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Bethesda and the Sanhedrin
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as a Sabbathbreaker. In their judgment, He had not only broken
the law in healing the sick man on the Sabbath but had committed
sacrilege in bidding him to bear away his bed.
Meaningless Requirements
The Jews had so perverted the law with meaningless require-
ments that they made it a yoke of bondage, and had made its ob-
servance an intolerable burden. A Jew was not allowed to kindle
a fire nor even light a candle on the Sabbath. As a consequence
the people were dependent on the Gentiles for many services which
their rulers forbade them to do for themselves. They thought sal-
vation was restricted to the Jews, and that the condition of others,
already hopeless, could be made no worse. But God has given no
commandments which cannot be obeyed by all.
In the temple Jesus met the man who had been healed. He
had come to bring a sin offering and also a thank offering for the
great mercy he had received. Jesus made Himself known. The
healed man was overjoyed at meeting his Deliverer. Ignorant of the
enmity toward Jesus, he told the Pharisees that this was He who
had performed the cure. “Therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus,
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and sought to slay Him, because He had done these things on the
Sabbath day.”
Jesus was brought before the Sanhedrin to answer the charge of
Sabbathbreaking. Had the Jews been an independent nation, such
a charge would have served their purpose for putting Him to death.
But the accusations brought against Christ would have no weight in
a Roman court. Other objects, however, they hoped to secure. Christ
was gaining an influence greater than their own, and multitudes
uninterested in the harangues of the rabbis were attracted by His
teaching. He spoke of God, not as an avenging judge, but as a tender
father. By His words and works of mercy He was breaking the
oppressive power of man-made commandments, and presenting the
love of God.