Latest / Finding Jesus Again / Episode 9; Who I Am
Transcript
- John Smithson: Welcome everybody to Finding Jesus again. This is episode nine. So glad that you have joined us today. We're going to be reading today from John chapter five, starting with verse eighteen. Just to recap, yesterday we talked about how Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda who had been lame for most of his life. And today we're going to see how the Pharisees react, the ⁓ religious people react, religious leaders, and we are going to see how Jesus responded to them. This is where we really begin to pay attention in our search for Jesus because these are the words of Jesus. We're going to start seeing what he said and how he said it and how he responded and who he responded to. We're going to start here in verse 18. For this reason, therefore, 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. So the Pharisees wanted to kill Jesus because he broke the Sabbath. They weren't rejoicing in the fact that God had showed up in an amazing way and there was an actual, you know, physical sign of God moving, but they were more concerned about the fact that their laws or their religious laws were being broken. They cared more about the religion than they did about people. And that's a huge problem. When religion or when church or in any of those things are more important than people, then that's definitely a problem because God came. to save people, not to preserve a tradition. He came to minister to people. And also they were seeking to kill him. We we have to to make sure that we put this point in, is because he was calling God his father. And that was making him equal with God. So because of these two things, they were upset and they wanted to kill him because they saw him as a threat. They saw him as a threat because he was going to Get the attention of the people, and they were going to lose their authority over the people and their power over the people. Maybe to some degree they may have been trying to defend the people, but I don't believe that. I believe more than anything they were trying to defend their territory and defend the power that they wielded over the people. Well, let's pick up verse 19. Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, Truly, truly. Anytime Jesus says, truly, truly, It's like listen, listen, is basically what he's saying. So he's going to say something important. 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 the same way. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself is doing, and the Father will show him greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. So, you know, this we're gonna have to unpack this a little bit. So Jesus is saying that he doesn't do anything. In his own authority. This doesn't mean that Jesus isn't God, but what it really means is that Jesus had limited himself to humanity because it took a sinless man to gain back what Adam lost in the garden when he sinned. And so Jesus had limited himself to humanity that he could not do anything on his own, but he could only do what he seen the Father doing. And that meant that he had to be in union with the Father. So when he was on earth, he was in union with the Father and And he would watch and see what the Father was doing, and he would watch and see where the Father was working, and he would join God there. I think it's very interesting, you know, you think about this in in the form of of ministry. You can see where God's working, you can see when God's working in someone's life. And and I think that we should be more aware of where the Father's working and where God is speaking and what God is doing. And when you see God moving in an area, join God there, because that's when you're going to see amazing things. Jesus gave us that example. Look at verse twenty two. Jesus said, For not even the Father judges anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son. So all judgment has been given to the Son. So God isn't the one that's doing judgment. Jesus is the one that's doing judgment. What did Jesus come to do? He came to save, not to judge. John chapter three, sixteen, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son. And then in verse seventeen it says, He didn't come into this world to judge the world, but that the world through him might be saved. And here in verse twenty three, God gave judgment to the Son, and the Son is coming into the w to bring grace, and not to pass judgment, but to save. Isn't that Just an amazing example of God's love, an amazing example of what Jesus came to do. Let's look at verse twenty-four. Here we get another truly, truly, truly, truly, I say to you, the one 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. So here Jesus said that God gave me judgment. I'm the one who does judgment now. And in verse twenty four he says, And anyone who believes that God sent me, they will have eternal life, and they will not come into judgment, but they will pass out of death into life. They'll be saved. Amazing. Look at verse twenty-five. Again, truly, truly. Third time, Jesus really emphasizing what he's saying here. Truly, truly, I say to you, the time is coming, and even now has arrived. When the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so he gave to the Son also to have life in himself, and he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out. Those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life will And those who committed the bad deeds to a resurrection of I'm gonna back up here again. I'm gonna unwrap this a little bit. Jesus said that the time is now when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. This is a spiritual resurrection. All of us are dead in our sins, we're spiritually dead, and there's a spiritual resurrection that takes place if we will hear and receive his name. But then he talks about a second resurrection. He says that the time is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice. All everyone. Everyone who has died from day one to now will hear his voice. There's not going to be one that's not going to hear his voice. And they will come out of the grave, those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, and those who committed the bad deeds to a resurrection of judgment. So here we see that everyone is going to be resurrected. Everyone is going to live forever. Our spirits were created to live forever. And one of these days we're going to live forever. Now it's good news, and it's not so good news. That's good news for those of those who do good deeds. It's good news to those who who receive the name of Christ, to give their lives to Jesus, but not so good news for those who reject him, because they will be. Resurrected, but it will be a resurrection of judgment, meaning that they will spend an eternity being judged for their decision. And to do that, as we have studied so far, what we have to do is we have to receive Jesus' gift of salvation, and we have to believe that he is the Son of God. I don't know what to say about good deeds and bad deeds. I wish I could tell you, okay, these are bad deeds, don't do these things. These are good deeds, do these things. But at this point, this is all that Jesus says. Personally, I believe that he doesn't give us a list because it's not always black and white. It's based on our relationship. So our good deeds and our bad deeds can't be found in some some list. Like let me look through the list of good deeds or let me look through the list of bad deeds and make sure that I'm not doing any of these things wrong. But it's about my relationship that I have with Jesus. I think in our hearts we know what's good and what's bad. He lets us know. We can feel it. We know when we're involved in something that we shouldn't be involved in. God's Spirit speaks to us and He teaches us and we know what we should and what we shouldn't do. We just need to be sensitive to His Spirit as we grow closer and closer to Him. Let's read on starting with verse thirty. Jesus says, I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me. If I alone testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony which he gave about me is true. thirty three. You have sent messengers to John and he has testified to the truth. the testimony I receive is not for man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He has the lamp that was burning and shining, and you are willing to rejoice for a while in his light. But the testimony I have is greater than the testimony of John, for the works which the Father has given me to accomplish the very works that I do, testify about me that the Father has sent me. So he's saying, Listen, I testify about myself, I tell you who I am. Number two, John testified about me, he told you. Who I am. Number three, he said, My my acts, the things that that God is performing through me, the the miracles testify about who I am. And then he goes on to say the scriptures, testify about me. So you hear my words, and you hear John's words, and you hear God's words through my actions, and you hear the scriptures all pointing to the fact that I am the Messiah who has come to save you, who has come to give you life. And Jesus says in verse forty one, I do not receive glory from people, but I know you that you do not have the love of God in yourselves. I have come in my Father's name and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you accept glory from one another and you do not seek the glory that is from the one and only God? Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, and In whom you have put your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? So in closing here on today's episode, I want to bring out this last part. He said, The accusation against you at the end is not going to come from me. Jesus said it's going to come from Moses. What does he mean by that? He means it's going to come from the law. The law points and the law accuses and the law exposes sin. That's what its job was. It was to show us that we're wrong. It was to show us the state that we're in, what we're supposed to go through in order to be saved. And so Jesus says, I'm not going to condemn you. The law of Moses condemns you. You are condemned. The law of Moses it exposes the sin in you. Then he goes on to say, and that's where you put your hope? You put your hope in the law of Moses. But yet the one that the law of Moses points to, the hope that the law of Moses speaks about, the hope that the law of Moses really is exposing is standing right in front of you, and it is me, Jesus is saying, because I've come to give you life. What an amazing thing. You know, I I've lived almost my entire life just bombarded or Oppressed by law or oppressed by dogma. And I'm not saying that's because of anybody or anything. It's just something that I have personally dealt with. But Jesus is saying that the law condemns, but he brings life. I want to experience that life. I want to live in that life. I want to live in that joy. That's where I want to live. And so as we find Jesus today, We find him explaining to us who he is and explaining to us that is where we're going to find our hope. We're going to find our hope in him. Thank you for joining me for this episode of Finding Jesus. We will see you again tomorrow.