Truer Words… Pt. 2

Christ is essentially responding
to the charge of blasphemy and responding to these accusations
that he was off the mark claiming things that he ought not claim. And Jesus essentially takes this
opportunity to graciously and solemnly and clearly articulate
his divinity. Solemn declarations of our loving
Savior. Look at verse 19. Therefore Jesus answered and
was saying to them, truly, truly I say to you, the son can do
nothing of himself unless it is something he sees the father
doing. For whatever the father does,
these things the son also does in like manner. For the father
loves the son and shows him all things that he himself is doing.
And the father will show him greater works than these, so
that you will marvel. For just as the Father raises
the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life
to whomever He wishes. For not even the Father judges
anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son. So that
all will honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He
who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent
Him. Truly, truly, I say to you, He
who hears my word and believes Him who sent me has eternal life
and does not come into judgment but is passed out of death into
life. Truly, truly, I say to you, An
hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice
of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For just as the
Father has life in Himself, even so He gave life to the Son to
have life in Himself. And He gave Him authority to
execute judgment because He is the Son of Man. Do not marvel
at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs
will hear His voice and will come forth, those who did the
good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed
the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing
on my own initiative. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is just. because
I do not seek my own will, but the will of Him who sent me.”
Jesus was responding to an accusation. And if there was ever a time
to answer straight, to set them straight, to clarify that they
were misunderstanding both His deeds and His words, now was
the time. Glance back at verse 17. where
Jesus, in response to their criticisms to what He was doing on the Sabbath,
that He was committing some kind of blasphemy, said to them, My
Father is working until now and I am working. In other words,
He told them straight out that what He was doing was in no way
a violation. It could not possibly be a violation
because He was doing the very works that His Father had asked
Him to do. and look at the response in verse
18, they didn’t misunderstand. For this reason, therefore, the
Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only
was he breaking the Sabbath, that was only one violation.
That was the violation that had really set them off to begin
with. But there was another violation.
He was not only breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling
God his own Father, making himself equal with God. If there was
ever a time to clarify his position, to take away this argument that
he was in some way blaspheming, not only by breaking the Sabbath,
but in equating himself and relating himself to God the Father, now
is the occasion. But instead of backing away,
instead of softening the claim, instead of clarifying in such
a way that would really take away these charges, Jesus issues,
as I pointed out, three solemn declarations. And I say solemn
because that truly, truly calls them back to the core level of
understanding, to the very truth of the matter before them. These
are solemn declarations, and I believe they’re loving declarations
from the heart of a Savior that really was calling them to repentance
for their harsh and judgmental and critical attitude towards
the Son and towards God. There were three declarations,
the first of which we see in verse 19. And they’re all built
upon those truly, truly statements. The first of them was this First
one here in verse 19, the son does as the father does. Truly,
truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of himself. And he’ll reiterate that point
at the end. But the second solemn declaration
we see in verse 24, the son grants eternal life. And the third solemn
declaration, the son raises the dead to judgment. Jesus Christ
doesn’t back down one bit. In fact, He reiterates and essentially
tells them they’re correct in some of the accusations that
they are making. He has broken the Sabbath by
God’s design. He has essentially upheld God’s
command to do what God would have Him to do. And if it broke
their Sabbath, so be it. But God is His Father. He is
the Son of God. He is deity and he will not back
away from that for a moment. Glance back if you would at verse
19. Where we began to consider the
first of these three statements last week. Truly, truly, I say
to you, the son can do nothing of himself. He doesn’t have his
own agenda, as we saw. None of the members of the Godhead
could possibly have their own agenda, because then you would
have multiple deities, multiple members of the Godhead, each
one being completely perfect in all of their attributes. You
would at once have chaos and disorder that could not possibly
continue. The son can do nothing. It’s not that Jesus lacked ability. It’s that it is absolutely impossible
for God to violate God. For one to have an agenda that
the other one does not possess. The son can do nothing of himself
unless it is something he sees the father doing It’s not as
if Jesus had to sit back and watch and wonder what God was
doing, but that the Godhead had already put into place from eternity
past the great plan of redemption. And what Jesus observes the father
doing is what he’s always known the father was going to do. Likewise with the father. The
father doesn’t glance down on occasion and note that Jesus
has taken a different course and align himself to that particular
course. Everything they do is in sync. Everything they do is as one. Unless it is something the father,
he sees the father doing for whatever the father does. These
things the son also does in like manner. They’re done in the same
way. They’re done with the same attitude.
They’re done with the same goal. There is oneness in the Godhead
and never division. There is never a time where the
Godhead has to come together and get on the same page. There’s
never a time where the Godhead has to resolve some kind of difference
of opinion for the approach that one has taken. Look at verse
20. For the Father loves the Son.
and shows him all things that he himself is doing. It’s not
as if Jesus had to plead his way. There is such a relationship
in the Godhead that all things are open and laid bare. All things
are perfectly evident to all members of the deity at all times.
The father loves the son and shows him all things that he
himself is doing. And then Jesus says this, and
the Father will show him greater works than these so that you
will marvel. He points to the fact that there
is a time coming and even is already upon them where even
more and miraculous works, greater works than these that he had
just done at the pool, not only healing a man but also calling
him to repentance, far greater works than these are about to
be done for the very purpose of them standing in awe. Translators use the word marvel
here so that they will stand back and be awestruck at the
nature of God and at the very deeds of the son. Now let me
just give you a structural note and then we’re going to delve
into new material here. In verses 21 through 23, essentially
what you have, if you glance at it, it’s an explanation. Verses
21 through 23 are explaining verse 20. And as Jesus gives
this brief explanation, he’s also going to highlight these
next two, these final two solemn declarations that he is already
hinting at here in verses 21 through 23. the giving of life, salvation,
and judgment. He’s explaining that those are,
those are the greater works. And when he lays them out and
returns to them in verses 24 and 25, he’s just formalizing
there what he has already told them here in verses 21 through
23. Glance down at those rich verses, if you would, beginning
in verse 19. Therefore, Jesus answered and
was saying to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do
nothing of himself unless it is something He sees the Father
doing. For whatever the Father does,
these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father
loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing.
And the Father will show Him greater works than these, so
that you will marvel.” What exactly are these greater works? He has
just restored this poor man by the pool who didn’t have enough physical capacity, being crippled
likely in his legs, if not his spine. He had just worked a mighty
miracle. And in doing so, he had doubled
back and worked another miracle in bringing this man to eternal
life. But Jesus says greater works
than these are going to be done. This is just a beginning. This
work that he’s just done that was so criticized, so scrutinized
by his detractors, he’s going to show them even greater works,
the first of which is raising the dead, quickening, enlivening,
giving life where there is no life. We’ll look at that in a
moment. It’s resurrection and judgment
that are in view. Look at verse 21 through 23. For just as the Father raises
the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life
to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges
anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that
all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father He who
does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. Verse 21, Jesus says, beginning
to lay out to these critics, what were these greater works?
Even as the father raises the dead and gives them life. In
other words, what he points to is the fact that What the Jews
already held is that God the Father held the power of life
and death in His hands. It was a divine prerogative. It was for God to do and only
God. Let me take you just to a number
of verses. Jot them down if you wish and
return back to them at your convenience. But the first one would be Deuteronomy
32. God Himself speaking. Says, see
now that I am he and there is no God beside me. It is I who
put to death and I who give life. I have wounded and it is I who
heal and there is none who can deliver from my hand. God is
God and life giving is God’s prerogative. In 1 Samuel, there’s
a beautiful prayer. 1 Samuel chapter 2. It’s Hannah’s
prayer. And it’s a beautiful prayer,
I encourage you to write it down, 1 Samuel 2. Hannah says this,
the Lord kills and makes alive. It really is a beautiful prayer,
but there is that nugget of truth in there. The God is absolutely
sovereign and He’s all powerful. He kills and He makes alive. He brings down to Sheol and He
raises up. In 2 Kings, evil king Jehoram. And we like to think that those
evil Israelite kings who were evil to the core, not one of
them was good. We like to think that they couldn’t
possibly, any of them, have even a grain of truth. But listen
to what Jehoram says of God when the king of Israel read the letter.
He tore his clothes and said, am I God to kill and make alive
that this man is sending word to me to cure a man of his leprosy? He knew who he was. He knew he
was nothing before Almighty God, whose act alone it was to bring
life. Isaiah echoed that. Isaiah 26,
19. But even in the New Testament, You come into the New Testament
in Acts chapter 26, Paul is standing before Agrippa, and Paul here
standing before this heathen king says, why is it considered
so incredible among you people if God does raise the dead? If
God is God and God created this world in which we live, if God
is all-powerful, why is it so surprising to you, even a heathen
king, that God Almighty could raise the dead. In 2 Corinthians, Paul giving
his own testimony in chapter 1 verse 9, it tells them that
we had the sentence of death within us so that we would not
trust ourselves. Do you hear what he says there?
They’re out there ministering and serving and they know that
at any moment they could be stricken dead by their enemies. And that’s the way they lived
and walked and conducted themselves. They weren’t afraid in the least
because they didn’t trust in themselves. They had learned
not to trust in themselves, but in God who raises the dead. Paul knew that, look, if you’ve
got marching orders, and we know that at least on one occasion,
he was stoned to the point where at least everybody thought he
was dead. They knew that, look, if you’ve
got a job for us to do, nobody can take us. Psalm 56, four,
in God, I have put my trust. What can mere man do to me? They
knew that God had the power of life and death. And if God had
a job for them to do, he would raise Paul from the dead. The
writer of Hebrews says the same thing of Abraham. Remember Abraham? considered that God was able
to raise people even from the dead. His great faith placing
Isaac on the sacrifice was so great because he knew that if
God was true to His Word, that God would raise up his son, God
would raise the dead. There were many occasions where
God actually did raise the dead. He used Elijah in 1 Kings 17. Elijah called out to the Lord
and said, O Lord my God, you have brought calamity to this
widow with whom I am staying and caused her son to die. Then
he stretched out himself upon the child three times and called
to the Lord and said, O Lord my God, I pray to you, let this
child’s life return to him. The Lord heard the voice of Elijah
and the life of the child returned to him and he revived. There
were many occasions where God brought life, where there was
no life. It was God’s to do. It was God’s prerogative. Even
Elisha, the prophet himself, dead and buried in the grave. Elisha died and they buried him.
Now the bands of the Moabites would invade the land in the
spring of the year. So sometime later, Elijah is
lying in his grave. And as they were burying a man,
behold, they saw a marauding band. They cast the man into
the grave of Elisha. And when the man touched the
bones of Elisha, he revived and stood up on his feet. Now that
is dramatic. It’s God’s prerogative. In fact,
there was a prayer that was very frequent and very popular in
Jesus’ day. You, O Lord, are mighty forever. You give life to the dead. You
are strong to save. You sustain the living by Your
mercy. You enliven the dead by Your
great compassion. You make good Your faithfulness
to them that sleep in the dust. You are faithful to raise the
dead. Blessed are You, O Lord, who
livens the dead. In other words, Jesus says, There’s
no matter for marvel here. This is just part of what you
understand of God. That God is the one who raises
the dead and God is the one who gives life. You know that. But then he says this. Just as
and they should have seen it coming, shouldn’t they? Just
as the father raises the dead and gives them life even so.
the son also gives life to whom he wishes. Now on the face of
it, Jesus is at least saying that he is able to do the same
exact thing that God does. And initially maybe they could
be led to the conclusion that God had bestowed these powers
on Jesus, maybe he was some kind of a prophet, maybe he had the
power of God, that he had bestowed the powers of God upon this individual
for a brief season. That’s not the case. Jesus masterfully
blends, and I want you to look at the passage. Jesus masterfully
blends not only his own identity, the Son, but his ability, the
Son gives life, but He blends one of the core
attributes of Almighty God. The Son also gives life to whom
He wishes. Jesus masterfully blends not
only His identity and His ability, but one of the core attributes
of God, that of His sovereignty. Not only is Jesus God’s Son in
that profoundly special way, Not only does he possess the
power of God in full measure to do as God does, but he is
also able to exercise the divine prerogative in the exercise of
sovereignty. Only one person that can be in
absolute control. We think of kings in that sense,
that they are sovereign. They are the one that calls the
shots, that call the shots. But in a very real way, ultimately
only God is sovereign. Note, as one commentator said,
the healing of the crippled man was an object lesson. It not
only demonstrated his power, but it illustrated his absolute
sovereignty. He had not healed the entire
company of the sick. Did you realize that? That would
have been quite the astounding thing. Everybody who’s sick,
everybody who’s lame, gather around and heal them all. Would
have been astounding. That’s not what Jesus did. He had not healed the entire
company of the sick and the lame who lay around the pool. Instead,
he singled out just one and made him whole. So not only did Jesus
exercise divine sovereignty when he approached and ultimately
healed that poor man who couldn’t place himself in the pool for
this mythical healing, but he exercised that same sovereignty
when he re-approached that same man. Now healed physically, but
still spiritually absolutely bankrupt. And He provided eternal
life to that man. Jesus Christ gives eternal life
to whom He will. As one faithful commentator put
it, just as the Father takes dead bodies and raises them to
new life, so the Son takes people who, though their bodies are
alive, are yet in a state of death, and He raises them to
spiritual life. So as we begin to capture the
full sense of what Jesus is saying, that He is God in the flesh,
fully capable of any and all of God’s works and ways, now
we can begin to wrestle with the particulars of this statement. Is Jesus here speaking only about
the provision of the restoration of physical life, that like Lazarus
He will do this miracle, that He has the capacity, the ability,
the God-given power to raise the dead? Is he just talking
about raising somebody out of the grave? Is he possibly talking
here about the great day of the resurrection when all will be
raised? And that that is Jesus doing?
It is true that that kind of end time resurrection is mentioned
later in this same section. Look at John 5.25. Truly, truly,
I say to you, an hour is coming, and now is when the dead will
hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will
live. John 5, 28, do not marvel at
this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs
will hear His voice. There is that power that is given
to Christ. But if you take into account
the full statement here, the Son also gives life to whom He
wishes. then it would make absolutely
no sense. It would make no sense to say that Jesus resurrects
at the end on that great day only a certain select few. It
can’t possibly point to that, not here. This imparting of life
here in verse 21 can only refer to one thing, eternal life, spiritual
life. What kind of life is it that
Jesus imparts? It’s not merely physical life,
life begun at birth, not even miraculous life, life restored
after death. As Jesus would go on to say in
verse 24, and he makes it absolutely clear, the life that Jesus imparts
is eternal life. Jesus had just healed a crippled
man, essentially restoring his life in some small sense, giving
his life back to him, as it were, but that cannot possibly be the
implication here. And remember, Jesus located the
man for a second discussion, that of the man’s spiritual condition,
he called him to repentance, and just as Almighty God, God
the Father, is able to give and restore life, physical life,
Jesus Christ sovereignly distributes life, eternal life. As we saw last week in verses
19 and 20, it was made perfectly clear that no member of the Godhead
ever acts independently of the others. Life-giving, life-restoring,
resurrection life, the giving of eternal life, all of these
are the result of God’s work. And once again, it is boldly
affirmed that Jesus Christ is God. Jesus Christ is making the
point to His skeptics already plotting His death. That whatever
power is in God, the Father is also in Him. Glance down if you
would, verse 22, where Jesus begins, or continues rather,
His explanation. Just as the Father raises the
dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to
whom He wishes, for not even the Father judges anyone. But he has given all judgment
to the son. Well, that had to be an astounding
revelation to his detractors. Not only have they held that
God was the giver of life, but also God was at the other end
of the spectrum waiting to judge. They knew that of God. Jesus
said that he would still do still greater works, plural. We’ve
seen that one of those things that he would do is to impart
spiritual life to sinners, but here he mentions yet another
amazing work, a work of God that he will do, and that is to judge. The subject will be taken again,
as I said, in greater measure in verse 25, but here he just
mentions it. There we’ll find his third solemn
declaration in verse 25, but glance down at that verse just
briefly. Truly, truly, I say to you, an
hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice
of the Son of God and those who hear will live. From the entire
mass of the Old Testament witness, judgment was held to be the sole
responsibility of God himself. That’s what the Jews believed.
They believed it wholeheartedly. And we might naturally conclude
that judgment, as they concluded, on the last day judgment would
fall to the Father specifically. Not so, says Jesus. As one said,
this was something new to the Jews. They held that the Father
was to judge all men, and they expected to stand before Him
at the last day. Jesus tells them now that the
Father will exercise His prerogative of judging through the Son. He’s handing over judgment, as
it were, stepping aside and allowing Jesus to employ that office. And just as it is in the case
of giving life, restoring life, that it’s a divine prerogative,
so also with judgment. It goes hand in hand, doesn’t
it? It goes hand in hand with God
as we know Him. That in order for anyone, any
being, to fairly and justly and righteously exercise judgment,
He needs one particular attribute to do it fairly and justly and
righteously. Omniscience. He needs to be able to see the
heart of hearts. He needs to be able to take in the totality
of the circumstance. That being, whoever he is, would
have to know all of the facts and all of the motives of every
situation, everything about the individual, and all of the relative
details and all of the contingencies, right? Done. Jesus has that. Jesus has been
granted the task, the awful task and responsibility of judging.
And since only God can do that, the only conclusion that we can
come to once again is that Jesus Christ is God equipped and capable
of judging. God has imparted that prerogative
to His Son. The Father hasn’t abandoned His
responsibility. It is still going to be done
to the Father’s standard. It is still the Godhead in operation. Ultimately, he is a member of
the Trinity and is yet at work, but he is judging through his
son, which is the precise testimony of the scriptures, by the way.
You might remember Acts chapter 17, Paul walking about, essentially
exposing the nature of the gods, the Roman gods. And he concludes
at the end there in verse 30 of chapter 17, therefore having
overlooked the times of ignorance God is now declaring to all men
to men everywhere that all people should repent because he is fixed
today in which he will judge the world in righteousness through
a man whom he is appointed having furnished proof to all men by
raising him from the dead he’s going to judge the world is God
but he’s going to do it through his son the Lord Jesus Christ
so the declaration here that Jesus possesses the divine responsibility
of judgment goes hand in hand with his divine prerogative of
imparting eternal life. Here’s how one pastor said it.
The son therefore has both powers to make alive whom he will and
to judge those whom he does not will to make alive are by that
very fact judged. separated off from the living
and left in the death which they have chosen. He does not make
them dead, they are spiritually dead already and will not be
made alive. Solemn, sobering stuff, isn’t
it? We would be remiss as we press
through this passage not to point out the full implication of this
declaration. It’s not just that Jesus says,
look, one day I’m going to ascend that throne. I’m going to climb
upon the throne, the throne of judgment, and I am going to judge. This word is much bigger than
that. Not only is Jesus speaking of the judgment that sinners
face before God one day, but the word has the idea that communicates
so much more. As one described it, it includes
not merely the final judgment of the last day, but the work
of ordering, governing, deciding the affairs of God’s kingdom.
The father has given to the son the office of king and judge. The whole administration of the
divine government and of the world is put into the hands of
the son. This is astounding. Why would
he do that? He has a purpose. And as we might
expect in God’s economy, there is a divine purpose to all of
this. Glance at the passage once again. We’ll take a running start at
verse 23 in verse 22. For not even the Father judges
anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that
all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. This is
the divine reason. This is the God-given purpose.
One of the purposes, at least, of committing, giving the son
the prerogative of judgment is so that he, the son, would
be honored in exactly the same manner as the father. After all, the
son, the father and son, they’re equal. They’re equal in nature. They have the same essence. They
possess the same attributes in perfection. They do the same
works. Jesus has just articulated that.
And the father has done this so that the son would have the
same honor. That he would be recognized and
worshiped in the same way. The father has brought Jesus
into the function of judging for the very purpose of making
sure That whatever honor they give to the father, they give
also to the son. Jesus would go on to make this
point on numerous occasions. That to honor one was to honor
the other, to dishonor the one was to dishonor the other. John
15, 23, he who hates me hates my father also. First John 2.23, whoever denies
the Son does not have the Father. The one who confesses the Son
has the Father also. How you treat the Lord Jesus
Christ is indicative of what you think of God the Father and
vice versa. Luke 10.16, the one who listens
to you listens to me. The one who rejects you rejects
me and he who rejects me rejects the one who sent me. Jesus said,
it’s absolutely crucial that you hear me. And that’s why I
say, I believe that these words are a plea. They’re a plea, a
gracious plea, a solemn declaration to those who are really off the
mark. This is true in the world I’ve
lived. Isn’t it yours? that when an
individual has delegated authority and that authority is disregarded,
not only is the behavior towards him disrespectful of him, it’s
disrespectful of the one who appointed him. In other words,
if a boss appoints someone to a particular job and people refuse
to accept him as the middle manager or boss or whatever he is, what
title he has, Ultimately, that is seen as disrespect of the
one in charge. And so for these Jews, denouncing
Jesus, accusing Him of blasphemy because of this healing, because
of the alleged breaking of the Sabbath, ultimately they were dishonoring
the Father. And that’s what Jesus Christ
mercifully wants to tell them. But to dishonor the Son, the
Father’s messenger, was just like dishonoring God the Father
Himself. And likewise, any kind of praise,
any kind of worship that we give to God, as one said, to ignore the revelation
which the Father made through the Son, is not truly honoring
to God at all. Let me get your head wrapped
around that statement. In my eighth grade worldview
class, we’ve been looking at not only Christianity, but other
world religions. And the problem is that there
isn’t a one of these other religions, whether it’s Roman Catholicism,
or Judaism, or Islam, or Buddhism, And on and on it goes. There
isn’t one that truly honors the Lord Jesus Christ, not like Christianity. Some will say that he’s a prophet.
Some will acknowledge that he’s a good man. Some will even name
their church after him. Though it isn’t the Lord Jesus
Christ, not the one that you and I believe in. But to whatever degree they reject
the son, To whatever degree they brush aside His attributes or
His capability or His calling or His nature or the validity
of His sacrifice on the cross, to whatever degree they do that,
they don’t dishonor Christ alone. They dishonor God the Father.
It doesn’t matter what they call Him. It doesn’t matter what his
name is. It doesn’t matter how much pomp
goes into their worship towards Him. It doesn’t matter what they
sacrifice, how they abuse Him. If they dishonor the Son, they
dishonor the God who sent Him. Look at verse 23 again. All will
honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor
the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. See, Jesus Christ
possesses the attributes of God. He possesses such dignity and
He is so much at one with God the Father that it is impossible
to dishonor Him without dishonoring God or honor the Father without
also out of necessity honoring Him. J.C. Ryle said it this way, the Father
would have the Son to receive equal honor with Himself. It
was the mind and intention of the Father that the Son, as the
mediator between God and man, should receive honor from all. Whenever, therefore, anyone through
ignorance or pride or unbelief neglects Christ, but professes
at the same time to honor God, he is committing a mighty error. And so far from pleasing God
is greatly displeasing Him. And it’s that argument, verses
21 through 23, that points to the second of these three solemn
declarations. The second declaration is in
verse 24. Glance at it. With this, we close. The Son
grants eternal life. He’s already made this point.
That divine prerogative has been given into the hands of the Lord
Jesus Christ. It’s His responsibility. Look
at verse 24. Truly, truly, I say to you, he
who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and does not
come into judgment but is passed out of death into life. That’s
the life that Jesus gives. It’s eternal life. To hear with the physical ear,
to pretend like you’re attending, To seemingly go through the motion
and listen is not enough. It’s got to be the inward response.
It’s got to be the true call. As one said, to hear the word
of Christ is to hear it with a spiritual ear, not merely with
a physical ear. Not merely to believe His written
word, nor to believe that He has sent Christ into the world,
nor any specific doctrine, but to have faith in an unseen God.
That Christ came into the world and that faith in Christ is to
have faith in the Father who sent Him. And I want to take you back to
the crippled man. What kind of faith does it take
to save? It takes the faith to stand up
when you have absolutely no ability to do so. It takes the faith to respond
to Jesus’ command even though in and of yourself you have absolutely
no capability of doing so. The crippled man lay there completely
unable to even work himself in the direction of the pool. This
mythical healing that had vexed him for 39 years. And now Jesus comes along and
asks him, has the audacity to ask him if he wants to be healed.
Of course he wants to be healed. And then to make matters even
more difficult for him, or so he thinks, Jesus coldly tells
him to stand. How do I stand? That’s exactly what Jesus tells
us. There we lay in our spiritual condition, absolutely dead, absolutely
vexed in our own condition. Everybody’s tried to fix us.
We know even ourselves we’ve tried to fix us and it’s absolutely
impossible. And Jesus Christ comes along
and says, place your faith in me. We don’t even know how to respond
to that in and of ourselves. But Jesus says, he who hears
my word, just as impossible of command as he gave to that crippled
man by the pool, he who hears my word and believes him who
sent me has eternal life. What an incredible statement.
It’s not that just one day you will win and own eternal life,
but you have it, you possess it, even in the here and now,
even as you sit here this very moment. If you placed your faith
in Christ, you are already living out eternity. It’s not just a future promise.
It’s not just that it’s there for your taking in time being
to lay hold of it. One Puritan said it this way,
this verse has been a great favorite with the Lord’s people. It has
been used of God to bring peace and assurance to many a troubled
soul. It speaks of eternal life as a present possession, not
when we die or when we are resurrected. He who hears my word and believes
him who sent me has eternal life. concurrent with that. And He
does not come into judgment. Our judgment is not the same
as unbelievers. But He’s passed out of death
into life. Jesus has already hinted at judgment. He’s talked
about judgment. That’s one of the great works
that He’s going to do. And in verse 25 and following,
He’s going to delve much more deeply into the concept of judgment. But the point that He’s making
here is that it is the very contrast to eternal life. The believer
doesn’t come under judgment. The believer doesn’t stand under
condemnation. He’s been removed from all of
that. We’ll be called to give an account, but not an account
that puts our salvation in peril. Jesus Christ has come to do amazing
work, and it goes far beyond just a healing by a pool. It goes beyond just the salvation
of one sinner. I believe that what Jesus was
doing there before those men on that day, in a way that was
specifically suited to their particular need, Jesus Christ
was preaching the gospel carefully and patiently and solemnly. Do this and you will live. Place
your faith in the Son, honor the Son, and you are honoring
the Father. Let’s go before Him in prayer.
Our merciful King, we humble ourselves before You, and we
thank You and praise You for the salvation that we who have
come to know You, we who have been called and have heard by
a spiritual ear, we who have placed our faith in our Lord
Jesus Christ, who have found Him to be exactly what He proclaimed
Himself to be God in the flesh. Lord God, if there are any who
are very much like these Jews in the passage, skeptical, wayward,
sinful, doubting, Lord God, we pray that You would bring them
to repentance, help them to see the heart of the Savior, help
them to see His humility, His grace, help them to see the salvation
that He offers. And it’s there if we will only
stand. God, grant them, grant these
people faith, faith to place in their Savior. It’s in Jesus’
name that we pray, amen.