 |
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God |
Last Week
Jesus talked to His disciples about sowing and reaping in the kingdom of God using the crowd of men that came out of the town of Sychar after the woman that He had met at the well went and told them that she may have met the Messiah.
John 4:35-38 (NKJV)35 Do you not say, 'There are still four months and then comes the harvest'? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!36 And he who reaps receives wages, and gathers fruit for eternal life, that both he who sows and he who reaps may rejoice together.37 For in this the saying is true: 'One sows and another reaps.'38 I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors."
Jesus ministry was one of both sowing and reaping. In spiritual work, sower and reaper are quite often different people. They can both rejoice together in what their combined efforts have accomplished which would be leading people to Jesus, salvation, and eternal life. men.
Then He and His disciples went back to Galilee where He healed a nobleman's son without ever seeing the son.
John 4:46-53 (NKJV)
46 So Jesus came again to Cana of Galilee where He had made the water wine. And there was a certain nobleman whose son was sick at Capernaum.47 When he heard that Jesus had come out of Judea into Galilee, he went to Him and implored Him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.48 Then Jesus said to him, "Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will by no means believe."49 The nobleman said to Him, "Sir, come down before my child dies!"50 Jesus said to him, "Go your way; your son lives." So the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him, and he went his way.51 And as he was now going down, his servants met him and told him, saying, "Your son lives!"52 Then he inquired of them the hour when he got better. And they said to him, "Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him."53 So the father knew that it was at the same hour in which Jesus said to him, "Your son lives." And he himself believed, and his whole household.
At a later time He went back to Jerusalem and this time He healed a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years, but the problem was that He did it on the Sabbath.
John 5:5 (NKJV)5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 8 Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.
That was a problem because, according to Jewish law there was to be no work on the Sabbath and as interpreted by the scribes and Pharisees carrying a mat was work and apparently so was healing.
John 5:10, 15-18 (NKJV)10 The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed." 15 The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
Now Jesus was really in trouble because He was making Himself equal with God.
This week
We pick up the conversation that Jesus is having with the Jews, more specifically the Scribes and Pharisees.
John 5:19-23 (HCSB)19 Then Jesus replied, “I assure you: The Son is not able to do anything on His own, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son also does these things in the same way.20 For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He is doing, and He will show Him greater works than these so that you will be amazed.21 And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to anyone He wants to.22 The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,23 so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
What insights does John 5:19-23 give us into (a) the Father's devotion to the Son and (b) the Son's dependence on the Father?
No arrogance marked Jesus' claim, of being equal with God by calling Him “My Father”. His comments were balanced by complete dependence on and subordination to the Father. He couldn’t do anything on His own but He was doing what the Father does. That’s like watching our parents do things when we were growing up and then doing them the exact same way. I cook chili and make potato salad just like I saw my mother doing it. Mine is better however LOL. Because His Father loved Him He showed Him everything and that more than healing the paralyzed man would be coming and one of those things would be raising the dead.
Here are some examples:
Luke 7:11-15 (HCSB)11 Soon afterward He was on His way to a town called Nain. His disciples and a large crowd were traveling with Him.12 Just as He neared the gate of the town, a dead man was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was also with her.13 When the Lord saw her, He had compassion on her and said, “Don’t cry.”14 Then He came up and touched the open coffin, and the pallbearers stopped. And He said, “Young man, I tell you, get up!”15 The dead man sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him to his mother.
Luke 8:40-42 (HCSB)40 When Jesus returned, the crowd welcomed Him, for they were all expecting Him.41 Just then, a man named Jairus came. He was a leader of the synagogue. He fell down at Jesus’ feet and pleaded with Him to come to his house,42 because he had an only daughter about 12 years old, and she was at death’s door. While He was going, the crowds were nearly crushing Him.
Then Jesus was interrupted by the woman with the issue of blood which took some time.
Luke 8:49-55 (HCSB)49 While He was still speaking, someone came from the synagogue leader’s ⌊house⌋, saying, “Your daughter is dead. Don’t bother the Teacher anymore.”50 When Jesus heard it, He answered him, “Don’t be afraid. Only believe, and she will be made well.”
51 After He came to the house, He let no one enter with Him except Peter, John, James, and the child’s father and mother.52 Everyone was crying and mourning for her. But He said, “Stop crying, for she is not dead but asleep.”53 They started laughing at Him, because they knew she was dead.54 So He took her by the hand and called out, “Child, get up!”55 Her spirit returned, and she got up at once. Then He gave orders that she be given something to eat.
Then of course Lazarus;
John 11:43-44 (HCSB)43 After He said this, He shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”44 The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him and let him go.”
But verse 21 ( And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to anyone He wants to.) has another meaning. It could refer also to people who are spiritually dead. Because after a person accepts Jesus as their Saviour and their Lord, they become spiritually alive. Jesus gives eternal life to them.
Clearly this is as much a creative act as the original impartation of life. If the Son has power to quicken whom he will, he partakes of the Father's power.
Judgment is a second sphere in which the divine authority is manifest. This function has been given over to the Son. ( 22 The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,) Behind this sharing of authority is the design that the Son shall receive honor equally with the Father. God has made Jesus the judge of every person who has ever lived on the earth.
Everyone has a choice. (23 so that all people will honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.)
We can choose to believe that Jesus is God’s Son, our Saviour and our Lord. Or we can reject him. But if we reject him, then we reject God also. We do not respect God if we reject his Son.
 |
| Jesus, Son of God, Son of Man |
Most Jews believed that, in the future, God would make dead people become alive. Then he would punish those who had done bad things. And he would reward those people who had obeyed his laws.
According to Jesus, why is our response to him a matter of eternal life or death?
If we believe in the Father who sent Jesus you will have eternal life and will not, and this is very important to remember, will not come under judgement.To have the everlasting or eternal life a person must believe on the One who sent the Son, not in the sense of by-passing the Son, but as perceiving that faith in the Father and in the Son are indivisible. These verses tell you that when Jesus calls, when he comes, again, all the dead will hear. Those who have done good things to life those who have done wicked things to judgement
The two themes of life out of death and judgment are now brought together; but the resurrection here is spiritual, not physical, namely, participation in everlasting life.
The dead in verse 25 are not in the graves, as in verse 28, but are dead in sin. Their quickening comes through hearing the voice of the Son of God. The dead mentioned in verse 28 are people who have died physically and are in the grave.
As Lord of resurrection, Jesus will summon all from their graves
Acts 24:15 (HCSB)15 And I have a hope in God, which these men themselves also accept, that there is going to be a resurrection, both of the righteous and the unrighteous.
When Jesus returns to the earth, all dead people will become alive again, both Christians and non-Christians. Death is not the end for non-Christians. All those who have chosen to reject Jesus during their lives will not live with him always. They will spend all the future apart from him. They chose this when they refused to believe in him. That separation is what we call hell.
God is completely holy and perfect. He knows everything about everyone. He knows everyone’s personal situation. We can hide nothing from him. And he loves everyone. When God judges people, he will be completely fair. We can be confident about that. So Jesus’ judgement will be completely fair, because he has the same mind and the same heart as his Father.
God had given the authority to Jesus to judge all people. This was because Jesus was the ‘Son of Man’. We talked about the title “Son of Man” in an earlier session. Son of Man was Jesus' preferred method of designating himself, according to the Gospels. The Gospels record some seventy-eight times that Jesus used this title for Himself.
As described in Daniel
Daniel 7:13-14 (HCSB)13 I continued watching in the night visions, and I saw One like a son of man coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was escorted before Him.14 He was given authority to rule, and glory, and a kingdom; so that those of every people, nation, and language should serve Him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and His kingdom is one that will not be destroyed.
This person has authority over the entire world. A ‘son of man’ also meant a human person. Jesus was one of us, a human person, but he was also God. So he has the right to judge us.
The evidence (witnesses) that Jesus was telling the truth about himself
John 5:31-40 (HCSB)31 “If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.32 There is Another who testifies about Me, and I know that the testimony He gives about Me is valid.33 You have sent ⌊messengers⌋ to John, and he has testified to the truth.34 I don’t receive man’s testimony, but I say these things so that you may be saved.35 John was a burning and shining lamp, and for a time you were willing to enjoy his light.36 “But I have a greater testimony than John’s because of the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish. These very works I am doing testify about Me that the Father has sent Me.37 The Father who sent Me has Himself testified about Me. You have not heard His voice at any time, and you haven’t seen His form.38 You don’t have His word living in you, because you don’t believe the One He sent.39 You pore over the Scriptures because you think you have eternal life in them, yet they testify about Me.40 And you are not willing to come to Me so that you may have life.
What "witnesses" does Jesus call forward to testify on his behalf?
In this passage Jesus is talking to those people who were persecuting Him. He talked about evidence as if he was in a court of law. He wanted to convince people that he was speaking the truth about himself. He had said that God was his Father
John 5:18 (HCSB)18 This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill Him: Not only was He breaking the Sabbath, but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
He had said that he had the power to give eternal life to people
John 5:24 (HCSB)24 “I assure you: Anyone who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.
Also he had said that God had given to him the authority to judge all people
John 5:27 (HCSB)27 And He has granted Him the right to pass judgment, because He is the Son of Man. With these statements, Jesus was saying that he was equal with God.
But, in Jewish law, the evidence of one person was not enough. At least two people had to give evidence that something was true.
Deuteronomy 19:15 (HCSB)15 “One witness cannot establish any wrongdoing or sin against a person, whatever that person has done. A fact must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
So it was not enough for Jesus to say these things about himself.
His first witness was God Himself.
Another bears witness, even the Father. Unfortunately the Jews do not recognize the Father's witness
John 7:28 (HCSB)28 As He was teaching in the temple complex, Jesus cried out, “You know Me and you know where I am from. Yet I have not come on My own, but the One who sent Me is true. You don’t know Him;
John 8:19 (HCSB)19 Then they asked Him, “Where is Your Father?” “You know neither Me nor My Father,” Jesus answered. “If you knew Me, you would also know My Father.”
The second was John the Baptist.
John 1:19-20 (HCSB)19 This is John’s testimony when the Jews from Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him, “Who are you?”20 He did not refuse to answer, but he declared: “I am not the Messiah.”
John 1:26-27 (HCSB)26 “I baptize with water,” John answered them. “Someone stands among you, but you don’t know ⌊Him⌋.27 He is the One coming after me, whose sandal strap I’m not worthy to untie.”
John 1:29-36 (HCSB)29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!30 This is the One I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who has surpassed me, because He existed before me.’31 I didn’t know Him, but I came baptizing with water so He might be revealed to Israel.”32 And John testified, “I watched the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He rested on Him.33 I didn’t know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘The One you see the Spirit descending and resting on—He is the One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.’34 I have seen and testified that He is the Son of God!”35 Again the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples.36 When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!”
John the Baptist had ‘preached the truth’. He had shown that Jesus was the way to receive God’s salvation. For that reason, Jesus approved of John the Baptist.
Jesus said that the Jews were pleased to ‘enjoy his (John the Baptist’s) light for a short time’. Even though John was a witness that Jesus was who He said He was He didn’t need the testimony of man.
The miracles, His work, His ministry was the third witness that proved that He was the Messiah. Many people had seen the wonderful things that he had done. The Jewish leaders knew about the paralyzed man that He healed on the Sabbath. The miracles showed that God’s power was in Jesus. Jesus was doing the work that his Father had given him to do. This proved that God had sent Jesus.
Nobody has ever seen God. However, God’s power was working by means of Jesus. But the Jewish leaders could not see this. They could not see this evidence of God’s work. Therefore, they did not believe God’s words, because they did not believe in Jesus. Nobody can really know God if they do not believe in his Son, Jesus.
The fourth witness was the scriptures. The Jewish leaders knew the scriptures well. They studied them frequently. The Scriptures that Jesus was talking about are what we call the Old Testament. In those scriptures are many prophecies about the Messiah. The Jewish leaders knew these prophecies well. But they did not recognise the Messiah when he came. They cared more about the rules and the customs of their religion. And they, not God, had made many of these rules and customs.
John 5:41-44 (HCSB)41 “I do not accept glory from men,42 but I know you—that you have no love for God within you.43 I have come in My Father’s name, yet you don’t accept Me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.44 How can you believe? While accepting glory from one another, you don’t seek the glory that comes from the only God.
The Pharisees who challenged Jesus were particularly proud of their knowledge of the minutest detail of Scripture and their strict adherence to the Law of Moses. Jesus uses the things they boasted in to bring condemnation on them. These religious leaders has missed the whole point of God's truth!
This can happen still today. We must remember that we follow a person, the Lord Jesus Christ, not a set of rules. We must remember that only Jesus can give us eternal life. We cannot earn it for ourselves.
Jesus did not worry about people’s opinions of him. The only opinion that mattered to him was God’s opinion. We can learn from this. If God approves of us, we must not worry about other people’s opinions of us. And we must never do anything just to please people, if God does not approve of it. The scribes and the Pharisees wanted everyone to think that they were important. They wore special clothes. When they gave money to poor people, they wanted everyone to see.
When they prayed, they wanted other people to notice them. When they fasted, they wanted everyone to know. They did all these things for the wrong reasons. They wanted people to think that they were very holy. They wanted people to praise them for their goodness. But they were not holy or good. They did not do these things because they loved God which is the right reason to do them.
Matthew 23:1-7, 14 (HCSB)1 Then Jesus spoke to the crowds and to His disciples:2 “The scribes and the Pharisees are seated in the chair of Moses.3 Therefore do whatever they tell you, and observe ⌊it⌋. But don’t do what they do, because they don’t practice what they teach.4 They tie up heavy loads that are hard to carry and put them on people’s shoulders, but they themselves aren’t willing to lift a finger to move them.5 They do everything to be observed by others: They enlarge their phylacteries and lengthen their tassels.6 They love the place of honor at banquets, the front seats in the synagogues,7 greetings in the marketplaces, and to be called ‘Rabbi’ by people. 14 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! You devour widows’ houses and make long prayers just for show. This is why you will receive a harsher punishment.]
Matthew 6:16-18 (HCSB)16 “Whenever you fast, don’t be sad-faced like the hypocrites. For they make their faces unattractive so their fasting is obvious to people. I assure you: They’ve got their reward!17 But when you fast, put oil on your head, and wash your face,
18 so that you don’t show your fasting to people but to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
John 5:45-47 (HCSB)45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope.46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, because he wrote about Me.47 But if you don’t believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Moses had written these scriptures that the Jewish leaders studied so carefully. They believed that they were studying God’s words. They obeyed the Law that God had given to Moses. But Moses had recorded prophecies about the Messiah as well as the Law. For example,
Deuteronomy 18:15-18 (HCSB)15 “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own brothers. You must listen to him.16 This is what you requested from the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly when you said, ‘Let us not continue to hear the voice of the LORD our God or see this great fire any longer, so that we will not die!’
17 Then the LORD said to me, ‘They have spoken well.18 I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. I will put My words in his mouth, and he will tell them everything I command him.
Moses recorded other prophecies, too
Genesis 3:15 (HCSB)15 I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.
Numbers 21:9 (HCSB)9 So Moses made a bronze snake and mounted it on a pole. Whenever someone was bitten, and he looked at the bronze snake, he recovered.
Numbers 24:17 (HCSB)17 I see him, but not now; I perceive him, but not near. A star will come from Jacob, and a scepter will arise from Israel. He will smash the forehead of Moab and strike down all the Shethites.
But the Jewish leaders did not believe Moses’ words. They rejected the Prophet that Moses had written about. That Prophet was Jesus, the Messiah. So Jesus said that Moses himself would accuse them of this.
How can we avoid the kind of religion that is outwardly pious but inwardly bankrupt?
Bible Study Audio
<====IF YOU DON'T HAVE A BIBLE OR WANT ANOTHER ONE CLICK HERE====>
No comments:
Post a Comment