WEBVTT 00:00:21.359 --> 00:00:21.920 My name's Mark. 00:00:22.000 --> 00:00:23.519 I'm one of the leaders here at the church. 00:00:23.600 --> 00:00:26.239 You're very welcome with us if you're new or visiting. 00:00:26.320 --> 00:00:35.679 Uh, turn again to John chapter 5, uh, to that passage that Young read uh for us, are gonna be there uh for uh the next uh little while or so. 00:00:35.840 --> 00:00:40.000 If you need a hard copy uh Bible, we can get you one. 00:00:40.320 --> 00:00:46.719 And uh let me pray as we uh as we come to God's word together. 00:00:47.359 --> 00:00:49.759 Father, I thank you for uh your word. 00:00:49.840 --> 00:00:55.039 I thank you that it is God breathed that as we read it and as we examine it, we hear your voice. 00:00:55.200 --> 00:01:00.880 Give us those soft hearts and open ears uh to receive uh your truth. 00:01:01.039 --> 00:01:06.640 As we have just sung, may you plant it deep in us, shape and fashion us in your likeness. 00:01:06.799 --> 00:01:12.640 Help us to see Jesus clearly for who he is and worship him this morning. 00:01:12.799 --> 00:01:14.400 We ask in his name. 00:01:14.719 --> 00:01:15.359 Amen. 00:01:15.840 --> 00:01:22.079 Uh this morning the text, though it was a long text, actually deals with quite a short question. 00:01:22.239 --> 00:01:25.920 The short question that it deals with essentially is who is Jesus? 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:27.760 Who is he? 00:01:28.480 --> 00:01:32.239 Is he God or is he not? 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:50.000 Uh the question of who is Jesus is actually a question that uh you may or may not have uh implicitly wrestled with, uh really thought about, but it's a question that actually all of us uh answers in some way or another. 00:01:50.159 --> 00:01:58.640 Uh you might have kind of implicit thoughts about who Jesus is or who Jesus isn't, and that shapes how you how you live now. 00:01:58.719 --> 00:02:04.079 I mean, if Jesus is just some dead wise man, then he's easily dismissed, isn't he? 00:02:04.239 --> 00:02:08.639 Uh but if he is more than that, then he's harder to dispense with. 00:02:09.520 --> 00:02:18.560 The question, who is Jesus, uh also arises uh from a desire that exists deep within us, I think. 00:02:18.800 --> 00:02:23.439 The question who is Jesus arises from the desire for something more. 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:36.159 There's something in each of us that wants something transcendent, something beyond ourselves, something that is truly true, something that you can take to the bank, that there's uh there's something concrete that you can't just explain away. 00:02:36.400 --> 00:02:50.080 Again, if Jesus is just some moral teacher, then he might have some good things to say that you might want to kind of retrofit or tack onto your life, but uh but he himself wouldn't be foundational. 00:02:50.639 --> 00:02:57.919 Uh you wouldn't think of the moral philosophers of our age as being foundational in their own being to your life. 00:02:58.080 --> 00:03:11.840 But if Jesus is something more than just a good teacher, then maybe he has the potential to meet that longing for something transcendent, something infinite, something much bigger than ourselves. 00:03:13.280 --> 00:03:20.719 Most founders of world religions were very uh shy uh about equating themselves with the divine. 00:03:20.879 --> 00:03:24.479 Buddha never did, he never claimed to be God. 00:03:24.960 --> 00:03:27.120 Uh Muhammad certainly didn't. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:31.120 Uh he repudiated that idea that he would be equal with Allah. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:32.800 Allah has no rival. 00:03:33.759 --> 00:03:35.759 But Jesus is different. 00:03:36.080 --> 00:03:42.639 Christianity stands in distinction here because Jesus does claim to be God. 00:03:43.039 --> 00:03:44.080 How do we know? 00:03:44.240 --> 00:03:48.400 It's something people say, well, Jesus never said uh that he was God. 00:03:48.960 --> 00:03:57.840 Well, actually, this text would disagree with that because of what he says here in verse 17. 00:03:57.919 --> 00:03:59.680 Let me just remind you of what's happened. 00:03:59.840 --> 00:04:09.120 So last week we looked at this healing that happens at this pool, this man who is uh paralyzed for 38 years is given the power to walk again. 00:04:09.199 --> 00:04:13.599 And Jesus says, You take up uh your mat, take up your bed and walk. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:19.360 And we're told that the day that he did that was a Sabbath, the Jewish day of rest. 00:04:19.519 --> 00:04:23.199 And one of the things you're not allowed to do is carry your bed and walk. 00:04:23.759 --> 00:04:29.600 And so this arises the attention, uh, or arouses the attention of the religious leaders. 00:04:29.759 --> 00:04:35.519 And so they begin to question Jesus about how it is that he can command this guy to walk on the Sabbath. 00:04:35.839 --> 00:04:44.720 And he responds in verse 17 of chapter 5 by saying, My father is working until now, and I am working. 00:04:47.040 --> 00:04:53.680 Jesus is saying that he doesn't rest on the Sabbath because God doesn't rest on the Sabbath. 00:04:55.839 --> 00:04:59.839 And the Pharisees understand what he's saying. 00:04:59.920 --> 00:05:05.680 So, verse 18, the very first verse that we read this morning, this is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. 00:05:05.920 --> 00:05:14.079 Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. 00:05:14.639 --> 00:05:17.839 They understood that Jesus was claiming equality with God. 00:05:17.920 --> 00:05:18.720 Do you see? 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:29.279 What's striking about this is it's not his allies, it's not his disciples who hear, my father is working on the Sabbath, and I am working on God. 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:31.040 Ah, well, there you are then. 00:05:31.199 --> 00:05:33.199 Jesus must be, Jesus must be God. 00:05:33.279 --> 00:05:39.600 It's actually those who are opposed to him who understand exactly what Jesus is saying. 00:05:39.759 --> 00:05:47.279 It's his opponents who understand that his words are a claim to divinity, equality with God. 00:05:48.079 --> 00:05:50.639 Now, let's pause for a second. 00:05:51.120 --> 00:05:53.600 Let's give the Pharisees a break. 00:05:53.759 --> 00:05:58.560 Because the Pharisees are the pantomime villain of uh of Christianity. 00:05:58.720 --> 00:06:02.720 Normally you mention their word and you expect to hear boo hiss, uh, you know, they're behind you. 00:06:02.800 --> 00:06:04.319 Oh, there's a Pharisee behind me, right? 00:06:04.480 --> 00:06:08.000 Okay, but let's uh let's just give them, let's just cut them a bit of slack for a moment. 00:06:08.160 --> 00:06:10.160 Why would they be so annoyed? 00:06:10.399 --> 00:06:14.160 Why would they be so kind of panicked and freaked out about this? 00:06:14.399 --> 00:06:23.360 Well, well, the up to this point, they'd just spent the last 2,000 years uh declaring every day that God was one. 00:06:24.480 --> 00:06:30.879 In the prayer that they would say every day, what's called the Shemah from Deuteronomy 6, 4. 00:06:31.360 --> 00:06:35.439 Shema Yisrael Adonai Elahainu Adonai Ehad. 00:06:36.000 --> 00:06:39.519 Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. 00:06:40.240 --> 00:06:43.040 And here's this guy saying, No, no, I'm just like that. 00:06:44.000 --> 00:06:47.040 And they're like, hold on a second. 00:06:47.199 --> 00:06:51.279 Pretty foundational to our whole belief system is that you're not. 00:06:52.959 --> 00:07:07.199 More so, if we're cutting them a little bit of slack, if we know our Jewish history, and I'm sure you all do, uh, but one of the things that happened in the history of Israel is that they faced the judgment of God. 00:07:07.360 --> 00:07:12.720 They were carried off into exile in Babylon about 500 years before this. 00:07:12.959 --> 00:07:16.720 Their whole country was laid waste by the Babylonians. 00:07:16.800 --> 00:07:20.399 Nebuchadnezzar came in and took them all away. 00:07:20.720 --> 00:07:21.360 Why? 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:27.839 Because they broke the Sabbath and they worshipped other gods. 00:07:28.240 --> 00:07:38.079 And here's this guy from Nazareth coming along, and it looks like he's breaking the Sabbath and claiming to be another God. 00:07:39.199 --> 00:07:44.079 And they have PTSD from 500 years ago. 00:07:44.319 --> 00:07:50.160 They're like, no, no, we're not going back there, we're not doing that again. 00:07:50.800 --> 00:07:56.240 How can you come in here and break the Sabbath rules and then claim equality with God? 00:07:58.639 --> 00:08:08.480 So before we kind of dismiss the Pharisees, let's just understand the kind of mindset that they're coming to this with. 00:08:10.000 --> 00:08:11.839 But Jesus doesn't back down. 00:08:12.879 --> 00:08:16.079 He doesn't back down, he doesn't explain it away. 00:08:17.120 --> 00:08:31.360 Instead, he defends his claim and gives them and us reasons why we can be confident in Jesus' divinity and witnesses to that divinity. 00:08:31.439 --> 00:08:36.559 So we are, in a sense, kind of in the divine courtroom this morning. 00:08:37.039 --> 00:08:41.360 The question on the docket is is Jesus God? 00:08:41.600 --> 00:08:45.759 And he's going to defend the claim and he's going to offer us witnesses. 00:08:46.399 --> 00:08:53.600 So three three defenses, three rationales, and then much shorter, you'll be glad to know, three witnesses. 00:08:54.159 --> 00:09:03.440 The first rationale that Jesus gives in this passage for why he is God is because he does what the Father does. 00:09:04.080 --> 00:09:06.639 He does what the Father does. 00:09:06.799 --> 00:09:08.320 Look at verse 19. 00:09:08.480 --> 00:09:16.639 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 his Father doing. 00:09:16.879 --> 00:09:20.960 For whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. 00:09:22.000 --> 00:09:25.919 Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. 00:09:26.159 --> 00:09:33.759 Jesus immediately addresses this issue of, is Jesus a rival to God? 00:09:33.919 --> 00:09:38.240 Is he an idol, a competitor to God the Father? 00:09:38.480 --> 00:09:42.080 And he addresses it with the answer, no, I'm not. 00:09:42.799 --> 00:09:46.799 I'm not an idol, I'm not a competitor, I'm not a false God. 00:09:47.519 --> 00:09:48.159 Why? 00:09:49.039 --> 00:09:53.360 Because I do not operate independently from my Father. 00:09:53.679 --> 00:09:57.679 Rather, he works in harmony with the Father. 00:09:58.000 --> 00:10:00.320 He does what the Father does. 00:10:00.639 --> 00:10:04.159 An idol is a rival, a competitor. 00:10:04.639 --> 00:10:07.919 But Jesus says, no, no, I'm not a competitor. 00:10:08.159 --> 00:10:11.600 I work in concert, in harmony with my father. 00:10:11.840 --> 00:10:14.399 I do what he has shown me to do. 00:10:16.080 --> 00:10:27.919 Moreover, not only does he do what the father does, but the father shows him all these things because he loves the son. 00:10:28.159 --> 00:10:29.039 Look at verse 20. 00:10:29.200 --> 00:10:34.480 For the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing. 00:10:34.639 --> 00:10:39.759 And greater works than these will he show him so that you may marvel. 00:10:40.559 --> 00:10:45.600 The father does not look at Jesus and say, There's an idol that needs to be stamped out. 00:10:45.759 --> 00:10:49.919 No, no, he looks at Jesus and says, There's my son whom I love. 00:10:51.039 --> 00:10:55.919 I will show him all the things that I do that he may do them also. 00:10:57.120 --> 00:11:13.519 It's not very common these days for uh for sons to apprentice with their fathers, certainly not in cities, maybe in more rural areas, but uh certainly a couple of generations ago, if you were, if you're if your dad was uh was a carpenter, then you became a carpenter. 00:11:13.600 --> 00:11:20.639 If your dad was a farmer, then you became a farmer, and he invited you from a young age to kind of observe and to work alongside. 00:11:21.360 --> 00:11:25.120 But Jesus learned to be a carpenter from his earthly father. 00:11:26.480 --> 00:11:34.799 A father who loves his son will open up the skills and complexities of that trade to his son and empower him to carry it out. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:41.120 And in the same way, God the Father hides nothing from his son Jesus. 00:11:41.440 --> 00:11:44.480 He shows him all that he is doing. 00:11:44.559 --> 00:11:45.200 Do you see that? 00:11:45.360 --> 00:11:48.799 Verse 20 shows him all that he himself is doing. 00:11:50.159 --> 00:11:55.200 There is no deficiency, no second-glass status for Jesus. 00:11:57.519 --> 00:12:01.360 Here's a crucial implication for what that means for us. 00:12:01.600 --> 00:12:23.120 If you are a Christian or if you are exploring what it means to be a Christian, when Jesus says the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing, what that means for us is this Jesus perfectly, flawlessly displays what God is like to us. 00:12:24.080 --> 00:12:32.159 God the Father shows him everything, and Jesus does exactly what the Father shows him. 00:12:33.519 --> 00:12:35.919 You want to see the invisible God? 00:12:37.440 --> 00:12:39.039 You look at Jesus. 00:12:39.679 --> 00:12:43.519 He is the image, as Paul says, of the invisible God. 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:51.440 Jesus on dying in verse 37 would say, His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen. 00:12:53.600 --> 00:13:01.360 The irony of that is that the one who perfectly mediates the Father is standing in front of them. 00:13:01.919 --> 00:13:12.399 You want to get to know God, you get to know Jesus, you see his character, see his works, listen to his words. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:24.080 And so he could say to Philip in John chapter 10, if you have seen me, you have seen the Father. 00:13:25.360 --> 00:13:35.120 Moreover, if God the Father is showing him all of these works and Jesus is carrying them out, then Jesus must be God. 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:40.720 He must be God in order to be able to do the things that God does. 00:13:41.279 --> 00:13:50.799 And so at the end of verse 20, he gives this slight little teaser, and greater works of these will he show him so that you may marvel? 00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:55.600 He's saying to the Pharisees and to the crowd, he's saying, You ain't seen nothing yet. 00:13:56.240 --> 00:13:58.320 You ain't seen nothing yet. 00:13:58.639 --> 00:14:04.080 You think healing a guy after 30 years was a display of divine power? 00:14:04.240 --> 00:14:06.000 There's more to come, people. 00:14:06.639 --> 00:14:08.240 There's more to come. 00:14:10.399 --> 00:14:14.639 But what are these works that God has given Jesus to do? 00:14:14.799 --> 00:14:19.120 Because he summarizes those works in verses 21 and 22. 00:14:19.840 --> 00:14:32.240 So he says, For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:39.840 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son. 00:14:41.919 --> 00:14:44.720 What are the two things that God does here? 00:14:45.840 --> 00:14:49.919 He gives life and he executes judgment. 00:14:50.399 --> 00:14:54.399 He gives life and he executes judgment. 00:14:54.879 --> 00:15:01.519 And the healing of uh of the paralytic at the pool, it stands in that vein of life-giving. 00:15:01.600 --> 00:15:07.200 Wouldn't you find it somewhat life-giving if after 38 years you were given the ability to walk again? 00:15:07.519 --> 00:15:09.279 It's a life-giving miracle. 00:15:09.360 --> 00:15:11.360 It's a kind of a resurrection. 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:18.879 He's given this hopeless man life again. 00:15:20.240 --> 00:15:26.639 So Jesus is saying, that's just a that's just a taster that I do what God does. 00:15:28.480 --> 00:15:30.639 And God does these things all the time. 00:15:30.799 --> 00:15:32.080 Remember the issue. 00:15:32.240 --> 00:15:36.720 The issue that was brought to him was that he's doing these things on the Sabbath. 00:15:37.519 --> 00:15:42.639 There was this question rumbling around in Judaism at the time, does God work on the Sabbath? 00:15:43.039 --> 00:15:45.600 Does God work on that day of rest? 00:15:46.159 --> 00:15:49.440 And the answer that Jesus is pointing us to is yes. 00:15:49.759 --> 00:15:51.200 Yes, he does. 00:15:52.399 --> 00:15:55.840 How do we know that God works on the Sabbath? 00:15:56.000 --> 00:16:01.759 I know we're getting uh a little bit complicated, but let's just let's just try and track with me if you can. 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:05.360 How do we know that God works on the Sabbath? 00:16:06.000 --> 00:16:10.000 Well, we've just noted what the two works are, that they're giving life and executing judgment. 00:16:10.080 --> 00:16:12.240 That's what Jesus is drawing our attention to. 00:16:12.399 --> 00:16:14.720 How do we know that God gives life on the Sabbath? 00:16:17.200 --> 00:16:19.600 Well, babies are born on the Sabbath, aren't they? 00:16:20.799 --> 00:16:22.639 Life is given on the Sabbath. 00:16:23.679 --> 00:16:27.840 How do we know that God executes judgment on the Sabbath? 00:16:29.600 --> 00:16:32.320 People die on the Sabbath. 00:16:34.960 --> 00:16:40.080 God the Father gives life and executes judgment on the Sabbath. 00:16:41.679 --> 00:16:49.279 My Father is working until now, giving life and executing judgment, and I am working. 00:16:49.600 --> 00:16:55.360 I have just given life to this man, and I will do more than that yet. 00:16:55.600 --> 00:16:57.360 So that's the first rationale. 00:16:57.519 --> 00:17:06.000 The first defense of Jesus is to why he is equal with God, why he is divine, that he does what God does. 00:17:06.480 --> 00:17:18.079 Second, Jesus deserves the same honor as God and invites faith in him as God. 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:21.599 He deserves the same honor and invites faith. 00:17:21.839 --> 00:17:38.000 You know, at other points of the Bible, angels show up to human beings, and uh there's one particular incident in the in the book of Revelation, at the start of Revelation chapter 5, where an angel shows up to John, and I mean that'd be a strange day. 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:42.480 Um, and so he finds that quite overwhelming, and so he bows down and worships. 00:17:42.960 --> 00:17:46.720 And the angel says to John, no, worship God alone. 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:48.240 Don't worship me. 00:17:48.480 --> 00:17:49.839 Worship God alone. 00:17:50.079 --> 00:17:54.880 Don't honor me, don't give me praise and glory, give it to God alone. 00:17:56.799 --> 00:18:04.880 But Jesus here invites honor, he invites worship, he welcomes it. 00:18:05.599 --> 00:18:10.079 He says that he is deserving of it, of the same honor. 00:18:10.319 --> 00:18:12.240 Verse 22, let's pick it up again. 00:18:12.480 --> 00:18:16.240 The father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the son. 00:18:16.640 --> 00:18:17.200 Why? 00:18:17.680 --> 00:18:26.319 That all may honor the son, just as, so in the same way that they honor the father. 00:18:26.640 --> 00:18:32.799 Whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. 00:18:36.160 --> 00:18:47.920 Jesus does the works that he does so that he might be honored as God, that the same honor that is directed to God the Father might be directed to him. 00:18:48.079 --> 00:18:48.880 Do you see? 00:18:51.119 --> 00:18:52.319 Jesus here. 00:18:52.640 --> 00:18:56.240 He's not exactly allaying the fears of the Pharisees. 00:18:57.519 --> 00:19:00.880 He's kind of turning up the temperature on all of this. 00:19:00.960 --> 00:19:04.880 He's saying, Yeah, I'm working on the Sabbath because my father works on the Sabbath. 00:19:04.960 --> 00:19:12.079 I give life on the Sabbath, I give judgment on the Sabbath because I deserve the same honor as the God that you have worshipped for the last 2,000 years. 00:19:12.240 --> 00:19:13.039 Oh wow. 00:19:13.200 --> 00:19:13.519 Okay. 00:19:14.640 --> 00:19:18.880 He is not allaying their fears, he's not lowering the stakes. 00:19:19.200 --> 00:19:24.480 He's saying, in order to honor God, you must also honor me. 00:19:25.119 --> 00:19:28.400 There's two major implications here for us. 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:36.960 The first is that, you know, people like to say things like, you know, if God showed up today, I would believe. 00:19:37.359 --> 00:19:40.559 If God showed up, you know, where is he? 00:19:40.799 --> 00:19:41.920 Why hasn't he spoken? 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:43.119 Why hasn't he turned up? 00:19:43.279 --> 00:19:47.759 If God was standing here in front of me, then of course I would believe. 00:19:49.680 --> 00:19:51.920 But actually that's not true, is it? 00:19:53.039 --> 00:20:08.400 Because the most religiously astute and clued-in people on the entire planet at this point have God standing in front of them and they're seeking to kill him. 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:18.880 It is not a fait accompli that if Jesus were standing here in front of you, that you would give him divine honor. 00:20:23.359 --> 00:20:33.200 The second implication is really for what we might call our interfaith dialogue, our interfaith relationships. 00:20:33.359 --> 00:20:35.119 Now, let me be clear. 00:20:35.680 --> 00:20:37.680 As Christians, we're told to love our neighbor. 00:20:37.839 --> 00:20:45.759 That includes our neighbor who's a Buddhist, our neighbor who's a Muslim, our neighbor who's a secular atheist, our neighbor who's an occultist. 00:20:46.319 --> 00:20:48.480 We're told to love our neighbor. 00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:58.559 But surely one of the implications of these verses whoever does not honor the son does not honour the father who sent him. 00:20:59.599 --> 00:21:09.759 One of the implications surely is to avoid, and these are Jesus' words, to avoid the kind of fashionable notion uh that certainly all the main religions are the same. 00:21:10.319 --> 00:21:13.920 They were all all all the sons of Abraham worship the same God. 00:21:16.240 --> 00:21:17.839 Jesus says no to that. 00:21:20.160 --> 00:21:26.160 You cannot claim to know God, you cannot claim to honor God without first knowing and honoring the Son. 00:21:27.359 --> 00:21:33.200 It's not so much what do you think about God or who do you think God is, it's what do you think about the claims of Jesus? 00:21:34.000 --> 00:21:34.960 Do you honor him? 00:21:36.319 --> 00:21:37.920 Do you follow and love him? 00:21:41.039 --> 00:21:45.599 Moreover, in verse 24, Jesus invites faith in himself. 00:21:45.759 --> 00:21:46.559 Look at verse 24. 00:21:46.799 --> 00:21:53.200 Truly, truly, I say to you whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. 00:21:53.680 --> 00:21:57.440 He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life. 00:21:58.720 --> 00:21:59.759 Hearing and believing. 00:22:00.400 --> 00:22:03.839 Here and in John's Gospel are synonymous. 00:22:04.319 --> 00:22:07.680 So to hear is to believe. 00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:10.400 The same way in the next chapter, we're going to get to this. 00:22:10.720 --> 00:22:13.759 The thing that is paralleled is belief and eating. 00:22:14.160 --> 00:22:22.480 Whoever believes in me and whoever eats my flesh, tune in over the next couple of weeks for more on that and see if we're actually cannibals. 00:22:24.799 --> 00:22:26.880 Spoiler alert, we're not, you're fine. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:29.519 Because it's synonymous with belief. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:30.880 I'm glad to see you're still awake. 00:22:30.960 --> 00:22:31.920 Welcome back. 00:22:33.519 --> 00:22:35.839 Hearing is synonymous with belief. 00:22:36.640 --> 00:22:37.200 How do we know? 00:22:37.359 --> 00:22:44.319 So one of the ways that we know that is because remember last week, if you were here, Jesus healed the royal official son. 00:22:45.200 --> 00:22:47.119 And what do we what do we learn there? 00:22:47.359 --> 00:22:50.960 That Jesus said to the man, Go, your son will live. 00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:53.440 And the man believed the word. 00:22:53.680 --> 00:22:58.880 He heard the word, took Jesus at his word, and trusted him, believed him. 00:22:59.200 --> 00:23:01.839 Hearing is synonymous with belief. 00:23:02.079 --> 00:23:07.440 So truly I say to you who ever hears my word and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life. 00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:15.359 To take Jesus at his word is to believe in him, to believe that he is God, that he was sent by God. 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:18.160 And what is the promise there at the end of verse 24? 00:23:18.400 --> 00:23:30.079 The promise is that anyone who does that has passed, sorry, uh, has eternal life, does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. 00:23:30.240 --> 00:23:38.400 Do you see how those see those two works that Jesus was just talking about almost circling round one another, orbiting round one another? 00:23:38.559 --> 00:23:44.960 You no longer you now live, you no longer face judgment, you have passed from death to life. 00:23:47.279 --> 00:23:51.119 Jesus gives you life by placing your trust in him. 00:23:51.359 --> 00:23:52.720 That's our second rationale. 00:23:52.880 --> 00:23:55.839 Jesus deserves the same honor as the Father. 00:23:56.480 --> 00:24:00.960 Third, Jesus possesses divine life. 00:24:01.920 --> 00:24:03.599 These words are stunning. 00:24:04.880 --> 00:24:06.160 Verse 25. 00:24:07.680 --> 00:24:16.559 Truly, truly, I say to you, the hour is coming and is nigh here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 00:24:16.799 --> 00:24:18.480 Here's a stunning claim, isn't it? 00:24:18.640 --> 00:24:23.359 About the power of the Son of God, that he will speak and the dead will live. 00:24:24.559 --> 00:24:32.079 Death's grip cannot cling on to those who hear the voice of the Son of God. 00:24:33.759 --> 00:24:35.440 They cannot stay dead. 00:24:35.680 --> 00:24:37.599 Such is his power. 00:24:39.359 --> 00:24:42.079 They cannot remain dead if he calls them forth. 00:24:42.240 --> 00:24:45.440 And Jesus will prove this in just a few chapters' time. 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:48.319 We'll not actually get to it till next year. 00:24:49.119 --> 00:24:51.759 But he'll prove it with the raising of Lazarus. 00:24:52.640 --> 00:24:58.799 That's the kind of the that's the final sign in John, the final miracle in John. 00:25:00.319 --> 00:25:04.880 Where the whole thing coscendos with this great resurrection miracle. 00:25:05.039 --> 00:25:28.319 That Lazarus, though he was dead four days, as the old uh King James Version says, he stinketh because rigor mortis had said in decomposition had begun, but that is not enough to keep him dead when the voice of the Son of God stands at that tomb and says, Lazarus, come forth. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:31.440 He cannot stay dead. 00:25:33.920 --> 00:25:36.720 But now we get to the very crux of it all. 00:25:37.359 --> 00:25:38.559 How is it? 00:25:38.960 --> 00:25:42.079 How is it that Jesus can grant life in this way? 00:25:42.319 --> 00:25:44.319 How is it that he can raise the dead? 00:25:44.480 --> 00:25:47.359 How is it that he can speak and those will live? 00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:53.920 How is it that through faith in him he can cause us to pass from life, sorry, from death to life? 00:25:54.160 --> 00:25:55.119 How is it? 00:25:55.599 --> 00:25:57.920 We get the answer in verse 26. 00:25:59.519 --> 00:26:12.880 Four, for as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 00:26:16.240 --> 00:26:21.759 None of us here has life in ourselves. 00:26:24.319 --> 00:26:35.759 To have life in ourselves, to have life in himself is to have self-generating, uncreated life. 00:26:36.000 --> 00:26:37.599 That's what Jesus is saying. 00:26:37.920 --> 00:26:41.519 I have life that has no source. 00:26:41.680 --> 00:26:46.720 I am the source of my own life in the same way that the Father does. 00:26:46.960 --> 00:26:48.400 We're not like that. 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:50.480 Our life is derived. 00:26:50.640 --> 00:26:52.720 Our life is derived ultimately from God. 00:26:53.200 --> 00:26:54.720 It's a gift and it's finite. 00:26:54.799 --> 00:26:56.160 One day it will run out. 00:26:56.319 --> 00:26:57.519 Not so with Jesus. 00:26:57.680 --> 00:27:06.960 As the Father has uncreated, perfect, eternal life in himself, so too the Son has life in himself. 00:27:07.599 --> 00:27:12.000 He shares the same divine life as his father. 00:27:13.039 --> 00:27:24.799 What this means is that the Father and the Son and also the Spirit are equal at the level of essence, at the level of their being. 00:27:28.880 --> 00:27:34.480 You and your goldfish do not share the same essence. 00:27:34.880 --> 00:27:39.039 No, you share the same essence with other human beings. 00:27:40.240 --> 00:27:46.799 Jesus is saying, what essentially makes God God, I have that. 00:27:47.599 --> 00:27:48.880 I share that. 00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:51.359 I have that life in itself. 00:27:51.519 --> 00:28:05.759 And so, those of you who are familiar with the history of the church, one of the things that was written in the history of the church was the creed, particularly the creed of Nicaea, it is the Nicene Constantinopolitan Creed of 481. 00:28:06.079 --> 00:28:14.559 And when you say it in church, if you've ever been particularly to a more traditional Anglican church or a Catholic church, you might say the Creed. 00:28:14.880 --> 00:28:33.680 And in it, what you say, what you affirm about Jesus is we believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, begotten, not made, God from God, light from light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, of the same essence as the Father. 00:28:34.400 --> 00:28:38.079 The same essence as the Father. 00:28:40.480 --> 00:28:45.759 He is not a second-class deity, as the Jehovah's Witnesses believe. 00:28:46.000 --> 00:28:51.599 He is not a prophet, as Muslims believe. 00:28:52.079 --> 00:28:55.119 He shares in that divine life. 00:28:55.920 --> 00:29:01.759 He is able to speak life and give life because he is life. 00:29:05.920 --> 00:29:14.400 It is because he possesses this divine life that he is able to execute judgment and has the authority to do so. 00:29:15.279 --> 00:29:35.039 And so, in a sense, as we move on from these rationales, in a sense, we started this examination half an hour ago, thinking about the question of who Jesus is, almost kind of putting him in the dock and asking him to defend himself. 00:29:35.200 --> 00:29:42.319 We were adjudicating Jesus' claims, but but right here, right here, Jesus turns the tables. 00:29:43.839 --> 00:29:50.319 Verse 27, and he has given him authority to execute judgment, for he is the Son of Man. 00:29:51.039 --> 00:29:57.200 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming, when those who are in tombs will hear his voice and come out. 00:29:58.480 --> 00:30:03.119 Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 00:30:05.839 --> 00:30:09.279 There we were adjudicating Jesus' claims whether or not he's God. 00:30:10.160 --> 00:30:11.200 We were judging him. 00:30:12.319 --> 00:30:20.079 But at this point we come to realize that actually what is not what is important is not who we judge Jesus to be, but who he judges us to be. 00:30:21.119 --> 00:30:25.759 It's not so much what do I think of Jesus, but what does he think of me? 00:30:27.119 --> 00:30:31.920 The phrase in verse 29 where it says, done good, can be a bit tricky, right? 00:30:32.720 --> 00:30:33.039 You know? 00:30:33.279 --> 00:30:38.240 We all say, oh, it's it's my belief, it's by faith, but here Jesus is saying, done good. 00:30:40.160 --> 00:30:44.400 Done good should not be understood in terms of moral superiority. 00:30:44.720 --> 00:30:49.279 Indeed, the Pharisees were very morally superior and they're rejecting him and trying to kill him. 00:30:51.359 --> 00:30:59.359 No, to do good in the context of John's gospel is to recognize who Jesus is and to believe in him and to trust him. 00:30:59.920 --> 00:31:11.279 To do good, that good which causes us to enter into eternal life, is to believe that he is who he says he is and to trust him who has sent him. 00:31:12.240 --> 00:31:16.480 So is Jesus' divinity consistent with belief that God is wadden? 00:31:17.119 --> 00:31:21.759 Yes, because he's not a rival to his father, he does not work independently. 00:31:22.079 --> 00:31:27.359 He is worthy of the same honor as his father, and he shares the same essence. 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:30.000 Now, much quicker. 00:31:30.319 --> 00:31:31.759 Three witnesses. 00:31:32.480 --> 00:31:36.400 We went very carefully through uh verses 19 to 29. 00:31:36.480 --> 00:31:43.839 I'm just going to draw out three witnesses that Jesus offers in support of his testimony from verses 30 to 47. 00:31:44.160 --> 00:31:48.160 The first witness that Jesus offers to the Pharisees and to us is John the Baptist. 00:31:48.319 --> 00:31:50.319 He says, Who backs up my claim? 00:31:50.480 --> 00:31:56.640 You know, if you if you want to if you want to kind of make a claim in a court, criminal court or a civil court, it's good to have witnesses backing it up. 00:31:56.720 --> 00:31:58.720 And so he says, You want to know who my witnesses are? 00:31:58.880 --> 00:32:00.640 First, John the Baptist. 00:32:01.279 --> 00:32:03.119 He was a bright shining light. 00:32:03.839 --> 00:32:09.519 You knew that something was up with him, that there was something different about him. 00:32:09.599 --> 00:32:11.279 And so you sent people to him. 00:32:11.359 --> 00:32:12.400 That's what he's saying. 00:32:12.559 --> 00:32:15.839 So you sent people to John because you knew that there was something. 00:32:16.000 --> 00:32:20.400 You knew that he was a prophet from God, and you enjoyed his light for a while. 00:32:21.039 --> 00:32:22.319 But you've missed the point. 00:32:22.559 --> 00:32:24.400 He was the first witness to me. 00:32:24.720 --> 00:32:26.559 You should have listened to him. 00:32:27.759 --> 00:32:29.119 Second witness. 00:32:29.519 --> 00:32:30.319 His miracles. 00:32:30.480 --> 00:32:32.880 Look down at verse uh 36. 00:32:34.160 --> 00:32:44.559 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. 00:32:44.960 --> 00:32:46.480 See, look at the signs. 00:32:46.640 --> 00:32:48.079 That's why John calls them signs. 00:32:48.160 --> 00:32:48.720 Do you remember? 00:32:48.880 --> 00:32:50.000 It's like a signpost. 00:32:50.160 --> 00:32:55.519 You don't look at the miracle in the same way that you don't look at a sign, you look at what it's pointing to. 00:32:56.480 --> 00:33:01.039 He's saying, All of my miracles, all of my signs point to who I am. 00:33:01.359 --> 00:33:05.200 Who is the one who can make the lame leap like a deer? 00:33:05.440 --> 00:33:06.799 In the words of Isaiah. 00:33:06.960 --> 00:33:09.279 Who's the one who can give sight to the blind? 00:33:09.519 --> 00:33:11.839 Who is the one who can turn water into wine? 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:14.480 Who's the one who will raise the dead? 00:33:14.799 --> 00:33:17.359 All of my miracles point to who I am. 00:33:17.519 --> 00:33:18.720 That is the second witness. 00:33:18.960 --> 00:33:22.319 Third witness, the scriptures themselves. 00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:31.519 He looks at the Pharisees and he says, verse 39, you search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life. 00:33:31.759 --> 00:33:38.400 And it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 00:33:46.960 --> 00:33:51.200 You read the Old Testament, you don't see Jesus, you've missed the point. 00:33:57.359 --> 00:34:02.319 Jesus Christ plays in 10,000 places in the Old Testament. 00:34:02.640 --> 00:34:07.440 He is the priest par excellence who brings us into the presence of God. 00:34:07.599 --> 00:34:09.840 He is the once-for-all sacrifice. 00:34:10.000 --> 00:34:13.199 He is the temple, the place where heaven and earth overlap. 00:34:13.599 --> 00:34:16.000 Moreover, he is that Messianic king. 00:34:16.159 --> 00:34:18.400 He is the son of Psalm too. 00:34:18.800 --> 00:34:24.000 He says, Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet. 00:34:24.159 --> 00:34:28.159 He is He is David's greater Lord of Psalm 110. 00:34:28.320 --> 00:34:31.599 The Lord says to my Lord, Sit at my right hand. 00:34:35.920 --> 00:34:38.880 He is the one that Moses spoke about. 00:34:39.440 --> 00:34:46.000 The greater prophet who would come after him and lead his people into a new Exodus. 00:34:47.039 --> 00:34:51.039 All of the scriptures speak his name. 00:34:55.760 --> 00:35:01.039 Jesus concludes, and so will I, with a final warning. 00:35:01.519 --> 00:35:02.719 Here's the thing. 00:35:02.880 --> 00:35:03.679 And here's the thing. 00:35:04.159 --> 00:35:12.480 If you're a Christian and you've you speak often to your non-Christian family or non-Christian friends, offering them these sorts of kind of evidences? 00:35:12.639 --> 00:35:20.559 Have you ever noticed that you might say, here's all, here's the X, Y, and Z reason why you should believe that God, that Jesus is God and follow him. 00:35:20.719 --> 00:35:25.920 And do you ever have that feeling where it just feels like it's boom, it's just kind of bullets off a Kevlar vest? 00:35:26.239 --> 00:35:30.239 Like, why isn't John 5 a knockdown argument? 00:35:30.639 --> 00:35:34.159 Why don't the Pharisees go, ah, what must I do to be saved? 00:35:34.960 --> 00:35:36.480 They still kill him. 00:35:37.360 --> 00:35:39.840 Because of what Jesus says afterwards. 00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:45.679 You see, becoming a Christian is not an intellectual exercise. 00:35:46.480 --> 00:35:51.360 Becoming a Christian is not about having all of your questions answered. 00:35:51.519 --> 00:36:03.679 Now, I hope that you, if you've been to city church ever before, I hope that you'd like to see that there's an intellectual rigor and we like to ask questions and we like to engage in somewhat uh deep and complex things. 00:36:03.920 --> 00:36:08.159 But at the very core of being a Christian, it's not about just having your questions answered. 00:36:08.400 --> 00:36:11.760 Becoming a Christian is not an intellectual decision. 00:36:12.000 --> 00:36:18.719 If it was an intellectual decision, Jesus just demolished the Pharisees, but none of them believe. 00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:19.440 Why? 00:36:19.760 --> 00:36:23.519 Because it's not an intellectual decision, it's a moral one. 00:36:25.679 --> 00:36:28.639 It's about who will I worship? 00:36:28.880 --> 00:36:30.960 What will I follow? 00:36:31.199 --> 00:36:33.519 Who will dictate the course of my life? 00:36:33.679 --> 00:36:36.960