John 5 Teed Commentaries

JOHN CHAPTER 5

“Do You Want To Be Made Well?”

I believe that I may have had a life-changing experience after studying the first eight verses of this chapter. That is not to say that this is the first time I have read them. I have probably read them at least twenty or thirty times, but undoubtedly slipped into the same pattern that many Christians do when reading their Bibles. I did not read them slowly and carefully, concentrating on each word. I too often rush through my morning meditations and Bible reading because I have so much to do and need to get to it as soon as possible. I can think of several words to describe that kind of thinking on the part of a Christ follower, but two that pop up immediately are “ignorant” and “stupid.”

Is it possible that I truly believe I can do more for God by working hard all day long than He could accomplish through me by just speaking a word, if I only asked Him to do so? All I would need to do every morning is turn my life over to God, and He would gladly guide me through the day to accomplish whatever it is He wants me to accomplish if that is what I truly want. The most important thing we can do each day is to begin it with concentrated Bible reading and prayer. Then before going to bed, we need to thank God for His provision and care and ask for a restful and peaceful sleep so that we might begin the following day refreshed and energized. Anyone feel that way now as soon as you wake up? I am reminded once again of the words of Martin Luther when he said: “I have so much to do today, I’m going to have to pray for two hours instead of just one.”

Because of certain events in my life the following verse from John 5:6 jumped out at me like a blinking neon sign. John writes: “When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, ‘Do you want to be healed?’"

“Do you want to be healed?” What an odd question to ask a cripple. But we do not want to get ahead of ourselves, so let us read the first nine verses of chapter five to get an idea of the context in which Jesus made this statement, then we will begin examining each verse more closely. It is our hope and prayer that by the time we are finished you may have had a life-changing experience as a result of verse 6 as well.

John 5:1-9 ESV:
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?" 7 The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." 8 Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.

We do not know with any certainty which feast Jesus was observing when He went to Jerusalem, although it may have been the Passover, and that information is really not important to the underlying purpose of Jesus‘ trip. His underlying purpose for going was to heal an invalid and use the miracle as the basis for a message to the people. More about that message later.

Jesus knew that there would be a large crowd at this feast. People would be coming from all over the country and probably even other nations. Most would be coming in a spiritual frame of mind to worship God and perhaps grow in knowledge of God. Such a frame of mind would make them all the more curious about the incredible miracle they were about to witness and then tell others about.

So Jesus headed for the festival and when he arrived He went to this pool by the Sheep’s Gate. This pool was on the way to the Temple and many people would be passing by going to and from the scheduled activities. Now this was not the kind of pool one would go to for a good time of swimming and water sports. John describes these people as “impotent, blind, lame, paralyzed.” These were sick people and many of them stayed here all day, and possibly even through the night. At this time there was no provision for the poor who were sick. There were no hospitals they could go to in order to receive treatment, so they were on their own. They came to this particular pool because it was reported to provide miracle cures. That was the only hope they had.

But invalids were probably not the only people drawn to this site. Think about the times in our lifetime when supposed miracles have been reported. What has been the response to such miracles by the public? They have flocked to the places where the miracles were reported to have taken place. One example that comes to mind is the woman in California some years ago who reported having received revelations from Saint Joseph. It was not long before crowds began to gather outside of her home. People even came from other countries just to be near the place where these miracles were reported to have taken place. Soon people were buying any house that was for sale near hers so they could be close to where the miracle occurred. There were even reports of armed guards required to protect the shrine that was built to Saint Joseph not far from her home.[fn]

The Pool of Bethesda was within the city of Jerusalem. What actually went on in the pool was that it periodically rippled because of a subterranean spring and when that happened someone at some time who may have been ill saw the occurrence as a miracle and claimed the pool had miraculous healing powers. It is very likely that story spread like a prairie fire all over the country. This must have been quite the item at the time because we find this account reported in verse 4 of some translations (KJV, NAS) indicating that an angel came down and stirred the waters and that the first person in the pool would then be healed. Now verse 4 only appears in some Bible manuscripts written after the fourth century. They do not appear in the earliest manuscripts. So we must conclude they were probably added by a scribe somewhere about that time. Verse 4, therefore, does not appear in most other translations, which we consider to be the most accurate approach. The verse really plays no significance whatsoever to the message Jesus was delivering, so we will not consider it any further.[fn]

Imagine what it must have been like around that pool. People with all kinds of diseases and broken bodies sitting or laying around the pool waiting for the water to ripple and clawing one another out of the way so that they might get in the pool first. Sanitation must have been non-existent and the stench must have been unbearable. But here comes Jesus and He knew exactly where He was going and why He was going there. He was going to the pool because of the crowds. He knew that by performing a miracle there for all the crowds to see, word of His power would spread far and wide and thereby open their hearts and minds to receiving the message He would soon deliver.

Jesus approached the pool and this man who was confined to his bed caught Jesus’ eye. Obviously this man would never have been able to get into the pool in time because he could not move, he was a paralytic. Why then do you suppose he had been sitting there for thirty-eight years? Did he really believe there was any hope of his being healed by this miracle if he could not move? What in the world was he thinking? Or could it be that there was no other hope for him; no one to take care of him? Maybe just being that close to a miracle was his only hope? Maybe it was also a good location to beg because of all the people who went by as they would any other tourist attraction. But whatever had kept him there for thirty-eight years and whatever may have been going through his mind at that moment, he was completely unaware that in just a few minutes he would rise and walk away from that awful place a totally healed man.

It might not be a bad idea for us to occasionally visit hospitals and nursing homes so that we might realize just how much we have to be thankful for.

The scene at this pool must have been pretty much the same every day. The blind, the sick, and the lame surrounding the pool, lying in the shade of the roof providing relief from the intense heat of the sun, waiting for the water to ripple, while curious passers-by stared curiously at the morbid scene wondering if they might actually see a miracle that day. But this day was to be different because Jesus had a plan. Having seen this paralytic Jesus approached him as he was lying on his bed and asked him: “Do you want to be healed?“ Now many people reading John 5:6 must think to themselves, “What a silly question for Jesus to ask. Of course this man would want to be healed. Who wouldn’t?” But we believe there is much more here in Jesus’ question than meets the eye. In fact, let us ask you the question. Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be made well? Do you want to be physically, emotionally, and spiritually healed? Do you want to stop doing those things that are not good for you? Do you want to stop falling short of being the kind of man or woman Jesus wants you to be in His service? Do you want to stop feeling the physical and emotional suffering you continually endure because you drink too much, smoke too much, eat too much, get angry too much, look at pornography too much, hurt others too much, cheat on your wife or husband, try to justify your homosexuality, try to justify your abortion, try to control other people, cheat on your expense account, and any number of other things? Do you want to be healed of those things or would you just as soon keep doing things as you have always done them because it is easier that way? Many people suffer simply because they think they are more comfortable that way than if they were to try to change. Even if changing required as little effort as simply asking Jesus for help whenever you were tempted. If you want something are you willing to do what is necessary in order to attain it? That is a question which we encourage you to think carefully about, and that is the question that Jesus directed at this crippled man.

I would like to be a better husband, give up some bad habits, lose weight, and maybe a few other things, because doing those things would make me a better Christian in serving Christ and my fellow believers. It would also allow me to provide a better witness to unbelievers. But do I want to do what is necessary to make me physically, emotionally, and spiritually well? What about the guy at the pool? Do you think it possible that he might not have wanted to be healed? Maybe he laid by the pool each day watching others going about their daily grind and thought to himself, “I would rather be lying here than working so hard even if I can’t walk.” Sometimes we are too blind to even see how happy we would be if we were able to change. How many people operate by the philosophy, “I have always done things this way, why change now?”

There is nothing in our lives that prevents Christ from unleashing His power in our lives any more than the way we answer the question, “Do you want to be healed?”

In preaching the Gospel message to unbelievers we have noticed occasionally that there was some interest on their part. They enjoy the story, the characters, and the spirituality of the message but then decide that it really is not what they want because they really want to believe that everyone has the right to create and worship any kind of God that feels right for them. This Christian God is too inflexible. He claims there is only one way to salvation and that it is through Him alone, and that is not fair to other people who believe different things; it is intolerant and arrogant. You see, these are people who do not want to be healed. They want to have it their own way. This might be a good time to raise the question again. Do you want to be healed? Do you want to be made new? You may not like it, but that is the question Jesus is asking you now. What is your answer? If there is anyone reading or listening to these words right now who has not accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Savior, you can be healed right now. Do you want to be healed? Because if you remain rigid in your disbelief of that message, you simply do not want to be healed. If you are already a believer, are you willing to do a searching, fearless moral inventory of yourself and recognize those things that require healing? And then do you want to be healed of those things that require healing?

What was the invalid’s reply to Jesus? Did he say, “Are you kidding? I’d give anything to be healed!” No that is not what he said. Did he say, “I want to be healed so badly. Please stay with me and help me to the pool when it begins to ripple”? No, he did not say that either. He said, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." He avoided Jesus’ question. He told Him that he could not get to the pool. That would have been obvious to anyone considering he could not get up off his bed. Why did he not simply say “Yes”? Only Jesus could probably answer that question. In any event Jesus had chosen this man to be healed so that His power would be made known to the large crowd in attendance. So Jesus said to the man, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” “And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.” (ESV)

Jesus healed him by the power of His spoken word. At His command was the power of healing any disease or infirmity. Isaiah had prophesied some seven hundred years before the coming of Jesus that in the days of the Messiah the lame would “leap like a deer.” Isaiah 35:5-6 NLT:

5 When he comes, he will open the eyes of the blind and unplug the ears of the deaf.
6 The lame will leap like a deer, and those who cannot speak will sing for joy!

Jesus will heal those who desire to be healed if it is within His will for that person to be healed. But in order to activate that healing power we must ask Him in faith to make us well. Jesus Himself told us, “Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened (Matthew 7:7-8 NLT).” Jesus also told the people, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith and don’t doubt, you can do things like this and much more. You can even say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. You can pray for anything, and if you have faith, you will receive it (Matthew 21:21-22 NLT).”

The same healing power of Jesus’ spoken word was evidenced when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead (John 11:43), and again in Matthew 8:1-3 NLT:

1 Large crowds followed Jesus as he came down the mountainside.
2 Suddenly, a man with leprosy approached him and knelt before him. “Lord,” the man said, “if you are willing, you can heal me and make me clean.”
3 Jesus reached out and touched him. “I am willing,” he said. “Be healed!” And instantly the leprosy disappeared.

And we see this again in Matthew 9:18-26 NLT:

18 As Jesus was saying this, the leader of a synagogue came and knelt before him. “My daughter has just died,” he said, “but you can bring her back to life again if you just come and lay your hand on her.”
19 So Jesus and his disciples got up and went with him.
20 Just then a woman who had suffered for twelve years with constant bleeding came up behind him. She touched the fringe of his robe,
21 for she thought, “If I can just touch his robe, I will be healed.”
22 Jesus turned around, and when he saw her he said, “Daughter, be encouraged! Your faith has made you well.” And the woman was healed at that moment.
23 When Jesus arrived at the official’s home, he saw the noisy crowd and heard the funeral music.
24 “Get out!” he told them. “The girl isn’t dead; she’s only asleep.” But the crowd laughed at him.
25 After the crowd was put outside, however, Jesus went in and took the girl by the hand, and she stood up!
26 The report of this miracle swept through the entire countryside.

You and I can unleash Christ’s power for healing in our lives through faith in His ability to accomplish that healing. So if we can follow orders like good soldiers in Christ’s army, we will marvel at the works He performs in our lives and those of our loved ones. We are all by nature imperfect in spiritual things, blind, lame, and paralyzed; but provision has been made for our healing if we will only obey orders.[fn] Here are Jesus’ marching orders for this mission:

Answer this question: Do you want to be healed?
If your answer is yes, do you realize you cannot heal yourself?
Are you willing to turn your will and your life over to the care of Jesus Christ knowing that He will make you well?

That is the mission. It is up to you if you want to volunteer for it.

We have seen clearly in the verses we have looked at that Jesus’ spoken word accomplished His will. It accomplished it then, it is accomplishing it now, and will accomplish it in the future. Here in Jerusalem, beside the pool of Bethesda, was a public sign, the kind of miracle that should have made it obvious to everyone that the Messiah had come.[fn] The cure was instantaneous and undoubtedly many people at the pool must have witnessed it. We might also imagine, if we were standing there as witnesses ourselves, what the man’s response was to being healed, feeling strength in his legs for the first time in thirty-eight years. He may well have shouted out with joy that he had been healed by this stranger and may have continued shouting it as he danced down the road leaping with joy with his bed over his shoulder. Once he was healed he would not have gone back to the way he was for anything. That is the way we can feel as well when we have been healed.

We should not lose sight of the fact here that Jesus told this paralytic to “Rise and walk.” This was certainly a command for the disease to be removed but it was also a requirement of faith that the man had to attempt to do something that he could not have done just a few minutes before, and that he could do without having been placed in the pool. He was expected to have trust and faith in Jesus in order to be healed. Through faith he would be able to experience the miracle.

The conversion of an unbeliever is also the cure of a chronic disease. It is an awareness which recognizes that we no longer have the power to be saved on our own, without the grace of God. What do you think would have happened to this paralyzed man if he had not attempted to get up as Jesus told him to do? What if he had just continued to lay there telling Jesus to go away and annoy someone else with His foolish promises? According to all that Scripture tells us, this man would not have been healed. I believe Jesus would have gone on to another man or woman who wanted healing in order to accomplish His purpose for performing a miracle that day.

There is further wonder if we look closely at the order of Jesus’ words to the paralytic. Jesus did not say, “Rise and walk. Pack up your bed and be on your way.” Jesus said, “Rise, pack up your bed and walk.” We would conclude that this carefully worded order by Jesus was selected to demonstrate the man’s faith that he was healed. He would not have rolled up his sleeping mat if he did not believe he would be walking away. Imagine what the people thought when this man arose and the first thing he did was start to roll up his sleeping mat. This was a full demonstration of complete healing performed the moment Jesus spoke.

Christ will give us the power in proportion to our faith:

No faith = No power
Little faith = Little power
Some faith = Some power
Medium Faith = Medium power
Great faith = Great power.

Have it your way. God has given us free choice. The ball, so to speak, is in our court.

There is another element to this story that we will be taking up in much greater detail shortly. Jesus was a master at working a crowd. He performed this miracle on the Sabbath and as we will see this was not unintentional. Anyone carrying a load of any kind including a sleeping mat like this on the Sabbath would have stood out like a sore thumb because no one was permitted by Jewish law to perform any kind of physical labor on the Sabbath. “Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem.” Jeremiah 17:21 (ESV). Everyone who saw this would have been shocked by such a site and even may have asked him, “Why are you carrying that bed on the Sabbath?“ And he could have responded, “Because a man at the pool healed me after being a paralytic for thirty-eight years and ordered me to pick up my bed and walk.” We guarantee you most everyone in Jerusalem would have heard about this incident within hours, and they did not even have cable news.

And there is more to Christ’s purpose of performing this miracle on the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a central issue in the conflicts between Jesus and His opponents (Mark 2:23; 3:4). Jesus was putting the Jewish leaders on notice that their time was up. For centuries they had been adding to the original Law with their own ideas of how the Law could be kept. Today we refer to their efforts as “building a fence around the Law.” That meant that if the Law said not to work at your normal daily routine on the Sabbath and spend it resting and communing with God, they would add a bunch of other laws to insure that you would not disobey that law. Perhaps they would make it illegal for someone to eat on the Sabbath because in order to eat they would have to lift pots and pans in the kitchen which would be classified as work. It was nothing but a power trip on the part of the Jewish leaders and they had greatly misrepresented the original intent of the Law. By performing this miracle on the Sabbath, Jesus was telling them that He was Lord of the Sabbath and He had the power to make any alterations to it that He pleased and they had better recognize that.[fn] Jesus pretty much summed up the Sabbath day in Mark 2:27 where He said: “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath.” (NLT)

Had the religious leaders known their own Scriptures, they would have recognized their Redeemer; but they were spiritually blind.[fn]

Now, when Jesus did this miracle on the Sabbath and commanded the paralytic to carry his bed, He was widening the gap between the Jewish leaders (the Pharisees) and Himself. With this miracle, the Pharisees decided they were going to have to do away with Jesus. So from a human perspective Jesus sealed his death warrant with this miracle. It sent him to the cross. He loved the paralytic that much. He loves you and I that much as well.[fn]

So again we ask you, “Do you want to be healed?” And if your answer is yes, what is Christ asking you to do in the place of “Take up your bed and walk?” What obedience is He asking of you so that you might be healed?

John 5:10-17

As Americans we are only beginning to get a taste of being persecuted for our faith. But if you are a disciple of Jesus, we have many brothers and sisters around the world whose lives are in danger because they call Jesus Lord. Christ Himself was persecuted, and Christians over the centuries have been also.

We will see why Christ was persecuted as we pick up on our study of the book of John in John 5:10, continuing through verse 17 ESV:

10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, " It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed."
11 But he answered them, "The man who healed me, that man said to me, 'Take up your bed, and walk.' "
12 They asked him, "Who is the man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"
13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.
14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you."
15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working."

Imagine the lack of compassion on the part of these Jewish leaders. Here is a cripple who has not been able to walk for thirty-eight years, and on top of that he did not have any friends or anyone to help him get around, and they accuse him of breaking the law because he carried his mat as he walked away from this miracle of healing performed by Jesus. How broken-hearted God must have been to watch the reaction of these men who represented Him among the people. Imagine criticizing a cripple for something as trivial as carrying his mat after being healed. Then to make matters even worse, as we shall see, holding the Man who performed the miracle in contempt for committing an act of mercy on the Sabbath. What hypocrisy! They all should have been jubilant, rejoicing in this cripple’s good fortune and that God had sent someone to perform miracles for the healing of those in need. But no, they were jealous. They did not want anyone other than themselves to be recognized as God’s select group of servants and they obviously were not about to grant the Miracle Worker the authority that was so rightfully due Him as the Son of God. But it was here and through this miracle, along with many more that He would perform, that Jesus proved His authority to forgive sin and to establish the Law of God, and demonstrated that He spoke for God because He was God.

The man who had been healed seemed to have no doubt that the One who healed him must have had authority beyond that of the Jewish religious leaders simply by what He was capable of doing. After experiencing this miracle it is also possible that he may have even been frightened of what might happen to him if He did not obey. After all, anyone who could heal a crippling disease could also probably make it return. He would certainly not want to take that chance. But on the other hand, would anyone who was so kind and merciful to heal him of a lifelong illness, then turn around and be so unkind as to lead him into sin? So the healed man could well have made it quite clear to the Jewish leaders that he believed the Miracle Worker to be from God and he would therefore not dare disobey Him.

So whether they liked the man’s answers or not, the man was not their real problem. Their real problem was Jesus and they knew it. Even before gathering the evidence, they seem to have made up their minds that Jesus would have to be pictured as the bad guy who would dare disobey a long-standing Sabbath law; and He would have to be dealt with according to their laws. So right from the beginning it seems that even if the leaders had given Jesus an opportunity to speak His message and prove who He was by His fulfillment of prophecy and by miracles, they still would have rejected Him as a human criminal. What a price mankind pays for allowing the greedy and power hungry to assume governing authority. We suffer the same consequences right here in the United States today and so do other countries all around the world.

These Jewish leaders did not love God. Rather, they used God’s name to extend their “authority.” They used God’s Law to expand their own wealth and power, often disobeying it themselves when their own lusts and desires led them to do so. It was true in Christ’s time on this earth, it was true in Moses’ time on this earth, it has been true in the Church Age from the time of Christ until today, and it will be true from now until the day Christ returns to establish His kingdom here on earth, that the love of money and the love of power are the source of evil throughout the world. Money itself is not the problem. God has blessed many believers with money over the centuries for use in accomplishing good. But when a person loves what money can bring them more than anything else, that is when the problem arises.

You may be reminded here of the verse in 1 Timothy that speaks directly to this issue, 1 Timothy 6:10 NLT:

For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.

This is exactly what the Jewish leaders were going to experience because of their desire for riches and power. It would not be long and they would suffer many sorrows because of their rejection of Christ for money and power. They should have paid attention to the writings of their own prophets. Solomon, the wisest man in their history, wrote in Proverbs 30:7-9 NLT:

7 O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die.
8 First, help me never to tell a lie. Second, give me neither poverty nor riches! Give me just enough to satisfy my needs.
9 For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” And if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

This was good advice. It is too bad that the Jewish leaders of Jesus’ day did not accept and believe the writings of their own prophets. They were therefore unqualified to lead the people of Israel in the ways of the Lord. Instead they were leading the people astray by teaching them false doctrine that they themselves had created. Further they were now telling the people that Jesus was not the promised Messiah, the promised Savior to come. This was their great opportunity to bring in the Kingdom of God and their Savior for whom they had been waiting for almost 2,000 years. They were little more than a band of cutthroats using the people to accomplish their own agenda, and they were about to prove it by how they would treat the Savior of the world.

First Timothy has so much more to say about leaders who behave in the manner of those we encounter in John 5. First Timothy is a book written by the apostle Paul to his young protégé, Timothy.

1 Timothy 6:2-5 NLT:
2 Teach these things, Timothy, and encourage everyone to obey them. 3 Some people may contradict our teaching, but these are the wholesome teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. These teachings promote a godly life.
4 Anyone who teaches something different is arrogant and lacks understanding. Such a person has an unhealthy desire to quibble over the meaning of words. This stirs up arguments ending in jealousy, division, slander, and evil suspicions.
5 These people always cause trouble. Their minds are corrupt, and they have turned their backs on the truth. To them, a show of godliness is just a way to become wealthy.

Did the Jewish leaders contradict the word of God spoken through Christ? They sure did, from the very beginning as we see in John 5:16. They were arrogant and lacked understanding just as Paul mentions to Timothy in verse 4 that we just read. They were always willing to quibble over the meaning of words and the real meaning of God’s Law. Consequently they were the ones who stirred up arguments among themselves and among the people they were supposed to be serving. Arguments that ended in jealousy, division, slander, and suspicion. These leaders created an atmosphere where no one could trust anyone. They always caused trouble, they were corrupt, putting their own desires ahead of the best interests of the people they were supposed to be serving. They turned their backs on God’s truth. If they knew God’s word from the writings of His servants in their Old Testament, they paid no attention to them. Many of the laws they added to God’s Holy Law were out of their own heads, and their primary focus was on their own wealth and power. They were godless men in spite of their positions and titles. Nothing has changed much in the last two thousand years regarding political and religious leaders, has it?

We have many of the same kind of men, and now women, in our government today. Do you believe that most of our elected leaders in Congress have the best interests of the people as their priority? If you do you are among 12% of the people in the United States who hold that opinion. Do you believe that the governors and individual state legislators have your best interests at heart? Do you believe that Church leaders around this country and around the world have the best interests of the people as their top priority? Perhaps some do, but unfortunately many do not. They are like the leaders of Israel at the time of Christ. They want money and they want power and they do not really care about what God wants. Most are not true Christians and most do not believe that the Bible is the authoritative, infallible Word of God, and most do not believe that Jesus Christ is God and the only way to salvation and eternal life.

How do we know that? Because they do not pay any attention to God’s Word in the Bible. If they believed in the one true God, the Father, Son, and Holy spirit, they would not spend all their time disobeying His commands for living as laid down in the Holy Scripture. Those who do stand up for their Christian faith are considered radicals or people who cannot win because no one is going to vote for someone who stands for what many people consider to be the intolerant teachings of Jesus Christ.

If the majority of the leading presidential candidates, and all the United States senators, representatives, governors, and all other elected officials at both the state and local level believed in the God who is revealed in the Bible, we would not be discussing issues like whether or not homosexuality is acceptable, whether abortion is acceptable, whether we should provide our teens with condoms in high school, whether it was okay to have sex with anybody you could find on any given day, whether it was okay to get a divorce, whether it was okay to tell lies, allow illegal immigrants in our country, spend more money than we make, speak out against our nation when we are engaged in a war, or talk about establishing hate-crime bills to eliminate our first amendment right to speak out against the subjects we have just listed. None of these things would be going on in a God honoring, God fearing country that believed in the one and only true God. Most of these men seek power, wealth, and glory, things which they should instead be offering to Christ. If any were sincere men or women of faith they would not hesitate to stand up for Christ and biblical values, even if it meant they would lose a lot of votes and possibly the election itself.

That is the same kind of leadership Israel had early in the first century when Christ began His ministry. They hated Him then; they lied about Him, had Him beaten, and finally had Him killed. And do you know what? If Christ came down in radiant glory tomorrow in full-view of news cameras all over the world and He worked miracles and spoke of love and unity and that there is only one way to salvation and eternal life, the leaders of this world and this country would reject Him, lie about Him, imprison Him for hate-crimes, and attempt to murder Him all over again. But there is going to be a big difference when Jesus comes again because He is not going to come as the Lamb of God, as a sacrifice for all the sin of the world, but rather He is going to return as King and as Judge, and all that reject Him are going to be toast. There will be massive numbers of people killed all around the world. In fact every person who has not received Jesus Christ as their one and only personal Savior will be destroyed and cast into Hell until the end of the Millennium, Christ’s thousand year reign upon the earth, and then cast into the Lake of fire for all eternity. Not a pretty sight, but the Bible itself is much more descriptive of the details of the carnage. “Not fair,” you say. It is perfectly fair according to God’s righteous judgment, and He allows everyone, no matter what kind of sin they have committed, right up until the day they die to make a decision for Christ and have those sins forgiven. What could be more fair than that? After that it is too late and there are no second chances.

Well, we have come a long way since we started out in John 5:10 but we have covered thoroughly the reason that people do not want to accept Jesus. He simply gets in the way of a person’s greed, selfishness, narcissism, pluralism, and self-worship. That was the problem with the Jews. They did not want the God of the universe to stand in the way of what they wanted.

Now we need to ask a very important question before we go back to John 5. Why did the people of Israel, who obviously out-numbered the leadership by perhaps 100,000 to 1, allow their leadership to do this? The answer is that they did not know their Scriptures any better than the leaders did. But the people, thinking that leaders should be smart, trustworthy, and know what they are doing, trusted them to do the right thing. What a terrible mistake they made. Just think, here was Jesus Christ right in their midst and they would not believe Him in spite of all the miracles and all the prophecies He fulfilled that were written over thousands of years throughout the Old Testament period. There were some short periods of time that they were interested in what He had to say, but when everything was said and done they begged Pontius Pilate to save a thief and a murderer Christ. And why did they do it? Because their leaders told them that was the right thing to do.

If they had taken the time to read, study, and apply the Word of God from their Bible, they would have overthrown these pompous, religious hypocrites and placed true believers, true servants of the Living God in positions of authority in the Sanhedrin. It is our opinion that they were to blame as well for what happened to Jesus, not just the leadership. And do you know something else? We who do not stand up for Christ in this country under the circumstances that exist, we who allow 3,000 babies per day to be murdered by abortionists without crying out in revulsion, we are guilty of crucifying Christ all over again. Those who allow such things to go on without attempting to do whatever they can to stop it are responsible for this inexcusable carnage in America. And believe me, that is only one issue, but it in itself is more than enough. Fifty million helpless little ones brutally murdered in their mothers’ wombs since 1974, a place where they felt safe and cared for until someone cut off their life, a life that God formed. Do you think their blood is not crying out to God for justice?

Paul went on to tell Timothy this in 1 Timothy 6:6-21 NLT:

6 Yet true godliness with contentment is itself great wealth.
7 After all, we brought nothing with us when we came into the world, and we can’t take anything with us when we leave it.
8 So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content.
9 But people who long to be rich fall into temptation and are trapped by many foolish and harmful desires that plunge them into ruin and destruction.
10 For the love of money is the root of all kinds of evil. And some people, craving money, have wandered from the true faith and pierced themselves with many sorrows.
11 But you, Timothy, are a man of God; so run from all these evil things. Pursue righteousness and a godly life, along with faith, love, perseverance, and gentleness.
12 Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses.
13 And I charge you before God, who gives life to all, and before Christ Jesus, who gave a good testimony before Pontius Pilate,
14 that you obey this command without wavering. Then no one can find fault with you from now until our Lord Jesus Christ comes again.
15 For at just the right time Christ will be revealed from heaven by the blessed and only almighty God, the King of all kings and Lord of all lords.
16 He alone can never die, and he lives in light so brilliant that no human can approach him. No human eye has ever seen him, nor ever will. All honor and power to him forever! Amen.
17 Teach those who are rich in this world not to be proud and not to trust in their money, which is so unreliable. Their trust should be in God, who richly gives us all we need for our enjoyment.
18 Tell them to use their money to do good. They should be rich in good works and generous to those in need, always being ready to share with others.
19 By doing this they will be storing up their treasure as a good foundation for the future so that they may experience true life.
20 Timothy, guard what God has entrusted to you. Avoid godless, foolish discussions with those who oppose you with their so-called knowledge.
21 Some people have wandered from the faith by following such foolishness. May God’s grace be with you all.

What a message! This is how Paul told Timothy to live and it is the way he wants us to live our lives as well. And do you know what else? This is the way he wants the government leaders that serve this Christian nation to live. And in case anyone doubts that this is a Christian nation founded by believers in Christ and formed and molded by believers in Christ, and maintained for 200 years by believers in Christ, then you are simply beyond hope and unaware of our country’s history.

There are any number of ways we can be educated to the truth in our country. The first step is to turn off the news that you watch on television. Most, if not all, of it is slanted and inaccurate. There are many Christian news organizations on the web that will provide you with truth and help you to communicate what you want to your elected officials. Start today and we will be more than happy to recommend a number of these websites to you where you can get information you can trust.[fn] But an even better place to learn the truth is in your Bible. That is the only thing in this world that is 100% reliable. Then you can do your part to ensure that the people of this country know Jesus Christ and why those of us who love Him want to preserve it for His glory. Remember He died for us, let us be willing at least to stand up for Him, and yes, if necessary, die for Him as well.

Now let us take a deep breath and get back to John 5.

14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, "See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you."
15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.
16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." (ESV)

Now it would seem entirely reasonable that if this man, whom Jesus healed, had not been able to move or have someone help him get around, he probably had not been to the Temple for all of those thirty-eight years. If I were this man that is probably the first place I would go to give thanks to God for selecting me for such a miracle. In fact listen to what the Psalmist wrote after God saved him from death in Psalm 116:16-19 NLT:

16 O Lord, I am your servant; yes, I am your servant, born into your household; you have freed me from my chains.
17 I will offer you a sacrifice of thanksgiving and call on the name of the Lord.
18 I will fulfill my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people—19 in the house of the Lord in the heart of Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!

We believe that is exactly what this man did, and while there he ran into Jesus again, and Jesus warned him not to sin again or something worse might happen to him. We do not believe Jesus was referring to another physically crippling disease. It would follow, knowing what we know about Jesus, that He was referring to the man’s soul. He wanted him to know that sin could bring eternal death in the worst place imaginable, and that suffering as a paralytic would be a walk in the park compared to an eternal Hell. Are we reading between the lines here? Perhaps one might think that, but we believe that knowing the Jesus of the Bible as we know Him, He would have made certain that this man knew exactly what the miracle of his healing meant and that His faith and trust in Jesus would bring him eternal life. We know that Jesus is interested not only in our physical health but we know that He is far more interested in the health of our soul.

The Jewish leaders did not pursue any legal action against the healed man for breaking the Sabbath Law, but they certainly were about to begin a severe persecution of the Miracle Worker, Jesus. As the supposed guardians of the faith these members of the Jewish Sanhedrin were responsible for evaluating any new teachers who appeared in Israel. They had recently scrutinized John the Baptist and now they had their sights focused on Jesus. You may recall when they put John’s feet to the fire in John 1:19-28 NLT:

19 This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?”
20 He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.”
21 “Well then, who are you?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?” “No,” he replied. “Are you the Prophet we are expecting?” “No.”
22 “Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:
“I am a voice shouting in the wilderness, ‘Clear the way for the Lord’s coming!’”
24 Then the Pharisees who had been sent
25 asked him, “If you aren’t the Messiah or Elijah or the Prophet, what right do you have to baptize?”
26 John told them, “I baptize with water, but right here in the crowd is someone you do not recognize.
27 Though his ministry follows mine, I’m not even worthy to be his slave and untie the straps of his sandal.”
28 This encounter took place in Bethany, an area east of the Jordan River, where John was baptizing.

How cruel it was to go after Jesus like they were for committing an act of kindness. But their fury would only escalate. And Jesus certainly was not about to back down. He was letting them know openly and honestly who He was, and that as God’s Son He had power over the Law and the Sabbath. When Jesus told them that His Father continually worked on the Sabbath to provide for the needs of His children and that He, Jesus, was simply following His Father’s example. He was telling them that He and God were one and shared the same authority. Had they given Him the opportunity to prove His claims, Jesus would have most certainly provided them with whatever additional proof they requested. However, they were faced with two choices at this time: They could accept Jesus’ claims and allow Him to present His case to the Sanhedrin, or they could reject Him. It would seem quite clear that for whatever reason they simply did not want to accept Jesus for who He was, so they chose to reject Him.

We are continually reminded of the fact that no matter how much evidence one presents, it is impossible to change the mind of a fool. When someone rigidly plants themselves in their own pre-conceived ideas, the only way of changing their minds is through the supernatural power of God. The very best thing you can do for such a person is to demonstrate that you care about them and continue to pray for God’s intervention in their lives.

A brief glimpse at Scripture will show us that Jesus did not stop working miracles on the Sabbath in spite of the threats of the Sanhedrin, which was only further proof of His deity. John later recorded the cure of a blind man on the Sabbath in chapter 9. Then there was the grain-picking (Mark 2:23-28), the healing of a shriveled hand (Mark 3:1-5), curing a woman who had been crippled for 18 years (Luke 13:10-17), healing a demon possessed man (Luke 4:31-37), and healing a man with dropsy (Luke 14:1-6). All of these took place on the Sabbath.

So Jesus continued to challenge the legalistic traditions of the Scribes and the Pharisees. They had taken the Sabbath, which was God’s gift to mankind, and had turned it into a long list of requirements to establish their own authority over the people. They, in effect, violated the Sabbath by changing it from what God originally established it to be, a day of rest and a day to reflect and be thankful for all God’s provisions. God knew better than anyone that a person could not work seven days a week, 52 weeks a year without experiencing burnout. So the Sabbath was established for men, women, and children to revitalize their bodies and their minds.

God rested on the seventh day (Genesis 2:2-3) from His work of Creation. But Jesus pointed to the continuous work of God in keeping the sun shining, the trees producing oxygen, etc. as a justification for His Sabbath activity. God does not take the Sabbath off, but keeps the universe running. Further, Jesus pointed out in Matthew 12:8 that The Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day. But here Jesus further adds to that statement. He claims that He is the Son of God, which is plainly suggested by his calling God his Father (πατέραδιον, His own Father).

Jesus goes on to point out that therefore it is not wrong for His Son to do works of grace and mercy on the Sabbath. So of course Jesus works also. This identification of Himself with the creative works of God was the equivalent of a claim of deity.[fn] The words “My Father” should be noted. Jesus did not say “your Father” or even “our Father.” His opponents did not miss this not so subtle claim to being God.

The Jewish leaders would now launch a full-scale offensive against Jesus in order to find a justification for killing Him (John 5:16, 18; 7:19, 25). But God had a lot more for Jesus to do before He would allow this to happen, as we will learn as we continue our study in John.

Now wherever you go or whatever you do, you may run into some form of persecution, whether it is mild ribbing at work for not entering into the sharing of dirty jokes, or something more serious as being told you cannot pray or hold a Bible study in the lunchroom. Let Christ be your model and your encouragement. He quietly and firmly took His stand and so must we who call ourselves Christ-followers.

Jesus Is God
John 5:18-23

As Christians we make some bold claims, among which are statements such as: Jesus is God and that there is only one way to Heaven. In a culture that has become obsessed with political correctness and “tolerance” those bold claims are not very popular. On what basis do we dare say such things? We will now look at a passage that explains why we hold to the truth that Jesus is God.

John 5:18-23 ESV:
18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.
20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,
23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

When the Jewish leaders heard Jesus equate Himself with God, they blew their tops. Now the accusation against Him not only included Sabbath breaking, but also the most severe of all violations of the law, blasphemy. Most of you probably have an idea of what blasphemy means, but just so we can all be clear on this, here is the meaning given in Harper’s Bible Dictionary:

“Blasphemy, a term derived from a Greek word meaning to injure the reputation of another. In the Bible it means showing contempt or a lack of reverence for God (Leviticus 24:16; Mark 2:7) or something sacred (Matthew 26:65), including claiming for oneself divine attributes by word or deed (Mark 14:64; John 10:33).”[fn]

Jesus was claiming that He was God. “Blasphemy” they must have all shouted in unison. The penalty for blasphemy among the Jews was death. Just imagine, they ignored the miracles He performed that only God could accomplish, and zeroed in on condemning Him for being who He was. He was God and could prove it in any number of ways. The two things that initially convinced me that Jesus was God were miracles and fulfillment of prophecy, and both have been clearly documented, not only by Jesus’ followers but also by secular historians. The same evidence should have convinced the Jewish leaders if they had any knowledge of their own Old Testament. There is simply no way, in fact it is a statistical impossibility, for over a hundred prophecies given about Jesus from the time of Adam and Eve in the Garden, thousands of years before His birth, up until a time four hundred years before His birth, to come true as they all did simply by chance. You would have to very foolish or hate the thought about Christ being the one and only God to believe these predictions concerning the future could have simply come true by mere chance. It is much harder to convince yourself that these prophecies came true by chance than it is to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and the only way to salvation and eternal life in Heaven. You can deny that truth if you choose because God has given us all the free choice to accept or reject His truth. But if you do not accept it before you die, the Bible is clear that your eternity will be spent in the Lake of Fire, or the term most commonly used, Hell. And if you have been experiencing difficulties in this life, those difficulties will seem like nothing when you experience Hell and know that you must be there forever.

Then there are the miracles. No one else in recorded history, in any other religion, has been documented to perform the kind of miracles that Jesus performed. Most religions do not even suggest that their deity performed any miracles. Only someone with true supernatural, that is, out of this world powers, could perform such miracles. How much more evidence could someone want? What this means simply is that anyone with an open mind who is searching for the truth about God will come to an acceptance of the evidence that Jesus Christ is the one and only God. Anyone who rejects Him as such has no solid evidence, other than opinion, on which to conclude that Christ was a phony.

In the days that followed this initial confrontation between Jesus and the Jewish leaders, Jesus often confronted them about their desire to kill Him and He was not very complimentary toward them in the things He had to say: John 7:19: “Moses gave you the law, but none of you obeys it! In fact, you are trying to kill me.” (NLT)

John 8:37 NLT:
Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham. And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message.

John 8:59 NLT:
At that point they picked up stones to throw at him. But Jesus was hidden from them and left the Temple.

These Jewish leaders (Pharisees) hated Jesus without even testing whether He was the promised Messiah, without even exercising the responsibility they held for the Jewish people. Jesus told His disciples in John 15:18–25 NLT:

18 “If the world hates you, remember that it hated me first.
19 The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.
20 Do you remember what I told you? ‘A slave is not greater than the master.’ Since they persecuted me, naturally they will persecute you. And if they had listened to me, they would listen to you.
21 They will do all this to you because of me, for they have rejected the One who sent me.
22 They would not be guilty if I had not come and spoken to them. But now they have no excuse for their sin.
23 Anyone who hates me also hates my Father.
24 If I hadn’t done such miraculous signs among them that no one else could do, they would not be guilty. But as it is, they have seen everything I did, yet they still hate me and my Father.
25 This fulfills what is written in their Scriptures: ‘They hated me without cause.’

This last statement in verse 25 comes from Psalm 69:4 NLT:

4 Those who hate me without cause outnumber the hairs on my head. Many enemies try to destroy me with lies, demanding that I give back what I didn’t steal.

“Psalms 22 and 69 are psalms of lament, portraying an innocent sufferer’s cry to God for vindication from his enemies. These allusions show that Jesus died in the pattern of suffering like that of the saints of old.[fn] It also shows that He trusted in God the Father for vindication.”[fn]

The Jewish leaders cast aside the good things that Jesus did for those in need and directed all their energy toward eliminating Him. He frightened them. If He kept doing these miracles the people would come to accept Him as their promised Messiah. If that happened, the Jewish leaders would lose their power and influence over the people. Jesus made Himself equal with God because He is God. This is the theme of John’s Gospel. The Jewish leaders could not disprove His claims, so they tried to destroy Him and get Him out of the way. Both in His crucifixion and His resurrection, Jesus without doubt proved His deity and turned the tables on those who persecuted Him. By killing Him they gave Jesus the opportunity to prove to the world without a doubt that He was God, because He rose from the dead as was prophesied in the Old Testament. Do you think they were surprised when Jesus rose from the dead? They must have been. Why would they kill Him if they thought He would come back to life? But on the other hand, they must have wondered if there was any possibility that Jesus could be God because after His death they requested guards be placed at Jesus’ tomb. What do you think ran through their minds when they received the news that Christ was no longer in His grave? Do you think they thought “Oh my goodness, what a terrible mistake we made! We must find Jesus and tell Him how sorry we are”? Not on your life. They tried to cover up the resurrection[fn] and we will find out more detail on this later on in this study. In spite of undeniable evidence that Jesus was God, the Jewish leaders still would not accept Him. That is probably a good reason for explaining why it is so hard for unbelievers to accept the truth of God’s Word no matter how convincing it might be.

Donald Grey Barnhouse pointed out the Pharisees' fundamental motivation:

“Why all this viciousness? Why this desire to destroy the meek and lowly Jesus? Why this murderous attempt to do away with God? The answer is here in the Sabbath question. They wanted rules, they did not want God's grace. They wanted human merit. They did not want the simplicity of divine pardon. They wanted to do something for themselves. As believers we know we are saved by grace, but because of the human tendency of wanting to do everything ourselves, we create a list-giving, list-keeping Christianity that is far removed from the grace under which we entered into new life.”

John 5:19 ESV:
19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

Jesus obeys His Father. If Jesus is God, why does He need to obey His Father? That is simply one of the mysteries of the Triune God that is beyond our ability to understand. It appears that this behavior somehow involves submission within the Trinity, but if you want a better understanding of it, you will have to wait until you get to Heaven and then perhaps Jesus will explain it to you.

Think about this for a moment. If someone walked in here off the street and claimed that He was Jesus and He had returned as the Bible says He will one day, we could either consider Him insane, a liar, or that we were standing before Jesus at His second coming. How would we know? We would ask Him how we could know that He was telling the truth. If perhaps we had someone in our group who was in a wheelchair, Jesus might heal him/her. Perhaps another would be suffering from severe depression and Jesus would take that depression and cast it away so that we could see the joy visibly evident in the person’s words and actions. Then perhaps He would redecorate the room in an instant with new carpeting, drapery, furniture, beautiful new windows, and a replica of Buckingham fountain right in the middle of it all. Surely this would be confirmation that it is true, He is who He says He is. We can know that Jesus has returned to lead us home, right?

Not so fast. Do you remember the duel between Pharaoh and God with Moses being God’s human representative? God allowed Satan’s representatives to perform miracles, as in the case of the Egyptian magicians who were His representatives in hardening Pharaoh’s heart. As Aaron’s rod was changed into a serpent, so were those of the Egyptian magicians. Aaron turned the water into blood; so did the magicians. Aaron brought up frogs; so did the magicians. With the frogs, however, their power ceased. God has permitted Satan and His demons to perform miracles in the past and we are told that He will also allow this to happen in the future.[fn] Revelation 16:14 NLT:

They are demonic spirits who work miracles and go out to all the rulers of the world to gather them for battle against the Lord on that great judgment day of God the Almighty.

Do not be deceived by signs and wonders alone. In the end times all the power of Hell will be released upon the earth and many false prophets will appear working signs and wonders, so do not be deceived by such apparent miracles alone. Paul tells us this information about the Antichrist:

2 Thessalonians 2:9 NLT:
This man will come to do the work of Satan with counterfeit power and signs and miracles.

So how would we determine if this man who claims to be Christ was actually Christ or a false prophet controlled by Satan? Well, He could have someone like me, who cannot carry a tune in a basket, break forth into a beautiful hymn. That would undoubtedly be a miracle. But you could tell whether or not the hymn came from God by whom the hymn glorified. Everything that comes from Christ would glorify the Father. Everything that is from Christ would be backed up with reference to the Bible. And that would be the key in the scenario I painted a few minutes ago. A man walking into this room as the self-declared Christ does not fit the biblical description of Christ’s Second Coming. This is another reason why it is so important for you to know for yourself what the Bible teaches. (Let me put in a plug here for our Sunday night Bible study that is currently going through the Book of Revelation.) When Jesus returns it will be in the air and many will be with Him.

Jesus’ miracles were miracles not only because of their supernatural power, but also because of their purpose. Jesus’ miracles always pointed to God. That is how you can tell the real Jesus from cheap impersonators.

John 5:21-23 ESV:
21 For as the Father raises the dead[fn] and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,
23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

In terms of Twenty-First Century phraseology these three verses are the ultimate expression of delegation of authority. Not only does God give all power to His Son, He even makes He and the Son one, which is confirmed elsewhere in Scripture. In John chapter 10 Jesus is surrounded by people in the Temple who ask Him: “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Jesus answered them in verses 25-30 NLT:

25 Jesus replied, “I have already told you, and you don’t believe me. The proof is the work I do in my Father’s name.
26 But you don’t believe me because you are not my sheep.
27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
28 I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them away from me,
29 for my Father has given them to me, and he is more powerful than anyone else. No one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.
30 The Father and I are one.”

For Jesus to claim to have the power to give life to the dead (John 5:21) was yet another claim that He was God, or at least equal with God because that power was God’s alone (Ezekiel 37:7-10). And Jesus had not yet performed a miracle where He brought someone out of a grave and restored them to life. This must have only fanned more the flames of hatred that were developing among the Jewish leaders for Jesus. It would not be long, however, before Jesus would raise the dead: the raising of the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11–17), followed by the message to John the Baptist which speaks of this same power (Luke 7:22), and the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Matthew 9:18, 22–26). Jesus exercises this power on those “whom he wills.” Christ can provide eternal life, therefore, to both body and soul.[fn]

Then in verse 22 Jesus says that He is equal to God His Father in judgment. Genesis 18:25 declares God to be judge of all the earth. God has given Jesus complete authority to judge people a nd implement appropriate punishment or reward and determine who will go to Heaven and who will go to Hell.[fn] The power of judging the world implies the ability to search a person‘s heart, and a supernatural power to understand the motives of everyone’s actions. This is something that only a divine being could accomplish and it proves that the Son is equal with the Father.

Then in John 5:23 Jesus adds that He deserves to be honored equally with the Father because He and the Father are one. By this time the Jewish leaders must have been tearing their hair out. ‘This peasant thinks He is God. Who does He think He is?” A little play on words there. “Stone Him, beat Him, kill Him!” Such must have been their reaction to what under any other circumstances involving any other person would have been the worst of blasphemies. If a person considers himself/herself religious and says something like, “Oh, I’ve always believed in God, but I can’t believe that Jesus was the Son of God,” such a person is writing his or her own obituary because you cannot have one without the other, as the old song goes.[fn] Jesus and God are one. They both have equal power within the structure of the Triune God along with the Holy Spirit. If you cannot accept that then you believe yourself to have wisdom beyond that of the Creator of the universe and everything that is in it. Therefore you should be able to, when the time comes, raise yourself from the dead and convince whomever it is you think is in charge that you should go to Paradise. We wish you the best of luck but we know where you will actually end up.

To look at Jesus was to see God the Father in action according to John 1:18. The fact that Jesus did the will of his Father without question established the reason for the glory of His ministry and His being a stumbling block for those who would not accept Him for who He truly was.[fn]

We would like to close with a story:

"‘I know men,’ said Napoleon in exile on the island of St. Helena to Count Montholon, ‘I know men, and I tell you that Jesus was not a man! The religion of Christ is a mystery, which subsists by its own force, and proceeds from a mind which is not a human mind. We find in it a marked individuality which originated a train of words and actions unknown before. Jesus is not a philosopher, for His proofs are miracles, and from the first His disciples adored Him. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires but on what foundation did we rest the creation of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love, and at this hour millions of men would die for Him. I die before my time, and my body will be given back to the earth, to become food for worms. Such is the fate of him who has been called the great Napoleon. What an abyss between my deep misery and the eternal kingdom of Christ, which is proclaimed, loved, and adored, and is extending over the whole earth!’ And turning to General Bertrand, the Emperor added, ‘If you do not perceive that Jesus Christ was God, I did wrong to appoint you general!’”[fn]

If you do not believe that Jesus Christ is God, may God help you!

Clear Cut Evidence That
Jesus was the Messiah
John 5:30-38

When someone asks you, “How do you know that Jesus was God and that He is the only way to heaven? That is a pretty arrogant claim. After all, what about all these other religions with their gods? How can you say they are not also a way to Heaven?” What would you reply? Today’s study should give you some answers for those questions.

In the last part of John 5 we see Jesus introducing six witnesses to support the truth of His claims. We will look at five of those today. In these verses Jesus proves His claim that He was sent by God to be the Messiah.

In John 5:30-31, Jesus says:

30 “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.
31 “If I alone testify about Myself, My testimony is not true.” (NAS)

(1) It would appear that God Himself is bearing witness to Jesus in verses 31 and 32. This would be confirmed in John 8:18 where John quotes Jesus as saying: “I am He who testifies about Myself, and[fn] the Father who sent Me testifies about Me.” God had also confirmed who Jesus was at Jesus’ baptism: “After being baptized, Jesus came up immediately from the water; and behold, the heavens were opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending as a dove and lighting on Him, and behold, a voice out of the heavens said, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well-pleased‘” (Matthew 3:16,17 NAS).

Jesus was assured that He had been given a divine mission by God. He therefore had that witness within Himself. You see the Devil himself had already come to Jesus to tempt Him with anything in the world He wanted, and Jesus did not give in to the temptation. He therefore knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that He was the Messiah sent by God.

(2) Jesus felt that He could be His own witness because He was not prejudiced in one way or another regarding who He was. He was after all not seeking after His own will but rather the will of God who had sent Him. But He knew the Jewish leaders would not accept that. There was a legal requirement in the courts at that time which did not allow for a person to be his/her own witness. So Jesus called in three other witnesses to prove His claim to be the Messiah. The first witness He pointed to was John the Baptist.

John 5:32-35 NAS:
32 “There is another who testifies of Me, and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true.
33 “You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth.
34 “But the testimony which I receive is not from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.
35 “He was the lamp that was burning and was shining and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

(3) In John 1:7 the apostle John wrote that John the Baptist came as a witness to testify about the light, which of course was Jesus. John had known who Jesus was and had told what he knew to the people of Israel. John told the people that Jesus was the Savior they had been waiting for (John 1:23), the Lamb of God (John 1:29,36), and the Son of God (John 1:34).

John was a “burning and a shining lamp” (Jesus is the Light, John 8:12) calling attention to the Light, and the Jewish people were excited about his ministry. They also highly respected his integrity. To the Jews a burning lamp also represented the Baptist’s sincerity.[fn] However, their initial enthusiasm for his message did not last and no one made any effort to save John when he was sent to prison by Herod. The tax collectors and sinners accepted John’s message and were converted, but the religious leaders refused to accept John the Baptist’s message (Matthew 21:28–32), even though they spent a great deal of time associating with him and listening to what he had to say.

There will always be people who try to get just a little bit of the public acclaim of a national figure by just being seen with them. It was true at the time of Moses when he led God’s people out of bondage in Egypt and it is true regarding Church leaders today. They like to be part of the pomp and ceremony without accepting the teaching of the leader. Many people followed Moses and Israel out of Egypt, people who were impressed with the miracles but not necessarily believers in the message or the God who sent it. The prophets and Apostles, as well as the great leaders in Church history, all had to put up with shallow people who followed the crowd but refused to obey the truth. We have far too many such people in churches today.

It should be clear that Christ needs no letters of recommendation, no testimonials or credentials from an institute of higher learning, a government agency, or a high ranking religious official. The things that He said and the things that He did spoke for themselves. Why then was Jesus willing to seek out the further testimony of John? We see in verse 34 that, even though He knows who He is, Jesus is willing to bring forth additional evidence that He is who He says He is so that our faith might be strengthened by the testimony of additional witnesses. Jesus therefore produces additional witnesses to testify that He was sent by God. Jesus knows us. He knows what dunderheads we can be. He knows that we might not believe in gravity until we fall out of a fifth story window, twice. Christ considers our human shortcomings and brings Himself down to our ability to understand, and for the sake of our salvation provides us with what we need, which in His case is even further evidence to prove He is the Messiah.

The testimony of John the Baptist was public testimony. The Jewish leaders had earlier sent a delegation of priests and Levites to speak to John about his testimony concerning who he considered Jesus to be. In today’s legal jargon we might say that this delegation was sent to take John’s deposition, which gave him an opportunity of publishing what he had to say. This was therefore a very official testimony from John regarding who Jesus was. It was also a true testimony: John the Baptist bore witness to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, as any good witness ought to do. John was considered to be such a holy and good man that he was considered absolutely truthful and honest and no one could imagine that he would ever be guilty of a lie. John would not have identified Jesus as the Messiah unless he knew it to be true.

In verse 35 Jesus mentions the respect people have for John, and at the same time He criticizes them for not holding on to the truth John had given them, which was that Jesus was the Messiah. What foolish people. Not much different from people today are they? Do you think that if God were to bring back from the dead some really famous figure from history like George Washington or Abraham Lincoln, and tell all the world it was the resurrection power of Jesus Christ that brought them back to life, people would believe it? Probably not. In fact they would most likely begin making up their own explanations for the occurrence and others would probably find those made up stories more believable than the truth.

(4) John 5:36 NAS:
36 “But the testimony which I have is greater than the testimony of John; for _the works which the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works that I do—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me.

How can we know that the Father and Son are One? How can we be sure Jesus is able to provide the eternal life He promises? Because Jesus pointed His critics to the evidence. It is not just that John the Baptist, a prophet, testified on Jesus’ behalf. God the Father added His confirmation that Jesus was Messiah by the miracles that He enabled Jesus to perform right in front of His enemies. Even the rulers recognized the truth of Jesus‘ ability to do such things, as Nicodemus had admitted in John 3:2: “We know You are a Teacher who has come from God. For no one could do the miraculous signs You are doing if God were not with him.”

The rulers could not deny the evidence. But they still would not commit themselves to Jesus, or honor Him as God.[fn]

John 5:37-38 NAS:
37 “And the Father who sent Me, He has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time nor seen His form.
38 “You do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe Him whom He sent.”

(4) We have already seen four possible ways in which God the Father confirmed that Jesus was His Son. There was also another way and that was by fulfillment of the prophecies of the Old Testament. Jesus tells them in verse 37: “You have not heard his voice.” It appears that Christ is criticizing the Jews here for not believing the evidence that He was the Messiah. In doing this He says that they even refused to listen to the testimony of God. Jesus stated that God had given sufficient evidence of Jesus’ credentials, but the Jewish leaders had ignored that evidence. The first thing Jesus tells them is that they had not heard God’s voice. The word hear, as it is used in this verse, is to be understood as obey or listen to (John 5:25). We could interpret this verse as saying that the Jews, in typical fashion, would not listen to or obey what God was telling them.

Again in verse 37 Jesus says: You have not seen his form. No human being has ever seen God (John 1:18). But the word form, which is used in this verse, does not mean God himself. It refers to an appearance which God can take. For the sake of a clearer understanding you might even consider that God appears in a disguise. God has made His presence visible to people at different times but it has always been in another form because no human being may look upon God and live (Exodus 33:20). We can see this more clearly in God’s relationship with Moses. You may not have known this about God.

Numbers 12:1-8 NAS:
1 Then Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses because of the Cushite woman whom he had married (for he had married a Cushite woman);
2 and they said, "Has the LORD indeed spoken only through Moses? Has He not spoken through us as well?" And the LORD heard it.
3 (Now the man Moses was very humble, more than any man who was on the face of the earth.)
4 Suddenly the LORD said to Moses and Aaron and to Miriam, "You three come out to the tent of meeting." So the three of them came out.
5 Then the LORD came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the doorway of the tent, and He called Aaron and Miriam. When they had both come forward,
6 He said, "Hear now My words: If there is a prophet among you,
I, the LORD, shall make Myself known to him in a vision.
I shall speak with him in a dream.
7 "Not so, with My servant Moses, He is faithful in all My household;
8 With him I speak mouth to mouth, Even openly, and not in dark sayings, And he beholds the form of the LORD.

The word form in John 5:37 actually applied to the visible symbol of God, not God Himself. It was the same in the Old Testament when God’s presence was made known in the cloud that rested on the tabernacle in Numbers 9:15,16. The word “form” in John 5:37 is the same word that is applied to the Holy Spirit appearing in bodily shape like a dove in Luke 3:22. Jesus says they had not paid attention to the appearances of God. He had made Himself evident in many ways during the Old Testament period, but they paid no attention to any of His words or appearances in various forms.[fn]

The language of Jesus in verse 37 may also refer to the witness of the Father in the hearts of believers as we see clearly in 1 John 5:9-10 NAS:

9 We accept man’s testimony, but God’s testimony is greater because it is the testimony of God, which he has given about his Son.
10 Anyone who believes in the Son of God has this testimony in his heart. Anyone who does not believe God has made him out to be a liar, because he has not believed the testimony God has given about his Son.

God’s witness does not come by an audible “voice” (φωνην) nor visible “form” (eidos).

1 John 4:12 NAS:
No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us.

Jesus said that those who have seen Him have seen the Father (John 14:9), but here in John 5:37 Jesus means the Father’s “voice” and “form” as distinct from the Son.[fn] In other words they do not really know God because they have never seen or heard Him and they do not have His Word in their hearts.

The Jewish people held the Word of God in high regard, especially the Law that God gave through Moses. Moses heard God’s voice and saw God’s glory. The Jewish leaders in this passage (John 5:30-39) could hear the same voice and see the glory of God in the written Word of the prophets in the Old Testament. But they would not. This is what Peter was referring to in 2 Peter 1:16–21 NIV:

16 We did not follow cleverly invented stories when we told you about the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty.
17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
18 We ourselves heard this voice that came from heaven when we were with him on the sacred mountain.
19 And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
20 Above all, you must understand that no prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet’s own interpretation.
21 For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.

The Old Testament Scriptures talk about Jesus from the very beginning to the very end. How is it then that the very people who preserved these writings of the Old Testament were blind to recognize their Messiah when He came to them as Jesus? Peter, the other apostles, and the disciples of Jesus recognized Him for who He was. Why not the Jewish leaders?

That question really is not that difficult to answer if we have a working knowledge of the Bible. They would not let God’s Word in the Old Testament get from their minds down to their hearts. They knew what the Word said but they would not let it penetrate their hearts and change their lives. We can memorize the Bible from beginning to end but if we do not allow that knowledge to change our hearts and our lives it is meaningless. The purpose of reading and studying the Bible is not to gain knowledge so that we can impress others. The purpose of reading and studying the Bible is to allow God to change our lives so that we can become more and more like Jesus.

So, there was something wrong with the motives of these Jewish leaders: they did not see Christ in their own Scriptures, as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 3:1–18 NLT:

1 Are we beginning to praise ourselves again? Are we like others, who need to bring you letters of recommendation, or who ask you to write such letters on their behalf? Surely not! 2 The only letter of recommendation we need is you yourselves. Your lives are a letter written in our hearts; everyone can read it and recognize our good work among you.3 Clearly, you are a letter from Christ showing the result of our ministry among you. This “letter” is written not with pen and ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. It is carved not on tablets of stone, but on human hearts.[fn]

Every true believer is an “open letter” from Christ, because his or her life will show God’s work within his or her personality. Since Paul won many of the Corinthians to Christ, they themselves are “letters” that attest to his ministry. Continuing in 2 Corinthians 3:

4 We are confident of all this because of our great trust in God through Christ.5 It is not that we think we are qualified to do anything on our own. Our qualification comes from God.
6 He has enabled us to be ministers of his new covenant. This is a covenant not of written laws, but of the Spirit. The old written covenant ends in death; but under the new covenant, the Spirit gives life.

This is the New Covenant that was promised in Jeremiah 31:31-34. Let us turn there and read it before going on in 2 Corinthians 3.

31 “The time is coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.
32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the Lord.
33 “This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people.
34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.” (NIV)

Now see if you can make the connection with the prophecy in Jeremiah 31:31-34 as we continue in 2 Corinthians 3.

7 The old way, with laws etched in stone, led to death, though it began with such glory that the people of Israel could not bear to look at Moses’ face. For his face shone with the glory of God, even though the brightness was already fading away.8 Shouldn’t we expect far greater glory under the new way, now that the Holy Spirit is giving life? 9 If the old way, which brings condemnation, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new way, which makes us right with God! 10 In fact, that first glory was not glorious at all compared with the overwhelming glory of the new way.11 So if the old way, which has been replaced, was glorious, how much more glorious is the new, which remains forever! 12 Since this new way gives us such confidence, we can be very bold. (NLT)

Paul knows there is no way for the Old Testament Law to bring righteousness to a person. But the Gospel, which fulfills God’s promise through Jeremiah of a New Covenant, can bring righteousness. Because the Law came from God it was glorious because anything that comes from God is glorious. It was glorious even though the Law was temporary as well as inadequate. But the New Covenant provides so much more. Our hope can now be that we will experience a progressive transformation, a change of heart and mind, as the New Covenant brings righteousness into our lives. We no longer have to pretend we are perfect. We can be honest with others. They will see our flaws and failures, but because God is at work in us, they will also see the face of Jesus as He works His changes within us. It is the hope and the certain expectation, that God is changing us from within that frees us to be real.[fn]

2 Corinthians 3:13-15 NLT:
13 We are not like Moses, who put a veil over his face so the people of Israel would not see the glory, even though it was destined to fade away.14 But the people’s minds were hardened, and to this day whenever the old covenant is being read, the same veil covers their minds so they cannot understand the truth. And this veil can be removed only by believing in Christ.15 Yes, even today when they read Moses’ writings, their hearts are covered with that veil, and they do not understand.

Paul here addresses the contrast between the new and old covenant ministry (verses 7–18). The old covenant (the Law) administered by Moses offered no inner change of heart for a person. This is illustrated by Moses himself, for after leaving God’s presence he put a veil over his face so the people would not see the splendor, which God’s presence had placed upon him, fade away. You see, Moses did not want the people to see the glory of God on his face fade away. But after Jesus was crucified and resurrected, because God’s Spirit now lives within the believer, a process of inner transformation has taken place. That transformation is reflected by an increasingly clear reflection of the glory of God through the believer’s life. The believer reflects the splendor of Christ Himself, and that is the mark of New Covenant ministry that will last forever.[fn]

The veil Moses wore to hide the radiance which shone from his face after being alone with God (Exodus 34:29–35) worked both ways. It hid Moses’ face. But it also concealed vital truths about a relationship with God. The danger of concealing ourselves from others is that in the process we will keep them ignorant about the God who is at work in us. Symbolically, Paul says, that veil still lies over the Old Testament, concealing its real meaning from those who continue to insist on following Moses.[fn] Returning to 2 Corinthians:

16 But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away.
17 For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.18 So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.

God is committed to make those who believe in Jesus like Jesus. This is taught often in the New Testament.[fn] We will experience the fulfillment of this commitment at our resurrection. But as this verse points out, the Holy Spirit even now is at work within us, creating a gradual process directed toward making our moral characters more like Jesus. Through this gradual but real change in us others will see Jesus’ face.

The Holy Spirit leads believers, He empowers them for holy living, and here we see that He works a progressive moral transformation as we are obedient and responsive to the Lord. That transformation is displayed in character and personality, producing the fruit of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22–23).[fn]

These Jewish leaders were deeply religious men on the outside, but they really did not want to give glory to anyone but themselves, including the true God. You might say they had heart trouble, not physically but spiritually. They did not love the Lord God with all their heart, soul, mind, and strength, and neither did they want to love Jesus that way.

John 14:9-11 NLT:
9 Jesus replied, “Have I been with you all this time, Philip, and yet you still don’t know who I am? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father! So why are you asking me to show him to you?
10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words I speak are not my own, but my Father who lives in me does his work through me.
11 Just believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me. Or at least believe because of the work you have seen me do.

So, coming back to our opening question, “How do you know Jesus is God and the Messiah?” we find five things so far in this passage. 1) Because God the Father Himself said so. 2) Because Jesus affirmed it Himself. 3) Because of the witness of John the Baptist and 4) also the witness given by all the miracles Jesus did. And 5) By fulfillment of prophecy. The sixth piece of evidence, or witness, we will look at next week.

Based on what we have studied regarding this passage, we can conclude that God came to earth in the form of Jesus, meaning that He as a man allows people to see and hear God in the flesh. Jesus is God. God came and lived among the people of first century Judah, displaying for them supernatural qualities and teaching. What a terrible mistake they made by rejecting Him and what a terrible price they have paid over the last 2,000 years for continuing to reject Him. Even though God has restored the nation of Israel, they continue to live with war or the threat of war daily. We in the United States have the same manifestation of God through the Bible and we are making the same mistake that Israel made. May God have mercy on the United States for the true believers that remain and through them begin a revival that will heal our nation.

The Witness of the Scripture
John 5:39-47

Many people will acknowledge that the Bible is great literature and then stop there. They are totally oblivious to the fact that the Bible transforms lives: that reprobates have become upstanding citizens; that sorrowing people have found the source of true joy; and that atheists have become great preachers—all after they came into contact with the truths of the Bible.

Earlier we ask the question, “How can you know Jesus is God and the Messiah?” We found five answers to that question in John 5:30-38: 1) Because God the Father Himself said so; 2) Because Jesus affirmed it Himself; 3) Because of the witness of John the Baptist; 4) Because of the witness given by all the miracles Jesus did; and finally 5) By fulfillment of prophecy. Now we are going to look at the sixth piece of evidence or witness: the perfection of Scripture.

A New Zealand preacher described a Pharisee as being like a bag tied in the middle. Anything put into the top will not reach the bottom. The Pharisee opens his mouth wide when he prays, but his heart is tightly shut. With his lips he asks for things that his heart does not really desire. If God were to give him the spiritual blessings he asks for, it would only be a waste of good gifts, for they could not get to the bottom of the bag. His pride would choke them off, and they would never touch his heart. Now you may not relate well to the term Pharisee, but today we could call such a person a nominal Christian or a hypocrite.

John 5:39-47 ESV:
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me,
40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
41 I do not receive glory from people.
42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.
43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.
44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.
46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"

What in the world is the matter with the people of this world that prevents them from accepting the perfect Word of God? How many people say they believe in God but they cannot believe in Jesus? This borders on irrationality. Then there are those that say, “I am spiritual, I believe in God but I cannot believe all that stuff in the Bible because it just does not make any sense to me. I believe God appears to different people in different ways and there are all kinds of roads that lead to Heaven for people of different faiths.”

Now, in the first place, the people with whom I have talked and who voice such opinions have never really read the Bible, or the doctrine of any other religion for that matter. Yet they have no hesitation to speak with authority about something they know nothing about. What these people are saying is that God, knowing how brilliant each human is, did not feel it was necessary to record a “Manual for Living” for the creatures He created. They hold that He knew that people would simply know the truth about Him just because of the way they think. However, we do not think those same people would buy a computer or a new software program and never check the “help” manual about how to use it effectively.

Do you know what that tells us? It tells us that you might believe that everyone goes to Heaven, while we believe a person only goes to Heaven by believing in Jesus’ death on the cross for their sins; but someone else believes you have to do a good deed every day, and yet someone else believes you need to wage war against those that hold to different beliefs. We could go on and on with this reasoning until we might have hundreds of different beliefs about how a person gets to Heaven. Does it not seem a bit ridiculous to believe that anyone can get to Heaven by following the path that they alone think is right, when that means doing the exact opposite of what someone else thinks should be done to get to Heaven? If that were possible there would be no need for a god, would there? In effect everybody could be their own god. Why believe in a god if you believe you can determine all the rules for living? That would mean that you are smarter than He is, so why not just do without Him? What could such a god possibly teach you? After all if you do not need a god who can provide you with many benefits you do not already have, what good is He? Such a person therefore must be at perfect peace in their life without any troubles or cares, without any financial worries, without any problems in relationships, without any health problems, or fears about death. After all if you can set the ground rules for the god you believe in and you need nothing from him other than a pat on the back, it seems that your god should actually be worshipping you or maybe that you feel you are god yourself. But that reminds me of Isaiah 42:8 NIV, a verse that should give us warning about such an attitude:

"I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols.”
So if we imagine that all the things we have just been describing were true, then all of these confused, irrational people would go to Heaven and be allowed to practice their misguided beliefs up there. That would mean that Heaven would be no better than life on earth. How would you like to spend eternity with the same kind of uncertainty, turmoil, and hatred that we live with right now? That would not be Heaven would it? That would be Hell. The same thing would be true if there were more than one god. Can you imagine the chaos and bickering in Heaven among the various gods for control and among their followers to prove who is right? Who would want to spend eternity in such a place? Such beliefs are not only misguided, they are intentionally planted in a person’s mind by the master deceiver, Satan.

Friends, people who think in the variety of self-serving ways we have been discussing are cheating themselves out of an abundance of joy if they really believe that we human beings are capable of determining, on our own, how God thinks.

There is only one rock solid explanation for who God is and what He expects, and that is found in the Bible. The writings of other religious books are full of contradictions and they lack the power and wonder of the Bible. There can only be one sensible conclusion here and that is that there had to be an intelligence beyond our ability to understand that created the universe and everything in it. That intelligence and that Creator is God. Why He created people is something those of us who make it to Heaven will have to ask Him when we get there because we certainly have been a big disappointment to Him from the very beginning with Adam and Eve in the garden. But because we came from the perfect plan of God we can know He had a good reason, and when you see a person who sincerely lives the Christian life according to God’s plan and has no phoniness or personal agenda to fulfill, they are a joy to know and be around.

Having created “people” and watching them stumble and fall into sin, often willingly, God could clearly see that if they did not have some kind of instruction manual for life there would be chaos on the earth and all people would be lost to sin for eternity. He knew that people would not automatically, because of their own understanding, be able to know His will for their lives, so it was necessary to give them specific instructions for living along with promises for obeying and warnings for disobeying.

So God began to write this manual for living and He used men and women to write down what the Holy Spirit of God led them to write. God used Moses to write the first five books of the Bible, called the Pentateuch: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. After Moses, God used many other individuals over the next 1,500 years to write the different books of the Bible, including the New Testament. But, in spite of having the Word and promises of God, His own people, the Jews, continued to defy, ignore, and reject what He told them.

Before beginning our study of John 5:39-47, we believe it would be helpful to know how God feels about obedience and disobedience to His Word. Let us read selections from Deuteronomy 28 NLT:

The first part of the chapter outlines the Blessings for Obedience:

1 “If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully keep all his commands that I am giving you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the world.
2 You will experience all these blessings if you obey the Lord your God:
3 Your towns and your fields will be blessed.
4 Your children and your crops will be blessed. The offspring of your herds and flocks will be blessed.
5 Your fruit baskets and breadboards will be blessed.
6 Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be blessed.
7 “The Lord will conquer your enemies when they attack you. They will attack you from one direction, but they will scatter from you in seven!
8 “The Lord will guarantee a blessing on everything you do and will fill your storehouses with grain. The Lord your God will bless you in the land he is giving you.
9 “If you obey the commands of the Lord your God and walk in his ways, the Lord will establish you as his holy people as he swore he would do.
10 Then all the nations of the world will see that you are a people claimed by the Lord, and they will stand in awe of you.

Then the chapter goes on to outline the Curses for Disobedience:

15 “But if you refuse to listen to the Lord your God and do not obey all the commands and decrees I am giving you today, all these curses will come and overwhelm you:
16 Your towns and your fields will be cursed
18 Your children and your crops will be cursed.
19 Wherever you go and whatever you do, you will be cursed.
20 “The Lord himself will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in everything you do, until at last you are completely destroyed for doing evil and abandoning me.
21 The Lord will afflict you with diseases.
22 These disasters will pursue you until you die.

47 If you do not serve the Lord your God with joy and enthusiasm for the abundant benefits you have received,
48 you will serve your enemies whom the Lord will send against you. You will be left hungry, thirsty, naked, and lacking in everything. The Lord will put an iron yoke on your neck, oppressing you harshly until he has destroyed you.
49 “The Lord will bring a distant nation against you from the end of the earth, and it will swoop down on you like a vulture. It is a nation whose language you do not understand,
50 a fierce and heartless nation that shows no respect for the old and no pity for the young.

Even though this prophecy from Deuteronomy 28 was fulfilled by the siege and destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, that does not mean the prophecy ended. Prophecy can apply to more that one event, and if God promises or warns about something such as He did here in Deuteronomy, it is very likely it will continue to apply to similar situations throughout history. It is most likely that these promises and warnings apply to Christians everywhere since the Church became the official designation for God’s people after Christ’s death and resurrection. Right now we would say that the curses God warned about are about to fall on the United States if we do not experience a revival nationwide that will turn us back to God. Just look around at the rampant materialism, the sexually laden content on television, the lack of respect for authority, or even for each other. Lewd songs fill the radios, TV, and MP3s. Violence is everywhere; consider the 10-year-old boy gunned down in Chicago because he was caught in the crossfire between gangs. Television and video games extol violence. And to top that all off, we are taking God out of everything in our culture.

After becoming aware of those prophecies that God gave Moses, Jesus’ words should not come as any surprise to us when we come to this passage in John, John 5:46-47 ESV:

46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.
47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"

Did the Jewish people of the Old Testament have adequate warning of what would happen to them if they disobeyed? You bet they did. If you will recall, we began this discussion by asking “What on earth is the matter with the people of this world that prevents them from accepting the perfect Word of God?” The answer to that question is of course “sin.” Wherever human beings are provided an opportunity to sin, they will often do so, even fully devoted Christ-followers who possess the Holy Spirit of God to help them in times of temptation can fall prey to enticements. Satan comes after such believers with a vengeance. He knows our greatest weaknesses and because he is the “Great Deceiver” he knows exactly which kinds of temptations are most likely to make a believer choose to sin. The one big difference, however, between those that have the Spirit of Christ living within them and those that do not, is that the Christ-follower has the free will either to call upon the Holy Spirit for help or to willingly submit to the temptation. It is often a difficult tightrope to walk. But we have the choice between misery if we follow the temptation that we know is wrong, or the promise of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self-control if we choose to ask the Spirit to deliver us from temptation. That is probably why in the Lord’s prayer, the Apostles’ Prayer to be more exact, Jesus included: “Lead us not into temptation but deliver us from evil.”

The Jews in John’s day were no different from the Jews in Moses’ day, nor were they any different from people today. The big distinction in this case, however, was that the Jews in John’s day had been raised with the Word of God and should have known it thoroughly. Even people who claim to be Christians today have little knowledge of the Bible, supposing they even have one. If they do have one it usually develops a thick layer of dust.

I would venture to say that when most people read the Bible they do not get the message. There are some who can spend a lifetime reading passages from the Bible and never experience a life-changing experience. Then there are the people who read the Bible and say they simply cannot believe it. It all seems a little overwhelming, does it not?

With that overview let us return to John 5, beginning in verse 39 and see if we are able to find some answers:

You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, (ESV)

Thinking one can be saved by doing what they consider to be “good deeds” has been a curse on the human mind from the very beginning of time. It is fine to do good things, but doing good works does not get anyone a personal relationship with God or Christ or the Holy Spirit. That comes only through faith and trust in God in the Old Testament, and then through faith and trust in Christ after His death and resurrection in the New Testament. Here the Jews believed that reading the Scriptures was a good and holy thing and that just by reading them they would have eternal life. It is entirely possible that by thinking that way, they really did not pay attention to what the Scriptures were saying. They may well have read various passages and applied meanings that made them feel comfortable, as many people including pastors do today. They may never have really studied the Scriptures in order to understand what the passages were actually saying. I might ask the question: “How many of you pick up your Bible in the morning or evening to read it because you know it is a good thing to do, but then read through it as fast as you can so you can get on to other things?” Had these Jews truly understood their own Scriptures, they would have known that the prophets of the Old Testament spoke over and over again about the coming of Jesus and provided all kinds of predictions for them to recognize the true Messiah when He came.

Just reading the Scriptures does not provide eternal life. The Scriptures point the way to eternal life. If they did not read the Scriptures with an open mind seeking an understanding of God and His guidelines for living, then they would never find the security they thought they already had. You cannot be saved if you do not understand what the Bible has to say about salvation.

The Greek word in verse 39 that is translated “search” (ραυνάω (eraunaô)[fn] means exactly that. Many of the Jewish scribes spent a lifetime copying the texts word by word and had all kinds of checks and balances for double checking their work to make certain they did not make a single mistake. You may recall they did not have printing presses or copy machines in those days. Yet in spite of spending morning until night reading and copying the Word of God, they never got any deeper than the mechanical act of reading and copying. They stayed on the surface and never truly understood what God was telling them.

John 5:40 ESV:
40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

Can it be that these Jews to whom Jesus is speaking could not understand their own Scripture, or could it be that like many other people they simply read the words without trying to understand the meaning? Or is it possible that they had made up so many of their own rules that they placed more emphasis on those than they did the actual Word of God? In spite of their knowledge of the Scriptures, they rejected Jesus.

Whatever their problem, Jesus asks them how they can read the Scripture and miss the point. The Scripture which tells them not once, not twice, not three times, but over a hundred times exactly when Jesus will come, what He will be like, what His purpose will be in coming, and that what He teaches will provide them with the only possible hope of eternal life in Heaven with God.

This would be like going to Las Vegas and finding a slot machine that paid a “jackpot” every time you put in a quarter, and you saying you would rather play another machine. How in the world could they be so foolish?

John 5:41-44 ESV:
41 I do not receive glory from people. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

Jesus goes on to tell them that they do not glorify Him as the Messiah because He is not the kind of Messiah they were looking for. They wanted someone who would lead an uprising against the Romans and throw them out. They wanted a military conqueror that would restore Israel’s position as a world power. They wanted someone who would bring them wealth and an opulent life-style, and all they got was someone who lived to serve and please God.

In addition Jesus tells them that He knows they do not have the love of God within them. If they did they would receive the Son with a spirit of love. Instead they focus on their own wants and desires and plot as to how they can get rid of God Himself, who has taken human form and come to earth to die for their sins. There can be no love in such selfish and evil behavior. What then did they love? They loved their own opinions about the Word of God. They wanted to receive glory from other scholars. And that wrong self-love kept them from loving God. People in the twenty-first century Church treat Jesus in much the same way. Many ignore all the truth and proof that the Scripture offers of it being absolutely accurate so that they can make up a god that they can be comfortable with and to whom they do not have to be accountable. Most people do not truly love the Word of God, they just like to talk about it.

However, if some liberal religious figure comes along promoting all kinds of tolerant secular ideas, people will rush to him/her and jump on the bandwagon because it makes them feel all toasty inside. Secular historians provide evidence of a great many men who came forward claiming to be the Messiah and attracted many followers. They were able to gain followers primarily because they made offers to the people that satisfied their desires. They offered political and material power, while Christ offered a cross. Jesus asks these Jews how they can possibly ignore the Holy God in favor of such false teaching that contradicts the spoken Word of God in the Old Testament; how can they turn to idols made of wood and stone? How can they glorify the worldly behavior and teachings of one another and push aside the one and only God who repeatedly has shown them so much love and patience? Well, Satan is far more clever than any human being and if one does not place their trust and faith in God, who will protect them? Satan will definitely get them. And this is exactly what will happen when the Antichrist appears on the world scene. Again it is up to individual choice.

John 5:45-47 ESV:
45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope.
46 If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"

Jesus had come to the earth this first time as a teacher and a Savior, not a judge, but Moses would certainly accuse them because the Law came through Moses. Anyone who has not accepted Christ as Savior will be judged by the Law. If someone rejects Christ they must keep all of the Law all of the time or they go to Hell. Jesus is the only way they can be seen by God as sinless, which in effect means that they have kept all of the Law through Christ.

The purpose of the Law of Moses was to show people what sin was and to let them know they could not keep all of the Law all of the time. It therefore made them aware of the need for a Savior. In other words, God gave the people His Law so that they could know that they were not able to please God on their own. The Law would make the people realize their need for a Savior. How would you know if you were breaking the law regarding speeding if there were no signs saying “Speed Limit 55 MPH,” or have received a letter from the Secretary of State advising you of such a Law?

At the end of his life, Moses called the Levites together and delivered the Law to them. "Take this book of the law and place it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may remain there as a witness against you” (Deuteronomy 31:26). Moses was saying that the Law will always bear witness to our sins, that we are all sinners because we cannot keep it. Therefore we need someone who can keep all of it, who can be our Savior and pay the penalty for sin, for breaking God’s Law. There is only One who can do that, a sinless Jesus. Because of His death for our sins we may have eternal life if, and only if, we believe in His work on the cross for our sins.

With all their knowledge of the Scripture the Pharisees should have responded to Jesus the same way that Phillip did in John 1:45 NAS, when Phillip recognized that Jesus was the Messiah that the Old Testament predicted would come: “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, ‘We have found Him of whom Moses in the Law and also the Prophets wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.’”

If they do not believe the things that God gave Moses to write down about the coming of Jesus, why would they believe someone who said He was the one who was promised? The Jews would not embrace the teaching of Moses that came from God. Thus they could not have the love of God in their hearts which would come from such teaching, and would have prepared them to love and accept Jesus for who He was.

The only love they had in their heart was for themselves and for the most part that is the same way people think today. So it becomes increasingly clear that the Jewish leaders were not going to accept Christ, requiring that Jesus take His message directly to the people. And that is exactly what He will do beginning in John chapter 6.

The witness of John the Baptist, the witness of the divine miracles, and the witness of the Word of God all unite to declare that Jesus Christ is indeed One with the Father and the very Son of God. [fn]

So which side do you come down on? Does the Bible sit and gather dust on your shelf at home? Are you someone who reads the Bible occasionally and quickly? Or are you someone who reads it regularly and who strives to put it into practice? We should immerse ourselves in the Scriptures. They alone contain the directions for eternal life: life in heaven one day with Christ, and eternal life on earth lived in the power of the Holy Spirit. But we should not read the Bible just with the purpose of merely reading it, but also with the desire to truly understand it and allow it to change our lives. Form the habit of daily Bible reading. Read a verse or two and then meditate on it. Perhaps even memorize it. If the meaning is not clear, ask God to help you understand. If you see something in the verse that you have not made part of your life, ask God to help you do so. Remember that God desires, in fact he longs, to be in communication with you. Although He does not carry on an audible conversation with you, He does provide a means for such communication. You might want to imagine it as a two-way radio communication. He speaks to you through His Word in the Bible and allows you to speak to Him in prayer. If you want to know God, you will practice both of these communication skills daily.

You may also want to get into a Bible study in order to better understand the Word of God. Then beyond reading the Bible and understanding the meaning, take it one step farther. Put what you read and come to understand into practice in your daily life, as you do your job, as you interact with friends, co-workers, and family. When God says His people live and think a certain way, ask for His help to actually do that. When God says people who love Him avoid doing specific things, ask Him to help you be obedient and avoid them too.

If you are already a follower of Jesus Christ, having accepted Him as your Savior, you have the Holy Spirit of God living within you. He is another means by which God may speak to you. In a silent voice He will speak to your spirit planting thoughts in your mind concerning the things He would like you to do and feel. If you do these things on a daily basis, you will have the power to live a life filled with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self-control. These things are the fruit of the Spirit of God and can only be obtained by submitting your will to God’s. No one can obtain them by self-control or self-improvement techniques. Self-help books are no substitute for the Word of God. These qualities are only obtainable as a gift, a gift of God’s grace.

The Bible is one of God’s great gifts to us. He did not put us here on earth and expect us to figure everything out on our own. He gave us a guide book, a love letter, and prophesies to help us on our journey through life. Are you making full use of your guide book?

[fn] Hughes, Kent, Preaching the Word, John 5:1-18.

[fn] Ibid.

[fn] Henry, Matthew: Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible : Complete and Unabridged in One Volume. Peabody : Hendrickson, 1996, c1991, S. Jn 5:1.

[fn] Walvoord, John F. ; Zuck, Roy B. ; Dallas Theological Seminary: The Bible Knowledge Commentary : An Exposition of the Scriptures. Wheaton, IL : Victor Books, 1983-c1985, S. 2:289.

[fn] Henry, Matthew: Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible : Complete and Unabridged in One Volume. Peabody : Hendrickson, 1996, c1991, S. Jn 5:1.

[fn] Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Jn 5:1.

[fn] Hughes, Kent, Preaching the Word, John 5:1-18.

[fn] www.villagechurchofwheaton.org (630) 221-0919

[fn] Richards, Larry: The Bible Reader's Companion. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1991, S. 682.

[fn] Achtemeier, Paul J.; Harper & Row, Publishers; Society of Biblical Literature: Harper's Bible Dictionary. 1st ed. San Francisco: Harper & Row, 1985, S. 135.

[fn] Thus, the use of the Old Testament here is a case of typological-prophetic fulfillment, where Jesus fits the patterns of suffering of the earlier era, but in a unique way because of the nature of His work. So when Jesus completed the typico-prophetic pattern, the way in which He fulfilled the text is true only of Him. Many New Testament texts, when utilizing this type of fulfillment, speak of a unique fulfillment in Him and note that the text does not refer to anyone else. This is true in the sense Jesus “fully fulfills” the text in a way no one else does. So He is the “righteous Sufferer” or the “Servant.” On this category of Old Testament fulfillment, see Darrell L. Bock, “The Use of the Old Testament in the New,” in Foundations for Biblical Interpretation (Nashville: Broadman, 1994).

[fn] Zuck, Roy B.: A Biblical Theology of the New Testament. Electronic ed. Chicago: Moody Press, 1994; Published in electronic form, 1996, S. 128.

[fn] Matthew 28:11-15.

[fn] Preaching the Word.

[fn] Jamieson, Robert; Fausset, A. R.; Fausset, A. R.; Brown, David; Brown, David: A Commentary, Critical and Explanatory, on the Old and New Testaments. Oak Harbor, WA: 1997, S. Re 16:14.

[fn] As the Father raises up dead. God has power to raise the dead. By his power it had been done in at least two instances-by the prophet Elijah, in the case of the son of the widow of Sarepta (1 Kings 17:22), and by the prophet Elisha, in the case of the Shunamite's son, 2 Kings 4:32-35. The Jews did not doubt that God had power to raise the dead. Jesus here expressly affirms it, and says he has the same power.

[fn] Robertson, A.T.: Word Pictures in the New Testament. Oak Harbor: 1997, S. Jn 5:21.

[fn] Acts 17:31; Matthew 25:31-46; Matthew 11:27.

[fn] Love and Marriage.

[fn] Hughes, Robert B.; Laney, J. Carl; Hughes, Robert B.: Tyndale Concise Bible Commentary. Wheaton, Ill.: Tyndale House Publishers, 2001 (The Tyndale Reference Library), S. 471.

[fn] Bible Illustrations.

[fn] John 5:37; 1 John 5:9.

[fn] Lit coming upon Him.

[fn] Henry, Matthew: Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible: Complete and Unabridged in One Volume. Peabody: Hendrickson, 1996, c1991, S. Jn 5:31.

[fn] Richards, Larry; Richards, Lawrence O.: The Teacher's Commentary. Wheaton, Ill.: Victor Books, 1987, S. 722.

[fn] Genesis 35:7,9; 2 Chronicles 1:7; Genesis 32:22-32; Isa 66:14; Jer 7:23-26; 29:18-19; 35:13-17.

[fn] Robertson, AT.: Word Pictures in the New Testament. Oak Harbor: 1997, S. Jn 5:37.

[fn] New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:31-34).

[fn] Op. cit., Richards, S.776.

[fn] Ibid.

[fn] Rom. 8:29; 1 Cor. 15:49–54; Col. 3:10; 1 John 3:2.

[fn] Op Cit., Richards.

[fn] Tan, Paul Lee: Encyclopedia of 7700 Illustrations : A Treasury of Illustrations, Anecdotes, Facts and Quotations for Pastors, Teachers and Christian Workers. Garland TX : Bible Communications, 1996, c1979.

[fn] Swanson, James: Dictionary of Biblical Languages With Semantic Domains: Greek (New Testament). electronic ed. Oak Harbor : 1997, S. GGK2236.

[fn] Wiersbe, Warren W.: The Bible Exposition Commentary. Wheaton, Ill. : Victor Books, 1996, c1989, S. Jn 5:19.