Divine Authority
Notes
Transcript
Welcome
Welcome
Our text this morning is actually John 10-13 then 15 through 23
but we will read 10 -23
now as you are finding your place lets recap
Last week we learned of this concept that John uses throughout
his gospel
this concept of the
miracle / message rhythm or style
where he will provide us with a miracle Jesus performed
followed by a sermon Jesus preached to elaborate his meaning
for that miracle
last week we covered the 3rd miracle
where Jesus proved he was master over
time and healing
as he was able to heal the man that was lame for 38 years
we learned that no matter how long we have been ill
no matter how long we have been estranged
no matter how long we have lived for ourselves
that no matter our short failings
and no matter our sin
it is never to late to come to Christ
However, this miracle he performed
in order to show us these things
he did that on the sabbath
now to say this infuriated the Jews is an understatement
right, because up until this point they found it entertaining to see his
miracles
to see his wonders
but now he was impeding on their law
and not necessarily the law as it pertains to the OT
but the law as it pertained to their Oral law
See the law of the OT is perfect
but we so often disregard
or at least find it easy to gloss over
the left side of our bibles
because it seems so harsh and out dated
when really it is the bases for everything that we
read in the right side of our bibles
So as we read this mornings text
let us remember that Jesus is on the pages of the bible starting on
page 1 in Gen 1:1
and the plan of salvation is put in effect in Genesis 3:15 “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”
So let us stand and read this morning
Text
Text
Read the Text
Illustration
Illustration
Authority illustration
In the years 1014-1035 there ruled over England a Danish king named Canute.
King Canute tired of hearing his retainers flatter him with extravagant praises of his greatness, power and invincibility.
Now this king was religious himself
as I mentioned he was being called a God
many of his supporters try to worship him as so
He ordered his chair to be set down on the seashore, where he commanded the waves not to come in and wet him. No matter how forcefully he ordered the tide not to come in, however, his order was not obeyed.
Soon the waves lapped around his chair. One historian tells us that, therefore, he never wore his crown again, but hung it on a statue of the crucified Christ.
Its one thing to have authority on earth
as the Pharisee’s and scribes did over the Jews
But it is a whole another thing to have authority over
creation
over life
over judgement
and to have divine authority
as we will see that Jesus possesses
so as we move from the miracle of last week
to the message of this week
our points this morning will be
where we left off last week
The Persecution Begins
The Father and Son
and The Divine Authority
Where we left off
Where we left off
last week we covered Jesus’ conversation with the man
and we will pick up with the Jews conversation with the man
then Jesus’ Sermon or message with the Jews
which will end up taking us the next 3 to 4 weeks to complete
Persecution Begins!
Persecution Begins!
John 5:9–10 Now that day was the Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.””
So what is the Sabbath?
According to Exodus 20:8–11, the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, on which the children of Israel were to rest, in remembrance that God created the universe in six days and then “rested” on the seventh day.
The sabbath was created for us to rest
to rest from our normal day to day
to set a day aside for the lord and his work
Sure we mostly celebrate the “sabbath” on Sunday's when we attend church
But we are not bound by a specific sabbath day
The lord set this aside to bless us
not place a heavy burden on us
But that is exactly what they were doing with it
They were turning this blessing from God
into a burden
I mean think about it
This man had just been healed
after 38 years of illness and disability
and the first thing the Jews said to him was
the law prohibits you from picking up your mat
See, physical labor was not permitted
as in your job
Acts of kindness, mercy
and things that benefitted people
fit exactly in what the spirit of the day
was promoting
They still performed sacrifices on the sabbath
they still worshipped on the sabbath
so how this is different
it is merely just an interpretation of their man made laws
their oral laws
They actually made 39 additional laws
in order to make sure they adhered to the law of the sabbath
“Discuss some examples”
see their tradition
their rules
their legalism
outweighed their compassion
Legalism isn’t a word that we find in the bible
however, it is a word used to describe a concept which is widely discussed throughout scripture
Legalism describes a position that emphasizes a system of rules or regulations,
or traditions
in order to achieve salvation
in order achieve spiritual growth
it is pretty much a works based salvation
See legalism is directly opposed to grace
and these Jews began to oppose and persecute Jesus because
he imposed on their religion
he didn’t fit the mold they thought a religious person should fit
he did look how they thought he should look
and he didn’t play by the rules
even though he essentially made the rules
See many legalists back then
and now
make the error that their own personal
biblical interpretations and even their own traditions outweigh that of grace
and isn’t that what the jews were doing,
interpreting the scriptures in a fashion that bred legalism
that promoted their agenda
and dismissed grace and compassion in the process
Now I am not saying we go along with blasphemy
or heretical theology
I am simply saying
that grace should be at the forefront of our
thoughts when practicing discernment
that we should look at all circumstances through the lens of grace
biblical grace
not through the lens of tradition or legalism
after all Jesus did not come to abolish the law
right
he came to fulfil it
to show us its true meaning
So the Jews confronted the man about breaking
“their law”
see he did not break Gods law
What we would call the OT law
he broke the oral law
which are rules they enacted
the rules we just discussed that they made up
The man answers their question of
who told you to do this with
John 5:11 “He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”
He blames Jesus for it..
haha
I mean he had just been healed
but as we discussed last week
it does not seem as though he was converted
it does not seem as though he put his faith in the man that had just healed him
he was more worried about himself
he told on Jesus
right
Kinda reminds me of the Garden of Eden
when God asks Adam, who told you eat to eat the fruit
and Adam looks around and says
she made me do it…
But none this less
he showed little to no gratitude
and we see that he didn’t even learn the name of
Jesus
This man was so self centered
and focuses on himself
that even after his own healing
he couldn’t get out of his own way
But does that surprise you?
I mean how many of us?
or how many people do we know
that have had God show up big in their life
I mean really big
only to go back to their lives as if nothing happened
or, how about those that cry out to God
and pray when times are tough
but when times are good
oh it isn’t easy to forget God
saying
oh, I got this
they slide back into the norm right
but brothers and sisters
this is something we must make every attempt to avoid
we must praise God in the sunshine and daisies
just as much as we long for him in the storms
**Pause**
The Jews then ask him in verse 12
John 5:12 ““Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked.
looking around this man notices
that Jesus is nowhere to be found
John 5:13 “But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.”
and judging by the fact that he didn’t
even learn his name
I assume he just shrugged his shoulders and
walked away,
on his newly working legs
He walked right up those steps we talked about last week
into the temple or at least the temple mount
and who is standing there
Jesus
and at that point he discusses verse 14 with him
we covered that last week right
John 5:14 “After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.””
So we are going to skip that
if ya missed it its up on our facebook page
John 5:15 “The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.”
So… even after Jesus met him in the temple
told him what he told him
the man, who actually at least took the time to
learn Jesus’
name this time
went back to the Jews and told on him again
this time disclosing Jesus’ name
So, what happens
Well verse 16 says
John 5:16 “Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.”
See by creating these oral laws
they creating power among the people
however, they were about to come in contact with the one that actually held the power
The persecution increased
But Jesus did not back down
Now therer are two things we must highlight as we transition from the miracle of last week
to the message of this week
One is that the opposition to Jesus
is increasing as a result of the lame mans betrayal
and this persicution and opposition that starts here
will soon
nail Jesus to the cross
and, now Jesus will will be able to finally
reveal his true relationship
with his father
Here is how he answered them
in our next point of the morning
Father and Son
Father and Son
John 5:17 “Jesus responded to them, “My Father is still working, and I am working also.””
See Jesus knew it was the sabbath when he healed this man
He did it on purpose honestly
to show what we are about to discuss
To show that He is equal to the Father
to show that Jesus has authority over the sabbath
and essentially authority over all things
including those very Jews
and including us
See the Jews believed that God worked even on the sabbath
Right, because as the all powerful God of the universe he could not take a day off
because he is the very being that holds it all together
He sustains the universe
So the Jews and we also believe that
when God rested on the 7th day of creation
he didn’t rest because he was tired
because as
Isaiah 40:28 The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary;
he rested in order to show us an example of
the rest that we need
that we are to set aside one day to rest from our normal everyday work
and to focus on Him and the things that he has done
WE need that rest, not HIM
so, the sabbath does not apply to God
and now, since we know that God still works
on the sabbath
when Jesus says he works also
He is equating Himself with God
See He did not defend himself by clarifying the purpose of the sabbath
His defense as we just discussed was that God was working on the Sabbath
and he didn’t say anyone can work on the sabbath
No, he is saying that since God can work on the
Sabbath
so can he
Because Jesus has equal authority with God
and this is one thing the Jews and many today
cannot and will not submit to
See one of the biggest arguments against
Christianity is the fact that Jesus
is not God
many say he is a great teacher
many say a great role model
many say a great profit
in todays time of “tolerance”
all forms of religion lead to God right
that we are all on the same journey
your path is your path
and my path is my path
and they will all end in heaven
but see that cannot be true
because Christianity says that there is only one way
and that is through Jesus Christ
and that Jesus Christ is God
and it is only through him that we are to find eternal life and salvation
So if that is true the other ways must be false
But its ulmatley about submission right
this time of tolerance
see if we acknowledge that Jesus is God
and that the things he says are true
then we must acknowledge that we are to
submit to him
that we are to make him our everything
that we are to make him Lord of our life
And this is exactly what the Jews of that day
and many today simply cannot do
our hearts are a battlefield right
within us there are two opposing forces
at battle with each other
we battle against the flesh that wants
self worship
that wants the ultimate say so
that wants self rule
**PAUSE**
and the other side of that battle is our
desire to submit to the Lordship
of Jesus Christ
and each day we go to battle knowing that the Lord will prevail
and knowing that we can only with that battle thought the powerful
work of Jesus within us
And as I have already said this goes against tolerance
and this goes against culture
as for the most part the culture says to follow your own heart
and do what makes you feel better
not to submit
Now lets move on
see verse 18 tells us what what the Jews thought of Jesus being equal with God
John 5:18 “This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him: Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.”
And in verses 19-23 we will see that Jesus
has that
Divine Authority which is our second point of the morning
Divine Authority
Divine Authority
Now that we have established Jesus Diety
The fact that Jesus is revealing himself as God
He will double down on this
just to make sure the Jews, and us
don’t misinterpret what he said or meant
He will now go into just how that authority works
John 5:19 “Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son likewise does these things.”
Now, when Jesus says Truly
or Truly Truly
he is saying, perk up your ears
this is something you have to listen to
It is essentially a double amen to start off a substantial truth
right and Jesus is saying
That He does only what God can do
Jesus always works in perfect harmony
with the Fathers will
And this sets a very substantial theological fact
It gives us a glimpse of the relationship between these 2 in the trinity
See it shows
Jesus’ equality with the Father
as well as his subordination to the Father
Everything we will learn during the next 3 weeks as we examine Jesus sermon here
stems from this as what we could call his thesis statement
and I will quote here from one of my commentators
Grant R. Osborne
“This says three things about the Father-Son relationship:
the Son does nothing apart from his Father;
the Son sees and knows his Father intimately;
and the Son is completely obedient to the Father,
so that he reveals the Father perfectly in everything he does.
This means that the “work” of the Son is as limitless as that of the Father.”
Grant R. Osborne, John: Verse by Verse, ed. Jeffrey Reimer et al., Osborne New Testament Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), 130.
Lets continue with verse 20 as we continue to dive into his father son relationship as we look at the love of the father
John 5:20 “For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works than these so that you will be amazed.”
most of the time when we see the word love in the NT it is referring to the greek word
AGAPEO
That is the love of will and choice right
But here it is the word PHILEO that is translated to love
and this type of love is the love of deep feelings
the warmth and deep affection that a father
feels for his son
it indicates an eternal
uninterrupted
all knowing love
that leaves it impossible for Jesus to be unaware of Gods will
The sharing is perfect
verse 19 said that Jesus sees what the father is doing
and here it says that
the father shows Jesus what he is doing
the union is perfect right
so much so that we see the love reciprocated
and that knowledge will be reciprocated as well
for all truth and knowledge is available to Jesus from the father
and it is within this truth and knowledge that we will see even greater works than these
we already saw that Jesus has authority over healing
but we will now see that he has authority over life and death
John 5:21“And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.
The bible teaches that God only has the power to give life to the dead
this is an attribute that is unique to God only
and here, by Jesus having equality with God
and being God himself he will show that he too
has the power over the living and the dead
moreover, he has the power
to give spiritual life to the spiritually dead
Because just as God is the source of life
so Jesus is the source of life
and he wants to
and will give life to all that believe upon his name for salvation
another characteristic unique only to God is the ability to judge
and v22 says that
John 5:22 “The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,”
So just as the Jesus has the authority to give life
he also has the authority to judge all men on the last day
this is an eschatological reality
thats a big word but it is one we should know
eschatology is the study of the last things
and here Jesus, through John,
is saying that for all of history
Jesus will give life to those that call upon his name
but at the end of time
Jesus has been entrusted with the judgement of all
now this is not a contradiction to what we learned in John 3:17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
See Jesus came to save the world
the first time
But he will come back again
that is why John 8:15–16 “You judge by human standards. I judge no one. And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.”
See Jesus encounters every person and offers grace to those that believe
but to those that reject that grace
he will become their judge
PAUSE
now what is Jesus’ purpose in revealing all of this
as John 5:23 says
John 5:23 “so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”
one cannot fully believe in or honor God
without believing in and honoring Jesus
To worship God is to worship Jesus
and to worship Jesus is to worship God
Because Jesus is the only path to God
There are no rules
no traditions
no pre-resequites
no works that can get our sins
forgiven
There is only faith in the person of Jesus Christ
Whom is equal to God in all things
and is himself God
and we are able to put our faith in him because of
his outpouring of grace
and the same grace that he gives to us freely
we should give to those around us
grace that is loving
but also grace that is steadfast in opposition
We saw last week that Jesus is the Lord
over sickness
and this week that he is lord over the sabbath
and what that means is that Jesus can can heal us and give us rest
beacause when we are broken,
tired
weary
and we dont have the strength to go one
he is there
with all the authority given from God
to rescue us
should we only believe in him
Let us pray
Invitation
So now as we will enter into a time of invitation
This is a time of prayer and commitment
If you would like to pray with me
or one of our deacon about your salvation
or any other needs
now is the time
also, if you would like to begin the process of
becoming a member here
you can come up front as well
Let us sing