Kiss The Son: Finding Rest Beyond The Rules

A man waits thirty-eight years by a pool, hoping for a moment of change. Then Jesus arrives, speaks a few words, and everything shifts—mobility returns, hope reignites, and a quiet temple encounter reframes what healing really means. We walk through this gripping story from John, not to admire it at a distance, but to confront a tension many of us live with: rules that promise safety versus a relationship that brings life.

We dive into the Sabbath controversy that erupts when mercy refuses to wait for a calendar. Why did leaders obsess over a technical violation while a neighbor stood newly whole? From there, we unpack Jesus’ claim, “My Father is working,” and the deeper meaning of rest. Sabbath is not a checklist; it’s a sign pointing to the One who carries what we cannot. When Jesus declares his unity with the Father, he is not breaking faith—he is revealing its center. Authority and compassion hold together in him: the Son who heals is the Son who judges and the Son who saves.

You’ll hear a clear call in “go and sin no more,” not toward white-knuckled effort, but toward transformed living grounded in grace. We connect these themes to Psalm 2, where the nations rage and God’s Anointed remains King, inviting us to “kiss the Son”—to move from resistance to allegiance, from habit to awe. Along the way, we ask hard questions about our own focus: are we so committed to our systems that we can’t see the miracle in front of us? Are we holding back when Jesus is offering rest, righteousness, and a new way to walk?

If you’re hungry for a faith that feels alive, anchored in Scripture, and honest about struggle, this conversation will meet you where you are and point you toward the heart of God. Listen now, share it with a friend who needs hope, and if it encouraged you, subscribe and leave a review so others can find it too.

Come On Up is the radio ministry of The Mountain Cross in Waynesville North Carolina. To learn more about us please visit: TheMountainCross.com. 

Transcript

Call To Worship And Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, and we shall walk in his paths.

Confronting Empty Honor

SPEAKER_01 0:13

Welcome to Come On Up, the radio ministry of the Mountain Cross in Waynesville, North Carolina.

The Sabbath Healing Controversy

SPEAKER_02 0:20

Y'all pretend like you honor the Father. And you were called by the Father to represent God to mankind and to represent man to God. You are the examples, you're the religious leaders, but you're going off track. And just as much as you honor the Father, you should be honoring the Son, because if you honored the Father, you would recognize that the Son is one with the Father, but he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

SPEAKER_01 0:49

The religious leaders focused on the fact that Jesus performed the healing act on the Sabbath day. They totally overlooked the amazing miracle that had just happened. Rather than celebrating and giving thanks to God, they decided to turn against Jesus. Just like those wise religious teachers, how often do you find yourself caught up in the everyday stuff instead of turning your thoughts toward God and deepening that connection with him? Hey there. Today Pastor Carl is inviting you to reconnect with Jesus. And now here's Pastor Carl.

Go And Sin No More

From Healed To Herald

Why The Leaders Opposed Jesus

My Father Is Working

Equal With God Explained

Life, Judgment, And Honor

Psalm 2 And A Final Appeal

SPEAKER_02 1:37

Isn't that person of God? Because can only God heal in this way? And you would think that maybe some of the Pharisees would see that and go, oh wow, this is different. But they're so stuck on the rules that they made up for the sake of the goodness of the people. They really had good motives, theoretically. And now, you know, they're blaming him for taking up his mat and walking on the Sabbath. And he's saying, This is way, way beyond the Sabbath. I mean, I am so free and rested now because I can walk. What do you guys think? Well, then they asked him, Who is this man who said to you, Take up your bed and walk? This is crazy. Who is this guy? And you know, the one who was healed did not know who he was, for Jesus had withdrawn a multitude being in that place. So Jesus had come, found that man, healed that man without that man's permission, told that man to go, and he went. And he never told the man who he was. How interesting, isn't it? But afterward, after this man had been talking to the leaders there, Jesus found him in the temple, which was a great place to be. The religious leaders were questioning him. He's saying, I don't know. And then he goes to seek God in the temple, because that's where you would meet with God. So he was in the courts of the temple seeking God. He hadn't been there forever because he was restricted from going in there because he was unclean. Now he's been made healed, he'd been made right, and so he could come and seek after the Lord. And Jesus found him there. And Jesus said to him, See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest the worst thing come to you. That's an interesting phrase, and it could be taken a wrong way. You know, you go out here and you do something else, you're not gonna either, you you're gonna lose the work of your legs, and in fact, you're gonna lose your legs, or something like that. It almost sounds that way, right? But just like the the woman that was caught in adultery, this is what Jesus said go and sin no more. And the truth is the Lord has come to tell us all, go and sin no more. The problem is we are unable not to sin in our natural state. We sin because we're born into sin. We're sinners, so that's what we do. We need help, we need a Messiah, we need somebody that will come and pay our sin debt, and not only that take it away from us, but give us the righteousness of God so that we can walk in righteousness. Now you're righteous, you're no longer a sinner, you're righteous, so now you can walk in righteousness. And Jesus says these things in order to set us up for that reality. What's the worst thing that would happen to those who die in sin? An eternity in hell, eternal punishment. That's a whole lot worse than 38 years of being paralyzed, trying to get healed. The woman that was caught in adultery, go and sin no more. It's pointing to the fact that you need a savior. And when I take your sin away, you will have no longer that effect of sin in your life. And your destiny is no longer eternal punishment, but everlasting life with the Father forever. I'd rather be in that place, wouldn't you? So the man departed and told the Jews that it was indeed Jesus who made him well. He became an evangelist right away. As soon as he knew who Jesus was and what he did in his life, he was changed. And now he's talking about, hey, Jesus changed me. You need to get to know Jesus because Jesus is the one that we're waiting for. Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. You wanted to know his name? I tell you, his name is Jesus. His life was changed. And God could be doing work in our lives, and I've seen it in many people. The Lord is so gracious and he does things, he preserves things, he protects, he provides for people, and yet they never come to know him personally. Is God doing a work in your life and you're recognizing it? But are you holding back from giving your life totally to him? May we recognize the Lord's work and may we join him in it. May we trust him, may we obey him, may we surrender to him, because his ways are a whole lot better than my ways. His 38 years of waiting to jump in the water didn't work very well for this man. But when God intercepted his life, it changed everything. It was a much better plan. Much, much better plan. So, because Jesus did this, for this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill him. Because he had done these things on the Sabbath. Now, if he'd done it a day before or a day after, would they have been okay with it? Maybe. But you see, the thing is, it's one thing for somebody to break a Sabbath rule that they made up, that they added. It's another thing when you cause somebody else to break that rule. That's really bad. I mean, that's along the lines of what Jesus says about if you offend one of these little ones, it's better that a big millstone be uh tied around your neck and you'd be thrown into a lake. It'd be better for you than what I'm gonna do to you. It's the same sort of thing. And and you know, the heart of that is is good because we don't want to cause people to sin. We don't want to be adding, aiding and abetting in somebody else's fall. They just were a little misfocused on what that meant. I would make the case that the Pharisees, for the most part, were trying to do what was right, wanted to glorify God and wanted people to recognize the goodness of God. But in that they get stuck because they added all these things, and then the law becomes more important than the actual relationship, and and they got off track. But I think somewhere inside they had an original right motive, maybe we could say that. But Jesus answered and spoke to them, so now he is standing before these leaders that have been uh upset about what he was doing. And his he was being accused of these things because he was doing them on the Sabbath. He was causing this person to sin when they missed the fact that he was causing that person to be healed and have a new life and a future and a hope. And he said to them, You know, my father has been working until now, and I've been working. He just wants to stir it up a little bit. You want to talk about Sabbath? You want to talk about rest? Look, my father's always working. And there's a verse in the Psalms that talk about our God never sleeps, he never slumbers, he's always working. Paul talks about God holds all things together by the power of his word. He's always at work. Well, how does that connect with you know the creation, the week of creation in Genesis? God created for six days, and on the seventh day he rested from his labors. Well, I think we can have two points to that. One, the work that he continues to do even now is sustaining the work that he did and completed on that first week of creation. So he's holding everything together, he's keeping creation going until that day when he makes a new creation, new heaven and a new earth. He's holding and sustaining what he's created already. The other aspect of it is he did that not for his sake, but for our sake. Our God doesn't need rest the way we need rest. He's perfect, he's fulfilled in himself. He does not sin, he does not have a body that is subject to the fallen world. He created all things, right? He sustains all things, but he made it because he loves us, that we would take a day and literally rest. Because our bodies, our physical bodies need it. But that rest points to even a bigger principle, which is you need a rest, a spiritual rest. Again, because we're trying to work ourselves into heaven, if we even bother to acknowledge the existence of God, and yet trying hard and hard in our own strength to do, to be holy, that God is holy, it's just it's overwhelming, and you and we can't do it. But in Jesus we find it, He is our Sabbath rest. So, after he said this, surprise, surprise, therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he was actually insulting them and insulting the Sabbath. And of course, if you're insulting the Sabbath, you're blaspheming against God. Never mind the fact that God is standing before you and declaring these things to you. Because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his father making himself equal to God. It's funny because he's beginning to break into this, he's not just answering a question, but he's starting to teach as a rabbi would teach his students. And the students are beginning to understand what he's saying. And he's saying that he and the Father are one. Father God, the Son God, who is the man God, are working together because they're one. Behold, Israel, our God, is one God. Now the question is, was he speaking the truth or a lie? Well, he was speaking the truth. But it goes against what they believed. And they could not see him being this Messiah that they were waiting for, so they were offended and wanted to kill him. Because that's what good followers of God do. They kill people that they disagree with, right? That's not God's heart. And when Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly, truly, truly, I say to you, Amen and Amen, this is something that you really need to listen to, students. I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself but what he sees the Father do. You see, I have become a man. I I humbled myself to become a man, to leave my heavenly abode and to dwell with you so that I could identify as a man. But as a man, I do the things that God, the Father, tells me to do, that empowers me to do. For whatever he does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son and shows them all things that he himself does. It's not an obligation. His relationship with the Father is not a master servant, it's a father-son relationship. It's an equal relationship. I believe that word for love there is a the phileo love, a brotherly love. We're cut of the same cloth. We are one. And so, as a man, I limited myself in becoming a man. And now the Lord, Father God, reveals to me the truth and empowers me to do his will. I can't do anything but what he empowers me to do. And he will show me greater works than these that you may marvel. They were struck, they were offended, they were blown away at what has happened in this situation. They kind of ignore the fact that this guy had been healed after 38 years, but they zoom in on the breaking of this Sabbath law, and that just offends them. And yet something great has happened in their midst. And now Jesus is saying, But you ain't seen nothing yet. If you're offended by that, I've got a whole lot more to offend you by. Or if you repent and turn to me and allow me to open your eyes to who I am, these things are going to be a great blessing to you. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom he will. Alright, now he's saying, everything I do is the will of the Father. And the Father has power over death. The Father brings resurrection. And I can give life to whoever I want. Because they're one. They're two distinct persons in the Trinity. You have the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, three distinct persons. They're not each other, but they are one. They are one God. And it's one of those things that we kind of grasp because the Lord reveals it to us, but we don't fully understand because some things we just can't fully understand. And maybe someday when we see them face to face, it'll become clearer how that all works. But with that, you have a distinct father and a distinct son who have distinct wills, but those wills are the same because they are God. And so the Father has power over life and death, and so does the Son. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son. So life and resurrection have to do with judgment, and yet the Son does nothing outside the Father's will, and both have power over the resurrection. But now he's saying the Father has given me responsibility for the judgment because I have become one of them. I understand the life of a man, and not only am I the judge of mankind, I'm also the salvation of all mankind. I've come to save everyone who would believe. The price of his blood covers more than covers the sin of all the world. So all could be saved. But it's the question of whether they accept that gift of eternal life or not. And he's the one in the end to divide the sheep from the goats, the wheat from the tares, those who believed, those who did not believe. Heavy stuff he's sharing with these people. That all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. And this is kind of a finger pointing, too. Y'all pretend like you honor the Father. And you were called by the Father to represent God to mankind and to represent man to God. You are the examples, you're the religious leaders, but you're going off track. And just as much as you honor the Father, you should be honoring the Son, because if you honored the Father, you would recognize that the Son is one with the Father, but he who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Boy, did he give him a lot to think about, right? The Father sent me. If you acknowledge the Father and don't acknowledge the Son, the truth is you're not really acknowledging the Father because you don't understand the heart of the Father. The heart of the Father was to send the Son. And I think at this point, something should have clicked in them. They should have remembered Psalm chapter 2. And I want to wrap up with going through Psalm chapter 2. See if you can see what I'm seeing. Why do the nations rage and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against his anointed. Yes, this was written to all those other kings, all those other nations, but could it be that it's applying to the Pharisees and the Sadducees in this moment? They think they're working for God when in effect they're coming against the Lord and His anointed. And they say, Let us break their bonds in pieces and cast away their cords from us. We don't want God telling us what to do. We've got our kingdom set up here. We've got our plan here. The rest of the world we can see them doing it, but the people of God? Do we ever say, God, quit putting these chains on me, all these restrictions on me? Let me do what I want to do. We don't ever do that, do we? Sometimes we do, even as believers, don't we? It's that battle that we have within us between the spirit and the flesh. We're called to put to death the old man and let the new man live unto Christ. I've been crucified with Christ. It's known I no longer live, but Christ lives within me. The problem is I come back a lot. And he who sits in the heavens shall laugh. The Lord will hold them in derision. The Lord will hold them in their mockery. As long as you stay there, you're not gonna get it. You're going your own way. And that's foolish. And he just, you really going to try to break my chains when I'm bringing you freedom from the real chains of sin? Then he shall speak to them in his wrath and distress them in his deep displeasure. We talked about it earlier in the book of John that those who don't believe are already under the wrath of God. But when we do believe, we're freed from their wrath and freed from the wrath of God and brought into fellowship with God. Yet I have set my king on my holy hill of Zion. I will declare the decree. The Lord has said to me, You are my son, today I've begotten you. Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession. You shall break them with a rod of iron, you shall dash them into pieces like a potter's vessel. Jesus was God's only begotten Son. He was the only man that was the Son of God. And this Son of God will rule and reign from the throne in Jerusalem forever. And this is a picture of what is to come. But that one who's standing before these Pharisees right now is that one who was to come. But this was his first coming. His second coming will be, will have this realized. Now therefore, be wise, O kings, be instructed, you judges of the earth. Serve the Lord with fear. He is God, He can destroy you forever. And yet, in His grace and His mercy, He's found a way, He's made a way for you to be right with Him. So rejoice with trembling. You don't have the freedom to go and do whatever you want just because Jesus has forgiven you. But now Jesus has. Forgiven you and empowered you to live a life free from sin, and yes, you're still going to struggle with sin, but in his grace and his mercy, he gives you reason to rejoice, but don't take it for granted. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry. Those that honor the Son honor the Father. If you don't honor the Son, you're dishonoring the Father. And if you don't kiss the Son, he will be angry, and you will perish in the way. When his wrath is kindled, but just a little while. And eternity in hell is only a drop in the bucket of God's wrath that needs to be kindled. Because people have rejected his love, his mercy, his sacrifice for you and I, that we would be right with God. It's really ironic that his blood covered all the sin of the world. And yet there will be many that reject it and will be condemned for eternity. And when Jesus comes back to exact his judgment on this world, he's not going to be doing it in joy. His heart is going to hurt for those that have chosen to reject him. And so we we end the verse with this Blessed are those who put their trust in him. You don't want to come face to face with the judge of everything. You want to come face to face with the Savior of everything. The God that loves you. The God that wants to call you his friend, the God that wants to call you his brother or his sister. Trust in the Lord. Bless his holy name because he is worthy of that praise. Amen.

SPEAKER_01 24:07

You've been listening to Pastor Carl on Come On Up. We're in the book of John. John had been a simple fisherman before meeting Jesus. He was actually a disciple of John the Baptist before realizing that John the Baptist was just paving the way for Jesus to enter the scene. There were so many examples for John to observe, where Jesus made something out of nothing. He fed the 5,000. He brought about a boatload of fish when there had been no bites all night. These miraculous happenings were all around them, and John couldn't help but be enamored by Jesus Christ. What about you? Has the newness of knowing or following Jesus worn off? Are you apathetic about what God's doing in your life or how he's working and how he's trying to speak to you? Keep that spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. John lived a full life devoted to the Lord, and even though he was persecuted and tortured, he never swayed from telling people about the hope and faith he had in Jesus. After all, he had lived with Jesus for three and a half years and had learned much about the heart of God. A way for you to keep learning about the heart of God is by joining us on Sunday mornings at Smokey Mountain Cinema in Waynesville for Bible study. We also have a faith film night the first Monday of every month. We offer quality Christian entertainment that challenges your faith and spurs good conversation. Learn more at themountaincross.com or search for Faith Film Night on Facebook. That's all for today. Come on Up is sponsored by The Mountain Cross, a Calvary Chapel fellowship.