January 14 Small Group Lesson Plan: The Book of John 5:16-45
Lesson Plan by Jon Soden:
John 5:16-45
Last week OC-FFC discussed the first part of John Chapter 5 where Jesus heals the paralyzed man at the healing pool. Shortly following the healing, Jesus is confronted by Jewish leaders who are furious with him for doing “work” on the Sabbath. The rest of John 5 focuses on Jesus response to these leaders, where He reveals more of His true identity. Take a few minutes to read through the rest of the chapter.
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There is a lot to unpack in Jesus’s response—if you feel a little overwhelmed with the amount of information, you are not alone!
About 400 years prior to this event, God provided a set of laws for the people of Israel to follow. This Law consisted of 613 commandments that are outlined in Leviticus. Multiple such laws pertain to the Sabbath, where God commands, “There are six days when you may work, but the seventh day is a day of sabbath rest, a day of sacred assembly. You are not to do any work; wherever you live, it is a sabbath to the Lord” (Leviticus 23:3). To see how serious God and the Jewish people were about keeping the Sabbath holy, read the following passage:
“While the Israelites were in the wilderness, a man was found gathering wood on the Sabbath day. Those who found him gathering wood brought him to Moses and Aaron and the whole assembly, and they kept him in custody, because it was not clear what should be done to him. Then the Lord said to Moses, “The man must die. The whole assembly must stone him outside the camp.” So the assembly took him outside the camp and stoned him to death, as the Lord commanded Moses.”
Numbers 15:32-36
Considering this example of how seriously the jewish people viewed keeping the Sabbath holy, let’s go back to Jesus performing this healing at the pool on a sabbath day and how furious it made the jewish leaders. In His response in verses 19-30, Jesus reveals more about his identity and purpose here on Earth that was previously not understood.
Here are two takeaways from Jesus’s response about working on the Sabbath:
The Sabbath is meant to be restorative; not restrictive: Jesus consistently teaches that the Sabbath is God’s gift and that its purpose is for restoration and connection with God. When attacked for healing on the Sabbath, Jesus responds, “My Father is working until now, and I am working,” revealing that the Sabbath is not about inactivity but about joining God’s life‑giving work. In passages like Mark 2:27–28, Jesus says that “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath,” showing that the day was meant to bless people, not trap them in law. Every time Jesus works on the Sabbath, He exposes the difference between human rules that restrict ourselves and God’s intention that restores. For Jesus, the Sabbath is fulfilled when people are healed, freed, and brought into the rest only He can give.
Obedience to God will offend & confuse people: If you are rooted in your faith, oftentimes your actions will go against the crowd and become uncomfortable (Jesus was literally put to death because of this). Personally, I think there can be a lot of situations at work where this can come into play. We all have been in situations on a call where someone homeless/unkept is treated without a high level of respect. It’s easy to turn a blind eye. But as a Christian, we know that that person is made in the image of God & loved by Him. You may literally be the only person that can show him/her what Godly love & compassion is. Your crew may give you a hard time or simply not understand why you would act that way, but it could also be an opportunity to show your faith in action.
Jesus is the fulfillment of the Law and the Sabbath. Furthermore, He is the fulfillment of the promise God makes with the people of Israel for a New Covenant; one that would replace the Old Covenant dominated by the Law. Jesus exposes these Jewish leaders for not believing or receiving the testimonies provided by multiple witnesses to His coming. The witnesses to Him include:
John the Baptist
Miracles Jesus performed
God the Father
The Scriptures
Why does Jesus mention these witnesses? Here are three reasons we can look at that were true back then and are just as true today.
It is possible to defend tradition and reject truth: If Jesus came to Earth today, who would he surround himself with? It probably would not be the people we expect. His disciples 2,000 years ago were not anything special according to the world—they were not kings, politicians, or religious leaders; they were fishermen, tax collectors, and the most ordinary of men & women. God chased these people because of their heart, not because of their status. The Jewish leaders of the time, the Pharisees, were known to be the “most religious” people of the Jewish culture; they were highly respected, and set the religious precedent of the times. These Pharisees knew Scripture inside and out, but when it came to acting upon what it preached—love, compassion, mercy—they would not follow through. For these reasons, Jesus tells them, “You snakes! You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” (Matthew 23:33).
It is possible to be religious and resist God: Religion has become a very vague and broad term that can take many meanings. Jesus consistently tells us that our relationship with Him and with others is far more important than “religion”. Practically, this can mean that going to church every Sunday is pointless if you treat your neighbors poorly Monday through Saturday (or, in our case, treating patients poorly). Throughout the Bible, God more often uses ordinary people rather than those of high authority. King David, the youngest and smallest of twelve brothers became King of Israel. The Shepards were the first to be told of the birth of Jesus. The Disciples were ordinary citizens. The servants saw Jesus turn water to wine rather than the banquet master. And the list could go on and on. Specifically in this chapter, Jesus refers to John the Baptist, who was a man of wilderness, who was called to prepare a way for the Lord.
It is possible to know the Bible and miss Jesus: While Jesus is wandering the desert, he is confronted by Satan. Satan quotes a verse from Psalm 91:11-12, “It is written, ‘He will command His angles concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone” (Matthew 4:5-6). Satan tries to use this passage out of context to tempt Jesus (spoiler alert—it doesn’t work). Of the many things we learn from this, we learn that the enemy knows scripture and God. This means that knowing scripture in it of itself is not enough. James makes it plain in James 2:18-19, “Show me your faith without deeds, and I will show you my faith by my deeds. You believe that there is one God. Good! Even the demons believe that—and shudder.” It is made clear—knowing the Bible and being a “good person” is not what makes you a child of God and part of His eternal family. Instead, it is using the Bible as a means to come into relationship with Jesus and accept Him as your savior through His sacrifice on the cross. As James states, the faith will be represented in your life by the person you become and deeds you perform, not the other way around.
Chapter 5 reminds us that Jesus isn’t simply correcting misunderstandings about the Sabbath—He is revealing who He truly is. The Jewish leaders were furious because they believed He was breaking the Law, but in reality, He was showing them that He is the very fulfillment of the Law, the One the Scriptures had been pointing to all along. Their problem wasn’t a lack of information, it was a lack of willingness to see Him for who He is. The same tension still exists today. It is possible to cling to tradition and miss truth, to practice religion and resist God, to know Scripture and yet fail to come to Jesus. But Jesus invites us into something far better: a faith that restores, a relationship that transforms, and a life that reflects His heart in the ordinary moments.
Reflection
Which of the four witnesses (John the Baptist, miracles, the Father, Scripture) speaks most strongly to you about Jesus’ identity?
Where in your life do you tend to treat God’s commands as restrictive rather than restorative?
Can you think of a time when obedience to God put you at odds with the people around you?
What habits draw you closer to Jesus, and which ones have become empty routines?