John 5

THE CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF THEIR UNBELIEF – John 5:41-47

Bible sermons, faith, God, Gospel of John, hypocrisy, John 5, John 5:41-47, love for God, motives, New Testament sermon, Sermon on John's Gospel, sermons

INTRODUCTION:

The Queen Mary was the largest ship to cross the oceans when it was launched in 1936.  Through four decades and a World War, she served until she was retired and anchored as a floating hotel and museum in Long Beach, California.  During the conversion process, her three massive stacks were taken off to be scraped down and repainted.  But on the dock they crumbled.  Nothing was left of the 3/4 inch steel plate from which the stacks had been formed.  All that remained were more than thirty coats of paint that had been applied over the years.

After healing the invalid at the pool of Bethesda,  the Lord Jesus went into great detail to substantiate His claim to be the Messiah, the Son of God.  He described five witnesses that couldn’t be refuted; and there were hundreds, even thousands who could attest to the truth of what they saw and heard.  He had built a structure that was strong and lasting, incapable of being torn down and destroyed.  Now, in verses 41-47, the Lord Jesus directs His attention toward His accusers, who are standing around him in their elegant robes and with their pious countenances, and He starts chipping away at their paint!

I.  EMPTY OF LOVE (verse 41-42)

Jesus has been appealing to their minds by giving them proof of his deity.  Then He appealed to their wills, exposing their stubborn refusal to believe Him.  Now He’s going to get to the heart of the problem.  In verse 41, Jesus gives them a brief description of His own attitude as a basis for comparison to theirs.  He says, “I do not receive glory from men.”  He is not seeking the applause of men.  Rather, His motivation is that of doing the will of the Father out of love for the Father.  He is filled and controlled by His love for His Father.  (John 5:19-20, 30).

By contrast, he says to them, “but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in yourselves.”  Can you feel the sharpness of His rebuke? “But I know you”, He says.  They are not going to pull the wool over His eyes!  He sees underneath the paint!   Now He’s going to be chipping away at it, and revealing to them what He sees!

The first thing he reveals to them, in verse 42, is that they have no love for God.  In their hearts they don’t really love God.  It’s just “external paint” that they have applied to themselves so that others might see it and admire them.  I think Jesus is also saying, “You don’t really believe in God, and you are unwilling to believe in Me, because you don’t love God.  I can envision the anger on their faces and can almost hear the murmuring and threats they are making.  I think Jesus had to raise His voice in order to be heard above their murmuring and complaining.

II.  FILLED WITH PRIDE (verses 43-44)

In order to affirm what He has just told them, and give them the underlying reason for His statement in verse 42, Jesus reiterates what He told them earlier.  In verse 43, Jesus begins by saying, “I have come in My Father’s name, and you did not receive Me”.  What He means by those words is, “I’ve already proven to you that I’ve been sent by God and have His authority, yet you refuse to accept Me for Who I am and obey Me.  You refuse to show me the honor and worship that I deserve.”

I believe that the words that follow are used by Jesus to point out the irony in what they have been doing.  He says, “if another should come in his own name, you will receive him.”  Jesus is making a true statement about what the leaders of the Jews have done many times in the past.  During the time of Jesus there were two schools of thought based upon the teachings of two rabbis:  Shammai and Hillel.  The scribes and Pharisees spent much time debating with each other regarding which one of them was right on various issues and doctrines, rather than studying the Scriptures themselves.  Later on, Jesus tells them, in Mark 13 and Matthew 24, that many other false Messiahs will come on their own authority and draw many astray.

Jesus didn’t fit their own description of the Messiah.  Jesus was too humble, poor, and plain.  They were looking for a Messiah whom they considered to be worthy of being followed – a Messiah who would come in royal robes; a stately figure with awesome physical and political power who would crush the power of the Roman Empire. They wanted a Messiah who would recognize their devotion to God and their leadership abilities, and Who would put them in positions of authority in His kingdom on earth.  Jesus was the total opposite of what they had in mind.

In verse 44, Jesus rebukes them again by asking them a pointed question: “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another. and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God?”  He faced them with the true cause of their unbelief – their own personal pride and conceit.  The word “glory” is a translation of the Greek word “Doxan”, which comes from the verb “dokeo”, which means “to think”.  The scribes and Pharisees had a very high “opinion” of themselves; so high that they even argued among themselves as to who was the most famous.  You might say that there was even a battle going on to form a “pecking order” among the proud, and nobody wanted to give in to the others.  They were so busy glorifying themselves that they had no interest in seeking the glory of God that could be found reflected in Jesus Christ.

On the French Riviera, it is such an important status symbol to have a balcony on an apartment, that it is quite common to see balconies painted on the walls of apartment houses.  People even painted wet laundry hanging on the clothesline, just to give it a touch of reality!  In the same vein, there was no limit to what these Jewish leaders would do in order to give their own lives an imitation “touch of reality” that might cause others to “look up to them” and be impressed by what they saw.

III.  THE CONSEQUENCES (verses 45-47)

The Lord Jesus has been chipping away at their exterior paint.  Now He is going to hammer away at their foundation so that it crumbles like the stacks of the Queen Mary.  He says, in verse 45, “Do you think that I will accuse you before the Father”?  He’s saying, “Do you think that I am going to follow your example?”  They have been accusing Him of doing miracles on the Sabbath in violation of the Law of Moses (John 5:10,16).  The Lord wasn’t the One who would be gathering the information and pressing charges against them.  He continues by saying, the one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have set your hope.”  The men standing around Jesus claimed to be disciples of Moses.  That statement of Jesus must have raised some eyebrows and evoked some angry responses.  They’ve put their hope in the wrong person because Moses is not going be on their side!

In verse 46, Jesus gives the reason for His statement:  “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me, for he wrote of Me.”  Where did Moses write about Jesus?  Moses does not use the name “Jesus”, but he refers to the Messiah in several places using a variety of names to describe Him.  In Genesis 3:15, Moses wrote down the words that God said to the serpent in the hearing of Adam and Eve after their disobedience:  “And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between her seed and your seed; He shall bruise (crush) you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heal.”  The “seed of the woman” is the Messiah.  He will be a descendant of her.

In Deuteronomy 18:15, Moses refers to the Messiah as a prophet when he says, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your countrymen, you shall listen to him.”

In Genesis 49, Jacob summoned all his sons to gather around him before his death and prophesied concerning each of his sons.  In his prophecy concerning his son, Judah, Jacob says:  “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.” (Genesis 49:10).  This is the only place in the Bible where Shiloh refers to a person rather than a place.  Shiloh is the Messiah, and He has already come to earth in the Person of Jesus Christ.  So why does it say that the scepter shall not depart from Judah until Shiloh comes?  History gives the answer.  In 70 A.D. the nation of Israel was conquered and its people scattered throughout the earth.  The scepter was removed from Judah, but it is still retained.  Jesus was the last Person from the line of David, on both His mother’s and his father’s side, who had the legal and spiritual right to assume the throne.  He still retains that right and will be returning to bring that prophecy to fulfillment.

Jesus closes His rebuke with the words “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words.”  Jesus was saying to them, and He says to us today also, that belief is not just a matter of the mind, but also of the will.  They knew those Messianic texts, but they were unwilling to ascribe them to Him.  They refused to obey Moses, and they refused to obey Christ.  There was no valid excuse for their behavior.  They loved themselves to the exclusion of a true love of God, and in their pride they chose to be their own gods, doing their own will instead of God’s.

The same is true today.  There is no acceptable excuse for not believing and obeying God and His Son, Jesus Christ.  There is no excuse for not searching after God and asking Him to reveal Himself to us.  There is no excuse for not responding to the truth that we have, the truth God has given to each of us.  The only thing that holds us back is our own foolish pride in ourselves, the original sin of Adam and Eve, the temptation that Satan wants us to give in to.  Don’t let pride separate you eternally from the One who loves you sacrificially and wants you to experience the joy of submitting yourselves to Him as your Lord and King; a joy that will change your life forever, giving you a new purpose for living as you enjoy doing His will and experiencing His power and presence.  Let’s “remove the paint” and “be real” in Christ Jesus our Lord!  

Fellow Christians, let’s review each day and ask ourselves who is getting the glory in our lives.  Even when we are serving the Lord and living in obedience to His Word, it’s always tempting to take the glory to ourselves rather than put the focus on the One who loves us, inspires us, empowers us, and has gifted us to serve Him and be witnesses for Him.

“I will bless the Lord at all times;
His praise shall continually be in my mouth.
My soul shall make its boast in the Lord;
The humble shall hear it and rejoice.
O magnify the Lord with me,
And let us exalt His name together.”
Psalm 34:1-3

  CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED

May the Lord Jesus be the One who holds your life together, and gives you joy, peace, purpose, and meaning each day.  May He also receive the glory that He alone deserves.

 

 

 

 

JESUS CHRIST: RESURRECTED, RESURRECTOR, AND JUDGE – John 5:26-29

Bible sermons, John 5:26-29, resurrection of Christ, sermons

INTRODUCTION:

There is much we can learn from little children.  They are so eager to learn, and so straight-forward in their conversations with adults.  Here is a case in point.  It was Sunday morning and the church service was over.  A little girl had been taught about the second coming of Christ and was quizzing her mother.  “Mommy, do you believe Jesus will come back?”  “Yes”.  “Today?”  “Yes.”  “In a few minutes?”  “Yes, dear.”  “Mommy, would you comb my hair?”

That little girl thought her mother was paying close attention to what she was saying and was answering her clearly, so she wanted to look her best when she meets Jesus!  How about you?  Do you want to look your best when you meet Jesus?  That topic of conversation is appropriate to the passage of Scripture we are now studying:  John 5:26-29.  Jesus mentions five resurrections in verses 24-29 and we examined the first two, which the Lord Jesus described in verses 24-25.  The spiritual regeneration and resurrection of believers was described by Jesus in verse 24, and the physical resurrections from the dead by the words of Jesus are predicted in verse 25 and will be happening soon.  There are three more resurrections described by the Lord Jesus in the order of their occurrence.  Jesus is sharing that information as further proof to the Jews that He is the Son of God.  Let’s take a look at those resurrections, one-at-a-time.

I.  THE THIRD RESURRECTION:  HIS OWN (verse 26)

In verse 26 we find these words spoken by Jesus:  “For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself.”  You may wonder, “What does that verse have to do with the resurrection of Christ?”  “The word ‘resurrection’ isn’t even mentioned in that verse!”  That’s a good question!  Let’s see if we can find a satisfactory answer.  The Lord Jesus uses a similar expression in John 10:17-18.  “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative.  I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again.  This commandment I have received from My Father.” 

Putting these two passages of Scripture together, Jesus is saying that He always existed with the Father.  No one gave Him life because He has always had it, from all eternity.  Only God could say that truthfully.  Therefore only Jesus could lay down His life and take it back up again.  Warren Wiersbe puts it this way:  “Our life was derived, but His life is original.”  As John 1:4 says, “In Him was life”.  That’s why Jesus could say, in John 2:19, when the Jews asked for a sign after Jesus cleansed the temple, “Destroy this temple (His body), and in three days I will raise it up.”  

We have looked at Scripture passages which seem to point to the fact that Jesus raised Himself from the dead by His own power.  But the question, “Who raised Jesus Christ from the dead”, hasn’t been completely answered yet.  There are other passages of Scripture that seem to disagree with that conclusion.  Let’s take a look at some of those other Scriptures and see if we can resolve the issue once we get a good look at it.

Acts 10:40 says, “God raised Him on the third day”.  In Romans 6:4, the apostle Paul says, “Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father”.  In Romans 8:11, Paul says, “But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dwells in you . . . “.  So who raised Jesus from the dead?  Was it God, the Father, the Holy Spirit, or Christ Himself?

You may disagree with the next statement, but keep reading.  God is not a Person.  God is a title that is given to the divine nature or essence.  So when the term “God” is used, it represents all three Persons in the divine essence:  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  That helps us understand Acts 10:40, which says that “God raised Him”, but what about the Scriptures that speak specifically of the Father and the Spirit raising Jesus from the dead?  I’m convinced that it was a cooperative effort, and the apostle John wanted to make that clear.

This is not the first time that all three Persons in the Trinity are mentioned.  I’ve found that each of the three members of the Trinity is mentioned in every “major event” in history (from God’s perspective).  Creation was the first “major event”, and all three are mentioned as participating (Genesis 1:2; 1:26; John 1:3).  The words spoken by God, “Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness“, tell us that God wants us to know, right from the beginning of the Scriptures, that He is a plurality.  The Jews knew that;  one of the Hebrew words for God in the Old Testament Scriptures is the word “Elohim” which is plural.  The second “main event” was the conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary.  Luke 1:35 says, “The Spirit of the Lord will come upon you, and the power of the Most-High will overshadow you.”  Jesus was the “Seed of the Woman” Who was implanted in Mary’s womb (Genesis 3:17).  I think that God wanted those particular words to be spoken to Mary so that she would know that this was the true and living God who was going to accomplish this miracle in her.  The third “main event” was the baptism of Jesus, which marked the beginning of His public ministry.  It’s recorded in all four gospels.  Together with Jesus was the “voice of the Father, and the Holy Spirit descending as a Dove and resting upon Him.”  Can you imagine what that scene must have looked like?  The heavens opened up, causing everyone to look up into the sky.  What they see is a dove descending out of heaven and they hear a booming voice say, “Thou art My beloved Son, in Thee I am well-pleased” (Luke 3:21-22).  The fourth “main event” is the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, as we have already seen.  His resurrection was so irrefutably true that the elders and the chief priests of the Jews gave a large sum of money to the guards and said, “you are to say, ‘His disciples came by night and stole Him away while we were asleep’ ” (Matthew 28:11-15).  In each of those major events in the Scriptures, God wanted it to be known that the God of heaven and earth is a Trinity composed of three distinct Persons:  the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

II.  THE FOURTH RESURRECTION:  TO ETERNAL LIFE (verses 27-29a)

In verse 27, Jesus says of God the Father, “and He gave Him (Jesus) authority to exercise judgment, because He is the Son of Man.”  He’s telling the Jews that He has been given the authority to judge all men, and it’s based on the claim that He is the “Son of Man”.  Evangelist Billy Sunday said in one of his sermons, “There are two hundred and fifty-six names given in the Bible for the Lord Jesus Christ.”  I’ll take his word for it!  The Jews knew very well what Jesus was saying about Himself when He used the name “Son of Man”.  The prophet Daniel used those words in Daniel 7:13-14 as he was describing visions He had.

“I kept looking at the night visions,
And behold, with the clouds of heaven
One like the Son of Man was coming
And He came up to the Ancient of Days
And was presented before Him.
And to Him was given dominion, glory and a kingdom,
That all the peoples, nations, and men of every language
Might serve Him.
His dominion is an everlasting dominion
Which will not pass away;
And His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed.”

The Jews listening to Jesus’ words knew that He was again claiming to be the Messiah.  If His claim was true, then He had the right and the authority to judge the world.

Having made that claim again, the Lord Jesus continues, in verses 28-29, to describe the events and judgments that are going to take place in the future by the voice of His mouth.  In verse 28 He says, “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice”.  Notice that Jesus begins with a caution or a warning:  “Do not marvel at this” as if it’s too amazing and far-fetched to be true.  Think of all the amazing things God has done in the past.  Jesus is speaking in the third-person, using the words “He” and “Him” instead of “I” and “Me”.  He wants their focus to be on the word “Messiah” and what the prophets have declared about Him and His reign as King and Judge of all the earth.

Then Jesus does say something amazing:  “all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice.”  The dead can’t hear!  They can when Jesus calls them!  He’s going to be proving that claim very soon, only on a much smaller scale:  one-at-a-time.  But right now He’s talking about millions at one time.  There are many today, and there have been many throughout the ages, who have chosen to believe that death is the end of one’s existence.  You’ve probably heard the saying, “ALL DRESSED UP AND NO PLACE TO GO”.  That saying is sometimes found on tombstones.  But the Lord Jesus tells us that death is not a dead-end street.  Rather, it is a fork in the road.  Jesus is going to tell us about the two roads that split-off and continue in opposite directions forever after the road of this mortal-life ends.  So we do have “someplace to go” – every one of us!

I’m going to call the first road “The Narrow Road” because, sadly, there are so few who follow it.  This road or path often has much more than a “one-percent grade”, but if you ask any hiker, it can be a joyful and exhilarating experience if you bring along the right equipment, wear the proper clothing, have some fellow-hikers with you, and follow the rules.  You’ll even build up some “spiritual muscles” along the way!  And don’t forget to enjoy the scenery along the way, and give praise and glory to the One who created it!

The first half of verse 29 gives us a brief description of where this trail leads for the devoted followers of Jesus Christ:  “those who did the good deeds to the resurrection of life.”  That phrase standing alone may seem to say that “good deeds” are what get us into heaven.  From the context, Jesus is saying that genuine repentance and faith in Him is going to result in a changed life, and the “good deeds” are the observable evidence of that changed life.  If a person is a genuine believer, it should be obvious to the world around him.  This “resurrection of life” is the resurrection of Christians and saints of the Old Testament to eternal life with no more death (Revelation 21:4).  I Thessalonians 4:16-17 describes the scene.  “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first.  Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”  That is a description of the next event on the prophetic calendar.  It’s referred to as the Rapture and it could happen at any moment.  All believers will stand before the Judgment seat of Christ, where each of our lives will be completely reviewed (2 Corinthians 5:10), and rewards will be given for faithful service.  My understanding of the “judgment seat of Christ” is that it is going to be “play-back time” for each of us believers.  We are each going to be watching a re-run of our lives, and you know how you hate to watch re-runs on TV!  Every thought, word, action, and attitude, whether good or bad, will pass before our eyes or in our minds before any rewards are given.  We’ll consider that in more detail at the conclusion of this message.

III.  THE FIFTH RESURRECTION:  TO ETERNAL CONDEMNATION

The fifth and final resurrection will be the resurrection to condemnation.  A father and his son were reading epitaphs on some of the gravestones in a cemetery.  Every description seemed to indicate that the deceased person was in a state of bliss.  After a while, the boy asked, “Daddy, where are all the wicked people buried?”

The child had a point.  There are many who have lived their lives in a way that is evil in the sight of God and have refused to acknowledge their sins, and commit their lives to Jesus Christ by faith.  Many enjoy their immorality and even boast of it, defying God.  They live as if they don’t realize that there is an occupation many perform here on earth that is also practiced in heaven – accounting!  At the end of verse 29, the Lord Jesus tells His listeners, “those who committed the evil deeds to the resurrection of judgment.” 

You may be wondering:  “Where are all the unbelieving dead residing until the resurrection of judgment”?  Their souls are not in hell.  II Peter 2:4 says, “For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell, and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment”.  The word “hell” is the Greek word tartarus, and this is the only place it is found in the New Testament.  II Peter 2:9 says, “ The Lord knows how to . . . keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment.”   In Luke 16:23, Jesus refers to this place as “hades”, and it is a place of torment.  That’s where they are residing before the resurrection to judgment.  

Billions of unrepentant, unregenerate sinners from all of mankind throughout human history will be standing before the Judge, the Lord Jesus Christ, to be condemned to the lake of fire.  You can find the description of the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20:11-15.  Verse 15 says,  “And if anyone’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”  You have never watched a horror movie that’s worse than the description given in those verses.  Matthew 25:45 and II Thessalonians 1:8-9 tell us that it is an everlasting punishment.  The prophet Amos gave the people of his day a warning when he said, “Prepare to meet your God” (Amos 4:12).

Are you prepared to meet God?  Please don’t put aside or put off choosing to make the Lord Jesus Christ the Lord of your life.  Consider the risks you are taking.  You could die at any moment and the Lord could come at any moment.  In either case, it will be too late to change your mind.  There are no second chances and no loopholes.

Warren Wiersbe tells about a frontier town where a horse bolted and ran away with a wagon carrying a little boy.  Seeing the child in danger, a young man risked his life to catch the horse and stop the wagon.  The child who was saved grew up to be a lawless man, and one day he stood before a judge to be sentenced for a serious crime.  The prisoner recognized the judge as the man who had saved his life, so he pled for mercy on the basis of that experience.  But the words from the bench silenced his plea:  “Young man, then I was your savior; today I am your judge, and I must sentence you to be hanged.”

Today, Jesus Christ wants to be your Lord and Savior if you will repent of your sins and turn your life over to His control.  He gave His life in order to make that possible.  Don’t put it off until you stand before Him as Judge and hear the words, “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire!”

If you would like to read a presentation of the Gospel message given in the Scriptures, please click the following link provided by the Billy Graham Evangelistic Assoc.:  https://peacewithgod.net/steps-to-peace-with-god.

Fellow Christians, in view of the coming judgment seat of Christ that awaits us, and the great white throne judgment that’s ahead for unbelievers, what should be our attitude and our focus?

I personally believe that the judgment seat of Christ should be a source of rejoicing and encouragement among believers.  The Syriac expression, “maranatha” (“our Lord comes”) was used as a greeting in the early church. When believers gathered or parted, they didn’t say “hello” or “goodbye”, but “maranatha”.  It was the Christian “aloha”.  If we Christians had that same upward look and perspective today, it would add to our joy and anticipation in the midst of the struggles we face each day.  Let’s use the coming rapture as a means of encouraging one another.   The “day is drawing near” (Hebrews 10:24-25). The judgment seat of Christ is also a reminder that, as God’s children, we are stewards of our lives, and of all that God has entrusted to us. (I Thessalonians 4:1; I Peter 4:10-11; I John 2:28; 3:3).

Brethren in Christ, don’t forget to think about and reflect upon the great white throne judgment in Revelation 20.  There is a sense in which it applies to us.  God is a holy God.  Therefore He hates sin and pours out His wrath on guilty sinners.  Look through the Old Testament.  You’ll see it everywhere because His people kept turning away from Him.  God hasn’t changed.  He is still a holy God.  To satisfy His holiness, He poured out His wrath for sin on His Son.  When we repented and turned to Christ as our Lord and Savior, the judgment of God was taken away and we were declared innocent.  That “turning” on our part was probably in answer to the prayers and the witness of many people.

Do you have a clear, biblical understanding of the holiness of God, the wrath of God, the great white throne judgment, and eternal condemnation in the lake of fire?  If you do, it should cause you to tremble and shutter when you think of those close to you and around you who are facing eternal condemnation.  They need your sincere prayers and witness.  In Romans 10:1 the apostle Paul said, “Brethren, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they might be saved.”  In II Corinthians 5:20 he says, “We beg you (implore you, plead with you) on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God”.  May God increase our burden to pray for the lost, and may He empower our witness as we plead with them to be reconciled to God and escape His wrath through the shed blood of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ.  May we be ready and eager to see the Lord Jesus when He comes, and our work on this earth is over.  Until then, there is much work to be done for the Kingdom of God.

CONSTRUCTION SITE:  COMPLETED 

Welcome to this completed construction site:  John 5:26-29.  Thanks for visiting.  Maranatha!

 

 

 

THERE’S A LAW AGAINST IT – John 5:10-14

John 5, John 5:10-14

INTRODUCTION:

A man is walking down the street one day with a smile on his face, a gleam in his eyes, and a spring in his step.  Suddenly he is stopped by several policemen and a conversation ensues.

“Where are you going?”
“I’m going home.”
“What’s that under your arm?”
“It’s my lounge chair.”
“What are you doing with that?”
“I’m taking it home.”
“How much does it weigh?”
“I don’t know.”
“Don’t you know it’s against the law to carry one of those on Saturdays?”
“I was told to do so.”
“Who told you?”
“I don’t know.”

By now you’re either confused, amused, or both.  This imaginary conversation doesn’t seem to be making any sense, does it?.  It’s also spoiling the moment for this happy traveler!  He was minding his own business and now he’s accused of breaking the law!

I mean no disrespect for policemen and other law-enforcement agencies and personnel.  They do a valuable service by protecting the rights of our citizens and upholding the laws of our country.  My purpose is to focus our attention upon a group of self-appointed “policemen” in this passage of Scripture.  These public spokesmen had their own version of God’s laws, and they were trying to “enforce” them, or force them upon the nation of Israel, making life miserable for everyone except themselves.  We will see how they try to turn this amazing miracle into an act of civil disobedience, and expose the Miracle Worker as being a Criminal.

I.  DATE AND TIME OF INCIDENT (verse 9)

Verse 9 of John’s Gospel, chapter 5, ends with these words:  “Now it was the Sabbath on that day.”  I purposely left that sentence out of my previous sermon because I didn’t want to take the focus away from the Lord Jesus and the miracle He performed at the pool at Bethesda.  A man who had been an invalid for 38 years was told by Jesus, “Arise!  Take up your pallet, and walk.”  The man gladly obeyed.  This incident occurred on the Sabbath day, probably in the late morning or the early afternoon.  We don’t know for sure.  There may have been a hundred or more people at that pool who witnessed the miracle.  Most, if not all of those witnesses, were invalids like himself.

II.  THE ACCUSATION (verse 10)

Verse 10 reads, “Therefore the Jews were saying to him who was cured, ‘It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet’.”  The Sabbath – that’s going to be a major arena of controversy between the Lord Jesus and the Jewish leaders because this is the first of several miracles performed by Jesus on the Sabbath day.   In John 9:1-12 Jesus healed the blind man.  In Luke 4:31-37 He cast the demons out of the demoniac, and in Matthew 12:9-14 He healed the man with the withered hand.  All three of these miracles were performed by the Lord Jesus on the Sabbath day.

Before we go any further, we need to have a clear understanding of the “Sabbath-day laws” that the Jewish leaders have been adding to God’s Sabbath law over a period of hundreds of years.  These laws were part of the 613 laws that the Jewish leaders had put together as interpretations of the laws God gave to Moses.  But the process of making interpretations and stipulations didn’t end there.  By the time of the ministry of the Lord Jesus on this earth, those 613 laws had become 613 categories of laws as more interpretations were still being added to each category.  I don’t know how they kept track of them all!

The category of bearing burdens on the Sabbath was a result of their misinterpretations of Exodus 20 and 23, as well as Jeremiah 17:19-27 and Nehemiah 13:15-19.  The original intent of those passages of Scripture was the prohibition against  the carrying of heavy burdens on the Sabbath for the purpose of doing business on that day.  Let me give you some examples of just how far they drifted from the intent of Scripture.  What constituted a burden in their minds?   According to their laws, you could not wear false teeth or an artificial limb on the Sabbath, nor could you wear shoes or sandals that had nails in them.  You couldn’t carry a needle in your robe, nor wear jewelry.  All of those things were considered “burdens”, and those are just a few examples.

Let’s look again at the wording used by the Jewish leaders in verse 10:  “It is the Sabbath; and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.”  Did you notice their wording?  They said, “It’s not permissible”.  They didn’t say “God forbids you”, because He doesn’t.  They didn’t say, “It’s against God’s Law”, because it isn’t.  They could not show this man any Scriptures that specifically prohibited his activity.  What these leaders are saying is :  “We forbid this activity; it is not permissible in our sight because it is a violation of our laws.”

This legalism concerning the Sabbath observance wasn’t just limited to the Jewish Rabbis at that period in time.  There are many cases, even in this day and age, when people have gone beyond the teaching of the Scriptures concerning the Sabbath, and have tried to impose their beliefs onto others.

There is a true story about a minister who was a Sunday guest in a home in Scotland.  It was a very warm day and he suggested opening a window to get some fresh air.  The hostess eyed him sternly and said, “Mon, dinna ye know that ye can have no fresh air in this house on the Sabbath?”  No fresh air was her rule for keeping the Sabbath Day.

The following illustration may be closer to home.  The story is told of a pastor who found the roads blocked one Sunday morning and was forced to skate on the river to get to church, which he did.  When he arrived the elders of the church were horrified that their preacher had skated on the Lord’s day.  After the service, they held a meeting where the pastor explained that it was either skate to church or not go at all.  Finally, one elder asked, “Did you enjoy it?”  When the preacher answered, “No,” the board decided it was all right.  In this case, doing “enjoyable work” was forbidden on the Lord’s day. (Today in the Word, December, 1989).

II.  THE ALIBI (verse 11)

The healed man’s answer to his accusers shows good reasoning on his part.  But he answered them, “He who made me well was the one who said to me, ‘Take up your pallet and walk.’ “  The Man who gave such an “impossible” command, and then gave him the power to fulfill it, was certainly Someone to be obeyed.  Jesus’ authority was superior to theirs in his mind.  I doubt that he even thought about their “Sabbath laws” in his amazement and exuberance. Jesus gave him the command and the impossible became a reality.  He was now a new person physically.  May that also be our attitude as well.  “I do what God says because He says so”.  It’s as simple as that!  He is worthy of my obedience because of Who He is. 

III.  THE SUPPORTING EVIDENCE (verses 12-13)

The man’s alibi wasn’t sufficient to satisfy the Jewish leaders.  They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your pallet and walk’?”  They are not asking that question so that they might meet Him and worship Him.  Quite the contrary!  They consider the perpetrator of this miracle to be guilty of the greater crime, and deserving of even greater punishment.  In their minds there was no excuse for His behavior.  Not even a miracle from God could supersede their laws, and they didn’t even want to know the details of the miracle.  Evidence was not important in this case of theirs.

Verse 13 says, “But he who was healed did not know who it was; for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place.”  I don’t find it surprising that this former-invalid didn’t know the name of the Person who healed him.  It was still early in Jesus’ public ministry, and since this man had spent most of his life laying next to the pool of Bethesda, he probably didn’t hear very much news from the “outside world”.  It appears that this was the first and only appearance of the Lord Jesus at the pool of Bethesda.  Not only that, but Jesus made a quick getaway after performing that miracle, disappearing into the crowd of people that had gathered around them.   The Greek word literally means “to dodge”.  You might say He “quietly made His way through the traffic in order to dodge any stones that might be thrown in His direction”! This was not yet the time or place for the Lord Jesus to have a major confrontation with the Jewish leaders.

IV.  THE HEALED MAN REVISITED (verses 14)

When the commotion was over, we read in verse 14:  “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, ‘Behold, you have become well;  do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse may befall you.’ ”  After dropping off his pallet at home, this man went immediately to the temple to praise God for what He had done, and possibly to offer a grain offering of thanksgiving as well.  This is where the Lord Jesus finds him, and admonishes him not to sin anymore.  Thirty-eight years earlier, this man must have committed a sin in his youth that resulted in his weak and helpless condition.  The fact that he had been healed of the consequences of his sin did not give him the right or permission to engage in such behavior again.  I think this was the intent of Jesus’ admonition and I hope the man learned his lesson.

This passage of Scripture doesn’t tell us whether or not this man believed in the Lord Jesus Christ as his Messiah.  There is no indication that he worshiped Christ or followed Him.  However, I don’t think it’s fair to conclude that he didn’t do so.  Every step he took and every move he made was a reminder of who Jesus was and what He had done for him.  The Bible doesn’t record everything that happens in the lives of the people mentioned in it.  I prefer to believe that this man became a changed man on the inside as well, and that his life and his words became a testimony for Christ to others around him.

CONCLUSION AND APPLICATION:

This incident isn’t over yet.  In the next message, the Jews are going to be interrogating Jesus and we’ll be studying part of His response to them.  From the passage of Scripture that we’ve just studied, I’ve derived four principles.

1.  God’s grace and power can only begin to become effective in our lives at the point when we acknowledge our own helplessness and look only to Him in obedient faith.

2.  The love, mercy, and generosity of God are not an excuse for sin, but rather a motive for grateful obedience

3.  God’s purpose was not to enslave man but to free him.  In Mark 2:27 Jesus said, “the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath.”  Rest on the Sabbath day meant rest from work in order to be refreshed and have time for worship and fellowship with other believers.  It also did not rule out acts of kindness and mercy to others in need.

4.  My standards, if they go beyond the teachings of Scripture, should not go any further than myself.  Legalism consists, not in having standards which exceed the bounds of the Scriptures, but of considering these personal standards as being equal to Scripture, and trying to impose them on others.

May this study help you to understand and deal with the forces of legalism around us today.  I believe that the only cure for legalism is a humble heart and a correct understanding and application of God’s Word.  So please stay in God’s Word and make it your only guide for living.

If you would like to watch a well-enacted video of the healing at Bethesda as well as the rest of John 5, click the following link below.

 

 

THE HEALING AT BETHESDA – John 5:1-9

Bible sermons, John 5:1-9

INTRODUCTION:

In his book, Man’s Search for Meaning, Victor Frankl argued that the “loss of hope and courage can have a deadly effect on man.”  As a result of his experiences in a Nazi concentration camp, Frankl contended that when a man no longer possesses a motive for living and has no future to look forward to, he curls up in a corner and dies.

In 1965, James B. Stockdale became one of the first American pilots to be shot down during the Vietnam War.  He was captured by the Viet Cong, and spent seven years as a prisoner of war.  During that period of time, he was frequently tortured in an attempt to break him and get him to denounce the U.S. involvement in the war.  He was chained for days at a time with his hands above his head so that he could not even swat the mosquitoes.  Today, he still cannot bend his left knee and walks with a severe limp from having his leg broken by his captors and never reset.  One of the worst things done to him was that he was held in isolation away from the other American P.O.W.s and allowed to see only his guards and interrogators.

How could anyone survive such treatment?  As he looks back on that time, Stockdale says that it was his hope that kept him alive – the hope of one day going home; that each day could be the day of his release.  Without hope, he knew that he would die in hopelessness, as others had done.

In this passage of Scripture, John 5:1-9, we will see the description of a man whose life seems hopeless.  Then he has an encounter with the Lord Jesus Christ and everything changes.

I.  THE SETTING (verses 1-2)

Verse 1 says, “After these things there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem”  We don’t know for sure what feast this was.  The Jews living a day’s journey from Jerusalem were required to observe three feasts a year:  Passover, Tabernacles, and Pentecost, so it was probably one of these three feasts.  Notice also that Jesus is mentioned by name but His disciples are not mentioned in this verse, nor in this passage of Scripture we are studying.  It appears that Jesus went to the feast alone.  Once again, we do not know for sure.  But we know from what follows that the Father had another appointment for the Lord Jesus to keep, and this appointment was near the Temple area in Jerusalem.

Verse 2 describes that location in some detail.  “Now there is in Jerusalem by the sheep gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes.”   From his description, the apostle John is telling us that the pool at Bethesda is going to be Jesus’ first stop in Jerusalem.  As we shall see, this pool is not a place that healthy people would normally visit.  Bethesda means “house of mercy”, but some manuscripts use the name Beth-Zatha which means “house of the olive”.  This pool is located by the sheep gate.  That gate is only mentioned four times in the Bible:  here, and three times in the book of Nehemiah (3:1; 3:32; and 12:13).  It is a gate near the temple area which is used to bring sheep and oxen to the temple as sacrifices during the temple services.  Commentator William Barclay gives a helpful explanation for the pool of water at Bethesda.  “The word for pool is kolumbethron, which comes from the verb kolumban, to dive.  The pool was deep enough to swim in.”  The five porticoes were porches that were probably covered, providing some protection from the sun or the rain.  This is the only place in the Bible where the word Bethesda (Beth-Zatha) occurs.

II.  THE ENCOUNTER (verse 3)

Verse 3 describes what Jesus sees as He enters the pool area and gets a panoramic view of the five porticoes:  “In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered [waiting for the moving of the waters.].”  The place was crowded with people, and they were people who were limited in their mobility and were probably not able to take care of themselves.  Family and friends probably carried them to these porticoes or helped them to get there.  You’ve probably heard the saying “Misery likes company”, and maybe you’ve used those words yourself in appropriate situations with various shades of meaning.  The phrase has been around for many centuries.  A translation of the words of 14th-century historian Dominici de Gravina reads:  “It is a comfort to the unfortunate to have had companions in woe.”  Having other people to converse with, who understand what you are going through because they are going through something similar themselves, can be a real source of comfort and encouragement.  Sometimes the greatest suffering can be emotional and social – the feeling that you are alone in your suffering; that no one else understands or cares.  As John Stockdale said in my introduction, that one of the worst things that happened to him as a P.O.W. was being isolated from the other Americans.

The apostle John says that the sick people were “waiting for the moving of the waters”.  What do those words mean?  Historians have remarked about a spring underneath this pool, and excavations have verified John’s words.  It was an “intermittent spring” that would occasionally force hot water up between the rocks at the bottom of the pool.  When this happened, the surface of the water would become agitated and bubbles would appear.  That’s what the disabled people lying on the porticoes were watching for and waiting to see.

III.  THE POPULAR OPINION (verse 4)

The explanation of the moving of the waters is given in verse 4 as the popular opinion of the people.  “for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted.]

It was not unusual for the Jewish people of that time to attribute such occurrences to the ministry of angels.  In the Old Testament, angels are mentioned as protectors of the nation of Israel against oppressors, and as the ones God used to supply the physical needs of the prophets.  When the nation of Israel turned away from the true God to worship false gods, many of those religions of the other nations believed that every body of water had its own spirit that protected it.  So it became customary and popular for the people to attribute to angels or spirit beings any natural occurrences that they did not understand or could not explain.  Many bibles show brackets from the second half of verse three and continuing to the end of verse four.  This was done to indicate that the information within the brackets is missing from some of the oldest manuscripts.

IV.  THE WORST CASE SCENARIO (verse 5)

In verse 5, the apostle John gives us the worst case-scenario.  “And a certain man was there, who had been thirty-eight years in his sickness.”  We don’t know when this illness began in his life; we are only told how long he has been afflicted with it.  Thirty-eight years – that’s half a lifetime!  If anyone there would be considered a “hopeless case”, it was he.  We also don’t know the diagnosis, only that he had no strength in his body and was incapacitated.  Little does he know that he is going to become the focus of Jesus’ attention.  In the midst of that crowd of ailing people, Jesus is going to be talking to him personally.”

V.  THE QUESTION (verse 6)

In verse 6, we see the situation from Jesus’ perspective.  “When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, He said to him, ‘Do you wish to get well?’ “   Does that sound like an odd question to you?  It did to me at first.  The Lord Jesus’ question reveals to us something about what Jesus knows and what He doesn’t know.  While Jesus was here on this earth, He was not all-knowing.  When He became a man, He became like us in all things except sin (Philippians 2:5-8; John 8:46, Hebrews 7:26).  His knowledge consisted of what He learned from experience and study, plus what the Father revealed to Him.  So in this case, He was not given an understanding of this person’s thoughts and emotions.  He did not know whether this person wanted to be healed or not.  The ailing person knows that what Jesus is asking by the question, “Do you want to be healed”  is “Do you still believe that you can be healed, or have you given up all hope of ever being healed?”  Does he have the faith needed to be healed or has he closed the door of his heart to such a possibility?  If his answer reveals that his faith and hope are completely gone, there would be no reason to pursue the conversation any further.

VI.  THE RESPONSE (verse 7)

The man gives Jesus the answer He hopes to hear, but he does so in an indirect way.  He’s saying, “I’m helpless, but I’m not hopeless.”  He didn’t need hope; he needed help.  I think this man is also giving Jesus a hint  concerning his unspoken request:  “Would you be willing to help me into the water the next time the ‘stirring’ occurs?”  Since Jesus asked him the question, would He be willing to be part of the answer?  Little does he know that he’s talking to the Son of God!  The answer to his “long-suffered problem” is just a few words away!

VII.  THE HEALING (verses 8-9)

To his surprise, a command is given to him by Jesus, and he responds by faith.  A miracle happens!  “Jesus said to him, ‘Arise, take up your pallet, and walk’.  And immediately the man became well, and took up his pallet and began to walk.”   There were actually three commands given by Jesus:  “arise”, “take up your pallet”, and “walk”.  All three of those commands were fulfilled when the man obeyed.  It became obvious to him and everyone around him that this was no “adrenalin rush”, nor “power surge”, but a complete and total healing.  Muscles, tendons, and ligaments were restored; joints lubricated, circulation restored, nerves reconnected to the brain, and the ability to walk while carrying his pallet – all done instantly without any physical therapy or re-learning.  All the effects and side-effects of his long illness were removed at once.  Amazing!  And I’m sure I missed many other physiological and neurological events that happened at that moment in time.  When the Lord Jesus gives commands, He also gives the enablement to carry out those commands.  As the Son of God, Jesus has the power and authority to instantly heal body, soul, and spirit.

When the Lord Jesus gave the command, did this disabled man feel the strength in his body before he chose in his heart to obey and make the effort to get up?  It doesn’t say.  I prefer to believe that faith came first – faith that this Man had the power to fulfill His command.  As the ailing man believed, made up his mind to obey, and began to act in obedience to Christ, the strength and healing came to him to enable him to fulfill Christ’s command.  This man who had not been able to do anything for himself for thirty-eight years was instantly able to do everything that a healthy man could do!

CONCLUSION:

Do you want to be healed?  Do you wish to get well?  Are you suffering from a spiritual illness that has no natural cure?  Do you feel like you don’t have the strength to go on because your life is empty and meaningless?  Have you become fatalistic or are you still desperately looking for answers?

Do you believe in miracles?  It will take a miracle to change your spiritual condition, heal you, and make you a new person.  Do you want to be healed?  If not, there will be no miracle in your case.  The only cure for your spiritual condition is a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.  The Lord Jesus Christ is asking you to believe that He is the Son of God, the God-Man; to take that first step of obedience by repenting of your sin and turning your life over to His control and power to change your life.  Only then will the miracle occur.  As II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come.”  You will become a new person with a new spiritual life that will affect every other part of your life. 

Do you wish to get well?  Have you come to the conclusion that you are, at times, a weak, faltering Christian?  What are you struggling with in your life?  Could it be pride, anger, lust, dishonesty, foul language, smoking, drinking to excess, or something else?  The temptations are always there.  Are you often discouraged because of these temptations and sins?

The following is an imaginary story that illustrates our dilemma and struggle, as Christians:

The devil decided to have a garage sale.  On the day of the sale, his tools were displayed for public inspection, each being marked with its sale price.  There were a treacherous lot of implements:  hatred, envy, jealousy, deceit, lust, lying, pride, and so on.  Set apart from the rest was a harmless-looking tool.  It was quite worn and yet priced very high.
“What is the name of this tool?” asked one of the customers, pointing to it.
“That is discouragement,” Satan replied.
“Why have you priced it so high?”
“Because it is more useful to me than the others.  I can pry open and get inside a man’s heart with that, even when I cannot get near him with the other tools.  It is badly worn because I use it on almost everyone, since so few people know that it belongs to me.”
It is still his favorite tool today, and he continues to use it on God’s people.  But be encouraged!  God’s miracles are much greater and more powerful than any of his tools!  May you find in the Lord Jesus Christ the hope, the strength, and the encouragement that only He can give.   May each day of your life be a miracle that others can observe as you joyfully walk by faith and in obedience to Him.

A friend recently sent me a true story taken from Joni Eareckson Tada’s book, Beyond Suffering:

Dorothy Williams was a British missionary who served in West Africa during the 1930’s.  She was a nurse from Wales who spent her time on the mission field training African nurses.  Dorothy was very frail, and her mission board back home didn’t expect her to last more than a year or two working in Africa.  But with God’s help, she amazed the board by serving many years, refusing to be discouraged by her limitations.  This inspired the young African nurses under her charge who were often disheartened by their own poverty and lack of resources.

One day a nurse was carrying a tray of surgical instruments, and Dorothy noticed a sad look in her student’s eyes.  “Oh, Mum, I am feeling much afraid today,” the young woman shared.  “Dearie, look at those shiny instruments on your tray,” Dorothy said, picking up the sharpest one.  “The devil has a tray of instruments too, and the shiniest and sharpest is his tool of discouragement – it’s sharp because he uses it so often.”  The student nurse smiled, blushed, and then went on her way with fresh resolve.

Ezra 4:4-5 describes the devil’s strategy against God’s people.  It is “to discourage and frighten people , , , to work against them and to frustrate their plans.”  Do not be fearful, for the Bible repeats the phrase, “Do not be afraid,” 112 times.  And Dorothy would add, “Don’t be discouraged.”  You have your own shiny, sharp tool:  The Word of God (Hebrews 4:12).  Keep it sharp and use it often against your adversary!

CONSTRUCTION SITE (Completed)

If you would like to watch a visual enactment of this passage of Scripture, please click the following Youtube site, and the link that appears below it, and you will see a clip from the movie, “The Gospel of John”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A80dp-ap708 

Please view other completed sites while you’re here.  There are over 110 completed sermons on this website.  The work goes on!  There’s always work to do when you’re studying God’s Word.  It’s a never-ending gold mine of truth and wisdom, revealing to us the character and purposes of God!