Looking
at the Light through John - Chapter 5
Trouble at the Second Passover
From the first the Pharisees recognized Jesus
as a threat to their system. The reason Jesus had to quit
immersing people in the Jordan was because the Pharisees heard He
was immersing even more than John the Immerser. But the intensity
of their opposition increased as Jesus went down to Jerusalem to
participate in His second Passover of the time of His ministry.
The Lord was going to carry His offensive a step further by
healing on the Sabbath, and the Pharisees would react.
- The setting - The apostle John
skips the details of most of a year, letting the
"synoptic gospels" give an accounting of the
salient events. "After these things," states
John, "there was a feast of the Jews [most likely,
the Passover], and Jesus went up to Jerusalem" (John 5:1). The only
place where a Jew could worship under the terms of the
Mosaic covenant, and the only time when he could worship,
was at Jerusalem during the feast days. Jesus, keeping
the Law perfectly, would be in Jerusalem for the feast.
"Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool,
which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five
porticoes." Bethesda, which means "house of
mercy," was a site where, Jewish tradition, at
least, indicated that an angel would periodically heal
someone at the stirring of the waters. "In
these," referred John to the porticoes, "lay a
multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, withered,
waiting for the moving of the waters; 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" (John 5:2-4).
- The healing - "And a certain
man was there," notes the account, "who had
been thirty-eight years in his sickness. 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? " For some reason the Lord
selected this man out of the multitude of those who lay
in the five porticoes; perhaps the selection was because
the man had been sick for such a long time and was
well-known throughout Jewry. The sick man answered Him,
Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the
water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps
down before me. " The construction of this
section indicates that the bracketed material of some
versions in vss. 3 and 4 is indeed a part of the inspired
record; because the man had not servant to help him get
into the pool, he could not get there first and be
healed. "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" (John 5:5-9). While it
may have been only a Jewish legend about the healing
powers in the pool, there is no question that Jesus
healed a man who had been in his sickness for
thirty-eight years.
- The problem - By this point in
Jesus ministry, His opposition was looking for any
possible opportunity to "trash" Him and what He
was doing. They were handed one, as John records in these
words: "Now it was a Sabbath on that day." The
apostle notes the response, using the term
"Jews" to describe the hierarchy.
"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. " (John 5:9-10).
Now the conflict in authority arises; the
Pharisees are going to use the enforcement of their use of the
Sabbath to start driving a wedge between Jesus movement and
the current standard of Judaism. Their concern was not truth;
their concern was their position, and they used the peoples
general misconception of the Sabbath to inflame the publics
opinion against Jesus. The first pressure is evident as the
apostle John enters the response of the man who has been told it
is not permissible for him to carry his pallet on the Sabbath
day: "But he answered them, He who made me well was
the one who said to me, "Take up your pallet and walk."
" (John 5:11).
Caving
In To Pressure
"Do you wish to get well?" Jesus
asked a certain man at Bethesdas pool. Indications of his
character showed in his answer; instead of simply saying,
"Yes," he whined about the fact that he didnt
have a man-servant to put him into the pool at the stirring of
the waters. The Lord healed him anyway, deliberately curing the
sick man on the Sabbath, knowing that this action would bring
down the condemnation of the Pharisees.
- Reaction of the hierarchy - Jesus
could control the timing of His healings. In this case
the Son of God commanded the sick man to stand up, to
pick up his pallet, and to start walking. The man was
immediately healed and began carrying his stretcher
through the crowd. "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.
" (John 5:10). The
religious police were on the scene quickly to shut down
the offense.
- Confusion in conversation - The man
was now under pressure because of two conflicting sets of
orders. Jesus told him to carry his pallet; the
"Jews" - the Pharisees - told him that he was
not to tote the load. The apostle John records, "But
he answered them, He who made me well was the One
who said to me, "Take up your pallet and walk."
" (John 5:11). Everything
had come to a stop; the man was standing there, pallet in
his arms, trying to sort out in his mind who should be
obeyed.
- Question of authority - The scribes
and Pharisees, in the words of Jesus, had seated
themselves "in the chair of Moses"; that is,
they had set themselves up as lawgivers and judges. They
had not authorized Jesus to do any healing, much less
healing on the Sabbath. And when they got word that He
then ordered him who was formerly sick to carry his
stretcher on the Sabbath day, they recognized that their
authority was being challenged in a major way. "They
asked him, Who is the man who said to you,
"Take up your pallet, and walk?" "
(John 5:12). The
individual was so focused on himself, however, that he
did not pay attention as to who was making him well.
"But he who was healed did not know who it
was," was the record of the apostle John, "for
Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that
place" (John 5:13).
- Enforcing accountability - The man
didnt know that it was Jesus, because the Lord -
knowing that a confrontation would develop if He stuck
around - snuck out while everyones attention was
fixed on the man who was healed. The Christ, therefore,
was going to give this fellow the opportunity to stand or
cave in under pressure by coming back and letting him
know who He was. "Afterward Jesus found him in the
temple, and said to him, Behold, you have become
well; do not sin anymore, that nothing worse may befall
you. " (John 5:14). Not only
did Jesus meet him, but the Lord warned him about the
consequences of sinning anymore after the meeting.
- Currying favor - Everyone on earth
eventually makes a choice to please either men or God.
Our man who was healed was now brought to a decision
point, and the scripture sadly records: "The man
went away, and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had
made him well" (John 5:15).
The character of an individual is demonstrated
when he is tested. The man who was healed on the Sabbath, by the
deliberate action of the Lord Jesus, was thrown into a situation
wherein he would demonstrate loyalty to the One who had the power
to heal or a loyalty to those who had the political power to
punish anyone who broke their rules. He caved in under pressure
and trashed Jesus for the sake of ingratiating himself for
earthly gain.
Fall-out
from "Sabbath-breaking"
Jesus was a nice guy. Jesus healed a man who
had lain a long time by the pool of Bethesda. The man went to the
Jewish hierarchy and "ratted" on Jesus because Jesus
didnt seem to offer the same type of benefits as he could
receive by his "toadying" efforts to the ranking Jews.
No doubt he had his reward in full.
But the opposition to the Lord, now beginning
to build up steam, finally had an issue that they could
use against Him. The issue wasnt the issue, really;
the real issue was that Jesus was a threat to their power and
position. Since they couldnt come right out and say that to
the multitudes that the Nazarene was a threat to their power and
position, they had to find an issue they could use to
cover their agenda and inflame the passions of the masses. From
their perspective, Jesus made a tactical error and handed them
the ammunition they needed by healing the man publicly on the
Sabbath.
- The persecution begins - The
apostle John and the Holy Spirit do not offer any of the
juicy details, preferring instead to record the initial
challenge to Jesus in these words: "And for this
reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was
doing these things on the Sabbath" (John 5:16). From this
point on, the Lord had to watch everything very closely
because His enemies were lurking everywhere, looking for
the opportunity to harm Him.
- "Working" on the Sabbath -
God had delineated certain restrictions for Israel in
regard to their activities on the Sabbath. These
restrictions were designed to give Israelites one day a
week to recover from the hard physical labor of the
previous six days and to give them an opportunity to
reflect on the goodness and deliverance of God. By
Jesus day the Jewish hierarchy had made a lot of
additions to the law concerning the Sabbath, so much so
that Jesus in another place had to insist, "The
Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the
Sabbath" (Mark 2:27). When the
persecution fell upon the Lord due to His healing a man
on the Sabbath, "He answered them, My Father
is working until now, and I Myself am working.
" (John 5:17). The
Almighty never intended for things that were holy and
good come to a stop on the Sabbath; His intention was
that men in Israel would cease to engage in secular or
mundane activities under the Law. The Christ was able to
point out that while the creative work of the Lord was
finished, the Father continuously was working - even on
the Sabbath - to execute His word and to draw the rest of
mankind to Himself.
- The persecution intensifies -
"For this cause, therefore," the apostle John
wrote, " the Jews were seeking all the more to kill
Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but
also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal
with God" (John 5:18). Jesus
determinedly cranked up the pressure a couple of notches,
bringing in the idea that God was His Father. In Jewish
thinking, the prince of the realm was equal to the king;
the king was his father, but, as the successor, his
commands were to be equally obeyed. Thus, when Jesus
called God His Father, to the Jews He was blaspheming and
worthy of death.
The Jews were looking for an issue on which
they might hang Jesus. The Savior deliberately healed on the
Sabbath, and the hierarchy automatically raised the hue and cry
about the Lords unorthodox action, when in fact God
Incarnate was clarifying the understanding of the Sabbath for
anyone willing to learn. When Jesus also referred to God as being
His Father - which was, of course, a true statement - the
"feeding frenzy" increased in fervor as the Jews
intensified their efforts to vilify and eventually crucify Him.
The truth about Jesus and the Sabbath was not the issue; the
healing on the Sabbath was a smokescreen created by the hierarchy
whose real goal was to preserve its position and power.
Tandem
Teamwork
The Jews sought to kill Jesus because He
violated their standards about the observance of the Sabbath and
because He called God His own Father. "Jesus therefore
answered and was saying to them, Truly, truly, I say to
you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He
sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things
the Son also does in like manner. " (John 5:19). God is Spirit; as
Spirit He is not limited to the specific boundaries always
imposed on the material realm. The Great Spirit is therefore
beyond the clear understanding of man. "No man has seen God
at any time," observed the apostle John earlier. "The
only begotten [Son of] God, who is in the bosom of the Father, He
has explained Him" (John 1:18). Jesus was
beginning the explanation process; the Jewish leadership, instead
of listening and learning, began their drive to execute Him.
How close are the Father and Son? One of the
ways our Immanuel had of answering the question was to point out
that He and the Father moved precisely in tandem, that what the
Son saw the Father doing, the Son imitated perfectly.
- The love of the Father - God the
Father and God the Son are one unit, and operate as one
unit. "For the Father loves the Son," said
Jesus, "and shows Him all things that He Himself is
doing; and greater works than these will He show Him,
that you may marvel" (John 5:20). The
Father, in accordance with the great love and mature
trust that exists between Father and Son, had no secret
agenda; the Father was letting the Son in on all the
details of the plan. The Son, therefore, knew of His
upcoming resurrection from the dead, the greatest of all
works. The miracles of Jesus, many of which had already
been witnessed by numerous people in Israel, were
actually initiated in heaven by the Father. These lesser
works of the Father were shown to Jesus before He
performed them. Jesus then planted the seed of His
resurrection, expressing it in terms of "greater
works," works so great that all Israel would marvel.
- Power to resurrect the dead and give
life - The Lord Jesus was always pulling His
listeners to the next level. After enigmatically speaking
of His own resurrection, using the expression
"greater works," He then spoke of the power to
resurrect men from the grave. "For just as the
Father raises the dead and gives them life," He
stated, "even so the Son also gives life to whom He
wishes" (John 5:21). The Jews
had a general understanding about the resurrection of the
dead on the last day. Here Jesus added to their
knowledge, specifying that the Father in particular
raised the dead. Christ went on to point out that He
likewise had the power to give life to anyone He wished.
- Life in the Son - How does the Son
wish to give life? "The witness [of God] is
this," emphasized John in his first epistle,
"that God has given us eternal life, and this life
is in His Son" (1 John 5:11). While
the Lord did not describe exactly how His wish would be
executed, the preaching and teaching of the apostles
following His ascension clarified His intention. The key
expression is "in His Son," and the apostles
taught that immersion in Jesus name was the
mechanism by which a person entered "into
Christ." Furthermore, it was clearly the wish of
Jesus to give life not only to the Jew, but to any
Gentiles who would believe and be obedient to the gospel.
It is not the will of the Father that any
should perish, but that all should be brought to repentance.
Working in perfect unison, the Father and the Lord began to
initiate the means by which all those truly interested in truth
could be rescued. The tandem teamwork of Father and Son can save
the world.
Jesus
on J-Day
The Lord was always teaching. Whether any
learned from the teaching or accepted the teaching was up to the
one who heard; Jesus continued to share heavenly information with
all audiences, hostile and receptive. "The Father raise the
dead and gives them life," He taught. "The Son also
give life to whom He wishes," was an addendum. In these
simple statements the Savior of the world communicated volumes in
terms of fellowship with God and participating in the proper
resurrection. This He also used to introduce His teaching on
Judgment Day.
- All judgment to the Son - The Jew
had a somewhat vague understanding of the coming Judgment
Day. Isaiah had spoken of a "day of reckoning"
(Isaiah 2:12) and the
other prophets chimed in with their predilections of doom
coming upon the disobedient and reward for the righteous.
Those who sought the God of Israel had a concept that God
would be the Judge, but the words of Jesus came as a
blockbuster to even the most enlightened. "For not
even the Father judges anyone," said He, "but
He has given all judgment to the Son, in order that all
may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father" (John 5:22-23). The
fact that Jesus is the Judge on the final day should make
all men change their attitudes and give proper deference
to the Son. The prophetic words of David, the sweet
psalmist of Israel, are worthy of quoting here: "Now
therefore, O kings, show discernment; take warning O
judges of the earth. Worship the Lord with reverence, and
rejoice with trembling. Do homage to the Son, lest
He become angry, and you perish in the way, for His wrath
may soon be kindled. How blessed are all who take refuge
in Him" (Psalm 2:10-12).
- Honor to the Son - The Son left
glory for earth in humble obedience to the Fathers
will. "Pleased as man with men tappear,"
the Lord as a humble carpenters son experienced all
the "Im just as good as He is" rejection
and pride of men. Men in that frame of mind would give no
honor to Immanuel, even regarding Him with a contempt in
a vain attempt to elevate themselves. That Jesus would
declare Himself to be the ultimate Judge should have
garnered instant respect and honor to Him from all who
believed His teaching.
- No honor for the Son, no honor for the
Father - The so-called "Reverend Moon,"
founder of the Unification Church, claimed that Jesus
appeared to him, and stated to Moon that the worlds
religions could only be unified if the emphasis was on
God (hence the name "Unification Church",
better known as the "Moonies"). What was
needed, according to Moon, was a return to
"God-ism" and a de-emphasis of Jesus. The real
Jesus (as contrasted to the "Jesus" that
"appeared" to Moon) stated very explicitly that
"he who does not honor the Son does not honor the
Father who sent Him" (John 5:23).
- The oneness of Father and Son - The
word of God is very clear from Genesis 1:2 onward that
there are three who bear witness from heaven: God the
Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. These three
are separate and distinct personages, each with His role
and purpose. But the scripture is equally clear that God
is one. Because this is beyond what logic can touch, in
that the very word "therefore" requires time
and space relationships, even Christians struggle with
the idea that three equals one and one equals three.
Jesus overall point in this section of teaching is
that He and the Father are essentially one, and Jesus as
God will be the One on the judgment throne. He is
"the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only
God," "who alone possesses immortality" (1 Timothy 1:17; 6:15).
Jesus teaching was to upgrade the
understanding of His hearers, to introduce them to a clearer
comprehension of the nature and character of God. When Jesus said
that God "has given all judgment to the Son," He made
it plain of whom John spoke in his Apocalypse: "And I saw a
great white throne and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence
earth and heaven fled away, and no place was found for them"
(Revelation 20:11).
The
Word of Jesus
When Jesus walked in the flesh, He made some
audacious claims. He maintained that He could actually see what
the Father was doing, and that He Himself did nothing except what
He also saw the Father doing. He asserted that He could give life
to whom He wished. He stated that He would be the One to sit on
the great white throne of judgment. Only God could make such
claims; the Savior certainly set anyone who really heard him back
on his heels with such bold assertions. But He continued.
- Passage from death to life - Physical
death is a result of sins coming into the world,
and God uses the specter of a rotting corpse to
communicate the awfulness of spiritual death. The words
of Jesus, then, are intriguing as He offers hope and joy.
"Truly, truly, I say to you," was His emphasis,
"he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me,
has eternal life, and does not come into judgment,
but has passed out of death into life" (John 5:24). Not only
does Jesus make the claim to be the Judge, but He also
declares that His words offer the means by which the
obedient can escape condemnation. Think of the rotting
corpse; then think about these words: "He who hears
My words
has eternal life." Not will have
eternal life, but has eternal life. The details of
what it means to hear the words of Jesus and to believe
that He had the backing of the Father are filled in later
by the apostle Paul: "Therefore we have been buried
with [Christ] through immersion into death, in order that
as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of
the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life"
(Romans 6:4).
- The voice of the Lord - The Lord
was sowing the seeds of thought in the minds of His
hearers and setting the stage for what was to come on the
Day of Pentecost as recorded in Acts 2, and what was to
follow: "Truly, truly, I say to you," He again
emphasized, "an hour is coming and now is, when the
dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those
who hear shall live" (John 5:25). When Jesus
spoke of "an hour is coming and now is," He was
referring to the onrushing new covenant. The Holy Spirit
recorded these words primarily for the benefit of those
who would read the words in the years to come.
- The "dead" here is a
reference to the lost, to those condemned by their
sins and separated from God. The apostle Paul noted
the condition of those outside Christ in these words:
"And you were dead in your trespasses and
sins" (Ephesians 2:1).
- Those dead, said Jesus, who would hear
the voice of the Son of God would live. At the time
the Lord was referring to, the Christ would no longer
be speaking as One who walked in a physical body. His
voice would only be heard through those who preached
and taught His word, the same as what is now recorded
for us in the Bible.
- When Jesus spoke of
"hearing," He wasnt speaking of a
mere head-nod; He was speaking of obedience to what
was spoken. "Prove yourselves does of the
word," stated the voice of the Lord through His
bond-servant, "and not merely hearers who delude
themselves" (James 1:22).
- Those who believe the message of the
scripture concerning Jesus, who repent and commit to
changing their ways, who confess that Jesus is indeed
the Christ, who are immersed into Christ, are the
ones who will come to life. All others continue in
death.
What a huge offer Jesus tendered to the
spiritually interested - the opportunity to pass from death to
life. But this opportunity only comes through the word, what the
Lord would call the "voice of the Son of God." Take
advantage of the opportunity. Hear, heed, and live!
The Importance of Spiritual Life
The recent specter of bodies plunging from the
towers of the World Trade Center in New York, and the fires
burning at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., gripped the world.
Millions watched in horror as live television broadcast the
collapse of the twin towers that have for nearly thirty years
dominated the New York skyline, trapping thousands inside.
Hundreds of firefighters and policemen died trying to rescue
those caught in the disaster, and the world witnessed death and
destruction on a dramatic scale. Mankind came once again face to
face with his mortality; time will show whether he turns to God,
or whether he will plunge on in the darkness of his
misunderstanding.
Jesus said, "Truly, truly, I say to you,
an hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice
of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live" (John 5:25). Against the
billowing black backdrop of death stands the shining light called
"life." But the life of which Jesus spoke was not mere
earthly existence wherein a person might escape the collapse of a
building but fall victim to a heart attack; the life of which He
spoke was spiritual life, the life that lasts forever. This life
is fellowship with God, with joys unspeakable in the here and
now, and on in to eternity. Such life is earnestly to be desired,
but its value only begins to become clear to humanity when it is
contrasted to its opposite, the fires of hell.
- The eternal fire - What would cause
a person to break through the window of one of those tall
towers and plunge to the concrete eighty floors below?
Only a desire to escape from the flames of burning jet
fuel would drive a person strongly enough for him to leap
off the building into what seemed to be a lesser death.
But what awaited each non-Christian - whether he chose to
die in the flames of the building, to splatter on the
pavement, or to perish in the structural collapse - was
worse flame. Jesus told how a rich man died without faith
and whose soul descended to Hades. "Send
Lazarus," he said to Abraham, "that he may dip
the tip of his finger in water and cool off my tongue;
for I am in agony in this flame" (Luke 16:24). But the
worst flame of all is what Jesus called "the eternal
fire which has been prepared for the devil and his
angels" (Matthew 25:41). This
is called "the second death, the lake of fire"
(Revelation 20:14), and
is far worse than anything that happened in New York City
on September 11, 2001.
- The value of eternal life - The
fires of hell are easier to comprehend than the glories
of heaven. The agony of death is more tangible than the
bliss of praising God forever and ever, so
physically-minded man has to be moved upward to
appreciate the spiritual calling of God. "Behold,
the tabernacle of God is among men," shouted the
voice from the throne in the Apocalypse vision,
"and He shall dwell among them, and they shall be
His people, and God Himself shall be among them, and He
shall wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there
shall no longer be any death; there shall no longer be
any mourning, or crying, or pain; the first things have
passed away" (Revelation 21:3-4).
This is the ultimate in the realm where the great Voice
said, "I am making all things new" (Revelation 21:5). But
to prepare the faithful for such glories is the
intermediate step called "the church," in which
brethren taste "the good word of God and the
powers of the age to come" (Hebrews 6:5).
Jesus has authority to call men out of darkness
into light, out of death into life. Those who hear His voice
live, and what value is there in that life! May the specter of
falling bodies, burning buildings, and crashing towers move
modern man to an appreciation of that which is life indeed, and
may the brethren be exhorted to give thanks to God for spiritual
life in Christ Jesus.
The Authority of King Jesus
Physical life is very complex. Man cannot
produce life; he has determined, if he will admit it, the
principle that life only comes from life. Just as the notes on a
page of sheet music are toneless unless brought to life by a
mighty orchestra, dead also are the complex organic chemicals
which carry the information necessary for the conduct of life
unless stirred by the mighty Conductor. Jesus Christ brought
physical life into existence by His word, sustains it by His
word, and will cause it to cease by His word. Mankind may rail
against Him, men may beat themselves against the wall trying to
deny His existence and power, but each will hear these words
unless obedient to Him, "Tonight, you fool, your soul is
required of you."
But as complex as may be physical life, it is
only a teaching tool to move man to an understanding of spiritual
life. And just as physical life is the product of Jesus Christ,
so also is spiritual life.
- The Son has life in Himself - The
voice of the Lord spoke on the third day of creation, and
the plants appeared. The voice of the Lord spoke on the
fifth day, and birds and sea creatures appeared, and on
the sixth day land animals and man were spoken into
existence. It is an awesome God who can simply speak and
have complex living cells instantly designed and formed,
who can have in the process arranged for the complex
interaction of plants and animals, carnivores and
herbivores, and created man to live off the physical
creation yet with the capacity for love, joy, peace,
patience and understanding. But that is insignificant
compared to the statement of Jesus that those dead in
their sins and trespasses "shall hear the voice of
the Son of God; and those who hear shall live. For just
as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the
Son to have life in Himself
" (John 5:25-26). When
Jesus spoke at the creation, those things that came to
life had no choice. But for those to come to life in the
spiritual creation, they must choose to hear the voice of
the Lord as written in the scriptures to live. Is there
spiritual life in the Son? Absolutely; and that is also
the only place where spiritual life is found.
- Judgment authority - Not only does
Jesus have the authority to bring someone into existence
in the spiritual realm, but He is the One with judgment
authority. The Father also "gave Him authority to
execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man" (John 5:27). Having
humbled Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and
being obedient to death on a cross, it is only fitting
that He should judge the souls of the sons of men.
- Resurrection of the dead - "Do
not marvel at this," said Jesus of His authority to
be the final Judge, "for an hour is coming in which
all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall
come forth; those who did the good deeds to a
resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds
to a resurrection of judgment" (John 5:28-29). All the
dead shall be resurrected in "an hour"; there
will not be a 1007-year gap between those first
"raptured" and the great white throne judgment
at the end of time! Those who have been men and women of
faith will attain to the resurrection of the righteous;
those who have been disobedient to the gospel will suffer
the doom of having eternal bodies that can and will burn
forever in the lake of fire.
The definition of a resurrection is the
rejoining of soul and spirit with a body. Those who have already
passed from this earth are absent from the body, and their souls
and spirits are already in the torment of Hades fires or in
the bliss of a Paradise with Jesus. But the One who has the
authority to give life to those who hear His voice, and the One
who is judge of all, will also give the appropriate resurrection
at the end of time. Get it right, the first and only time!
The Fathers Testimony
The Prince and Savior made it clear that His
attempt to rescue mankind was not a maverick operation. It was a
carefully timed, coordinated event which involved angels,
empires, and the spiritual condition of the Jews. It took
thousands of years of planning and preparation to bring this
rescue operation about; and it required the continued watch of
the Father in heaven to save Jesus - not from death, but the
wrong kind of death at the wrong time. The happenings of heaven
had to be directing the happenings on earth, requiring a
systematic and complete communications network between the two.
- Jesus was not the "lone
ranger" - "I can do nothing on My own
initiative," emphasized Christ in the flesh. While
in a sense Jesus took initiative, His point here was that
He was operating in conjunction with a plan coordinated
from heaven, and He was not at liberty to charge off on
tangents of His own. "As I hear, I judge," He
noted, "and My judgment is just, because I do not
seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me" (John 5:30). The Lord
served also as an example for us, showing us how to
coordinate our activities and plans with those of heaven,
and how to subjugate our wills to the larger will and
desire of the Father in heaven. He made sure that His
value judgments were not to carry out His own agenda, and
that His only purpose and priority was to accomplish the
purpose for which He had been sent.
- The testimony of "two
witnesses" - Jesus had just claimed the
authority to call people from the deadness of their
spiritual condition, to execute judgment on the final
day, and to raise the dead in a bodily resurrection. The
objective observer would want to know if he had to take
Jesus word for this or if He had other testimony to
back His audacious claims. "If I alone bear witness
of Myself," admitted the Redeemer of Israel,
"My testimony is not true. There is another who
bears witness of Me, and I know that the testimony which
He bears of Me is true" (John 5:31-32). The
Lord was setting the hearers up a little, referring to
the Father as being His other witness. Having aroused
their curiosity, He referred to John the Immerser as an
intermediate.
- The witness of the Forerunner - Many
of the Jews had accepted John as a prophet sent from the
Lord on high. "You have sent to John," affirmed
Him who had descended from heaven, "and he has borne
witness to the truth. But the witness which I receive is
not from man, but I say these things that you may be
saved. He was the lamp that was burning and was shining
and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his
light" (John 5:33-35). John
indeed bore witness of the Christ, but Jesus point
was that Johns witness was not enough to verify His
claims. The witness of the "lamp that was burning
and was shining" was about to be effaced by a much
greater brightness, the witness from heaven itself, so
that the ultimate testimony of Jesus exaltation
would not be from mere man.
- The works of Jesus as heavens
testimony - "But the witness which I have is
greater than that of John," elaborated the Lamb of
God, " for the works which the Father has given Me
to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of
Me, that the Father has sent Me" (John 5:36). The
perceptive among the Jews, as Nicodemus, could recognize
that the only way Jesus could do those works was that He
was sent from heaven.
Jesus only did those works which were dictated
first from heaven. The success of the rescue operation depended
upon Jesus carefully carrying out the plan coordinated from
heaven, that the witness of heaven might be brought to bear on
who Jesus was. "I say these things," Jesus informed the
Jews of the importance of the details of this rescue operation,
"that you may be saved."
Glory
from the Father
It is built into man to seek approval of some
kind. Generally the sons of man look for acceptance from an
earthly peer group, their insecurities driving them to establish
some sort of pecking order. While a pecking order may make a bit
of sense if a persons focus is on earth, it is ridiculous
and extremely childish from a heavenly perspective. So while man
was scrambling to see which dog would be at the top of the pile,
Jesus came from above to bring a view from heaven to the
proceedings.
- The witness of the Father - Those
who put major effort into being at the top of the heap
tend to shrug their shoulders in disbelief at the thought
that all their scramblings are in vain. When Jesus
therefore "came to His own" - the Jewish people
- they likewise did not want to trust the testimony of
the One sent from heaven. The Messenger from heaven was
thus required to perform miracles and signs and wonders
to convince the Jew that He had indeed come from above,
and that heavens view of earthly proceedings was a
little different than their imaginings. "The works
which the Father has given Me to accomplish," stated
Jesus, focusing their attention on heavenly testimony,
"the very works that I do, bear witness of Me, that
the Father has sent Me. And the Father who sent Me, He
has borne witness of Me" (John 5:36-37).
- The nature of the Father - The Jew
would ask how the Father had borne witness of Jesus.
Visible man wants to see something visible about the
invisible God, and the Jews were no exception. When Moses
recounted the giving of the Law to Israel, he had to
emphasize that there was no visible representation of the
Almighty: "Then the Lord spoke to you from the midst
of the fire," was the recollection of Moses.
"You heard the sound of the words, but you saw no
form - only a voice" (Deuteronomy 4:12).
Jesus affirmed and re-emphasized, in regard to the
witness of the Father to the Jews at the time Jesus spoke
as recorded in John 5, "You have neither heard His
voice at any time, nor seen His form" (John 5:37).
- The problem that the Jew had - The
Lord always emphasized that if the Jew knew the Father,
he would know who Jesus was. The only way to know the
Father was and is through the written word; the problem
to some degree was self-evident. "And you do not
have His word abiding in you," was the analysis of
Jesus, "for you do not believe Him whom He
sent" (John 5:38).
- Misuse of the scriptures -
"You search the Scriptures, because you think that
in them you have eternal life," commented the
Christ. Those in Israel tended to look at the outward
things the Law commanded, and failed to see the things
which drove at the heart. This blindness resulted in
their not seeing Jesus for who He was. "It is
these," said Jesus of the Old Testament writings,
"that bear witness of Me, and You are unwilling to
come to Me, that you may have life" (John 5:39-40).
- The right glory - Jesus did not
come from heaven to earth to receive the accolades and
adulation of mere men. His desire was to please the
Father in heaven, which was in direct contradistinction
to receiving glory, honor, and position from those who
could offer such things on earth. "I do not receive
glory from men," was His reiteration, "but I
know you, that you do not have the love of God in
yourselves" (John 5:41-42).
Those who desire the praise of men have their
reward in full. Shallow though it is, it is all they shall
receive; for once they have passed out of this life, they begin
to burn in Hades. Jesus, knowing all things, would not stoop to
seeking glory from men. He would press on, bearing testimony of
the glories of heaven and the salvation of men.
Receiving
Jesus
It is common today to speak of "accepting
Jesus." When someone is described as having "accepted
Jesus as his personal Lord and Savior," the implication is
that he is "saved," having had his sins forgiven in a
spiritual "born again experience." So strong is the
pressure from Billy-Graham-types that even those who ought to
know better often use this denominational terminology, this
modern language of Ashdod, speaking of someone who "accepted
Christ and was baptized." This is double talk, a religious
"newspeak" wherein somehow both God and men are to be
pleased.
- Glory from men - It is a sad but
Biblical fact that no one is going to be able to please
both God and men. "If I were still trying to please
men," affirmed the apostle Paul, "I would not
be a bond-servant of Christ" (Galatians 1:10). Jesus
was the first to be so emphatic. "I do not receive
glory from men," were His words. Mankind as a whole
is rebellious and refuses to do Gods will. Even the
Jews, entrusted with the sacred oracles, stoned the
prophets and crucified the Savior. One who desires glory
from men cannot please God. Of those in that condition
Jesus Himself said, "I know you, that you do not
have the love of God in yourselves" (John 5:41-42).
- Jesus reception by the Jews -
The Jewish hierarchy in Jerusalem had entrenched
themselves with a well-developed "good ol
boys" network. When Jesus healed the man at the pool
of Bethesda on the Sabbath, He directly challenged the
network and the system of advancement within the network.
It was in this context that the Lord used the expression
"receive." "I have come in My
Fathers name," He adverted, "and you do
not receive Me; if another shall come in his own name,
you will receive him" (John 5:43). Jesus got
a cold reception from these Jews in Jerusalem. They would
welcome, however, some smooth-talking promoter who would
come to them "in his own name," playing their
game. Jesus, coming by the very authority of the Father
in heaven, would not be welcome in their camp.
- Meaning of "receive" -
Biblically, there is no such thing as "receiving
Jesus into your heart." The expression "receive
Christ" has to do with a welcome recognition that He
was the prophesied Messiah. "He came to His
own," the apostle John had stated earlier, "and
those who were His own did not receive Him" (John 1:11). Most of
Israel refused to recognize Him as coming from God; those
who did, at some future point, could become
Christians. "But as many as received Him, to them He
gave the right to become children of God
" (John 1:12). As a
counterpoint, could those who "received" the
ones who came by their own authority have had these false
ones now "living in their hearts"?
"Receiving" those who came in their own name
was simply a welcome recognition of their claims, albeit
false.
- Receiving glory - So inimical are
desiring the accolades of men and pleasing God that Jesus
Himself would say one blocks the other. "How can you
believe," He asked, "when you receive glory
form one another, and you do not seek the glory that is
from the one and only God?" (John 5:44). The Jewish
"good ol boys" network, though religious,
was just as much a part of the world as those running a
prostitution ring or a bankers cabal. "Whoever
wishes to be a friend of the world," punctuated
James, "makes himself an enemy of God" (James 4:4).
Sooner or later every individual chooses
between heaven and earth. Those who choose to please men and to
use terminology that pleases men will receive the smiles of
approval and certificates of distinction from earths
organizations but will experience weeping and gnashing of teeth
in the eternal lake of fire. Those who choose to please God and
to use terminology which pleases God will receive glory and honor
and praise from the King of kings. The choice to undergo cursing
from the crowd in order to receive glory from God is clear to
those who have spiritual perception.
The
Testimony of Moses
"All Scripture," said the apostle
Paul, "is inspired by God" (2 Timothy 3:16). "No
prophecy of Scripture," affirmed Peter, was ever made by an
act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from
God" (2 Peter 1:20-21). God had
affirmed and confirmed His word from Moses onward, and many was
the man who learned the hard way that God did not deviate, except
by petition in very special circumstances, from what was written.
David the king, a man after Gods own heart, learned that
when Moses had written that the ark of the covenant was to be
carried by the priests on poles, that did not mean that it was
acceptable for the ark to be hauled on an ox cart!
The Jew of Jesus day claimed to follow
the teachings of Moses. The Pharisees, in fact, were a sect
originally begun to foster the observance of the commands of God
given through the Law of Moses. It was in this setting that Jesus
had made the statement, "You search the Scriptures, because
you think that in them you have eternal life." They sought
through the Old Testament, but were blind to the truth of what
Jesus said in His follow-up: "It is these that bear witness
of Me."
- Accused before God - These Jews
were persecuting and even trying to kill Jesus for
healing on the Sabbath. They recognized the threat His
movement offered to their "cushy" positions,
and used the issue of the Sabbath to inflame the
publics passions and cover their own evil intent.
The Lord, the Reader of hearts, knew what they were up
to, and confronted them from a position of strength.
"Do not think that I will accuse you before the
Father," was His understatement. Jesus implied that
He certainly could stand up in judgment against these
Jews in the presence of the Father, but He was not going
to have to. "The one who accuses you is Moses,"
was His blunt analysis, "in whom you have set your
hope" (John 5:45). Moses was
the law-giver and human founder of their religion, the
one whose writing these Jews claimed to defend.
Jesus saying that Moses would be their accuser was
the ultimate slap in the face.
- Believing Moses - There were some
in Israel who were spiritual enough to see that the Old
Testament pointed to Jesus. Philips excited comment
to Nathanael was, "We have found Him of whom Moses
in the Law and also the prophets wrote" (John 1:45). Most,
however, fit the category of honoring God with their
lips, but denying Him in hearts that were far away.
"For if you believed Moses," asseverated the
Christ, "you would believe Me, for he wrote of
Me" (John 5:46). It is
interesting that the test of whether they really believed
Moses was whether they believed the things Jesus was
telling them.
- Believing Jesus words - God
has chosen, for thousands of years, to communicate with
mankind in written form. The experiences of the children
of Israel in the crossing of the Red Sea and the
receiving the Law of Moses on Mt. Sinai show that, even
when God does awesome miracles and speaks with a voice of
thunder, faith is not necessarily engendered in those
participating in the events. The written word produces
faith, as Jesus noted concerning the relationship between
the Law of Moses and faith in Christ: "But if you do
not believe his writings, how will you believe My
words?" (John 5:47).
One of the most inspiring features of the
scripture is the remarkable unity and harmony of all the
writings. The testimony of Moses, written nearly 1500 years
before the crucifixion of Christ, is in perfect unison with the
testimony of the apostles and New Testament prophets. The word of
God is written in such a way that it not only proves itself to be
true, but it also tests the honesty of its readers. "For if
you believed Moses," was a poignant and true thrust of
Jesus, "you would believe Me."