Proof_Positive_John_5_31-47.doc

8/14/2019 Proof_Positive_John_5_31-47.doc

1/6

Proof PositiveJohn 5:31-47 www.bible-sermons.org August 24th2008

Jesus healed the invalid at the ool o! "ethesda and told him to ta#e hismat with him. $he religious oli%e saw the man %arr&ing the mat and toldhim he was brea#ing the law. 'e de!ended himsel! b& telling them thatthe man who %ured him told him to ta#e u his mat. (nstead o! beingawestru%# at the instantaneous healing o! someone that had been aninvalid !or 38 &ears) the& were an*ious to %at%h the man who told him tobrea# the +abbath rest b& %arr&ing his mat. (t,s hard to believe someone%ould be so dogmati% about their rules) but the& were.

$o hel us understand how that was ossible) we have to understandJewish histor&. hen the Jews were %arried awa& into %ativit&) therohets told them it was be%ause the& had not #et their art o! the%ovenant with od. /art o! that %ovenant was #eeing the +abbath wee#l&and the on%e ever& 7-&ear +abbath rest !or the !ields. eviti%us 25:4 $hehroni%les told them the length o! their e*ile was euivalent to thenumber o! &ears the& ignored the +abbath rest !or the !ields. Jeremiah17:272hroni%les 36:21 od gave the land that rest b& removing them.uring the e*ile and return to the land) movements srang u that wereaimed at seeing the Jewish eole never %omromise again so the& wouldnot have to endure another e*ile. $hat is how the /harisees be%ame solegalisti%. (t was motivated b& !ear o! udgment. 9e%hariah 7:11-12

$he& had a good desire in tr&ing to be !aith!ul to od) but went sooverboard in tr&ing to en!or%e their rules to rote%t the laws that the&ended u brea#ing the sirit o! the laws. ar# 7:13 +o when the& sawthe man %arr&ing the mat) their mindset wasn,t about the wonder!ul !a%tthat od was mira%ulousl& resent an obe%tive o! real +abbath #eeingbut instead on #eeing the eole obedient to the rules so that od wouldnot have to udge them harshl&. ;ehemiah 13:17-18 $o have someonetelling others to brea# their rules that the& designed to rote%t the+abbath was even a greater threat to holding o!! the wrath o! od. $hat iswhat was behind this insane legalism.

Jesus resonded to the legalists, a%%usations b& ma#ing some ver& radi%al%laims about 'imsel!. 'e de%lared that 'e %ould give li!e to an&one at will.'e %laimed to be the Judge o! man#ind. 'e said 'e is +on o! an) are!eren%e !rom aniel,s rohe%& about the


2/6

humilit&. e get a mu%h more a%%urate estimation i! we as# others whoobserve us regularl&) ese%iall& someone that is a sirituall& matureerson.

33 "You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. 34 ot that Ia!!et human testimony# but I mention it that you may be saved.$hosethat were atta%#ing Jesus had sent a delegation to John the "atist to as#about his tea%hing. John 1:1> John told them o! the $he& tried to get two witnesses to agree. Jesussaid 'e had John as a witness) but 'e also had 'is a%tions as a witness. 3$

John was a lam that burned and %ave li%ht, and you !hose for a time toen&oy his li%ht. 3' "I have testimony wei%htier than that of John. (or thevery work that the (ather has %iven me to finish, and whi!h I am doin%,

testifies that the (ather has sent me.

$he original language has the de!inite arti%le be!ore BlamC. John was thelam. Jesus was re!erring to something se%i!i%) erhas the essiani%redi%tion in /salm 132:17. 1) "*ere I will make a horn %row for +avid andset u a lam for my anointed one.As Jesus is the +on o! avid) avid isroheti% essiani% term. 'osea 3:5 Anointed one is Bthe hristC inree#. Jesus ver& well ma& have had this assage in mind.

2


3/6

Jesus ba%#ed 'is %laim u with 'is mira%ulous deeds. Dou %ould ut all themira%les o! the rohets together and the& wouldn,t %ome %lose to sheernumber o! mira%les Jesus er!ormed. ;ot man& eole %an sa& &ou shouldbelieve what the& sa& be%ause o! the wa& the& live. ;o one but Jesus %anas# !or belie! in them be%ause o! mira%ulous deeds. e generall& don,tinvite s%rutin&. "ut Jesus said in essen%e) B& li!e testi!ies that ( amheaven sent and that m& %laims are true.C

$hin# about that. (! od be%ame a man) would 'e live an& di!!erentl& thanthe li!e o! Jesus= 'e showed 'is ower over %reation and %omassion onthe si%#. ar# 4:41atthew 8:16 'e boldl& de%lared who 'e was and'is mission to save us atthew 20:28) but 'e didn,t shrin# !rom warningo! !inal usti%e to those who %lung to evil. atthew 8:12 hat throws usis that 'is li!e ends on the %ross. (t,s hard !or us to imagine an& god lovingus enough to endure that) but that is be%ause we tend to thin# o! what wewould ut u with i! we had all ower. hat (,m sa&ing is that 'is li!e wasgreater in humilit&) love and urose than we would imagine.

$here ma& be one more tradition behind Jesus, use o! two witnesses. (n

that time) there were the %ommon rabbi) and then there were those whomemoriEed the entire aw) rohets) and salms. (! &ou were able to dothat and two others who were re%ogniEed as that to level o! rabbi%on!irmed that &ou had done so and were worth&) &ou would than attainto that to level o! rabbi. $he %ommon rabbi uoted others who had %omebe!ore. $he& dared not interret the aw themselves. $his highest level o!rabbi %ould interret the law and be uoted b& others. $here were onl& a!ew in Jesus, da&. Jesus ma& have been sa&ing 'e was o! that level andmore. 'e %ould tell others how to interret the +abbath aw. 'e #new the+%ritures and 'is two witnesses were John the "atist and 'is mira%ulouswor#s. 'e was %laiming authorit& eual to) and greater than) those that

the religious leaders based their oinions on.

3)nd the (ather who sent me has himself testified !on!ernin% me. Youhave never heard his voi!e nor seen his form, 3- nor does his word dwell inyou, for you do not believe the one he sent. Dou have the rohet John)the mira%les Jesus er!ormed) and od) 'imsel!) testi!ies o! Jesus. 'e iswitness number three) and 'e is the ultimate witness. $hat should beroo! ositive !or an& sin%ere see#er o! the truth. $he religious leadersdidn,t hear 'is voi%e at the batism) nor do the& hear 'is voi%e in theirheart. o we= (! we are in tune with od we will hear 'im sa&) B$his is m&beloved +on whom ( love. (n 'im) ( am well leased. 'ear 'imC atthew

3:17u#e >:35 "ut the& didn,t hear od,s voi%e and 'is word did notdwell in them) be%ause the& did not believe Jesus.

$hin#) !or a moment) about that hrase) Bnor does his word dwell inyou/$he& had memoriEed huge ortions o! +%riture) more than an& o!us) and &et Jesus said od,s word did not dwell in them. /salm 11>:11$here must be a di!!eren%e between memoriEing +%riture and having theord live in us. $he onl& wa& ( %an interret this is b& John the "eloved,sde%laration that the ord was made !lesh in Jesus. John 1:14 (n otherwords) the ord o! od is the +on o! the $rinit&) one with the 'ol& +irit.

3


4/6

(! the +irit o! od does not reside in them) there ma& be a million wordsmemoriEed in their head) but the ord o! od is not at home in them. $heletter is dangerous without the +irit. 2orinthians 3:6 hen the +irit isat home in &ou) &ou hear od,s voi%e and believe the one 'e sent. Jesus,manner o! sea#ing is uniue. 'is statement wasn,t a suosition or asuggestion it was a de%laration o! !a%t. BDou don,t hear od and 'is wordisn,t living in &ouC

+ometimes we meet eole that are genuinel& see#ing the truth. $he'ol& +irit has been at wor# in their li!e) but 'e does not &et live in them.$he& almost seem to be a %hild o! od) but the& don,t re%eive Jesus as the+on o! od and ord o! all. 'is word does not dwell in them. $he& havenot &et heard 'is voi%e. 'ow intolerant o! Jesus to sa& su%h a thing= ;o)how auda%ious o! man to uestion +on o! an,s de%larations o! truth. (!&ou thin# &our oinion is better than 'is de%laration) let me as# &ou i! &ou%an oint to &our li!e as a reason to believe &ou= Jesus %an oint to 'is li!eand we are still in awe o! how 'e lived even to this da&.

30 You dili%ently study the !ritures be!ause you think that by them you

ossess eternal life. These are the !ritures that testify about me, 4yetyou refuse to !ome to me to have life.$he religious leaders had !allen intoa tra that we %an easil& !all into as well. $he& worshied the +%ritures.note $he& thought b& #nowledge o! the details the& %ould lease od asi! od was the great rule ma#er in the s#& that doles out 'is love andmer%& on those who er!orm e*a%tl& as 'e has res%ribed. $he& missedthe simle de%laration o! the /salmist) B$here is none that does good) nonot oneC /salm 14:3

Jesus is sa&ing something here that the dis%iles too# as a new aradigm.orre%t interretation o! the +%ritures the


5/6

41 "I do not a!!et raise from men, 42 but I know you. I know that you donot have the love of 5od in your hearts. hen the love o! od is in ourhearts) we don,t reall& %are what men sa& about us. e want to leasethe ?ather. As long as 'e is leased) we are satis!ied. $his desire !or theraise o! man is what has led to the down!all o! so man&. alatians 1:10( value &our en%ouraging words o! are%iation) but ( alwa&s have to ta#ethem to the ord and a%#nowledge that i! an&thing good %ame !rom me) itis all be%ause o! 'im. (! the raise is valid and not !latter&) it deserves to

be laid at the !eet o! Jesus. ithout 'im) ever&one o! us would be in thesandals o! these religious leaders) re!using to %ome to 'im to have li!e.John 15:5

hat a sho%#ing statement this was) and &et what %onvi%tion it must have%arried. $he& #new the& loved the raise o! men. John 12:43 $hat,s wh&their religious li!e was a big show. atthew 6:5 $he& believed the& lovedod too) but Jesus was sa&ing i! one is true the other isn,t. (! &ou loveraise !rom men) the love o! od %an,t be in &ou.

43 I have !ome in my (ather6s name, and you do not a!!et me# but if

someone else !omes in his own name, you will a!!et him. A!ter Jesusas%ension) a number o! men %ame on the s%ene and %laimed to be theessiah. $he& wanted to oust @ome) and the& did obtain ba%#ing !rom thereligious leaders. Jesus, redi%tion o! their a%%etan%e o! !alse essiahsand the destru%tion o! the $emle %ame to ass. atthew 24:5 (! &ouneed even more roo!) there it is.

44 *ow !an you believe if you a!!et raise from one another, yet makeno effort to obtain the raise that !omes from the only 5od7 (t ust isn,tossible. (! &ou are see#ing the raise o! men) &ou will never ma#e ane!!ort to re%eive the raise that %omes !rom od) and there!ore &ou will

never believe. (t is onl& when we turn !rom the things the world lauds thatwe %an trul& see# what leases od) and then we %an trul& believe inJesus. atthew 6:24 $his is a #e& %hallenge !or ever&one that %omes tohrist) but ese%iall& !or those who are in the ubli% e&e. hose raiseare &ou see#ing=

4$ "8ut do not think I will a!!use you before the (ather. Your a!!user is9oses, on whom your hoes are set. 4' If you believed 9oses, you wouldbelieve me, for he wrote about me. 4) 8ut sin!e you do not believe whathe wrote, how are you %oin% to believe what I say7" $he& invested theirlives in stud&ing the boo#s o! oses. Jesus is reeating 'is oint that the

+%ritures are all about 'im. (! the& re!used to see that) oses will oneda& stand and a%%use them.


6/6

$hese religious leaders had invested their lives in boasting about whatthe& do. 1John 2:16 Along %omes this %arenter rabbi !rom a little ruraltown and tells them ever&thing is about 'im) but that the& are in%aableo! re%eiving it. 'e laid out the roo! !or them and !or us that we might%ome to 'im !or li!e. $he boo# o! A%ts tells us that a!ter the resurre%tionman& o! them did believe. A%ts 6:7 'is words got through to their heartsand the& were able to leave their worldl& ambitions behind and !ollow.an& more %ontinued to re!use to believe. 'ebrews 12:25 $hat is the

oint o! this assage. e have enough roo!. Jesus laid it out !or an&honest see#er. ill &ou %ling to the world and re!use to believe or will &oulet go o! &our own ambitions and %ome to Jesus !or li!e) real li!e) eternalli!e= Are &ou see#ing the raise that %omes !rom od alone=

6

Proof_Positive_John_5_31-47.doc

Documents

Transcript of Proof_Positive_John_5_31-47.doc