You would think that a miracle would be a cause for celebration for everyone, but that was not always the case during Jesus' lifetime. Today on Truth for Life, Alastair Begg considers what Jesus revealed about himself when he helped a helpless man at the pool of Bethesda and why the religious leaders responded with hostility. We're looking at chapter five in John's Gospel. The verse that is our verse for this morning is essentially verse nineteen. Truly, truly, I say to you, says Jesus.
The Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. Ryle, Bishop Ryle of old, commenting on that, he says: to me, this seems one of the deepest things in the Bible. And it certainly demands our attention, and we will give our attention to it presently. But what we discover is that the words of Jesus actually spark a controversy.
And the Jews have seen in that statement by Jesus sufficient to actually decide to kill him. We ought not to pass over this because we're familiar with it. the reaction of the religious authorities was to say to one another, if there is any way that we can get this man and kill him, that is exactly what we're going to do.
Now the setup for it, of course, is the healing of this man. In tracing a line through these verses, I just have four words, and I can identify them for you if they're helpful. My first word is just the word transformation. Transformation. For what is described in these opening 17 verses is just that.
The background to it is there for your further study. My purpose is not to exegete the first seventeen verses, not to miss the impact of them, but nevertheless, not to tackle them piece by piece. We know this. that uh Jesus has gone up to a feast. We don't know the nature of the feast.
We know that there was a gate there and there was a pool. And we know that in that context there were five roofed colonnades or alcoves, if you like. And the picture is of these poor individuals who have been drawn to this pool because of the things that have been said about its healing properties. And if you imagine the camera scanning these alphabs, they just come one after another to these poor souls. Each of whom is hoping to catch the moment when the waters are stirred so that they can get down into the pool.
But if they're not first, then they're going to have to wait. For the next time. That's the way it was understood, and that's the way we have it recorded for us.
Now, unlike the man in Mark chapter 2, remember, who was paralyzed, he had friends that took him to Jesus. But here in this incident, this man is not brought by friends. He has no support system. And when Jesus asks him, do you want to be healed? Amazingly, he doesn't say, oh, yes, please.
He just explains that he doesn't have a support system. And you can see that it's there in the text. Sir, I don't have anyone to put me into the pool, and when the water is stirred up, and so. When I'm going down the steps, someone goes down before me. And Jesus essentially says, you don't need to worry about the poor.
I'm not even going to put you in the pool. Get up. Get up. And at once, The man was healed. Who can do this?
Who can say to a guy who's paralyzed for 38 years, get up, and he gets up? If the gravity of his situation is not made clear by the fact that he was 38 years an invalid, The wonder of the change is made clear in the fact that he took up his palaeas And he and he walked. Jesus saw him. Jesus spoke to him. And the words of Jesus.
transformed him. For the Old Testament person, for the Jew that understood the Bible, they knew that there was going to come a day, a messianic day, when the Messiah would come, and when that happened, the ears of the deaf would be unstopped, the eyes of the blind would be opened, and the lame would leap like a deer. Jesus comes onto the stage of human history and he says, the time has come, the kingdom of God is at hand. One day in all of its fullness it will be there. But at the time being, we would anticipate that if the king with all of the powers of his kingship were present, we would begin to see these evidences.
And this, of course, is one such evidence.
So it's so far so good, except for the fact that as verse 9 ends, John introduces the fact that the day on which this took place was the Sabbath.
Now that day was the Sabbath. Which sets the stage for the confrontation that then follows. And a confrontation it is. Think about this as well. What kind of person What kind of person or persons Lose Sight of the healing.
and of the opportunity To be glad. That these people who are observers of this event. Are able to look at what has happened. It is unmistakable. It is undeniable.
The man who has been an invalid for 38 years is last seen walking up the street. Who does this? Religious people. Conservative people. Hard-hearted people.
fastidious people People who, when they look at a transforming impact such as this, cannot see it for the fact that they cannot rejoice in what has been done because of their concern about what should not be done. You see it there in the text. The day was the Sabbath. Pope Simon had a song, remember, there must be 50 ways to leave your lover. And these guys have got there must be 39 ways to break the Sabbath.
Because added to the law of God in relationship to the Sabbath and its requirements, they had actually come up with 39 additions. that had to do with all kinds of things. including Carrying stuff. And so he's carrying his bed, and they say, no. You can't do that.
It's the Sabbath.
Now, if this man had been carrying his bed and a few other beds in order that he could set up a stall and say, Would anyone like to buy a bed? That would actually be a violation of the commandment. Because the commandment provided for works of necessity and for works of mercy. Read read Deuteronomy, you will find this right there. That is the difference, incidentally.
Between going to see your grandmother who is in hospital on a Sunday afternoon and going to see the Browns on a Sunday afternoon. One is an act of mercy. In fact, that might be an act of mercy as well. The man doesn't know who did the healing. Therefore, he can't answer, but he passes the buck.
The man who said this to me, he's the one, that's why I'm carrying my bed. Later, Jesus meets him in the temple, tells him, Don't sin anymore. A lot worse could happen to you, like facing the judgment of God unforgiven. And so the opposition steps forward. This was why verse 18 the Jews were seeking to kill him.
He broke the Sabbath, they said. He was even calling God his own Father.
Now Jesus knew it was the Sabbath. He could have performed this miracle any day of the week. He chose to do this. But he also was very aware of the fact that he wasn't breaking the Sabbath. But by doing what he did, he was exposing the cruel hearts of the Sabbath police.
So fastidious in their commitment to the externals that they couldn't even rejoice in the provision of the Sabbath itself. The psalmist talked about, or the Old Testament talked about, calling the Sabbath a delight. The delight in the provision of God of mercy and forgiveness and joy and wholeness and rest and satisfaction, all of these things. all squeezed out. By this fastidious commitment, that's the kind of spirit that is right here.
People who can't see. the beauty of the works of God. Clouded Buy their own. predicaments.
Now The Jews were opposing Jesus. because they understood what Jesus was saying. They were opposing him because they realized the significance of the words of Jesus. He says to them, My father is working. Until now.
And I am working. They said to one another, That's it. The die is cast. He's actually claiming to be equal with God. That's the issue.
That then leads to my third word, which is explanation, which gives to us our verse nineteen. We won't re-read it. What Jesus is explaining to them is that his dependence upon God is perfect dependence. He shares the rights And he shares the power of God Himself.
Now, you will perhaps recall that when Nicodemus came to him under cover of darkness, as we looked at it last time in chapter 3. Nicodemus has a sense of this, doesn't he? Because he says, we presumably speaking on behalf of some of his colleagues. We've concluded that you must be a prophet Sent from God. Because nobody could do The amazing signs that you are doing, if God were not with him.
And what Jesus is actually saying here is: not simply that I am in the company of God. He's saying that the Father and I are one. He's making an express claim to his deity. And the Jews understood that. Why else do they want to kill him?
It's not because he misunderstood his statement. It's the reverse. Jesus Is unequivocally declaring this. And if you just allow your writer to scan the text. For example, how is this obvious?
Well, he says one of the ways in which this becomes apparent is that just as the Father raises the dead, verse 21, and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. Surely only God has the power to give life. Surely, only God has the power to raise people from the dead. God alone is the source of life. Jesus says The sun gives life To whom he will.
Just what's he saying? I'm God. He says it's there, you see it in the giving of eternal life. You go to the next verse, 22. And it is revealed in the Execution of judgment.
For the Father judges no one. but has given all judgment to the Son.
Now you remember when Paul is preaching And remember, Paul didn't believe a bit of this in the early part of his life as a fastidious religious Jew. But now he's preaching to the Athenians. And as he draws his talk to a close, at least as we have it as recorded by Luke, he says. And God has appointed a day when He will judge the world. And he has appointed someone who will judge the world.
It will be by the Son to whom he has appointed the task. And he has given proof of this by the resurrection of him from the dead.
Now Jesus is making this same statement. In verse 23, His deity is expressed in the fact that he can give life, that he will be the one who executes judgment. And then, thirdly, in verse 23. in accepting honour. That all may honor the Son.
Just as the owner of the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father. Who sent him?
Now humility is a virtue that we look for it in everybody who is a who's a leader of any kind. Nobody likes conceit.
So you have to if you're a skeptic and reading this stuff. You have to decide. Is Jesus an egomaniac? Or is he the person He declares himself to be. We've been singing about it this morning in that song.
You're everything you say you are, Lord. You're everything you say, you are, Lord. What is he saying he is? He is the one who gives eternal life. He is the one who executes judgment at the end of the age.
He is the one who receives honor to himself just in the same way as the Father is given honor. If Jesus isn't equal with God, Then the claim that he makes here is beyond comprehension. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
Okay, think Hinduism, think Judaism, think Islam. Think secularism, think anything you want. Oh, I believe there's a God up there somewhere. You play golf, and people say the man upstairs. What a lord of absolute.
nonsense and blasphemy ultimately. Do you honor Jesus? As the one who gives life, who you will face in judgment, and who is worthy of worship and honor and praise. No, of course I don't. I honour God.
No, you don't honor God. You cannot honor God. Unless you honor the Son. Because in Jesus all the fullness of the Godhead has appeared in bodily form. Everything that we could possibly know of the Godhead as contained in humanity is there in Jesus.
And that's the point that's being made. Says Ryle again, there are few chapters in the Bible, perhaps, where we feel our own shallowness of understanding so thoroughly and discover so completely the insufficiency of all human language to express the deep things of God. This is uh This is a paragraph. Let's just make sure we understand what Jesus is saying here. He's claiming equality with God the Father.
He is declaring that they will see greater works. Greater works than this. That will cause you to marvel, he said.
Well you say if you think this was good Where do you see what's going to happen to Lazarus? Right? And he stands at the grave of Lazarus and he says, Lazarus, come forth, and Lazarus comes out. And again, after that, the Jews cannot rejoice that Lazarus was raised from the dead because of their concern for the Sabbath. You see what religion can do to you?
It make you a grumpy old person. You know the truth. The truth sets you free. Jesus is freeing from these things. In the mouth, says Lewis.
of any speaker who is not God. These words would imply what I can only regard as a silliness And conceit. Unrivalled By any character in history. You must make your choice. A madman?
A bad man? Or the God man. That's the issue. No mere man However great Would claim to do what Jesus says in verse 24, and with this we must wrap it up. He comes, he gives another truly, truly in verse 24.
This is you get this free. Truly, truly. I say to you, Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me, has Present tense. has eternal life. He does not come into judgment.
But he has passed from death to life. Jesus is claiming. That the eternal destiny of every living person. person. is tied.
Two. His word His authority. And his invitation. Because you will notice that it is essentially an invitation. An invitation.
It's an invitation to listen to his voice. That's why, when we pray, as I pray, Lord, we want to hear your voice. You can hear my voice, you can chill out my voice. But you won't ever be able to chill out the voice of God. That's why we want to hear God's voice.
I want to hear God's voice when I study my Bible. I want to hear God, I want to meet God, I want to know God. This is not an exercise in sort of theological education. This is a life-transforming reality that God, we just sang about it, His Word is powerful and fulfills His purposes. An invitation to believe, an invitation to trust him.
Because God has placed in the hands of His Son the determination of our eternal destiny. Go back and read this all again. and see if certain things don't stand out to you. Who is the man? Who said to you?
They asked in verse 12. That's, I think, where some of you are. You haven't answered that question. You haven't come to a convinced position in terms of who Jesus is. You may even sing about him, you may even be in a small group, I don't know.
But if push comes to shove, you haven't actually bowed down before him and said, Lord Jesus Christ, you are the eternal Son of God. You are worthy of all my worship, all my praise, all of my obedience, all of my everything. That's a different posture from Uh Jesus is my life coach. Who is the man? Better settle that question.
And then perhaps the more important question. Asked by Jesus of the man. Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be healthy, sister?
Now his healing is a picture of the spiritual transformation which he brings about. Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be saved? Do you want to know that the eternal record is settled. John, who writes these words in chapter 5, then comes back to it in, interestingly, chapter 5 of his letter.
And this is what he says. Whoever believes in the Son of God has the testimony in himself. Whoever does not believe God has made him a liar. because he hasn't believed in the testimony that God bore concerning his Son. What's the testimony?
And this is the testimony. that God gave us eternal life. And this life is in his son. Whoever has the son has the son. has life.
Whoever does not have the Son of God, does not Half-life. The purpose of the sign is to illustrate the claim. That Jesus is the giver of spiritual life. That He's the judge of all mankind. On the last day.
But it's not the last day yet. But it will be a last day. That's why the Bible always says today is the day of salvation. The ultimate divide is we walk out of this building. is not rich, poor, white, black, fat, thin, dumb, or stupid.
The division is solely what? Whoever has the son has life. Whoever does not of the Son of God Does not have life. In other words, You are the walking dead. And God loves you so much.
that he sent Jesus.
so that you wouldn't die in your deadness. but that you would know the light of life. The invitation comes. from Jesus himself. You're listening to Alistair Begg on Truth for Life.
In today's message, Alistair quoted the nineteenth-century Anglican bishop J. C. Ryle. And we want to recommend to you to day a unique little book titled Christmas Thoughts, written by Ryle. In this collection of five Christmas reflections he speaks directly to his readers, challenging and encouraging us to make Christ the center of our Christmas celebration.
He writes If our Christmas is nothing more than merry making, and a holiday, and Jesus has no place in it, it can hardly be well spent. A Christmas without Christ, it cannot be a really happy one. Reading this short book is like sitting down and having a personal conversation with this well known preacher from the eighteen hundreds. Don't miss this unique reading experience. Request your copy of Christmas Thoughts when you donate to day.
You can give a gift to Truth for Life on our website, truthforlife dot org slash donate, or call us at eight eight eight five eight eight seven eight eight four. And with the holidays and a new year just around the corner, would you think about supporting Truth for Life with your year end giving? We are funded entirely by your donations, and this is the time of year when we rely on your giving to continue producing and distributing our programme. making Alistair's online sermon library free to access, and offering free and at-cost Bible teaching materials. And speaking of low-cost Bible teaching, if you've not yet visited our online holiday gifts page, do that today.
We've got gifts for the whole family at incredibly low prices, including devotionals, study Bibles, a set of three hardcover children's story books, and so much more. These books are available while supplies last. Our prayer is that you'll give these quality gospel gifts to others and that you'll take a moment to support the global outreach of Truth for Life by adding a generous year-end donation when you make your purchase. You can do all of this when you visit truthforlife.org/slash gifts. I'm Bob Lepine.
Thanks for studying the Bible with us today. Did you know that in our natural state we are spiritually dead? Join us tomorrow when we'll find out how to become spiritually alive. The Bible teaching of Alastair Begg is furnished by Truth for Life. Where the Learning is for Living.
