The Pulpit Commentary — John — Volume 1 — Section 343

The en<'r~· of tlw Lord's will mRetercd the baths. This statement ie tho key-uolo of p,,Jsicd wJI of the eick mun, Rnd infused into the great diseourse which follows, 1md it is him the lacking energy. ArchdeRoon Wat- made to prepare the way for the subse,1uont kins euppos<'B that the man did possess incidents. The JewB; i.e. the o.uthorities, iacipiont and recipient faith, moved by the either the rabbis or Sauhedrists who wero i;cncrous tenderness Rnd eympRthetic interest present in the crowd which gathered round of the StrRuger in hie uase. The ,·ery strik- the pool of Bethesda, or flllod the neigh- ing fRct meutioned in the synoptic uure of bouring courts, llre to ho distinguished from the paralytic, ,·iz. that he was borne into "the multitude," or from the people gene• the presence of Jesus by four friends. ought rul!y. The designation evidently meo.ns the t-0 liRve prevented Thoma's e.nricature of lea,ling folk, the social censors, the hier- nriticism, which makes this nnnatirn & mere archy, who very soon displnyod in marked i<lealization of that. fashion their jealousy and hatred of Jesus. Yer. !la.-And immediately' the mn be- The J"ewe therefore said to the ma.n who had cume whole (~·ell, sound in health), and took been healed, It is sabbath, and I it is not law- up his bed, and walked. This act of obedi- ful for thee to oarry thy bed. Judging by the ence was o.n net of faith, as in every other letter of the Law (Exod. xx. 10 and xxxv. 3), mir:i,ele upon parn.lyze<l nerves and frames. and by the precedents of Sciiplure (Numb. The imagery of the sign explains the ration• xv. 32-35), and by the special injunctions of ale of faith. The impotent man, the para- the prophets (Jer. xvii. 21-23; Neh. xiii. lytic, and the man with withered hand, were 15, et.c..), the man was infringing a posi- severally mlled by Christ to do that which tive command. Rabbinism had indeed de- without Divine aid seemed and was impos- clared tho.t, in cases o.ffecting life and health, sihle. The spiritual quickening of the mind the law of the sabbuth was legitimately held was communicat&l to the ordinary physical in abeyance; but this relaxution was so volition. aud the bare act was & method by hedged about with restrictions thut the poor which the palsied sufferer took hold of God's man o.nd the layman were unable to apply strength. Faith always lays hold thus of the rules. The rabhinio interpretations of the power to do the impossible. The words and so.bho.tic law concerning burden-bearing were the result are similar to those adopted on so intricate and sophisticlll that the entire the cure of the paralytic. This is another majesty of the law, and the merciful intent instance of the identity of the Christ of John of the prohibition, were concealed and viti- and of the synoptists. The various efforts ated. Apart from these complications, the of Strauss, Baur, ancl Weise to identify this man was prima Jacie disobeying the letter miracle with that wrooght on the paralytic of the law. • Shabhath,' fol. 6, a, declares is, however, in defiance of every condition that if unwittingly a burden was carried on of time, place, character, and consequences. the sabbath, the transgressor was bound to The energy of faith and love which led the bring a sin offering; if with knowledge, he Galilamn sufferer to secure the services of must be stoned. four stalwart friends, not only to carry him, Ver.11.-And he answered them, He 2 that but to make strenuous efforts to bring him into made me whole, that very same man (iKei11os, the presence of Jesus, contrasts powerfully "even he;" cf. for this use of the pronoun, with the loneliness and friendlessness of the eh. L 18, 33; xiv. 21, 26, etc.) said unto me, impotent man; and the method adopted by Take up thy bed, and walk. This was justifi- the Lord to convey his grace, and the discus- cation for him. The Prophet-like Heuler must sion that followed on that occasion touching know what was right, and upon his shoulder1 the power of the Son of man to forgive sins, the responsibility must rest. There was a nil suggest profoondly different circum- ro.bhinio saying, which the cured man may stances. N othiug hut the claim of the critic or may not have heard, thllt conferred e. dis- to be entirely superior to the document he is pensing power upon a prophet: but the man interpreting can account for so wild a con- could not have known with auy certainty jecture. that such wa.s Christ's official character. It Vers. 9b-16.-{2) The outbreak of ho8tility is, moreover, clear that he did not know at due to the breach of the sabbatic law. this moment either the face, the voice, or the Ver. 9b.-Now it wu the nbbath on that 1 Kal, though omitted by T.R., finds place day. The form of the expression implies that it was one of the festival sabbaths in II(, A, B, c•, D, o.nd many other mo.nu- rather than the weekly sabba.th. These scripts, and numerous versions,and is adopted cla.ya, however, receil'ed the same reverence, by Tregelles, Tiechendorf (8th edit.), R.'f. and were observed with nearly the same '"Os ~• is ad<led by R.T. and Tregelles, r itee and restrictions, as the ordinary s&b- with A, B: but M, C, G, K, L, .t., read 6 ~. a,reKp/611, and II(•, 6 IIE dw•Kp111a.T0: and 1 Tischendorf omit. the E118tf#s with K• Tischendorf (8th edit.), Alford, Bll.le Re- and D. visers, omit it, with 'f.R. Clll, V, 1-47,] THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. JOHN. 209