do not sin any more, so that nothing worse happens to you.” (John 5:14). I wonder what is behind that comment. I wonder about this man’s history and the circumstances of his paralysis. In any case, I sure hope the man paid careful attention to Jesus’ warning.
David Bahn - Reflections 
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