Category: John 5

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John John 5

When we seek the praise of man

John

When you think about Jesus’ life, the thing that would probably surprise you if you never heard the story before is that the religious leaders, the people that should have been the quickest to embrace him, didn’t.

Instead, they rejected him, and eventually were responsible for his death. How could that possibly happen?

These were people that Jesus said constantly searched the scriptures. Now that in itself is a good thing.

But the problem was they sought the praise of others, namely their peers, rather than the praise of God.

As a result, their study of scriptures was more to impress their peers than to really seek God. Jesus said to them,

I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.

How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God? (John 5:43-44)

When we get so focused on getting the praise from others and the pride that comes from that, we become blind to what God is doing and saying. We may see and hear what God is doing, but we can’t take it in.

You see this with these religious leaders. They heard John the Baptist speak. They heard Jesus speak. And not only did they hear him speak, they saw him validate those words with the miracles he performed.

But for some reason, they couldn’t take it in. As a result, they missed out on what truly brings life.

Because life, true life, is living in accord with God’s purpose.

It’s walking in step with what he’s doing in your life, and the world around you, and joining in with his work. If we truly love God, that’s what our focus will be on.

But these leaders lacked that love for God because they were too focused on themselves. And so Jesus told them,

I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. (John 5:42)

How about you? What would Jesus say about you? Could he say that you truly have the love of God in your life? That your love is such that your main goal is to please him?

Are you seeking the praise of God? Or the praise of man?

As you do ministry in the church, who are you seeking validation from? From your pastor? From the other people at church?

When that starts to become your focus, your ministry becomes as self-centered as these religious leaders’ studies of the scripture. And we become blind to what Jesus is truly trying to do.

I’ll be honest, as a public speaker and teacher in my church, it’s something I have to constantly battle. Pride is a killer to any ministry that we do.

So we constantly have to ask ourselves this question: “Who am I trying to please?”

Whose praise are you seeking?

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John John 5

The one who judges…and gives life

John

Here we catch a glimpse of the relationship between the Father and the Son.

One thing we cannot say, as some cults do, is that the Father is the Son. They are clearly distinct from each other, though they are the one God (along with the Holy Spirit).

We see that while Jesus was on earth, there was a dependency that Jesus had on the Father. He was constantly watching for what his Father was doing and joining in on his work. (John 5:19)

More than that, he was always looking to please his Father, not himself, and all he said and did was based on the Father’s strength and counsel. (John 5:30)

But on the other hand, we see the tremendous power and authority that the Father gave Jesus.

Why was this given? So that all would honor the Son as they honor the Father. To dishonor the Son is to dishonor the Father. (John 5:23)

So in this sense, we also see the equality that Jesus had with his Father. (John 5:18)

What power and authority does Jesus have?

First, he has the power of life. He has the power to raise all who are dead to life. Jesus said,

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. (John 5:21)

We see this throughout his ministry, most notably in Lazarus (John 11). But not only that, Jesus said,

I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come 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…

Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out. (John 5:25-26, 28-29)

One thing to remember is that Jesus will ultimately raise all people back from the grave, not just the believers. Why? For judgment. And that’s the second point.

Jesus has the authority to judge all people. Jesus said,

Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son. (John 5:22)

What kind of judgment will Jesus pass?

Those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. (John 5:29)

In other words, Jesus’ judgment will have eternal consequences and will determine who will go to heaven and hell.

And he has the right to judge and condemn, because he himself became the Son of Man, and yet never sinned. (John 5:27)

How will Jesus judge who goes to heaven or hell? Jesus tells us.

I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. (John 5:24)

In other words, we need to hear the words of Jesus, believe them, and put our faith in the Father who sent him.

Those who do, will have eternal life. But those who reject Jesus will be condemned for all eternity.

How about you? Have you put your faith in the person who has the authority to judge and the power to give life?

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John John 5

Who Jesus is

John

Who is this Jesus? That is the question that every single person who encountered him had to face.

It’s the question that people to this day must face in encountering Jesus.

The Jews came face to face with this question when Jesus told them,

My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working. (John 5:17)

That statement may seem innocuous to us, but to the Jews, it struck like a thunderbolt. Why?

Nobody in those days ever referred to God as “My Father.” As “Our Father,” perhaps, but not, “My Father.”

And by saying, “My Father,” Jesus essentially made a claim to deity. What was the logic behind that?

Well, think about it. Sons (and daughters) share the nature of their father.

If the father is human, his sons and daughters will be human. If the father is a cat, his sons and daughters will be cats. If the father is an ape, his sons and daughters will be apes.

And if God were to have a Son, that Son would also be God by nature.

Now we are not saying, of course, that God literally gave birth, or that he married and his wife gave birth. Jesus existed from all eternity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

But one thing is certain. They all share the nature of God. How that works, nobody can truly explain. But that’s how God has revealed himself.

So what? What does this mean for us?

It means that if Jesus is God, we can’t simply dismiss his words as the words of an ordinary man. Of a man who had his opinions, but we are free to disagree with.

Instead, we must hold to his words as truth. And obey them.

How about you? Who is Jesus to you?

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John John 5

Blinded by rules

John

Rules are a good thing. It tends to put order where there is disorder. This is true in the classroom (where I teach), it’s true in our households, and it’s true in society.

But rules can be harmful when people forget that the rules are not there simply for their own sake. There are reasons for rules, and if we forget the spirit of them, we can get into trouble.

What’s worse is when we start making up rules to keep us from breaking other rules.

What do I mean? To take a very modern example, God says, “Don’t get drunk, instead be filled with the Spirit.” (Ephesians 5:18)

Throughout scripture, especially in the Proverbs, you see warnings against getting drunk. Why? Because when you get drunk, you’re no longer in control of yourself. Even more importantly, God no longer is in control in your life.

But some people put a rule around the rule. “Don’t drink alcohol at all. If you drink, you might get drunk.”

Now that rule around the rule is not bad in itself. I basically avoid drinking myself for that very reason (not to mention the fact that alcohol doesn’t taste very good).

But it becomes bad when you start criticizing others for breaking the rule around the rule.

That’s what the Pharisees were like, and you see it in their keeping of the Sabbath. You had the rule: “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.” (Exodus 20:8)

In short, “Don’t work on that day.”

What was the spirit of the law?

First, to take some time to focus on God.

Second, to learn to trust him to provide for you by working only six days a week instead of seven (as the Israelites did when they were slaves in Egypt).

And finally, to relax. Let your body rest.

That was the spirit of the law.

But the Pharisees and teachers of the law built all these rules around the rule.

They had restrictions on how far you could travel or how much you could carry on the Sabbath.

They also had restrictions on doctors. If it was the Sabbath, they could only help someone if they were dying. And even then, they could only help to the point that the person could survive until the end of the Sabbath.

But by putting in place all these laws, they forgot the reason for the commandment and placed burdens on the people that God never intended.

Further, they criticized anyone for breaking their rules, rules that God never gave the people.

Not only that, they became blinded to what God was doing because of their fixation on rules.

You see that in this passage.

They see a man walking with his mat (breaking the rule against carrying “a burden.”)

“You’re working! What are you doing working on the Sabbath?”

“Well, the man who healed me, he told me to pick up my mat and walk.”

Translation: “If this guy had the power to heal me, he must have the authority to tell me to carry my mat.”

Now two things to note here. First, the Jews probably didn’t recognize this man at all as a person who had been disabled for 38 years. They only noticed him when he broke their rules.

How often are we that way? We totally ignore the people who are spiritually needy around us and only notice them when they break the rules.

Second, even when they realized what had happened, they were so focused on the breaking of their rules, that they couldn’t see the incredible thing God had done for this man.

Instead, all their focus was on finding out who broke the rule for healing this man. And when they found out it was Jesus, they persecuted him.

That’s the danger of being too focused on rules. We fail to see the needs of the people around us, and we also fail to see what God is trying to do around us.

How about you? Are you blinded by rules?

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John John 5

Desiring wholeness

John

Sometimes I wonder if people really desire wholeness in their lives.

They often complain about their marriage or relationships, they complain about their jobs or their health, but they never seem to do anything about it.

They almost seem to like complaining about their problems. They seem to enjoy receiving sympathy from others.

But Jesus doesn’t want us to be that way. He doesn’t want us to wallow in our brokenness. He wants to bring healing in our lives. We see this in this passage.

A man was an invalid for 38 years, and probably had to make his living begging.

When Jesus found out about his situation, he asked a simple question: “Do you want to get well?” (Or “be made whole” — KJV)

One would think it’s only natural that the person would want to be healed. But perhaps he was happy not working and just begging for a living. Maybe he enjoyed having people wait on him. It was in that sense, an easy life.

But we see from the man’s answer that this was not the case. He wanted to be healed.

Apparently, there was a belief (true or not, it’s not clear from the passage) that the first person that got into the pool of Bethesda when the water was stirred would be healed.

He always tried to get in, but with no help, someone always got in first.

When Jesus heard his reply, he said, “Well then, get up, pick up your mat, and walk.” (John 5:8)

One wonders what this man was thinking. Apparently, he hadn’t heard of Jesus before, or if he had, he didn’t recognize him, as we will see later in the story.

But here is this total stranger telling him to do something he hadn’t been able to do in 38 years.

Whatever he was thinking, he tried it, and immediately, he was healed.

Later at the temple, Jesus came up to him, and said,

See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you. (John 5:14)

What can we get from this?

Lots of us experience hurts in our lives. Many of us are broken, and we see no way that we can ever be made whole. But Jesus asks us the same question he asked the man.

“Do you wish to be made whole?”

If you do, you need to do what the man did and obey what Jesus tells you. Don’t question what he says. Don’t complain that it’s impossible. Make up your mind to obey him.

Now this is not to say that wholeness will come as quickly or easily as it came to this man.

When it comes to issues of broken relationships, broken hearts, bitterness, and many other things, it takes time.

You’ll need the help of the Holy Spirit working in you, and the help of Christ’s body, the church. (That’s one reason why going to church is so important).

But wholeness will never come unless number one, you truly want to be made whole, and number two, you make the decision to trust Jesus and do what he says.

And when you do, as he did with this man, Jesus will give you the power to obey him and bring wholeness into your life.

But if you choose not to trust him and continue going your own way, in short, if you continue to live in sin, you’ll find as Jesus warned this man that your life will only get worse. (John 5:14)

What will you choose?