Sermon Index
May 22, 2022, Easter 6C
1After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7The sick man answered him, “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.” 8Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
In the city of Jerusalem, there were two pools, Bethesda (in the north) and Siloam (in the south). In John Chapter 9 Jesus puts mud on the eyes of a blind man and tells him, “Go, wash in the pool of Siloam.” He went and washed and came back seeing.
In today’s Gospel reading, John Chapter 5, Jesus heals a crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda. This pool was fed by an underground spring which sometimes gave a burst of water. It was thought that this was caused by an angel who stirred up the water and gave healing power to the water for a short time. This is explained in the footnote of your Bible as verse four. “3 A multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed gathered there “waiting for the moving of the water; 4 for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred the water: whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.” People did not know when the angel would come, but they did not have to wait in the hot sun or in the rain because there were five roofed colonnades there.
In one of those colonnades there was an invalid man who made his bed there. He had been sick for 38 years. He hoped that he would be the first to reach the water, but he was crippled and couid not move fast, and there was no hope because no one was there to help him get into the water. The name of the pool, “Bethesda,” means “House of Mercy.” But today he will see the Mercy of Jesus. “6When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?”” Of course, he wanted to be healed, but he had given up. At the time of our greatest helplessness, that is when we see the greatest mercy of God. “8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.”
There are two elements in this story that are common to most of the healing miracles of Jesus. First we are told how many years the person was sick or the severity of their ailment. Then we are told of their complete recovery. A man can see. The dead are raised. The lame can walk. The man is healed so completely and is given strength so that he can take up his bed and walk home. As he carries his bed roll through town, many people can see him and see that he was healed.
And now comes trouble because it was the Sabbath Day and it was unlawful to carry heavy things like a bed roll. The conflict continues in the rest of Chapter Five which we did not read. But Jesus defends himself by saying “My Father is working now, and I am working.” The mercy of God the Father is not limited by Sabbath laws or by anything. Likewise, the mercy of Jesus is not limited by Sabbath laws or by anything.
Originally, the Third Commandment was very important. The Israelites had been slaves in Egypt for 400 years. Slaves, like machines, do not have a day of rest. So the Sabbath commandment was a declaration of freedom for the Israelites. Deuteronomy 5:12~15.
12“Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the LORD your God has commanded you. 13Six days you shall labor and do all your work, 14but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. 15Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the LORD your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day.
But it seems that the Jews had turned Sabbath freedom into a new type of Sabbath control. But Jesus freed the crippled man both from his disease and also from the Sabbath regulation. This is the mercy of God.
As Christians we no longer celebrate the Sabbath on Saturday, the 7th day of the week, but rather on Sunday, the first day of the week. We are celebrating the freedom from the slavery of sin, death, and hell. We are celebrating the freedom of salvation. Jesus rose from the dead on the first day of the week, Sunday, and so that is when we celebrate.
Martin Luther did not care which day we rested, but what was important to him was to take the time to refresh our faith and learn the mercy of God. The Third Commandment in the Small Catechism:
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.
What does this mean?
We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred and gladly hear and learn it.
Can we Christians work on Sunday? We can if we have to. We can do works of mercy and kindness. And we can go to church on Saturday or Wednesday, or any day or time on the internet.
Finally, a talk I had with a young woman before she became a member of the Kitami Lutheran Church. She asked, “If I get baptized, do I have to come to church every Sunday?” I answered, “No, you do not have to, but I think that as your faith grows, you will want to.”
Amen.
Michael Nearhood, Pastor
Okinawa Lutheran Church