Day 4 - Wednesday - Commentary the New Testament Use of the Old Testament - Logos

 The Healing of the Lame Man and the Sabbath Controversy (John 5:1–47)

In the aftermath of Jesus’ healing of the lame man, the Jews object, in a petty display of religious legalism, to the man picking up his mat on the Sabbath (Jn. 5:10). Although the Jewish leaders may have thought of passages such as Exod. 31:12–17; Jer. 17:21–27; Neh. 13:15, 19, the man did not actually break any biblical Sabbath regulations. According to Jewish tradition, however, the man was violating a code that prohibited carrying an object “from one domain into another” (m. Šabb. 7:2)—in the present instance, his mat. Apparently, it was permissible to carry a bed with a person lying on it, but not one that was empty (m. Šabb. 10:5). At this point, Jesus is accused not of violating the law himself but of enticing someone else to sin by issuing a command that would have caused that person to break the law.

In the ensuing “Sabbath controversy” (Jn. 5:16–47), Jesus aligns his messianic activity with the work of his divine Father, which did not cease at creation. Jesus’ address for God as “my Father” in Jn. 5:17 and elsewhere have few OT precedents (see Jer. 3:4, 19; Ps. 89:26). The Jews were committed monotheists, believing in only one God (cf. Num. 15:37–41; Deut. 6:4; 11:13–21; see Schürer 1973–1979: 2:454–55; Hurtado 1998). Indeed, the Hebrew Scriptures make clear that God is incomparable and without equal (e.g., Isa. 40:18, 25), and that those who “make themselves” like God, such as Pharaoh (Ezek. 29:3), Joash (2 Chron. 24:24), Hiram (Ezek. 28:2), and Nebuchadnezzar (Isa. 14:14; Dan. 4), are subject to severe judgment. The Jewish belief in only one God became an important distinguishing characteristic of the Jewish religion in a polytheistic environment (see Tacitus, Hist. 5.5; Cohon 1955). Jesus’ claim of a unique relationship with God seemed to compromise this belief by elevating Jesus to the same level as the Creator as a second God (Jn. 5:18; Jn. 8:58–59; Jn. 10:30–31). The same charge will later lead to the crucifixion (Jn.19:7).

Although Gen. 2:2–3 teaches that God rested (šābat) on the seventh day of creation, Jewish rabbis agreed that God does indeed work constantly, without breaking the Sabbath (Exod. Rab. 30:9; cf. Gen. Rab. 11:10). After all, the whole world is God’s domain (Isa. 6:3), and God fills the entire universe (Jer. 23:24). Just as the Father continues to be active, Jesus claimed to co-labor with him (Jn. 5:17; cf. Jn. 4:34). As to healing on the Sabbath, the one who created the Sabbath has authority over it, determining its purpose, use, and limitations. In fact, even the Jews made exceptions to the rule of refraining from work on the Sabbath, most notably in the case of circumcision (see Jn. 7:23; cf. m. Šabb. Jn. 18:3; Jn. 19:2–3). Therefore, if God is above Sabbath regulations, so is Jesus (cf. Matt. 12:1–14 pars.; see Brown 1966–1970: 217; Barrett 1978: 256; Carson 1991: 247–49).

The remaining interchange features several possible OT allusions and frequently invokes important OT themes. Jesus’ claim in Jn. 5:19 that “the Son can do nothing by himself” echoes Moses’ affirmation in Num. 16:28 that “the Lord has sent me to do all these things, and it was not my own idea” (Brown 1966–1970: 214). An even more significant OT theme resonates in the background of Jesus’ statement in Jn. 5:21 that the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life. The OT and Second Temple literature concur that raising the dead and giving life are the sole prerogatives of God (cf. Deut. 32:39; 1 Sam. 2:6; 2 Kings 5:7; Tob. 13:2; Wis. 16:13). Jesus’ contemporaries, therefore, did not believe that the Messiah would be given authority to raise the dead (see references in Köstenberger 2004: 187n61). This renders Jesus’ claim of raising the dead and giving them life at will even more striking. Although Elijah sometimes was considered to be an exception because he was used by God to raise the dead, Jesus’ claim is much bolder in that he claimed not merely to be God’s instrument in raising other people, but to give life himself to whom he is pleased to give it.

The statement in Jn. 5:22 that the Father judges no one but has entrusted all judgment to the Son is remarkable as well since according to the Hebrew Scriptures, judgment likewise is the exclusive prerogative of God (e.g.,s Gen. 18:25; cf. Judg. 11:27; though see Ps. 2:2). In Second Temple literature, too, the Messiah remains very much in the background afar as judgment is concerned, apart from carrying out God’s judgment on his enemies, in keeping with Jewish nationalistic expectations (e.g., Pss. Sol. 17:21–27). Rabbinic writings also describe the role of judging the world to God alone.

Jesus’ self-characterization as his sender’s authorized messenger in the present passage is in keeping with God’s dealings with his people in OT times, where Moses and the prophets were considered to be God’s agents and mouthpieces who acted and spoke on God’s behalf. Consequently, the Jewish fundamental affirmation regarding a messenger (šālîaḥ) was that “a man’s agent is like the man himself” (e.g., m. Ber. 5:5). The purpose statement in Jn. 5:23, “that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father,” in effect establishes Jesus’ right to be worshiped (Carson 1991: 255) and amounts to a claim to deity (Morris 1995: 279). Because of Jesus’ unique relationship to the Father, God’s glory, which God vowed not to give to another (Isa. 42:8; 48:11), is neither lessened nor compromised by honor being given to the Son. Those before Jesus’ coming were able to worship only God, but now that Jesus the Word has been made flesh, those who want to honor God must also honor his Son, or by failing to honor the Son, they also fail to honor the Father.

Jesus’ words in Jn. 5:25, “The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who have heard it will live,” are reminiscent of Ezekiel’s vision of the valley of dry bones (Ezek. 37; cf. Rom. 4:17; Eph. 2:1–5). This is one of several instances in this Gospel where the book of Ezekiel looms in the background (cf. chap. Jn. 10, esp. Jn. 10:16; see Deeley 1997; Vawter 1964; Bullock 1982).

Yet another startling pronouncement is found in Jn. 5:26, where Jesus asserts that just as the Father has life in himself, so he has given the Son to have life in himself (cf. Jn. 5:21). The OT repeatedly states that God grants life to others (e.g., Gen. 2:7; Job 10:12; 33:4; Ps. 36:9). Here, however, Jesus claims that God granted him life in himself, a divine attribute. The phrase rendered “he is the Son of Man” in Jn. 5:27 reads more literally, “he is Son of Man”—the only instance of this Christological title without articles before both “Son” and “Man” in the entire NT. This may indicate an allusion to Dan. 7:13 LXX, where the expression “son of man” likewise lacks articles (cf. Rev. 1:13; 14:14; see Carson [1991: 257–59], who also notes Colwell’s Rule; Ridderbos 1997: 200; Brown 1966–1970: 215; Moloney 1998: 183; and commentary here at Jn. 1:51). In his humanity, the heaven-sent Son of Man is given authority to judge. As elsewhere in John’s Gospel, revelation and judgment go hand in hand (Jn. 3:19; Jn. 8:16; Jn. 12:31).

Jesus’ reference to the resurrection in Jn. 5:29 (“those who have done what is good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment”) may hark back to Dan. 12:2 (“some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt”). A glimpse of the future resurrection was given moments after Jesus died on the cross (Matt. 27:52–53). The statement in Jn. 5:31, “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid,” is in keeping with the scriptural teaching regarding the need for multiple witnesses (Deut. 17:6; Deut. 19:15; cf. Num. 35:30), which was reaffirmed by Jewish tradition (m. Ketub. 2:9; m. Roš Haš. 3:1; cf. Josephus, Ant. 4.219; see also John 8:13–18; 2 Cor. 13:1 [citing Deut. 19:15]; 1 John 5:7; Rev. 11:3).

In Jn. 5:35 Jesus calls John the Baptist “a lamp that burned and gave light,” a description that seems to echo Ps. 131:17 LXX (132:17 MT), where it is said that God will “set up a lamp” (lychnos) for his “anointed one” (christos) (see Carson 1991: 261; Morris 1995: 289n100; Barrett 1978: 265; note the presence of the Greek article in conjunction with the word “lamp” in Jn. 5:35, which indicates a known person or phenomenon). Inherent in the designation of the Baptist as a “lamp” is the recognition that his witness was small (albeit important) and of a temporary nature (cf. the similar portrayal of Elijah in Sir. 48:1). According to Jn. 1:7–9, he was a lamp that exuded light, but he was not the light itself (see Carson 1991: 261). Thus Jesus’ reference to John as a “lamp” keeps the roles of the Baptist and of Jesus in God’s salvation-historical plan in proper balance and perspective.

Jesus’ statement in Jn. 5:37 that people “have never heard his [God’s] voice nor seen his form” (cf. Jn. 1:18) seems to allude to the experience of wilderness Israel, which received the law at Mount Sinai without hearing God’s voice or seeing his form through Moses as a mediator. Many of Israel’s leaders in OT times did, in fact, hear God’s voice (Gen. 7:1–4; Gen. 12:1–3; Exod. 3:4–4:17; Exod. 19:3–6, Exod.9–13; Exod. 33:11; 1 Sam. 3:4, 1 Sam. 6, 1 Sam. 8, 1 Sam. 11–14; 1 Kings 19:13, 1 Kings 15–18) or “see” God in one sense or another (e.g., Gen. 18:1–2; Gen. 32:24–30; Exod. 33:11; Isa. 6:1–5). In Jn. 5:38 Jesus’ words “nor does his [God’s] word dwell in you” hark back to the OT depiction of a God-fearing person within whose heart dwells the word of God (e.g., Josh. 1:8–9; Ps. 119:11; cf. Col. 3:16).

Jesus’ assertion in Jn. 5:39 that the Scriptures testify to him is one of five instances in this Gospel where Scripture or a given OT writer is said to refer to Christ although no specific passage is adduced (cf. Jn. 1:45; Jn. 2:22; Jn. 5:45–46; Jn. 20:9). D. A. Carson (1991: 263) rightly contends that what is at issue here is that Scripture is presented as providing “a comprehensive hermeneutical key”: “By predictive prophecy, by type, by revelatory event, and by anticipatory statute, what we call the Old Testament is understood to point to Christ, his ministry, his teaching, his death and resurrection.”

The closing appeal to Moses in Jn. 5:45–47 prepares the way for chapter 6, where Jesus is presented as the new Moses providing God’s people with the new “bread from heaven” (Keener 2003: 662). Jesus’ reference to Moses as a witness against the Jews in Jn. 5:45 may allude to Deut. 31:26–27, where the Mosaic law is invoked as a witness against the Israelites. Indeed, Jewish hopes were set on Moses (cf. Jn. 9:28–29), and in OT history, Moses frequently served as Israel’s intercessor (e.g., Exod. 32:11–14, Exod. 30–32; Num. 12:13; Num. 14:19–20; Num, 21:7; Deut. 9:18–20, Deut. 25–29). In Jesus’ day, many Jews, in keeping with the portrayal of Moses in OT and Second Temple literature (As. Mos. 11:17; Mos. 12:6; Jub. 1:19–21), saw Moses’ role as that of continuing mediator and advocate. Yet, ironically, according to Jesus, it was precisely the one on whom the Jews had set their hopes who was going to serve as their accuser (Deut. 31:19, Deut. 21, Deut. 26; cf. Rom. 3:19).

The reference in Jn. 5:46 to Moses writing about Jesus may allude to the first five books of the OT (attributed to Moses) or to the prediction of a “prophet like Moses” in Deut. 18:15 (cf. John 1:21; Jn. 6:14; Jn. 7:40), or both. Alternatively, the reference is not to the Pentateuch or to the “prophet like Moses,” but to “a certain way of reading the books of Moses” (Carson 1991: 266). The reason that Moses, as the lawgiver, would accuse the Jews was that he, as the lawgiver, knew the law’s true purpose. Rather than an end in itself, the law served to point to Christ (cf. Matt. 5:17–20; see Carson 1991: 266).

m. Mishnah

Šabb. Šabbat

m. Mishnah

Šabb. Šabbat

OT Old Testament

Hist. Histories

Rab. (biblical book +) Rabbah

Rab. (biblical book +) Rabbah

m. Mishnah

Šabb. Šabbat

pars. parallel(s)

OT Old Testament

OT Old Testament

OT Old Testament

OT Old Testament

Pss. Sol. Psalms of Solomon

OT Old Testament

m. Mishnah

Ber. Berakot

chap. chapter

esp. especially

OT Old Testament

NT New Testament

LXX Septuagint

m. Mishnah

Ketub. Ketubbot

m. Mishnah

Roš Haš. Roš Haššanah

Ant. Jewish Antiquities

LXX Septuagint

MT Masoretic Text

OT Old Testament

OT Old Testament

OT Old Testament

OT Old Testament

OT Old Testament

As. Mos. Assumption of Moses

Jub. Jubilees

OT Old Testament

 Köstenberger, Andreas J. “John.” Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI;  Nottingham, UK: Baker Academic;  Apollos, 2007. 441–443. Print.