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John | Chapter 5

c. 5:1-47 New freedom

John 5:1-16

“Take up your bed and walk”

I. Intro.

II. Vs. 1-9 Steps of transformation

III. Vs. 10-16 Lifted burdens


Intro.

In a 2001 “Sports Illustrated” article titled “The greatest come backs of all time” the author discussed what he considered the “Greatest Comeback” surprising his readers he mentioned his number one comeback of all time as the “resurrection of Jesus Christ”. That being so the miracles of countless hearts that trust in Him are right next it, one of which we will look at this morning. This is the third sign that demonstrate how a person is saved.

1. The first (water to wine) shows that salvation is through the Word of God.

2. The second (healing the nobleman’s son) shows that salvation is by faith.

3. This third miracle demonstrates that salvation is by grace.

How does this story demonstrate salvation is by grace? Well most commentaries favor this feast being Pentecost, now we associate this feast with the Holy Spirit and His empowerment of believers but that is not what the feast meant to the Jews to them it was the celebration of the giving of the law. Now if that is the case it suggests to us that Jesus choose the time in which Jews celebrated the giving and keeping of the Law to heal this man. Yet Jesus, as we shall see, does so apart from this man keeping the law.


Vs. 1-9 Steps of transformation

Vs. 1-2 We are told that the location of this miracle took place at the pool of Bethesda located near the sheep gate and that this pool had five porches. John is very descriptive here isn’t he? The name “Bethesda” means “House of Mercy” and this house of mercy hade five porches or covered decks and they symbolized the first five books of the bible called the Law. So you see the way this was laid out the Law covered mercy. Now hear me out as we Christians don’t associate Pentecost with the celebration of the giving of the Law we associate it with the giving of the Spirit, don’t we? Of further interest is the fact that we are told here in verse 5 that this man had an infirmity for 38 years and based upon Jesus words in verse 14 the cause of inability to stand or walk was because of sin. Now of historical interest is that the Jews wondered in the wilderness for 38 years before they came into the land of promise (Deut. 2:14).

Do you see what I’m seeing here? How like people today as they think, “If I can just keep God’s perfect law, I’ll be saved” but nobody is able to do so. Here is a man who came on the day in which the Jews celebrated the Law to the pool of mercy covered by the Law and waited for a stirring in the water of mercy but could not get into the pool. And isn’t until the Spirit of God illuminates the Word of God that Mercy of God transforms a life. And this all take place by sheep gate where the lambs were brought in for sacrifice of sins. “Who ever stepped in first”, that is what religion emphasizes doesn’t it, “Be first, try harder, fight your way to the front, God helps those that help themselves”. But Jesus said in Mark 10:31 “But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Jesus saw a multitude of sick people but He chose only one man and healed him! This man was no more deserving than the others, but God chose him. This is a beautiful picture of salvation, and how it ought to humble us to know that we are chosen “in Him” and not because of our own merits but because of His grace (Eph. 1:4).

Vs. 3-4 There are those who get all “stirred up” with the phrase saying that “an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water” but that is what it says. Apparently this fellow had spent quite a few years by this pool as he says in verse 7 as numerous times he had tried to get down to the water but other step down before him. 

Notice that this man didn’t seek a savior the Savior sought him. There are so many who think if only I had someone help me into the pool then I’d have a “swimming chance” but Jesus doesn’t want to help you into the pool but away from the pool of religion altogether. This man didn’t need help; he needs healing! He didn’t heal everyone at the pool that day nor did he wait until just he on this hopeless and helpless man was alone instead while others waited and jostled for the opportunity to be first Jesus went to the man who wouldn’t be first, couldn’t be first (versed 7). There are events my friend that even desperation won’t be enough to get you placed into “stirred waters”. Your legs won’t carry you and others are quicker to the pool and 38 years has come and gone yet you come to the pool to get relief. Long ago this fellow’s friends and family had stopped asking if he got into the water that day, instead they most likely wondered why he continued to go. Perhaps he went now out of habit not hope he had become addicted to the pursuit and not the cure. Oh friends there are a lot of folks like this today who have built their whole lives around the routine and have long ago forgotten why they are the way they are. But Jesus saw him there, oh my how glorious is this revelation today, that Jesus sees us where we are crippled by the waters edge.

Vs. 5-6  Notice the way this is worded here “When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, “Do you want to be made well?” That seems like an obvious question does it not? There are some who have not reached the place of helpless yet, they’re not ready to give up on human efforts to solve their problems. They are still determined to get into the water when it is stirred and to those folks Jesus can do nothing for them. And even after having an infirmity “feebleness” for 38 years he was come to these pools hoping for strength. People can become quite comfortable in their afflictions as it affords them a lifestyle that reasons away responsibility. As strange as it sounds people don’t always want out of their present circumstances opting rather for a “comfortable prison cell”.  

Notice Jesus wasn’t interested in helping the man be first in the pool, no His interest was in getting in out of the competition altogether. Jesus spoke to this man only three times and very direct but in so doing He outlines the keys to personal transformation as three things must change in the disfigured human heart.

  1. Vs. 6 Desire “Do you want to be made well”: Not “will you” or “would you like”, but “Do you” what’s the difference you ask? Well “will you or would you” implies that Jesus would be asking this man to make a “DECISION” but when He said “do you” Jesus is not asking him to make a choice He is questioning him if he has the “DESIRE”. That’s a great question to ask folks because a lot folks can’t make the right decision because they haven’t addressed whether or not they desire change.
  2. Vs. 8 Direction “Rise, take up your bed and walk”: Then came Jesus’ threefold command, command not a suggestion. What did Jesus say to those who have tried and failed time and time again? “Rise, take up your bed and walk.” Notice that Jesus didn’t say, “Oh hang in there keep coming one day you will get there”. Neither did he say, “Oh let me help you into the water my friend” or “Not to worry friend you will get use to it to your condition one day!”   
  1. Rise: Jesus asks the impossible. Do what you can not do because I tell you to do it. Jesus tells this man to do what he couldn’t do, hadn’t done for 38 years. Is this not a cruel thing to say to a man who for 38 years hadn’t stood? He asked him to do the impossible and the question that needs to be asked is “When does the impossible become possible?” And the answer to that question is when it is no longer I who do it. Do you understand what I’m saying to you this morning? When you and I transfer our trust, our faith from ourselves to Jesus the impossible becomes possible. We will continue to be feeble in our faith, in our walk as long as we continue to try to stand in our own strength. Ah but when we have given up standing in our strength and trust His strength we will raise.  Many miss this fact when they are looking for help from God as there is always something God tells them to believe, do, or act on. Jesus does not say, “Well friend you need to work on some leg strengthening exercises, then vision yourself walking” No instead He says, “Transfer your trust, to Me and I’ll do the rest”.  Obviously it was Jesus’ will that this man should do what he told him to do, and the moment the man’s will agreed with the Lord’s will the power was there. I do not know whether he felt anything or not. All I know is that strength came into his bones and into his muscles and he could stand. He knew he could stand, and he did.
  2.  Take up you bed: Jesus removed the possibility to relapse. Take away any crutch you may have to go back to your former life. Notice that Jesus said “Take up your bed”, why did He tell him that? G. Campbell Morgan put it this way, “In order to make no provision for a relapse.” Don’t miss this as there are a great many people who have risen from the things that crippled their lives, they have trusted the Lord but they thought to themselves “I’d better leave my bed, I may need it if this doesn’t work.” Jesus said, “Take up your bed. Get rid of it; don’t leave it there.” Paul wrote to the Romans in 13:14 to “put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts.” That’s the idea here making no provision to go back on what you have trusted Jesus to transform. Get rid of the alcohol, drugs, porn! These are bridges that need to be burned so that you will cut off any possibility of going back. Friends the enemy has ripped off far too many people who was really touched by God, delivered from some inner attitude, a bitter spirit but then allowed the past to come back in and they find themselves back where they were.
  3. And walk: Jesus expected continual success. “Keep going by putting one foot in front of the other and repeating those steps in the right direction.” Don’t expect to be carried your going to have to walk. Friends, Jesus has the power to cause you to rise then He has the power to cause you to walk. Far too many folks trust Jesus to cause them to rise but then don’t want to learn to walk. Paul wrote to the Galatians in 5:16 “I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh.” Its key my friend that you begin to put one foot in front of the other by trusting the Lord.  

Hey Christian have you ever felt like that spiritually? Weak, unable to stand or walk like others of the faith? I think there will be times friends where we need a stirring in our hearts but we haven’t moved for 38 years. Don’t settle for anything else friend but a full emersion into His presence. Sometimes our inability to grow may be because of some habit that has weakened you, and your heart wants to let go of it but you just haven’t been able to become victorious. Now verse 9 tells us that this man at once followed those three things, man I love that he was transformed as he trusted and followed the Lord. And I just wonder how many there are too day waiting for a move of the Lord in their lives but aren’t willing to trust and obey?


Vs. 10-16 Lifted burdens

Vs. 10-13 Here we are given the response of the religious leaders to this mans healing. It is important to realize that this was not a violation of the Law but rather a violation of how the scribes had interpreted the law about work on the Sabbath. The rabbis had carefully studied the regulation and had come up with 39 different ways by which the Sabbath could be violated by work one of which was carrying any kind of a load on the Sabbath. So the man replied that his carrying his bed was in obedience to Jesus’ words. That is when they showed their real motive behind their confrontation by asking him, “Who is the Man”. And all they heard was “What somebody healed on the Sabbath”. These guys were concerned about the letter of the law but at the expense of the mercy of God. This fellow could have been in real trouble as the penalty could have been death by stoning. “I’ve been crippled for 38 years and now I can walk and you tell me I picked the wrong day to do it?” All these religious leaders can see is the burden this man was carrying but they can not see the greater burden that God had lifted of this man. 

Notice that it says that “Jesus found him in the temple”, why the temple? Well because the law required that the person healed go into the temple to give thanks and that is where Jesus found him. Isn’t that great the minute this new believer got in trouble Jesus is there to help him out? Notice the way Jesus addresses him “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.” He didn’t shake His finger at him saying you better never sin again or you will lose your healing. No He said, “You’ve been made whole, don’t go backward go forward”. We are not told what had caused this man to lie crippled for 38 years but we are told that it had to do with sin. Now not all illness is caused by something we personally have done but all illness is a result of sin in as much as it is because of the fall of man. Hey saints that will be the case if we don’t guard our hearts against sin as a worse sin will befall us. Jesus work on the cross has cleansed us from our sin it has removed the penalty do us but it doesn’t remove the what will happen if we go back and continue in our old ways. That brings us to the third step in our transformation a change in our:

c. Vs. 14 Destination “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you”. This fellow had remained in this condition as a result of arriving at the same destination through consistent habitual sin so Jesus warned him to change his destination or his condition may become permanent, he was in the temple praising God, thanking God that was the right destination so keep coming there not anywhere else. Notice that Jesus finds this fellow in the temple, he went to worship he hadn’t been in church for 38 years and that is the first place he goes so he can worship God thank God for his life. And that is where Jesus meets him in a place of worship and thanksgiving. That is why Jesus warns him saying, “Hey, your in the right place you’ve been made whole and you are now able to do what you were designed to do, so keep walking this way other wise you will end up worse then when you were.”

The religious leaders, ignored the man with the right “desire”, ignored the man going the right “direction” ignored the man arriving at the right “destination” and their only concern was that he had done so the way they wanted he broke their rules. It is clear that this fellow tries to get them to focus upon the miracle of his transformation but they only heard that a “man had told him to do so”. The fact that this man who had been lame for 38 years doesn’t excite these religious leaders only that it had happened on the Sabbath. And these religious folks won’t be satisfied until they have Jesus crucified on the Sabbath which was a violation of the Sabbath. 

Here is a guy who has been lame for 38 years and for all those years he hasn’t been in church he has stayed trapped in the consequences of his own habitual sin and now he is walking and productive and all the religious folks care about is that he is going against their customs. Oh how many times well meaning Christians and Church leaders have failed to rejoice in lame folks walking because they didn’t do the way they do? These religious leaders had the wrong idea about the Sabbath as they thought the Sabbath meant inactivity but it meant rest from our own activity because we have entered the rest of God’s activity! They were to rest in God’s work the Spirit of God working in conjunction with the Word of God transforming the child of God through the mercy of the Lamb of God’s sacrifice. Oh how you and I need that stirring in our heart!    


John 5:16-30

“Most Assuredly”

I. Intro.

II. Vs. 16-18 Will not slumber

III. Vs. 19-23 Impossible for God

IV. Vs. 24-30 He that wonders shall rein


Intro.

John’s record seems to follow every sign of Jesus with a teaching by Jesus. Last week we saw the impotent man meeting the omnipotent man and the out come was that the impotent man was transformed. His burden had been lifted by Jesus and all the religious leaders could see was that he was lifting a burden on the Sabbath. Their religion had done nothing but keep him by their pool day in and day out waiting for a stirring, waiting for a man to place him further into its depths. Note that friend, what religion couldn’t do in 38 years Jesus did instantly not by helping him into the pool but by removing him altogether, so what are you waiting for? The reason why you see a man carrying his bed on the Sabbath (a healed whole man) is because God will not rest in the presence of human agony even when it is the result of personal sin. God has no rest until every man, woman, boy and girl finds rest in Him, “My Father has been working until now”, Jesus said in verse 17. Our misery has released His mercy our groans His grace our wonderings has caused His workings!


Vs. 16-18 Will not slumber

Vs. 16-18 It is interesting to note that the Jews didn’t prosecute the man who was healed instead they began to persecute Jesus. Chronologically Jesus had healed the demoniac on the Sabbath earlier (Luke 4:31-37) and in the days following the miracle recorded here in John 5, Jesus would stand up for His disciples when they picked grain on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:1-8), followed by His healing of the man’s withered hand on the Sabbath (Matt. 12:9-14). Based upon these four events we see that Jesus deliberately challenged the scribes and Pharisees views of the Sabbath who had taken what God meant for a day of rest for mankind and had transformed it into regulations and restrictions.  

So when they confront Jesus He simply replies that He was doing only what His Father was at that moment doing! There is behind all these words of Jesus a fundamental overriding principal that governed every aspect of Jesus’ life and it has to do with His relationship with the Father. It is the truth of this that ought to cause you and me to ask ourselves, “What is the principal that that governs my life”. It doesn’t have to be evil our unbiblical to cause us to get off target it only has to be something other than our relationship with our Lord. Hey saint’s that is the key to effective ministry to find out what the Father is doing and become involved with what He is doing. It is true personally as well as God is at work in your life and we can either work with Him, yielding our lives to Him or resist Him. That is what Peter said in 1 Peter 1:24-25 “all the glory of man as the flower of the grass. The grass withers, And its flower falls away, But the word of the Lord endures forever.” This verse doesn’t discriminate, it can be religious work, good work in and of it’s self but if it is not God’s work it will wither and fall away. Jesus is saying, “You guy’s go the law and to all that the rabbis added but I go back further to what God is doing, He work’s on the Sabbath and He is merciful and compassionate, since I’m His Son when He works I work.” In Mark 2:27 Jesus said, “The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath.” The truth is God’s Sabbath rest has been broken by man’s sin according to Gen. 3 so ever since the fall of man, God has been seeking lost sinners and saving them. Isn’t great to know that the Godhead doesn’t take holidays or vacations? One version puts it this way, “My Father is working straight through, even on the Sabbath. So am I.” In Psalm 121:3-4 we are told that “He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel Shall neither slumber nor sleep.”

But that is not what upset the Jewish leaders alone instead is was when Jesus said “My Father” instead of the usual “our Father,” by which Jesus claimed equality with God. There are still folks today that claim that Jesus never said He was God but here is yet another clear declaration understood by those present that He was claiming His deity. 

The healing of this man and the reaction that it caused among the religious leaders leads to one of the most amazing self declarations Jesus ever made about Himself. It was that He also said “that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God”. And the next two verses (19-20) serve as His initial reply to their reaction to His statement of being equal with God. These men who had observed a man unable to be functional for 38 years stuck by the pool of religion which emphasized law over the mercy of God, legalism instead liberty and grace. To these hostile religious people Jesus stood up and simply gave them reasons of why what He said was not blasphemous and  He must have known that what He was saying was going to be twisted into charges that will lead to His death. I often wonder which took more power to heal a man who for 38 years was in bondage or to courageously stand up and speak to those who would use your words to kill you.


Vs. 19-23 Impossible for God

Vs. 19-23 From verse 19 to verse 30 we have Jesus’ answer to their criticism concerning His relationship with the Father and amazingly Jesus reinforces the very thing they objected. That’s important you see if Jesus was misunderstood as some claim here would have been a perfect time to correct the misconception but instead of doing so knowing that this would cause these religious people to send Him to His death He plainly tells them that they are not misunderstanding, He doesn’t deny it, no endorses it! There are only two possibilities concerning Jesus claim He is who He claims to be, or He is a liar; and if He is a liar that He can not clearly be a “Good” anything. Clearly Jesus’ followers believed Him to be who He claimed to be and were willing to be put to death proclaiming exactly what Jesus had claimed.

How did Jesus show that He was equal with God? Well Jesus in verses 19-25 will proclaim four ways He is equal to the Father: 

  1. Vs. 19 Life: He was one with His Father in His works, which would make Him one with the father in life. If healing a man on the Sabbath was a sin, then the Father was to blame. The Greek has this “what He sees the Father” in the present tense meaning that Jesus is saying that at the very present moment Jesus saw the Father healing so to the Son. In verse 20 the word “shows” is again in the present tense so it would read “showing”. Do you see what Jesus is saying these religious leaders who took issue with Jesus use of the phrase “My Father”, He is telling them that He is only doing that which He is presently watching the Father do. Jesus declared that He didn’t do anything independent of what the Father was doing He and the Father worked together, doing the same deeds in the same way that is what Jesus will say in chapter 10:30 saying, “I and the Father are One”. Jesus starts this discourse with the angry religious leaders with the words “Most Assuredly” in fact in the 14 verses we will look at He will say it three times. Where ever Jesus used this phrase is was to arrest attention to tell who ever He was speaking with “Pay attention, what I’m about to you is extremely important”. And the first that Jesus tells them about his deity is rather remarkable as He says, “I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself.” That does not seem to fit our concept of God does it, when we think of God we think of unlimited power and the ability to do what ever you want whenever you want but Jesus doesn’t say that. Instead Jesus in His incarnation speaks of submitted power, channeled ability. It is this very point that satan didn’t grasp when he tempted Jesus in the wilderness in Matt. 4:3 “If you are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” Not only does satan tempting Jesus in the area of proof he is also asking Jesus to exercise His power and ability for His own purpose. In this one verse Jesus has answered the question of atheists when they ask “Can God make something so heavy He can not lift it?” The answer is no, for God’s power is never foolish never random displays without purpose or point. You see God’s omnipotence (all powerful) never works outside the realm of His other attributes such as His all knowing and every where present at once. So Jesus is telling these religious leaders that He is God the Son but that doesn’t mean that He is working independent or outside of the Godhead He is working in conjunction with the God head in all wisdom. Mankind (and apparently satan) is mistaken as it relates to God’s power as it is never separated from the rest of His attributes. How thankful I am of this truth as other wise God would have power apart from all wisdom which would be quite dangerous. God’s power is always exercised with His perspective and further more for our benefit. People ask “Is anything impossible for God?”, and answer may surprise you, YES. It is impossible for God to do anything against His nature, such as lie, do wrong, not love, go back on His word, leave us or forsake us! And every situation you and I face must be interpreted through the lens of this truth and not merely His power to accomplish a task. And so Jesus always operated within the frame work of “what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner”.
  2. Vs. 20 Love: In verse 19 Jesus spoke of how God’s power always works in connection too God’s other attributes and never separate from them. Now in verse 20 Jesus tells them that God’s power in operation is not like some lighting storm it is relational and intimate operating through the channel of love. In verse 19 Jesus that what the Father does the Son does and here He says that the “Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He does.” Simply put the revelation of what the Father is doing is never outside of the relation of love. Back to the anger of healing this man afflicted for 38 years Jesus is showing that such a work never violated the law as God’s law was always operates in the relationship of love, it was their interpretation concerning the Sabbath that was outside of God’s will. Jesus words revealed two important things about love:
  3. The love the Father had for the Son: “And shows Him all things that He himself does”. The idea here is that The Father shares His heart only with His Son which shows His unique love for Him. 
  4. That they shared the same love for mankind: “He will show Him even greater works than these, that you may marvel”. This is a reference to the cross and resurrection and by this Jesus is saying that the Fathers passion and Love is His as well. Based upon verse 24-29 Jesus meant more than resuscitating people who were dead like Lazarus He was speaking of those who were spiritually dead that He rose to spiritual life.
  5. Vs. 21-22 Works: Here Jesus tells them that He is equal to the Father is works and He lists two works that were specifically equated to God the Father, life and judgment. 

As far the Jewish leaders were concerned God alone had power to do three things:

  1. Deut. 28:12: “The Lord will open to you His good treasure, the heavens, to give the rain to your land in its season, and to bless all the work of your hand. You shall lend too many nations, but you shall not borrow.” To open the heavens and give rain
  2. Gen. 30:22: “Then God remembered Rachel, and God listened to her and opened her womb.” To open the womb and give conception
  3. Ezek. 37:13: “Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves.” To open the grave and raise the dead

In verse 21 Jesus speaks of what “greater works” He was speaking if in verse 20. That greater work in this man by the pool for 38 years was not causing him to stand and walk but rather it is to be found in the 14th verse where he was found by Jesus in the temple worshipping with a thankful heart. Jesus making this dead man alive was greater than making him who had not stood or walked 38 years move. Then Jesus continues that judgment as been committed to the Son. They were upset over what was done on the Sabbath and in Mark 2:28 Jesus had declared that the “The Son of Man is also Lord of the Sabbath.” So what a person does with Jesus is of greater issue than what they do with the Sabbath. All life belongs to God it is only on loan for a short time with us and all life will give account to Him who created it. Jesus claimed to be equal to God in judgment in verse 22 and according to Gen. 18:25 God was “the Judge of all the earth” and yet Jesus applies this distinction to Himself. In Acts 17:31 we are told “He has appointed a day on which He will judge the world in righteousness by the Man whom He has ordained. He has given assurance of this to all by raising Him from the dead.”

Vs. 23 Therefore based upon His life, Love and works Jesus claimed equality in verse 23 by saying that honoring Him was honoring the Father, “he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him”. If Jesus was not God, then it would be wrong to honor the Son just as we honor the Father but since He is God, if we do not honor the Son, we do not really honor the Father either. In saying this in the Greek Jesus is claiming the same right to be worshipped as they would the Father. There folks today, who say that they believe in God, but deny the deity of Christ and in so doing according to Jesus they do not know the Father because they do not know the Son!


Vs. 24-30 He that wonders shall rein

  1. Vs. 24-27 Words: This is the 2nd time Jesus uses the words “Most Assuredly” it is as though He was saying, “Pay attention to this! What I am about to say is important!” Here Jesus address how a person can be granted eternal life. To the man, woman, boy or girl who “hears his words and believes in Him who sent him,” to the one who is willing to listen to his claims, believe his credentials, and act on that basis, to follow him and be his obedient disciple. Notice Jesus doesn’t say “might” have eternal life but “HAS” in the Greek is in perfect active tense meaning “to pass from one place or state to another permanently”. No doubt, no worry, no years of purgatory working off your sins but immediately and permanently passed by judgment and gone from death to life. Are there any limitation on this? Well Jesus goes on to say in verse 25 that if you have done this and you die no problem death can’t void out the change. Why? Because verse 26 tells us that the New life the Father and Son offer is like Them, Life in themselves. And further more verse 27 Jesus not only has the ability to grant life from death He understands the complications man faces in this life having become man Himself.

Vs. 28 There is one other point to be made in Jesus words here and it is in the words, “that you may marvel”. So then God will operate:

  • In the sphere of the rest of His attributes
  • His revelation will always be in the relationship of love
  • Finally, it will always draw mankind to Himself          

That is what Jesus says here that the outcome will be that those that witness His power will always be a place of “Marvel” (to be at wonder or amazed to the place of worship). Such action of God operating in the world is designed to draw His creation to Him never to repel us. Remember in Luke 19:40 upon his triumphal entry as people were saying Hosanna and the religious leaders were wanting Jesus to make them stop He said, “I tell you that if these should keep silent, the stones would immediately cry out.” That is what God’s power displayed in His attributes, through love will do it will cause us to come to Him to worship. One ancient writer put it this way when he said, “He that wonders shall rein, and he that reigns shall rest.”                  

Jesus speaks of four different resurrections mentioned in verses 24-29 all of which proof Jesus equality in words.  

  1. Vs. 24-25 Where He described the resurrection of lost sinners into eternal life. And how are they raised from the dead? By hearing His Word and obeying His voice.
  2. Vs. 26-27 The second resurrection is the resurrection of Jesus Himself. His life is original, “in Himself” as John already said in 1:4 saying that “In Him was life”.  The grave could not hold Him because He is “the Prince of Life” (Acts 2:24, 3:15). Jesus laid down His life and then took it up again (John 10:17-18). Because of this what a person does with Jesus will be the sole basis of judgment.
  3. Vs. 28-29a The third resurrection named is the future resurrection of life, when believers are raised from the dead. This truth is further explained in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18 and 1 Corinthians 15 and has reference to what Matthew described in 27:52-53 where he said that after His resurrection that, “the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, the graves of many of the saints were opened and they were seen walking in the streets of Jerusalem.”
  4. Vs. 29b The fourth resurrection He mentioned is the resurrection of condemnation. This resurrection involves only the lost, and it will take place just before Jesus Christ ushers in the new heaven and the new earth (Rev. 20:11-15).

Vs. 30 Apparently Jesus these statements must have caused these fellows to drop their jaws in amazement, so He tells them, “That’s nothing for a time is coming when all who are dead and buried will hear My voice.” Jesus is going to empty the cemeteries of the world and some of them are going to spend eternity with Him while others are going to spend eternity apart from all based upon what they have done with Him. The “done good” and “done evil” have to do with what Jesus said in verse 24. There will be no argument, no appeal process, no one to say, “This is just no fair”. As verse 30 tells us that Jesus isn’t judging based upon faulty information or some irrational bias but upon the authority and righteousness of God. Mankind will be a part of one of these two resurrection one to life the other to condemnation our choice we make our own reservations.      


John 5:31-47

“Can I get a witness?”

I. Intro.

II.  Vs. 31-35 The witness of John

III. Vs. 36-38 Works of the Son

IV. Vs. 39-47 Words of the Father


Intro.

In the fifth chapter of John’s gospel Jesus made amazing claims about himself. He claimed to be the Son of God, the One sent by the Father, the Source of all life (physical and spiritual), and the Judge of the entire world the Raiser of the dead, the One who will empty all the cemeteries of the earth. The religious leaders were amazed by these claims. They must have thought, “How do we know he is telling the truth? What evidence does he give?” Knowing their minds and hearts, in this section Jesus will bring forth three witnesses who back up his claims and credentials. The reason for this is that this is what the Law of Moses said in Deut. 19:15, “Out of the mouths of two or three witnesses let every word be established”. Even our Laws today say that there must be witnesses, who will corroborate another’s testimony.

Peter preached in Acts 2:22 saying, “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a Man attested by God to you by miracles, wonders, and signs which God did through Him in your midst, as you yourselves also know” There were clear cut signs that Jesus was who He just said He was but there are some who just won’t hear it. Folks the Word of God reveals Jesus you can’t help but see Him. Several years ago I under took a personal challenge to read through the entire Bible with two aims:

  • To write a brief outline of what every book was about
  • To write how Jesus was visible in that book

It was one of the most rewarding things I have ever done, as every book has His DNA on every page.


Vs. 31-35 The witness of John

Vs. 31-32 The best witness to call up would have been Jesus himself but as He says in verse 31-32 “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.” When Jesus says his testimony is not true, he does not mean it is false; he means it was not true in their eyes, not a valid testimony. In Chapter 8, Jesus will say, “Even if I do bear witness to myself, my testimony is true, for I know whence I have come”. But here He recognizes the fact that in order to be accepted by the general public his testimony must be backed by two or three others.

Vs. 33-34 Jesus declares that all that John said about him is true (verse 33)! Jesus then say’s “You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved.” John is saying, “Jesus came for your sake not mine”. “It is for your sake I call to the stand John the Baptists testimony of Me that you might be saved.” So what did John the Baptist have to say about Jesus?

1. John the Baptist proclaimed four specific things about Jesus:

  1. First, in 1:23 John announced him to be the long-waited Messiah, the One of whom the prophets wrote. He even quoted the word of Isaiah concerning himself, “I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, ‘Make straight the way of the Lord” so John first declared Jesus to be the prophesied coming Lord.
  2. Secondly, John announced to his own disciples in 1:29 that Jesus was to be “the Lamb of God.” So John declares that Jesus is the innocent Substitute who will take our place and taking our sin upon himself and exchanging it with His riches.  
  3. Thirdly, John announced in 1:33 that Jesus was the “Baptizer with the Holy Spirit”  He is the One who will pour out rivers of living water which alone can satisfy the thirst of our hearts.
  4. Fourthly, John in 1:34 declared Jesus to be “the Son of God”. He is the Word made man, God himself, Lord of heaven and earth, become man.

Vs. 35 The use of the word “was” suggests that John’s ministry is over and that he is most likely by this time in prison. Jesus goes on to say a very beautiful thing about John: “He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.” John was a lamp. He was not a light, he was a lamp, a lamp bears the light, but it is not the light itself. He was a witness who told people where they could see, hear and know the light. John was a lamp not the light and when the Son comes into the room you no longer need a candle.   

Initially the religious leaders were excited about John’s ministry but when they saw his popularity soar they became sour and when he got arrested by Herod they did nothing to help. What caused this change in them? Well it was John’s message of repentance and his pointing to Another other than them that caused their anger. Jesus’ validation of the words He had just expressed concerning His deity should have been enough especially when combined with the words of the Father, the testimony of John the Baptist whom they questioned, the works wrought and even the law of Moses spoke on His behalf bit they weren’t wanting to believe. The Father had sent Him, had sent John before Him, had shown that He had sent Jesus by words and works He gave Him to do. There will always be a danger that lurks in Christians hearts concerning “validation” as it relates to God’s calling upon our lives. Most of what gets the applause is outward things: Bill’s and Brow’s! (Bill’s and brows? The dollar bill’s and people in the pews) but God doesn’t just look at those things He sees the inward change of hearts which can’t always be measured by the same indicators. Achievement based validation is a slippery slope that will lead to either pride or depression depending on the numbers. Why not just do what Paul said in 1 Cor. 4:5 “Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God.”

 Hey saints if you would like to be a shining lamp let the Word of God fuel your heart until it begins to burn. Unfortunately people were attracted to this light for a while but then they grew tired of John. John had served his purpose shining light upon dark hearts and many were attracted to the flicker of his flame but it was no long before they became bored with him. They listened for a while and then they went on to other things jogging, dieting, video games, whatever and John became just a passing fad. That is far too common in many people today as Jesus becomes like the items you see at garage sales still new in its original box.


Vs. 36-38 Works of the Son

Vs. 36-38 Jesus comes to the witness whom he felt was the most important in verse 32, “There is another who bears witness of me.” In these words Jesus points out who the “great witness” truly is. The really powerful, corroborating word which backs up the claims of Jesus is from the Father himself. It is a witness which is invisible and universal.

That witness is given in two ways. It was true when our Lord spoke and it is still true today. This is the way the Father backs up the words of Jesus:

  1. Vs. 36 First, through the works Jesus does. Here Jesus is referring to the healing of the impotent man at the pool at Bethesda. The people listening to Jesus had seen this man rise out of weakness and paralysis into strength and functioning again. He was standing right before them so that they could not miss him. “That is a work of the Father in me,” Jesus declares. “The works which the Father has granted me to accomplish, these very works which I am doing, bear me witness that the Father has sent me.”
  2. Vs. 37 Second, Jesus declares there is also another way the Father bears witness. What is this witness which uses no voice and is never seen? Jesus refers to an inner, invisible conviction of the Spirit; that inner witness of the Father that one is listening to truth even though his mind may be denying it. There is an argument that can get behind the mind; this is what Jesus speaks of. Such is the power of God to bear inner witness. When you are reading the Scriptures, listening to the voice of Jesus, you are not just playing games or dealing with some religious ideas. This is total reality; it is where the whole of life is explained and the answers are found. Now there are three ways in which the Father bares witness of Jesus.
  1. Vs. 36 There was an indirect witness through every work and word: These are the works are the works the Father has given Him to finish. As Jesus had already said He did what He currently saw the Father do. In John 10:37-38 Jesus said “If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him”. The Jews looked for a powerful Messiah, but they didn’t see Jesus as Messiah because He expressed His power through works of compassion, mercy and grace. Did you know that there are over 108 specific prophecies in the Old testament fulfilled by Jesus in the New testament (91 of those are found in the gospels: Matt. 39, Mark 6, Luke 20, and John 26)? In 2 Peter 1:16-19 Peter wrote “we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory: “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain. And so we have the prophetic word confirmed.”
  2. Vs. 37 There was a direct witness at His baptism in Matthew 3:17 when “suddenly a voice came from heaven, saying, “This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” Jesus says, “You have never ever heard His voice nor have you seen His form”. Jesus had already said that what He was doing He was presently watching the Father do and here He says He has seen His form. 
  3. Vs. 38 Finally there is an invisible witness of the Father spoken of in verses 37b -38 which is in the heart of the believer. In John 10:27 Jesus says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” God’s word had come to them through the prophets and they hadn’t been listening to God’s Word through the prophets just as they hadn’t been listening to Jesus Word. The problem wasn’t that there wasn’t anyone to testify of the truth’s but rather that they weren’t willing to listen.      

Through out this gospel John will select seven of these “signs” as proof that Jesus is the Son of God. Though other men God used preformed miracles none of them ever claimed equality with God so the fact that Jesus made this claim, backed up by His mighty works and perfect life, is evidence that His claim is true. In the 17 chapter of John Jesus will say to the Father, “I have finished the work which You gave me to do” you see Jesus was on God’s time table following God’s agenda not mans.


Vs. 39-47 Words of the Father

Vs. 38-49 Finally, our Lord turns to the third way the Father witnesses to us, the word of God. The word “search” in verse 39 in the Greek means to track the scent like a hound dog. These men were “bloodhounds” of the Scripture, spending their whole lives counting the very words and memorizing great sections of it, committing themselves wholly to it, because they thought the knowledge of Scripture would give them life. There are many like that yet today, students and scholars who search the Bible but never find Jesus.  

What an amazing claim this is, “They bear witness to me.” These people thought that knowledge is power, education is life, and if you get knowledge of what God does you will have life. They had studied the scriptures doctrinally but had missed it completely devotionally. Hey, saints that’s a good word for you and I as we can become so caught up dotting every “I” and crossing every “T” that in the end we miss what those “I’s” and “T’s” were in the sentence to begin with. Every servant of God has to block out the roar of the crowd to hear the whisper of God as it relates to their calling as we are not called to follow those who yell the loudest but the Love of God. Oh dear saints we shouldn’t be fishing for compliments nor shooting down complaints but with singular focus seeking only to honor God irregardless of what people think.            

Jesus tells these fellows three reasons why they didn’t believe the third witness of the Word and each of them have to do with the heart not the head.

  1. Vs. 39-40 Blindness: These religious leaders were in an active search of the Word of God but had fallen into the false thinking that the pursuit was where life was to be gained rather than who the WORD  proclaimed. Someone can read the prescription on the bottle of pills but that is not the same as partaking of the pills. How many folks today read the Bible because it is inspirational instead of realizing that the words that they find inspiring are the very words that “testify” of Jesus. They “weren’t willing” which tells us that it was not for lack of evidence but rather they were inflected with self blindness. Verse 40 should be translated, “You choose not to come to me that you may have life”. He clearly indicates that if they had come they would have had life, but they chose not to do so. He goes on to tell us why in verse 41-47.
  2. Vs. 41-44 Pride: Here Jesus reveals to them the reason for their blindness as being pride, from their own pursuit not willing to drop their self effort. They wanted to be able to claim that they figured it out instead of just embracing the love God has for them. Ah but if the antichrist comes giving all something to claim in themselves that they would receive. They cared more for the honor that comes from man instead of the honor and glory of God. Here Jesus puts his finger on the true reason for stubborn unbelief. What man really wants is the praise of men, pride, is always the enemy of truth! They wanted fame, recognition, prestige.
  3. Vs. 45-47 Ignorance: They rejected Jesus because they rejected Moses witness of Him. Jesus says, “Moses, wrote about Me”, so where did he do so? Well there are the general references to the seven kinds of offerings all of which point to the “Lamb of God”. Then there is the passage that Jesus alluded to in 3:14 when He spoke with Nicodemus about the bronze serpent being lifted up in the wilderness which is out of 21:8-9. Then in Deut. 18:15 Moses said “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your midst, from your brethren. Him you shall hear”. In 1 Cor. 10:4 Paul makes reference to Jesus being a typology of the rock that water came out of in the wilderness. We are told in Luke 24:27 that Jesus “beginning at Moses and all the Prophets, He expounded to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning Himself.” With those two disciples who were on the road to Emmaus. The very one they said they were obeying; Moses will be the one that will accuse them because they were denying the words he spoke of concerning Jesus. Jesus said, “If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”  

They counted the very letters of the text, but they missed the spiritual truths that the text contained. Hey saint’s we can seek to know the Word of God or we can seek to have the Word of God penetrate into our lives. You have heard me say it often, “Seek transformation not mere information”! Amazing as this sounds, “Their love for the word clouded the Word of God’s Love”. Where does that leave us? We have the witness of the Father, the witness of John the Baptist, the witness of  2000 years of testimonies about the power of Jesus to deliver men and women, to free them from their chains, turn them around, heal them and make them whole people. Hundreds of thousands of voices bear witness to that fact. Where does that leave us, if we continue to pursue the empty voices of the world and seek a life apart from the will and the glory of God? The truth is people won’t believe the witness of these three when what they are looking for is their own glory, something they can brag about. These are searching words. Where are you going in life? What are you doing with it?