JOHN 5 (Part two)
Please read part one if you have not had the chance.
Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR, all of you.
Thank you so much for your input, your wisdom, and your friendship
BW
***** ******** *****
In the second half of JOHN 5, we look at the big controversy.
The healing wasn’t so much what ticked them off… The thing that really angered them was this:
John 5:17-18
They were mad, not so much about the miracle… they were mad that Jesus claimed to be united with God
That is an amazing claim-
But it came with proof. Jesus never denied it and he never argued it, he gave evidence
John 5:19-23-
He tells them here the same thing he repeated in John 10:30- “I and the Father are one." and this angered them terribly.
Yet this is a claim that we should be making too isn’t it?
Not that we ARE God, but that there is evidence in us, as to our unity with the father!
John 17:20-23-
When we claim our unity with God, look at the evidence Jesus offered
And ask yourself, what evidence would I offer to back my claim?
Evidence #1- I do what the father does
John 5:19.
Is this your resolve?
Whatever I see the father doing, I also will do
I will walk as Jesus did. I will call people from darkness to light
My life and ways and example are a testimony that I am from God.
How about:
Evidence #2- I live life to the full-
John 5:24-26-
Is our life, a witness to the life of Christ?
New priorities, a new witness- a life filled with joy and passion- adventure and conviction
The confidence that shows God is in me and I am in him- and that he has given me POWER!
And then he gave
Evidence #3- The evidence of truth
John 5:27-30-
How do we do at viewing people and things in the light of truth?
Do I stand up for it? Is the word of God my only standard?
Do I realize both the goal and the reward of faith?
The confidence to stand up for truth- and the wisdom to spread it to others with grace, and power
Also gives evidence that we are from God.
But for Jesus- His claim came not only with evidences but with witnesses-
As we keep on reading, Jesus makes it clear that he does not make this claim alone
It is on the testimony of witnesses he can prove he is God.
First was John the Baptist:
John 5:31-35-
People knew that John was a prophet from God- And John gave his testimony clearly in
John 1:14-16-
And yet the religious refused his testimony, not because of the evidence
But because it did not fit in with their own will and traditions
Matt 21:23-27-
So Jesus gave them more witnesses-
#2 was the miracles themselves
John 5:36-38-
Jesus claimed that his power and works made it clear who he was.
He was doing the work of the father
And this is our witness too
John 15:8
This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
And so, Finally Jesus brings out:
#3 The witness of God and his word
This is the final witness because this is the judge that looks at men’s hearts.
John 5:39-47
But this witness too was rejected by them
How often does this too apply to us:
The Jewish scribes tried so hard to know the word of God,
That they neglected to see the God of the Word.
They counted the very letters of the text, but missed the spiritual truths they contained.
Like many today, they made up their own rules
And became so enslaved by what we “did or did not have authority to do”, that they did nothing.
When Jesus pointed this out, he said that their problem came down to one thing:
Lack of love
John 5:41-42
"I do not accept praise from men, but I know you.
I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts
Their attitude toward the word hindered their faith and so did their attitude toward each other.
They were so concerned with being honored by men,
That they did not seek the honor that comes from God
The knew the truth, they knew the importance of salvation- They knew just like we do-
But they didn’t care enough to look past this world and look past how they would Look,
And then stand up for truth.
And the very scriptures that they used to justify their beliefs testified against them
On what is our faith based?
Do we have evidence of it? Is there a witness to our belief?
Are we permitting religious tradition (what we have always done) to blind us to the word of God?
Are we refusing to follow the truth because of what people may think or do?
Are we so involved in trying to be seen as religious that we fail to see Christ in this world?
We can not go on living for mere pleasure, or status,
Nor can we go on living for the world or its comforts
We must be convinced of the reality of the witness of God and the certainty of who he is
The Life, truth, and miracles of God, that cause us to desire to please him only
What we must ask ourselves is:
Does my religion give me a big head, or a burning heart?
We must learn to respond to the love of God.
Have a HAPPY NEW YEAR, all of you.
Thank you so much for your input, your wisdom, and your friendship
BW
***** ******** *****
In the second half of JOHN 5, we look at the big controversy.
The healing wasn’t so much what ticked them off… The thing that really angered them was this:
John 5:17-18
They were mad, not so much about the miracle… they were mad that Jesus claimed to be united with God
That is an amazing claim-
But it came with proof. Jesus never denied it and he never argued it, he gave evidence
John 5:19-23-
He tells them here the same thing he repeated in John 10:30- “I and the Father are one." and this angered them terribly.
Yet this is a claim that we should be making too isn’t it?
Not that we ARE God, but that there is evidence in us, as to our unity with the father!
John 17:20-23-
When we claim our unity with God, look at the evidence Jesus offered
And ask yourself, what evidence would I offer to back my claim?
Evidence #1- I do what the father does
John 5:19.
Is this your resolve?
Whatever I see the father doing, I also will do
I will walk as Jesus did. I will call people from darkness to light
My life and ways and example are a testimony that I am from God.
How about:
Evidence #2- I live life to the full-
John 5:24-26-
Is our life, a witness to the life of Christ?
New priorities, a new witness- a life filled with joy and passion- adventure and conviction
The confidence that shows God is in me and I am in him- and that he has given me POWER!
And then he gave
Evidence #3- The evidence of truth
John 5:27-30-
How do we do at viewing people and things in the light of truth?
Do I stand up for it? Is the word of God my only standard?
Do I realize both the goal and the reward of faith?
The confidence to stand up for truth- and the wisdom to spread it to others with grace, and power
Also gives evidence that we are from God.
But for Jesus- His claim came not only with evidences but with witnesses-
As we keep on reading, Jesus makes it clear that he does not make this claim alone
It is on the testimony of witnesses he can prove he is God.
First was John the Baptist:
John 5:31-35-
People knew that John was a prophet from God- And John gave his testimony clearly in
John 1:14-16-
And yet the religious refused his testimony, not because of the evidence
But because it did not fit in with their own will and traditions
Matt 21:23-27-
So Jesus gave them more witnesses-
#2 was the miracles themselves
John 5:36-38-
Jesus claimed that his power and works made it clear who he was.
He was doing the work of the father
And this is our witness too
John 15:8
This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.
And so, Finally Jesus brings out:
#3 The witness of God and his word
This is the final witness because this is the judge that looks at men’s hearts.
John 5:39-47
But this witness too was rejected by them
How often does this too apply to us:
The Jewish scribes tried so hard to know the word of God,
That they neglected to see the God of the Word.
They counted the very letters of the text, but missed the spiritual truths they contained.
Like many today, they made up their own rules
And became so enslaved by what we “did or did not have authority to do”, that they did nothing.
When Jesus pointed this out, he said that their problem came down to one thing:
Lack of love
John 5:41-42
"I do not accept praise from men, but I know you.
I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts
Their attitude toward the word hindered their faith and so did their attitude toward each other.
They were so concerned with being honored by men,
That they did not seek the honor that comes from God
The knew the truth, they knew the importance of salvation- They knew just like we do-
But they didn’t care enough to look past this world and look past how they would Look,
And then stand up for truth.
And the very scriptures that they used to justify their beliefs testified against them
On what is our faith based?
Do we have evidence of it? Is there a witness to our belief?
Are we permitting religious tradition (what we have always done) to blind us to the word of God?
Are we refusing to follow the truth because of what people may think or do?
Are we so involved in trying to be seen as religious that we fail to see Christ in this world?
We can not go on living for mere pleasure, or status,
Nor can we go on living for the world or its comforts
We must be convinced of the reality of the witness of God and the certainty of who he is
The Life, truth, and miracles of God, that cause us to desire to please him only
What we must ask ourselves is:
Does my religion give me a big head, or a burning heart?
We must learn to respond to the love of God.
Often we (like the Pharisees) become so obsessed with rules that we miss the weightier matters.....which are not instrumental music, marriage/divorce/remarriage and so on but knowing Jesus! The Pharisees never got that far because they never let Jesus in. It is one thing to believe in God it is a completely different matter to have a relationship with Him. And that relationship is not purely based on knowing His rules....it's knowing His love.