Is equal with God. And today we'll see how Jesus is
the judge of all. You may have heard children say
this particular phrase. Prove it, prove it, prove it.
Well, this particularly is in a scene in a movie that I watched
a lot with my family. It's about a famous boy band of
five brothers who couldn't get along, so they split up.
And one of the brothers, Bruce, went on and got married and had
children. And he also with that, got a dad
bod. If you don't know what that is,
it's a big belly that comes along with being a father.
And when all the brothers started getting back together,
Bruce's children just could not believe his dad's words when he
said he used to be in a boy band, singing, dancing.
And so they start chanting, prove it, prove it, prove it.
And the dad feels like he has no choice but to prove himself.
Now this posture of unbelief until proven otherwise is not
just in children, not just in movies, it's and it's also not
just against people when people claim to be something that is
hard to believe. This posture first is in all
people and and we are all naturally against God.
We are not naturally believers. 1 atheist summarizes it well.
His reason for being an atheist. He claims that simply God has
not given sufficient evidence, just not enough.
At the heart, saying there is not enough evidence from God is
the same as mockingly demanding God prove it, prove it, prove
it, when God has already provided the evidence to go
along with the claims and the truths that he makes in God's
word. It's just simply a more mature
way to say God doesn't show us enough evidence.
Well, we need to understand that a lack of more obvious evidence
does not mean that there is no evidence at all.
If God wanted us to give more obvious evidence in the ways we
wanted, He could. He could have spelled out the
name Jesus using the pieces of chicken in your Boo Boo I am, or
whatever else you had this morning.
But let's be clear. In the Bible there are
descriptions of people who have seen miraculous things, signs of
God, but did not necessarily draw closer to God by faith.
This is clear in the Old Testament.
The Israelites, prime examples of people miraculously slaves
out of slavery from Egypt, miraculously sustained by manna,
this miraculous food from God every morning in the wilderness,
who drank water flowing from the rock, yet still disobeyed and
rebelled against God. And then in the New Testament,
it's no surprise when we see the same pattern all over again now
happening with Jesus and the Jews.
Jesus came to his own people, but his own people did not
receive him. They saw Jesus signs and wonders
like healing all kinds of sicknesses and physical
conditions and infirmities, even spiritual ones, and even raising
people back from the dead. But that still was not enough,
because in our natural perspective we are naturally
against God. Let's not think too highly of
ourselves that somehow we would ever be satisfied by more
obvious evidence, even if God were to show us.
So instead of doing that, instead of demanding God with an
attitude of prove it, prove it, prove it.
The more reasonable approach would be for us to come and
examine and evaluate the evidence that has already been
given. To do the honest work of first
carefully considering what God has said and done, to work with
what is available to us, and then to come to a conclusion to
believe it as true or not believe.
This is what we will all need to do today as we go through the
words of Jesus Christ in John chapter 5 verses 19 to 47.
To give some context, in the beginning half of John chapter
5, we saw last time how Jesus miraculously healed a man who
was an invalid for 38 years by simply telling the man get up,
take up your bed and walk and instantly he was healed.
But the problem that was, was that it was on the Jewish
Sabbath day where no one could be working, even healing
apparently, where no one else but God could be working to that
Jesus called God my Father. And that upset the Jews even
more because they saw Jesus making himself equal with God.
So Jesus now responds to them in verses 19 to 47.
So follow along as please follow along with me as I read.
And if you don't have a Bible, I'm sure somebody next to you
would be willing to share. It will benefit you to keep your
Bible open throughout the sermon to check that what I am saying
is really from God's Word and not my own ideas.
So let's look to John chapter 5 verses 19 to 47.
So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, 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. For the Father loves the Son and
shows him all that he himself is doing, and greater works than
these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so
also the Son gives life to whom He will.
For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgement to
the Son, that all may honour the Son, just as they honour the
Father. Whoever does not honour the Son
does not honour the Father who sent him.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and
believes Him who sent me has eternal life.
He does not come into judgement, but He has but has passed from
death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an
hour is coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the
voice of the Son of God and those who here will live.
For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the
Son to have also to have life in himself, and He has given him
authority to execute judgement, because He is the Son of man.
Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are
in the tombs will hear His voice and come out, those who have
done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done
evil to the resurrection of judgement.
I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my
judgement is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of
Him who sent me. If I alone bear witness about
myself, my testimony is true. There's another who bears
witness about me, and I know that the testimony that He bears
about me is true. You sent to John, and he has
borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I
receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be
saved. He was a burning and shining
lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his
light. But the testimony that I have is
greater than that of John. For the works that the Father
has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear
witness about me that the Father has sent me.
And the Father who sent me has Himself borne witness about me.
His voice you have never heard, His form you have never seen,
and you do not have His word abiding in you.
For you do not believe the one whom He has sent.
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them
you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me.
Yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
I do not receive glory from people, but I know that you do
not have the love of God within you.
I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive Me.
If another comes in His own name, you will receive Him.
How Can you believe when you receive glory from one another
and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father.
There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have such a
hope. For if you believe Moses, you
would believe me, for he wrote of me.
But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe
my words? This is the Word of God, Amen.
We'll look at this passage in two parts.
And if you're undertaking notes, these are the two points of the
sermon. These are the evidences that are
already available for us to carefully consider today, right
now, as Jesus explains his define authority as the judge of
all. So first we'll see Jesus's
defence of divine authority verses 19 to 29.
And 2nd, Jesus witnesses of his define authority verses 30 to
47. So first his defence of divine
authority. Jesus begins his defence by
saying in verse 19, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can
do nothing of his own accord, but only that what he sees the
Father doing for whatever the Father does that the Son does
likewise. To be clear here, Jesus is not
just another prophet like Moses or Elijah.
Prophets came to people declaring thus says the Lord,
for they were messengers from God delivering messages to the
people. But Jesus says in this passage
three times and including here, truly, truly, I say to you, He
then says that he cannot do anything of his own choosing.
He doesn't say that he does not do other things from the Father.
He cannot do other things apart from the Father.
This is emphasized in the the original language here as a
double negative, literally meaning I cannot do nothing.
It's not the best of grammar in English, but we still
nevertheless understand the meaning that is emphasized.
Jesus is making a strong point that he indeed is equal with God
for everything that he does. It's what the Father does.
Everything the Father does is what he does.
And so in the most ultimate sense, we see like Father, like
Son. By seeing who Jesus is, we get
to see what God the Father is like.
And so for us here today, if you have a hard time believing how
God created the universe by speaking creation, all of
creation into existence, then look to Jesus.
Look to Jesus and how he healed a man who could not move on his
own for 38 years, simply telling him to get up and walk and he
did just that. And before that we saw how Jesus
healed the dying Son in the next town over when he told the
desperate Father who came searching for Jesus.
Your Son will live in that very moment.
Next town over, the Son was healed.
See God the Son and you can know more of God the Father.
Jesus continues his defence that the unity that He has between
the Father and the Son is seen in their unique relationship
with one another. Their unique relationship is
marked by a shared love between Father and the Son.
This truth helps us to understand because all of us to
some degree have a difficult time understanding how there is
one God eternally existing in three persons.
If you have a hard time believing that doctrine of
Trinity, hear Jesus words. He describes this mysterious
unity of the distinct persons of one God in this passage.
How and it is how people throughout history came to
understand what the Bible teaches about the Trinity along
with the Holy Spirit as the third person of God.
Christians studied Jesus's words and then came to the conclusion
that there is a special spiritual unity among three
persons, the Tri unity of God. The doctrine of the Trinity is
not then man made stuff, but truths that Jesus himself taught
us. If I could speak briefly to the
teens here and to the young people, if you want to consider
yourself young, whoever you are, if you truly want to know God
who is invisible and cannot be seen, look to Jesus in his word.
Hear what Jesus says, study carefully what he teaches, see
what he has done, and you can know the God of this universe.
You can know the God who created you.
As your parents are helping you, as church members here are
helping you, as Sunday services are meant to help you know God
more, you must come to see for yourself.
Look to Jesus if you want to know and be in a relationship
with God. And the fact that the Father
loves the Son is the foundation of our hope to know God and then
to know His love. Our hearts that are longing for
such acceptance, for such love and care that is deep, that
lasts throughout all situations and all seasons and trials of
life. Our foundation to know such a
love is found in the fact that the Father loves the Son.
Because Jesus would then later teach his disciples saying that
as the Father has loved me, so I have loved you.
Abide, remain in my love. In other words, if we see Jesus
and how he loves, then we know the Father and how God loves us.
For God so loved the world, He gave up his Son, and because the
Son so loved his people that he would save, he gave up his life,
was obedient to the Father's will, even to death, death on a
cross. And so the more that we see the
Son, the more that we know what God the Father is like, the more
than we are able to respond in love to love the Son as the
Father loves the Son. Many of us as Christians walking
this Christian walk feel that dryness or in regards to our our
love and and our passion that once perhaps burned brightly
well as sinners that that love, that affection for God will come
and and wax and wane in the seasons of life.
What's the solution? Look again to Jesus.
Don't try to muster up more love somehow.
OK, I just need to read the Bible five times this month
through from beginning to end. Don't lean on the the exercises
or the religious activities that you aim to do and accomplish,
but look. Simply look to Jesus as you look
to Jesus and you know more of God, your affections will
continue to grow and be kindled into a bright and burning flame.
There's more to see so that we may properly respond to Jesus
continuing in verse 20. It says in the second a sentence
there, and greater works than these will he show him, will the
Father show the Son so that for the purpose that you may marvel,
so that you may be in awe, you may be in wonder.
Now what greater works can there be then an impossible healing
done simply by speaking that Jesus has done so far?
Well, there are two greater works that Jesus mentions.
First is eternal life and the second eternal judgement.
Those are the two works. First, eternal life.
We see it in verse 21. For as the Father raises the
dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom
he will. And again in verses 25 to 26, if
you drop down there, truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is
coming and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the
Son of God, and those who here will live.
For as the Father has life in himself, so he granted the Son
also to have life in himself, Jesus as fully man.
He is just like the rest of us in every way, but also as fully
God. Jesus is unlike us in unique
ways. Here is another claim to divine
authority, the power to give life.
Only God can give life, and we can only receive because the
Father and the Son as God has life in himself.
In other words, our lives are dependent on the life God has.
No one gave God life, for He is the source of all life.
One theologian reminds us of how this truth should deeply humble
us, puts us in our right place, because our life, though it is a
fact, it's real, it's not a necessary fact.
He says The world would have moved on without us if we had
not been born. But that's not with the life of
God. His life is a necessary life
because if God did not exist, none of us would.
Nothing would exist. So to think that we could exist
apart from God. To think that we could live
separately from God means that we are thinking way too highly
of ourselves. In fact, it is a vain attempt of
trying to make ourselves equal with God, even claiming we can
produce life on our own. Perhaps to think we are even
better than God. Perhaps we think we can imagine
better lives than the life God provides.
The Father is a source of all life, and Jesus the Son shares
in that very life from all eternity.
And Jesus explains how he will give life to whom he will.
How does he do that? He makes the dead here now.
Jesus can do this as he has proven it later.
He proves it later and and again in John Chapter 11, specifically
when he calls out to his friend Lazarus who was dead and laid in
his tomb for four days. Jesus shows how he has the
power, the authority to give physical life to the physically
dead by his voice, for he simply calls out to Lazarus.
Lazarus come out and the man who was really physically dead,
still wrapped in the linen clods, he came out walking
alive. But this here does not only
describe Jesus's authority to give physical life, because look
at verse 24. He says truly, truly.
I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who has
sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgement,
but has passed from death to life.
And so Jesus here speaks also of spiritual life.
And that points to the reality that we are all spiritually dead
for Christians. We were spiritually dead because
that's how we all start off, dead in our sins.
We know that we are sinners because we do not give what we
owe God. God created every single one of
us to know God, to love God, to worship God, and so God deserves
our whole hearts and our whole lives.
But instead of loving and living for God, we as sinners, we love
ourselves and we live for ourselves.
I mean, just think about how naturally it is for us, for you
to think about yourself and not God, how much you want to do
what you want to do and not what God wants you to do.
Our sin then, has separated us from the living God, and apart
from Him, there is no spiritual health or life in us at all.
And let's be clear, it's not that we were spiritually sick
and just need some spiritual medicine or spiritual advice or
some spiritual help. No, we were spiritually dead,
unable to do anything of worth in heaven.
We needed, we need a miracle and the only and only the voice of
the Son of God could raise us up to new life.
This means for all the Christians here, it's a good
reminder we were not always Christian.
We know this from even in Ephesians chapter 2, where the
Apostle Paul tells Christians, you were dead in the trespasses
and sins in which you once walked.
In which among the sons of disobedience, among whom we all
once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the
desires of the flesh, and were by nature children of wrath.
Now the best thing about what what those verses claim is that
it's all written in the past tense.
We're dead. It's the ways we once walked.
We were by nature the children of wrath.
But that's not the case, because what's even better is what Jesus
says here in the present tense. Whoever believes him who sent me
has eternal life. As you look to Jesus, as you
look to his, as you look to what he has done, what he has taught,
we come to know more of God the Father who has sent the Son.
And whoever believes him who sent me, has eternal life.
It's a present tense gift, a present tense possession.
So if you're a believer here today, you have a real present,
living, lasting hope. Not only did Jesus Christ die
for your sins on the cross, but as the giver of life who has
life in himself, He did not remain dead and buried in his
tomb. Jesus has risen from the dead.
He has by by his resurrection. He has secured your gift of
eternal life so that no one and nothing in this world could ever
take it away from you. What a wonderful truth to
remember if you're Christians for members of this church this
morning. I recently turned 39 and
honestly, I had no immediate sense of joy about it at all.
And I can testify there is such a thing as the midlife crisis.
I couldn't help but just think, what is my life worth?
What have I done? But as I thought about my life
in the in the redeemed perspective that God has given
me, I realized that now I have been Christian for a little bit
longer than I have not been a Christian all by the grace of
God. I've walked with God longer now,
a little bit longer than I was walking away from him.
By the grace of God, I have been hating my sin for a little bit
longer than I have been loving sin.
By the grace of God, I have been loving Jesus a little bit longer
than I have been disobeying and rebelling against Him.
All because through 1 sermon some 18 years ago, I heard the
voice of the Son through faithful preaching of God's word
and Jesus, though I was dead, He gave me life.
The only thing I desire from the previous years of my life, if
it's if I had just a little bit more time to walk with the Lord,
a little bit more time to know him and love him, perhaps now
that I would have a deeper well of of love for Him and affection
for him. If you're a Christian today,
this too is your testimony of what Christ has done.
You were dead, but by hearing His voice, He has made you
alive, a new heart that desires and beats with affection for
him. More than anything else in this
world, it is this greater work of eternal life that we praise
God for. And we can thank God, especially
today. That was the first greater work,
eternal life. Now the second work is eternal
judgment. We see this in verse 22 for the
Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son.
And again in verses 27 to 29, drop down there it says, and He
has given him authority to execute judgement because He is
the Son of man. Do not marvel at this for an
hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice
and come out. Those who have done good to the
resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the
resurrection of judgement. Let's make sure Paul's here for
a moment. Make sure we feel the weight of
what Jesus is saying here. He is really telling people that
He is the final judge of all people, that He is the Son of
Man. To the Jews, they knew what
Jesus was referring to, that he was referring to the prophetic
vision of the book of Daniel, Chapter 7, where God, who is
called the Ancient of Days, is seated on his throne.
The description of him, His clothing as white as snow, the
hair of his head like pure wool, His throne fiery flames with all
people standing before him. The court sat in judgement and
the books were opened, for he is the judge.
And then, strangely, a son of man comes to the Ancient of
Days. And this son of man was given an
everlasting Kingdom of all peoples, nations and languages
that they should serve him. So imagine how crazy it sounded
when they just saw a man, son of a Carpenter coming, you know,
without degrees in the, in the, in the synagogue and, and, and
studies and to show what he what he knows.
Imagine when they saw just a man claiming to come at the end of
time to judge every single person and that their eternal
destiny depended on how they listen and obey him.
That they had to come to a decision.
And indeed, they had to come to a decision.
Either Jesus is a madman, he has lost his mind, or that Jesus is
truly the God man as he says he is.
Either Jesus has severe delusions of grandeur or he
really is God. There's no middle ground based
on the kinds of claims that Jesus is making, but for them,
learning from them. We should not jump to
conclusions too quickly without weighing in the claims and the
defence that Jesus makes, because it's serious what Jesus
is saying. On that final day, each one of
us has a scheduled appointment with the Judge of all.
There will be a physical resurrection then, when all who
are in the tombs will hear His voice and come out, and each one
of us will be judged, as it says here, by what we have done,
Those who have done good, those who have done evil, doesn't
matter what we think about ourselves, how much good we
think we have done, no matter how much good we think has
outweighed our wrongs, because only the judgement of the judge
of all will matter. It says in Revelation 20,
describing how there will be books open before the throne of
God, these books that contain the evidence, whether you have
done the good work of hearing the good work of believing, the
good work of living for Jesus, or you have not done that good,
no one will then will be excused.
No one then will be given a second chance when that time
comes. So if you're here today and you
are not a Christian, we are glad that you are here so that you
can hear the same truth that has saved us, that has changed our
lives. We would love for you to be able
to say with us that we were once dead, now made alive because of
Jesus Christ. We want you to hear the gospel
that has changed our destiny. We were headed for eternal death
and separation from God in hell to eternal life, to be with God
forever. To our non Christian friends,
this is what you need because without faith in Jesus you still
are spiritually dead. But if you repent of your sins
and believe in Jesus Christ and follow him as a disciple in His
church, you can be sure that you are saved, that you can say in
the present tense, I have eternal life.
Now understand the purpose of God in all of this in verse 23,
that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father.
And so we want to make it clear, as Jesus makes it clear who He
is to you, so that you too may honour God by honouring the Son.
You cannot honour God but just doing whatever good works you
think is good enough. You cannot honour God if you
have checked off all the religious duties that you think
are fit or are coming fitting for someone worthy to be saved.
No, if you do not honour Jesus, honour him with faith and
obedience and the life of following him.
You cannot honour God. So please do not face the judge
of all thinking. You can get by with anything
else other than faith in Jesus Christ and the accomplished work
of Jesus on the cross for your sins.
If we're honest, we couldn't even get by our friends, let
alone the judge of all. You know, if we ask our family
members, if we ask even our good friends, close friends who know
us very well, and if we tell them just honestly tell me some
things about me that are not good that I need to work on,
they will have things to say, wouldn't they?
Now it's if that is from our sinful fellow peers.
How much more than before? An all knowing Almighty God who
knows the desires of your heart, who sees even your thoughts, who
is well aware of everything you have done and said, who knows
our sins even better than we no our own sins.
You want Jesus as your Saviour, not as your judge.
And remember that the concluding verdict of Jesus that you have
will determine His concluding verdict of you.
You can starting today as you hear His words, believe you too
can have the love of the Father that he has for His Son.
You can live now with true love that you need starting now if
you hear His words and believe. But if you're not yet sure of
this, if you're not yet convinced, let's see Jesus how
he helps us to be sure, because He provides in the second here,
witnesses of his divine authority.
Let's quickly move to verse 30 to 31.
He says I can do nothing of my own, repeating that he says I
can do nothing of my own. As I hear, I judge, and my
judgement is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of
Him who sent me. If I alone bear witness about
myself, my testimony is not true.
Here Jesus is referring to a common Jewish understanding that
any testimony required a witness.
So Jesus is not saying he he is able to be false or wrong.
No, no, he understands. No one could just make claims
without any supporting witnesses, especially the kind
of claims that Jesus was making. So in this case is not true
means is not deemed valid like in the court of law.
So he calls a witness to the witness stand.
See verse 32. There's another who bears
witness about me and I know that testimony that he bears about me
is true. The the one mentioned here that
Jesus mentioned, if we drop down to verse 37 initially you might
think, oh, he's talking about John the Baptist.
But as you read the whole passage carefully, you realize
that the one mentioned here in verse 32 is the same one in
verse 37. It is the Father himself.
Jesus makes it clear there if it's the Father himself who has
borne witness about Jesus. Now the Father has used three
other witnesses to affirm Jesus claims.
So we'll go through each one briefly.
The first witness that Jesus mentions that God uses is John
the Baptist. See verses 3335.
You sent to John, and he has borne witness about to the
truth. Not that the testimony that I
received is from man, but I say these things so that you may be
saved. He was a burning and shining
lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his
light. So as we have followed the story
of John the Baptist earlier and earlier on in the, in the, in
the Gospels, we know that he came preaching and declare and,
and giving a baptism of repentance, calling people to
repent of their sins, preparing the way for Jesus to come.
He bore witness to the truth. People gathered flocked around
him and they heard him point to the One to come about Jesus and
he would fulfil his ministry as he declared with his own eyes as
he saw Jesus, that Jesus is the Lamb of God who has come to take
away the sins of the world. Now Jesus does not need people
to witness about him, but he does use people as his witnesses
to save others. It is a privilege and a
responsibility that he gives to his disciples to be his
witnesses. Note how Jesus says he was a
burning and shining lamp. And so John the Baptist may have
been already in prison or even killed, beheaded at by this
time. And So what Jesus says of him is
like a eulogy, a summary of his life and what inspiration for
all of us to live in that way, to be a burning and shining lamp
for Jesus. I would love for that to be
written on my tombstone one day. Not because I picked it out for
myself, like my favorite verse I went on there.
No, because I hope that there will be other people in my life
who will be able to testify that my life was burning and shining
for Jesus Church. Do you want that to be the
summary of your life as well, that people can see in your
love, in your obedience to Jesus and how you shared his love, how
you spoke of his love because of John, John the Baptist, even in
the height of a successful ministry, as people rejoiced for
a while in his light, he burned away.
He gave his life. It ended as he lived his life
for the Lord Jesus. But the call to be witnesses of
Jesus still remain today for us. Jesus saves us, chooses to save
us, and then by our salvation it means that he has chosen to use
us to be his witnesses so that we as Christians, no matter how
old or young you are, as a Christian, we are called in our
individual efforts, in our individual lives to burn and
shine for Jesus. In our personal evangelism, we
pray for such opportunities. And even as we've prayed, when
God grants us opportunities, we ask him for help that we may
faithfully, boldly, without shame, talk about Jesus and
persuade others to believe in Jesus Christ.
But we also do this corporately together as we bring non
Christians and invite them to our services so they can hear
God's word and so that they can as they come.
They see the witnesses of Jesus Christ as they even as they see
sinful people like us in this church.
We know we are terrible sinners who deserve God's wrath, but we
also believe that Jesus has saved us by his life, death and
resurrection. And so together we give our
lives to make Him known. This is how we can continue
together to honour the Son, to tell of who He is, to tell
others what He has done and how all of that matters in our lives
today. You can be sure as you bring
your non Christian friends to our Sundays, we will be sharing
this truth, this same old gospel over and over again every Sunday
after every Sunday. So join us, bring your
unbelieving family friends so that they too may hear the word
of God. So that and then for you as
you're here that you can learn how to present the Word of God
and the truths of God to your friends and your family members.
May God bless us in our efforts to be burning in shining lamps
for Jesus. The next witness, the second
one, it's Jesus says it's a greater testimony, even that of
John. So we see in in verse 36, but
the testimony that I have is greater than that of John for
the works that the Father has given me to accomplish.
The very works that I am doing bear witness about me that the
Father has sent me. Jesus's works here probably
include everything, including his teachings, His signs, and
His miracles that authenticated Jesus's claims.
Meaning these miracles that Jesus did were signs that
pointed people to see all that Jesus said and taught were true.
But see the response in verse 37.
And the Father who has sent me has borne witness about me.
His voice you have never heard, His form you have never seen.
And you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not
believe the one in whom he has sent.
Now how could this be? Imagine you're on top of a tall
building in Jakarta and you have the view of the entire city, the
unique Monas monuments. You see the mountains and the
clouds and the scenery in the background.
A beautiful view from an uncommon angle.
We usually see the monas from down below, and it's hard to see
past the trees. But imagine you're enjoying that
view. And then comes somebody comes
alongside next to you and imagine they're just so caught
up, not with the view, but with the window, with the glass.
How lovely is this window look, how clear it is.
Let's research the chemical composition of the glass, study
the design and how it's fixated into the frame of the wall.
Well, we say they'd be missing the point completely, missing
the purpose of that window and missing the wonderful view there
were meant to see that that glass, that window is showing.
Well, that's what was happening with the Jews.
They were missing the whole point because quite honestly,
they were scholars. They were excellent students of
God's Word, but they missed the point completely at what God's
Word pointed, the one God's Word pointed to.
So it brings us to the final witness, the Scriptures.
Verse 39. He says you search the
scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal
life and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse
to come to me that you may have life.
All the studying, all the memorizing of the Old Testament
scriptures, no matter they how much they pointed to a coming
Messiah, to the Son of Man who will be unlike any other man who
would be crucified, who who would die in the place of
sinners, pierced for their transgressions, rejected by many
instead of putting the pieces together.
The very thing that was meant to help them look to Jesus was a
very thing that they were stuck on and they refuse to come to
Jesus that they may have life for Christians.
It is possible that we can still miss the point today.
I mean, I think Sunday school teachers especially know this
and parents as well. Just how the children over time
become too common and it's too everything that we want to teach
them becomes too predictable because every time we ask them a
question, the answer is the same, right?
Every good Sunday school student knows this.
The answer is Jesus. Whatever the whatever the
teacher says, the answer's just going to be Jesus.
I saw that. I realized that I'm my children,
and so I tried to throw some other questions in there.
Who deserves to die for our sin? Jesus.
Nope. Jesus is a Sinner.
Oh, no, no, no, no, no. We, we are sinners.
Jesus is our Savior, but I think that kind of attitude and
posture toward God's word, I think still remains even in us.
As older, mature believers, it is possible for us to become so
familiar with the things that are meant to point to Christ,
yet we get stuck on them and we begin to think, oh, I'm right
with God. Not because of Jesus, everything
that points to, but because I attend Sunday services
religiously. I don't miss them compared to
others who take vacations. I never, I don't know.
I don't know whatever kind of thought you may have, how
comparing yourself to others, perhaps even the very word of
God, We, we memorize, we study, but we for some reason in our
sinful hearts, we take pride in how much we know compared to
others. And we treat the Bible as if
it's just a bunch of religious trivia.
We miss the whole point that it's meant to humble us before
God, before people, so that we can love God with all our
hearts, soul, mind and strength. And so we could love one another
as we as our neighbors, as we love ourselves.
We could miss the whole point how humbling it is that in even
in these good things we can refuse to come to Jesus.
But what stands true still is that the scriptures written by
the power, the the the guidance of the Holy Spirit preserved for
us. The central theme and topic is
of the Son Jesus Christ and how he saves sinners like you and
me. We cannot miss the point,
especially today. I want, we want to make it clear
to not miss that point. Jesus continues on in verse 41.
I do not receive glory from people, but I know that you do
not have the love of God within you.
I've come in my Father's name and you do not receive me.
If another comes in his own name, you will receive Him.
How Can you believe when you receive glory from one another
and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Jesus continues to humble those who would miss the point and
reject Jesus, showing us how we as people, we desire glory from
other people. And when somebody with a greater
measure of glory and reputation comes and says things, they
sound quite believable, whatever they say, and so Jesus rebukes
them. How Can you believe them when
Jesus himself has come in his Father's name?
We desire glory from people. It's a temptation for for any,
any person, and it's still for Christians, even as church
leaders and pastors, small group facilitators, ministry pics.
If we're honest with ourselves in our flesh, yeah, we want to
be seen more spiritual, more charming, more serving, more
loving, more knowing, knowledgeable.
Even as a pastor in my flesh, when I hear of other pastors
doing well, other churches doing well, in my flesh, there's
something that's not. I just don't like it.
I don't like the sound of that. I don't like when glory doesn't
come to me, comes to others. Though in my redeemed
perspective, in the new heart that got out to me, I really do
rejoice that there are other faithful, healthy churches doing
great things for the Lord. But this desire, our wrong view
of glory and reputation, is also what hinders us.
Because Jesus came humbly as a servant, not to be served, but
to give his life as a ransom for many to the natural eye.
There was no glory at the cross when Jesus hung in utter
embarrassment and shame, weak and broken and defeated.
Yet to us, to his people, what the world considered as weak and
foolish, we know. It is the power of God through
the cross, through Jesus sacrifice, through his humility,
through his service. We have been born again as we
come, as we have come to believe by faith in Him.
The proper response is to see how Jesus has come in his
Father's name and to receive him.
Jesus finishes his rebuke explanation as to why they do
not believe so that we as we read would come to believe.
He says in verse 45, Do not think that I will accuse you to
the Father. There's one who accuses you,
Moses, on whom you have set your hope.
For if you believe Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote
of me, but you do not believe his writings.
How will you believe my words? What does it mean here to
believe Moses? It means more specifically to to
believe that the law of God that was given through Moses, the law
that was meant to point to understanding who God is so that
when they saw Jesus coming in the name of God the Father with
all their best education in the Old Testament, they could come
and see and believe in Jesus, but it was not the case.
I think Jr. Packer summarizes this
particularly well when he says the simple Bible reader, the
simple sermon hearer full of the Holy Spirit would develop a far
deeper relationship with God than a more educated scholar
without without the Holy Spirit. And so by seeing their negative
example there is, it comes back to the decision that we should
make today. For as we close, the call still
stands. Will you believe in Jesus and
his words? Will you believe that all the
scripture points to Jesus Christ?
As today is Easter Sunday, remembering the resurrection of
Jesus Christ, there is one more witness provided for us and it
is the empty tomb of Jesus. He died on the cross as a
perfect sacrifice for sins. He was laid in a rich man's
tomb. His disciples thought it was
over, but on the third day the stone was rolled away, the linen
cloth that covered Jesus body was left behind and Jesus rose
from the dead and he walked out and that tomb still remains
empty, never to die again. Jesus rules and reigns in heaven
right now at the right hand of the Father, still in his
resurrected body, still with the scars on his side, still with
the scars on his hands and his feet.
So how fitting is it for the one who has life in himself, the one
who has authority to judge all, either to resurrection of life
or the resurrection to judgement?
How fitting is He? Is it for Him that He Himself
defeated sin and death once for all?
Jesus will come again, and when He does, He will judge sinners
who have no defence standing on their own.
May be true for all of us here today as we believe in His Word
that He would when He comes, bring us to eternal life.
Believe in the testimony that He gave, that He is the Son of God
who died for our sins and rose again.
Remember Jesus's words, truly, truly I say to you, whoever
hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.
He, he does not come into judgement, but has passed from
death to life. So do you believe the cross of
Jesus Christ and the empty tomb that remains?
It demands an answer from you, from each and every single one
of us today who has heard these words of Jesus.
Jesus has made his claims. Jesus has provided witnesses.
Will we dare tell God, the Son of God, that his evidence is not
enough? Or looking at all the evidence
Jesus has given, will you believe?
Let's pray. O Heavenly Father, we thank you
for sending the Son so that we as we look to the Son and hear
his words, we may come to know you, God, our Creator, our
Father. We've asked for your help now in
light of the truths that we have heard from your word, from Jesus
mouth that's recorded and preserved for us today.
Holy Spirit, help us to respond, to come to the right conclusion,
the reasonable conclusion after seeing the evidences and him and
seeing the witnesses laid before us, that Jesus truly is the Son
of God who has come to save sinners from sin and death.
Be at work in our hearts and may you give life to the dead here
among us. In Jesus name we pray, Amen.
Let's take a moment to personally reflect on the truth
of God that were preached from God's word.
Consider what you learn about yourself.
If you if you need a little bit more guidance, what you need to
process. Consider what you learn about
yourself, your approach, your attitude toward God.
Are you? Are you?
Are you missing the whole point? Caught up in religious duty and
activities, in your own judgement of yourself?
You see yourself as good. What do you learn about
yourself? And more importantly, what do
you learn about God? What do you learn about who he
is and what he has done and how Jesus is who he says He is?
The Son of God who came, the Lamb who came to take away the
sins of the world, The Judge who will stand at the end of every
one of our road and whom we will face.
Will we face Him then as Judge, or will we face him now as
Savior? Consider these truths and how it
matters to your life, and we'll continue in our corporate
response to God's Word afterwards.