Welcome to Connect with Skip Heitzig. We're glad you've joined us for today's program. Connect with Skip Heitzig exists to connect you to God's never-changing truth in ever-changing times through verse-by-verse teaching of His Word. That's why we make messages like this one today available to you and others on air and online. Before we kick off today's teaching, we want to let you know that you can stay in the know about what's happening at Connect with Skip Heitzig when you sign up for email updates. When you do, you'll also receive Skip's weekly devotional email to inspire you with God's Word each week. So sign up today at connectwithskip.com.
That's connectwithskip.com. Now let's get into today's teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig. Well, I think most people can figure out what customary work is.
But it's nonspecific. So as years went on, the Jewish rabbis, the leaders, began to add to the written commandments what is called the Oral Law. And they decided there were 39 different activities that a person could not do on the Sabbath because if they did, it was under the category of customary work. For example, you couldn't look in the mirror on the Sabbath. What does that have to do with customary work?
Well, their reasoning, if you look in the mirror and you see a gray hair, you're going to be tempted to pull it out. So you're going to be exerting energy to do that. That's customary. That's customary work. That's forbidden on the Sabbath. It's forbidden on the Sabbath.
I'm not making this stuff up. On the Sabbath, you couldn't wear false teeth. Yes, they had them back then. Because if you wore false teeth on the Sabbath, they might fall out on the floor and you would then stoop down to pick them up. Thus, you are now bearing a burden on the Sabbath day.
Is that crazy? What is a burden? I'm glad you asked. A burden, according to the Oral Law, was anything that weighed equal to two figs, dried figs. Anything that weighed equal or more than the weight of two dried figs was a burden. I don't know, I think I could carry five dried figs and it wouldn't be burdensome to me. Oh, but no. So it became hard to rest.
Oh, it's so hard to remember how to rest. So here you have a group of people who can't rejoice that a guy who's been sick 38 years can walk because they're worried that it breaks the Oral Law. And here's the point I want to make. The most vicious people I've met are religious legalists. They're the most vicious people in the body of Christ. They don't rejoice. They don't have no joy in the betterment of another life as much as, did it violate the law that I have imposed over the written Word of God?
It's no fun to be around them. This is the turning point for Jesus' whole ministry. He did it on the Sabbath, which brought the ire of these enemies. Verse 12, then they asked him, who is the man who said to you, take up your bed and walk? But the one who was healed did not know. Jesus didn't hand him a business card or here's my cell phone. I'm Jesus.
If you haven't heard of me yet, you will soon. I'm the Messiah. He healed him and that was it. For Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place. Afterward, Jesus found him in the where? Temple. So he's in the pool of Bethesda, adjacent to the temple. He gets healed. He picks up his little mat. He walks to the temple.
I love that. Goes to church. He wants to thank God.
He wants to make up for lost time. He hadn't been able to go to the temple ever. Almost four decades he's been in that condition. That could have been his age.
It could have just been a lifelong illness. He picks his bed up. He's in the temple. Jesus finds him there. And he said to him, verse 14, See, you have been made well.
Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. The man departed and told the Jews it was Jesus who made him well. For this reason, the Jews persecuted Jesus. Now, you see the word persecuted? It's in the present imperfect tense in the Greek language, which means they persecuted and continued to persecute and kept persecuting him.
It was something that was ongoing and it mounted as the chapters move on. They persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him because he had done these things on the Sabbath. Go back to that odd statement that Jesus made to the man. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you. What could be worse than what he has been through? What could be worse than four decades of being an invalid? What could be worse than this disease stealing the best years of his physical life?
I'll tell you what could be worse. An eternity in hell. An eternity in hell could be far worse than the best years of your physical life being torn away from you by a disease.
Suffering a lifetime physically is nothing compared to suffering eternity. Don't practice sin any longer, lest a worse thing come upon you. Now, I think I'm right when I say probably no one ever spoke to this man like this. No one spoke that candidly. And I've discovered most people don't speak candidly anyway to most people.
It's all niceties and politeness. Jesus said don't sin anymore lest something worse come upon you. No one spoke so clearly, so candidly, so eternally like Jesus. Why did he do it?
Because he loved him. This is showing mercy, man. Do you not know that? How unmerciful it would be to just heal a person, better a person's life, and not give them any information about eternity. Oh well, I don't want to rock the boat. I don't want to hurt their feelings. Hurt their feelings.
Not on purpose. Don't go out of your way and be like a Pharisee. But love someone enough to tell them the truth. One of the most merciful things you can do is to be honest with scriptural truth. It's merciful. If it's going to shock and jolt a person into the reality of life and death and heaven and hell, then that's love.
That's pure love. That is pure mercy. Sin no more lest a worst thing come upon you. So preach the gospel.
It's the most merciful thing you could ever do. Verse 17, But Jesus answered them, My Father has been working until now, and I have been working. Now this next section, do you have a red letter Bible by any chance? Any of you?
Okay, so just look at how much red is coming up. Okay, so that just means Jesus is going to launch into a speech, a discourse. Now this is a discourse about his identity. If this was a seminary and this was a course on theology, you know, there's theology means the study of God. Theology is divided into other ologies.
There's pneumatology, which is the study of the Holy Spirit. There is Christology, which is the study about Christ, the doctrine of Christ. Here you are getting a Christology from the lips of Christ himself. What does Jesus say about himself? How does he introduce himself? What does he say to the leaders, even the antagonistic leaders, about himself? What is Jesus' Christology?
Does it match yours? Are you one of those people who say, Oh, I believe that Jesus lived as a historical figure, and I believe he's a wonderful guy, a nice guy, a wonderful teacher, a model of humanity, but he was not God in human flesh. He was not the incarnate Son of God, like some Christians, beginning with Paul the Apostle, who made him into something he wasn't. Because you have problems with what Jesus said about himself. What Jesus said about himself makes him a net basket, a liar, deceiver, or it reveals his true identity as God.
D.A. Carson put it this way, nobody can make these statements unless he's God or he's insane. So Jesus now launches into a discourse about his equality with God the Father. And he does it by saying there are five ways he is equal with the Father.
I want you to notice that. You're listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig before we return to Skip's teaching, we want to help you and the children in your life see the timeless story of Christ from cradle to cross. With Nate Heitzig's new book, Christmas Under the Tree, told through the eyes of an unlikely character and graced with illuminating illustrations. This gripping tale is rooted in the limitlessness of Christ's love and helps young readers understand why Jesus left heaven to be born under and die upon a tree. This exciting resource, along with a companion audio experience, are available to you now as our way of saying thanks for your gift of $25 or more to reach more people with God's love through Connect with Skip Heitzig.
Go to connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888 and request your copy when you give. Now, let's get back to Skip for more of today's teaching. Verse 17, my father has been working until now, and I have been working. I am equal with my father in purpose. My father in heaven doesn't take a vacation, doesn't take a rest. I know it's the Sabbath, but he's exempt. He's got to keep the universe running. He didn't hit the Sabbath and go, I'm not doing anything. Just let whatever happens, happens.
I'm just like out of here. My father has been working and I have been working. So he is equal with God in purpose.
It's a great thought. While you're resting, God is working. One of the Psalms, I can't remember exactly which one, but it says, He that keepeth Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps. He works 24-7, man. So you can be resting while God is working, which means, listen to what this means. Why should you be worrying? If God is always working, why are you always worrying?
Man, you should be resting. He's the one that's at work. He never takes a day off.
My father works until now, has been working, and I have been working. He's equal with God in purpose. Therefore, the Jews sought the more to kill him.
Listen to this. Because he not only broke the Sabbath, but he also said that God was his father, making himself, what? Equal with God. Listen, Jesus' enemies knew exactly what he was saying. So when somebody comes along, be they a Jehovah Witness or a Mormon or a Muslim, who say, Jesus never claimed to be God. Even the enemies of Jesus, who did not believe or nor were they predisposed to believe that he was deity, knew that he claimed to be God. He's making himself equal.
And again, this is in the present or the present imperfect tense. Not only does he break the Sabbath, but he continually, repetitively makes himself equal with God. And he did, over and over and over again.
He assumed prerogatives that can only be assigned to God. He said, I am the bread of life. Whoever takes of me will never hunger. I am the living water. Drink of this water, you'll thirst again.
Whoever drinks of the water that I give will never thirst again. I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. Philip, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father.
I and the Father are one. He claimed he could forgive sins. He said, Son, your sins are forgiven.
The man that was let down the paralytic by his friends in that house up in Galilee. And the religious leader said, no one can forgive sins except God. Exactly.
You got it. You put two and two together. That was the whole point of saying your sins are forgiven out loud in front of them. So he had the power to heal. He had the power to know everything. He knew the man was in a condition like that for 38 years. He knew his medical history. He knew what people were about to say.
He had all power, all authority. He was continually making himself equal with God. Then Jesus answered and said to them, most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do. For whatever he does, the Son also does in like manner. First of all, Jesus said, I'm equal with God in purpose. Now he says, I'm equal with God the Father in performance. Whatever the Father does, the Son does. For the Son, or for the Father, verse 20, loves the Son and shows him all things that he himself does. And he will show him greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom he will. Now Jesus says, I am equal with the Father in power. God the Father has life in himself and he can raise dead people.
So can I. And he does. In fact, he says, no one takes my life from me.
I have the power to lay my own life down and the power to take it up again. Verse 22, for the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son. This is the fourth way Jesus says he is equal with the Father. He's equal with God in the proclamation of judgment. That all, verse 23, should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. It's the fifth way he says he's equal with God. He's equal with God in praise. If he is working harmoniously, sharing the purposes, the prerogatives, the performance, the power with the Father, then he deserves the same praise that the Father has given.
That all men should honor the Son even as they honor the Father. Folks, how can you ever say Jesus didn't say he was God? His enemy said he's always saying he's God.
He's continually making himself equal with God. Most assuredly I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life. Basically, all people will be judged. All people will be judged. Believers will be judged and unbelievers will be judged. Believers will be judged, 2 Corinthians 5, for we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive those things done in our bodies, whether good or bad.
This is the judgment for believers. Believers will stand before Christ one day to be rewarded for being faithful to do what he's called us to do. Or we will not get the reward because of the motivation that we use to do what we did or we didn't do what we were called to do. So our rewards in heaven are based upon what we do after we're saved.
You'll get a reward. It has nothing to do with your eternal salvation. That happened to the cross.
You passed from death into life. But you'll stand before the judgment seat of Christ, the bima seat of Christ. He was called by the Greeks, a raised platform where rewards were given and edicts were given. So we'll stand before Christ to be evaluated on our works that we did after we came to Christ. Unbelievers, the second judgment, is for unbelievers. Unbelievers will be judged a thousand years after the resurrection spoken about in Revelation chapter 20. It's called the Great White Throne Judgment. It's where all of those unbelieving dead are raised to live forever and be punished by God forever and ever. That's the Great White Throne Judgment that is spoken of for unbelievers. Most assuredly, verse 25.
Let me just touch on something before we get to that and finish this section up. What Jesus is saying, nutshell, bottom line, if you've seen me, you've seen the Father. If you want to know what God is like, all you've got to do is look at Jesus. All you've got to do is watch Jesus.
All you have to do is listen to Jesus. When you see Jesus being compassionate over a crowd, you're seeing the heart of God in His love for people. When you see Jesus healing a man who's been in this condition 38 years, you're seeing the heart of God being moved by human suffering. When you see and hear Jesus weeping over Jerusalem, you are seeing God brokenhearted over the unbelief of His own people. So what this means is, when we are talking to the Lord, our Father in heaven, in Jesus' name, we're dealing with somebody who left heaven, came to earth. In coming to earth, He understands all of the pain that we experience on this earth.
Hebrews chapter 4, we do not have a high priest who is unsympathetic with our weaknesses or problems, but He was at all points tempted like we are, yet without sin. So we're dealing with somebody who came to this earth and understands all of the pains of the earth, but has all the resources of heaven. He's not aloof. He's not detached. He's been here.
He's walked here. He's felt rejection, isolation, loneliness, physical pain, torture. He understands when you talk to Him, when you pray to Him. So He understands all the pains of the earth, but He has all the resources of heaven. Because He is the God-man.
I love that thought about Him. Most assuredly, verse 25, I say to you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has exalted Him, or has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. So in terms of time, there's two kinds of resurrection. I said for believers and unbelievers, but think about it in terms of time. If you're a believer, your judgment is past tense.
You have passed from death to life because you believe in Jesus. So the judgment was taken out on Jesus at the cross, so you Skip the condemnation judgment of the future. You will only be judged, and I'll only be judged, and given rewards based on what we did for Christ, or have a reward withheld because of what we didn't do or our motivations. But the condemnation is past tense, it's on Jesus. If you're an unbeliever, the judgment is yet future, and that's the condemnation of Revelation chapter 20, the great white throne judgment. But for us, there is therefore now no condemnation, Romans 8, 1, to those who are in Christ Jesus.
Verse 30, I can't of myself do nothing, as I hear I judge, and my judgment is righteous, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of the Father who sent me. 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. You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth, yet I do not receive the testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning lamp and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John's, for the works which the Father has given me to finish, the very works that I do bear witness of me, that the Father has sent me. Now what does all that mean? Well, we're going to have to wait until next time to uncover what all that means. But I'll give you a hint. If you know a lawyer, it will make sense. And I say that in a good way. There's no lawyer jokes behind here.
I've gotten chastised for my share of lawyer jokes in the past, and there's a lot of great ones. But I'm withholding myself, but it has to do with a courtroom setting and Jesus acting in a courtroom fashion, calling witnesses to the bench. We're glad you've joined us today. Before you go, remember that when you give $25 or more to help reach more people with the gospel through Connect with Skip Heitzig, we'll send you Nate Heitzig's new children's book, Christmas Under the Tree, which includes a companion audio experience.
Just in time for Christmas, this book will help young readers understand why Jesus left heaven to be born under and die upon a tree. To request your copy, call 800-922-1888. That's 800-922-1888. Or visit connectwithskip.com slash donate. For more from Skip, be sure to download the Connect with Skip Heitzig app, where you can access messages and more content right at your fingertips. Come back next time for more verse-by-verse teaching of God's word here on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Make a connection, make a connection at the foot of the cross and cast all burdens on His word. Make a connection, connection. Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God's never changing truth in ever-changing times.
