Today we look at John 5:1-24, the healing of a lame man by the Pool of Bethesda. The kicker is, Jesus healed this man ON THE SABBATH, a big "no-no" to the Jews. The saying "Israel keeps sabbath, God keeps Israel" shows how important sabbath keeping was to the Jews. It is based, of course, on the fourth of the Ten Commandments, "Remember the sabbath day and keep it holy." (Exod. 20:8). Jesus, in the eyes of the religious leaders, violated this command of God's by ordering the man to carry his mat and walk.

Jesus argues that healing a person is restoring life to that person. And giving and restoring life is not forbidden "work" on the Sabbath. How does He know this? Because it is what He sees God doing. Yes, God rested on the 7th day. But God still brings babies into the world, still causes the crops to grow, still makes the sun to rise and set even on sabbath days. God continues to go about life-giving, even on sabbath. Since Jesus does whatever He sees the Father doing, He does the same.

Life-giving is the heartbeat of Torah. In focusing on the intricate sabbath regulations, the religious officials missed the point of the Law. Unfortunately, I've experienced Christians doing the very same thing.

A few years ago, we were preparing for a Christmas Eve service in our sanctuary. A young man came into the sanctuary wearing a baseball cap. Many Christian men remove their hats when they walk into a sanctuary -- most were taught to do so as little children as a sign of reverence to God. This is not a "law," but a custom that gives men a way of showing respect for God. But this young man was obviously not a "churched person." But somehow, the Spirit of God had moved him to be in church Christmas Eve.

Unfortunately, one of our church members -- a very good friend of mine -- who HAD been taught as a young child to respect God by removing his hat in the sanctuary, was incensed upon seeing this young man sit in a pew with his hat still on. My friend went over to our visitor and demanded he remove his hat. The young man resisted, perhaps thinking, "Who is this guy -- is he trying to take my hat?" He had not been brought up in the church. No one had ever told him to respect God by removing his hat. Therefore, in his mind, he was showing no disrespect for God. However, my friend's temper flared so high, he almost demanded the visitor leave our sanctuary. In doing so, he would have been working 180 degrees CONTRARY to God's purpose in bringing that young man to church, even though my friend thought he was working TOWARD God's purpose. He saw -- and still sees it this way -- that he was HONORING God.

When he told me about this incident later, I felt the same way I do when I read John 5. In trying to respect God, we disrespect God. We work contrary to God's purpose. We do what the Jewish leaders did -- in focusing on intricate regulations (and customs), we miss the point.

I'm sure God groans in dismay when we do so.

Our "Mark of Faithful Community" for this 2nd week in the Gospel According to John reads "Being in faithful community, we see life as both PHYSICAL and SPIRITUAL, and while we exist in the physical, we live in new life graciously offered by God in Christ Jesus."

In John 1:12-13, we find in the NIV translation: "Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right ("power" in the NRSV) to become children of God— children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." So today's blog, having just finished the audio book, Mere Christianity, by C. S. Lewis, is about the physical and spiritual life and their relation to our being children of God.

As our Mark of Faithful Community notes, the Greek New Testament knows of two kinds of "life." The one, which is physical or biological, was known as bios in Greek. It has to do with the pure physical act of living -- breathing, eating, transferring oxygen to the cells and waste products from the cells, reproducing, and so on. This is the word from which we get "biology," the study of life. This is the sense which we usually think of when we say "life" in English.

But the Greeks also knew another word for life. That word was zoe, which is what we might call in English "spiritual life." It is not about biology. It is about being in right relationship to God and the wholeness that results. It is not just about being physically healthy, the absence of disease, it is about being spiritually healthy, the absence of separation from God. In John 1:4, when John says "In Him was life...", he is actually saying, "In Him was zoe...", not bios.

What is the relation of this to John 1:12-13, which speaks of our being given power to become "children of God?" The Bible and the ancient creeds speak of Jesus being "begotten" by the Father, not "made." We don't use that word, begotten, much anymore, so its theological significance may be lost on us. "Begotten, " or the related "begat" is to parent offspring. The one who is "begotten" is of the same substance as the one who does the "begetting." We find ourselves saying of persons who are begotten, "Oh, he has his father's nose! Doesn't she look just like her mother?"

Things that are "created" or "made" are totally separate from their maker. They are not made of the same substance as their maker, they do not bear any resemblance to their maker. They are totally different.

Do you begin to see the significance of the fact that Jesus is "begotten, not made" by the Father? Jesus is of the same substance as the Father. They share a oneness that we can only begin to approximate through our understanding of "begetting." Jesus is the "Son of God." But not in the biological sense. In the spiritual sense that He is "begotten, not made." He shares a oneness with the Father. The Father and the Son share "life" together, but it is not bios, it is zoe.

Now let’s turn to a problem created by John 1:12. Aren't all people "children of God?" Why does John want to limit this only to "those who believe?" When John says that Jesus gives us power to become "sons of God," he means that Jesus gives us power to share in the life, the zoe that the Son and the Father have in common. When we use the term "children," or "son" or "daughter" in everyday English, we are usually thinking children in the sense of bios, biological offspring. In the sense that God gave us all biological life, we are all "children of God;" i.e., in the bios sense. But John is not talking about bios. He is talking about zoe, which is the word he uses. He is saying we are given power to share in zoe through our belief in Jesus as the Christ, the One who gives us power to enter into the divine life shared between the Father and the Son, between the Begetter and the Beloved Begotten. Remarkably, John claims that we can be drawn up into that very life and in some mysterious way, share not only the divine zoe, but also become of divine substance. Not that we become "gods," as the Mormons claim, but that we become "children of God" in the sense of becoming "begottens." We are in very deep territory here!

"Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave (power) to become children of God... In Him was LIFE." Have a great day!

"Now (Jesus) had to go through Samaria." (John 4:4) Of course, Jesus didn't HAVE to go through Samaria physically. Most Jews traveling between Galilee and Jerusalem went east, along the Jordan River valley, to avoid the territory of the hated Samaritans. (See 2 Kings 17 for why Jews hated Samaritans.) But Jesus is not "most people." His work is to reveal the Father's glory. It is what fed and sustained Him (John 4:34). In that sense, He HAD to go through Samaria to meet up with the Samaritan woman at the well. It was the work He was sent to do.

What I find interesting in this passage is the woman's deepening understanding of who Jesus is. (A common technique in John's gospel. We see the same thing in chap 9 with the man born blind.) The titles the woman uses to refer to Jesus show a deepening understanding of Who He actually is:

VERSE JESUS' ACTION LABEL UNDERSTANDING
4:15 Asks for water "Sir" Literal water, Jesus is just a man
4:19 Speaks of 5 husbands "Prophet" Sees into hearts, no secrets hid
4:25 "Spirit & Truth" "Messiah?" Proclaimer of Truth
4:29 "I am he" "Messiah" Witness: Come and see

Perhaps John is telling us something about ourselves and our response to Jesus. The longer we hang around Jesus, the more we converse with Him, the more we listen to Him, the more we get to know Him personally (rather than simply listen to what others tell us about Him), the deeper our understanding of Him becomes.

Where are you on this progression of understanding? Do you need to "hang around Jesus" some more today?

"Are you born again?" That's a favorite question of our evangelical brothers and sisters. "You must be born again," the conversation between me and a co-worker went. "And you must be able to tell me the date and time." I couldn't. I had grown up in the church. So I must not be "saved," another favorite term.

I'm not sure why people latch onto John 3:3 as the be all and end all way of entering the Kingdom of God. First, the Greek itself, anothen, can be translated either "born again" or "born from above." The NRSV uses the latter translation. Second, the term ONLY appears here, in this conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, a Pharisee who came to Jesus in the darkness (literal and spiritual) of night.

Jim Jackson suggests that because Nicodemus was a Pharisee, he would understand that the Kingdom belonged to Israel, and him in particular, by birth. This covenant relationship with Yahweh was, Nicodemus thought, a birthright thing. But no, Jesus said. If you think it comes to you by birth, you must be born again, or born from above. "Feel the wind, Nicodemus? It blows wherever it wants. It is not as certain as a birthright."

Jesus' "selling" of the Kingdom of God is not formulaic. He does not preach "you must be born again" to everyone, in fact, He doesn't preach it ever again in this gospel. As Jesus goes about revealing the Father's glory, His approach to each person -- the woman at the well, His own disciples, etc. -- is unique each time and tailor-made for each individual.

I wish I had known this when talking to my co-worker. I wouldn't have felt inferior!