the crime of loving

Devotions from Jefferson Vann # 2395

John 5:9b-18

John 5:9b Now that day was the Sabbath,
Joh 5:10 and so the Jews said to the one who had been healed, “It is a Sabbath. The law does not allow you to take away your pallet.”
Joh 5:11 He answered them, “The one who made me whole told me, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk.'”
Joh 5:12 “Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your pallet and walk’?” they asked.
Joh 5:13 But the man who was healed had not know who it was, because Jesus had withdrawn into the crowd in the place.
Joh 5:14 After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “You see that you are whole. Do not sin any longer, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.”
Joh 5:15 The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him whole.
Joh 5:16 This is why the Jews began persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on a Sabbath.
Joh 5:17 Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working too.”
Joh 5:18 Because of this statement, the Jews began trying even harder to kill him, because he was not only abolishing the Sabbath, but he was even saying God is his own Father, treating himself the same way as God.

the crime of loving

The healing at Bethesda reveals a moment when Jesus intentionally stepped into conflict, not by accident but by design. When He told the man to pick up his mat and walk, He was giving a command that directly violated one of the customary Sabbath regulations cherished by the religious authorities. Carrying anything on the Sabbath was considered work, and work was forbidden. For the officials watching, this was not simply a breach of etiquette; it was a challenge to the system they believed protected holiness. Their discomfort quickly hardened into hostility.

Yet the confrontation mattered. It was not a random clash but part of a larger unfolding purpose. The question of who Jesus truly was could not remain hidden behind quiet miracles and private conversations. His identity had to be brought into the open, and the Sabbath—central to Jewish life—became the stage on which that revelation would unfold. By healing on the Sabbath and commanding actions that broke traditional interpretations of the law, Jesus forced the leaders to face the reality of His authority. He was not merely a healer or teacher; He was claiming the right to define what God’s work truly is.

This escalating tension would eventually lead Him to the cross. He would die between two criminals, but not because He had committed a crime. His death was the result of His identity—God’s Son doing God’s work in a world that resisted the light He brought. Humanity rejected the One who came to restore it. The cross was not an accident of history or a tragic misunderstanding. It was the collision between divine love and human rebellion.

And yet, the cross was also the clearest expression of love the world has ever seen. It was not only the Father’s love that sent Christ into the world; it was the Son’s love that carried Him all the way to Golgotha. He did not simply obey a mission—He embraced it. He chose the suffering that would redeem those who rejected Him. The same love that healed the man at Bethesda is the love that endured the nails, the shame, and the darkness.

LORD, continue your work of loving others through us, that the same compassion seen in Christ may flow into a world still longing for healing.