Divine Authority

Welcome

Our text this morning is actually John 10-13 then 15 through 23

but we will read 10 -23

now as you are finding your place lets recap

Last week we learned of this concept that John uses throughout

his gospel

this concept of the

miracle / message rhythm or style

where he will provide us with a miracle Jesus performed

followed by a sermon Jesus preached to elaborate his meaning

for that miracle

last week we covered the 3rd miracle

where Jesus proved he was master over

time and healing

as he was able to heal the man that was lame for 38 years

we learned that no matter how long we have been ill

no matter how long we have been estranged

no matter how long we have lived for ourselves

that no matter our short failings

and no matter our sin

it is never to late to come to Christ

However, this miracle he performed

in order to show us these things

he did that on the sabbath

now to say this infuriated the Jews is an understatement

right, because up until this point they found it entertaining to see his

miracles

to see his wonders

but now he was impeding on their law

and not necessarily the law as it pertains to the OT

but the law as it pertained to their Oral law

See the law of the OT is perfect

but we so often disregard

or at least find it easy to gloss over

the left side of our bibles

because it seems so harsh and out dated

when really it is the bases for everything that we

read in the right side of our bibles

So as we read this mornings text

let us remember that Jesus is on the pages of the bible starting on

page 1 in Gen 1:1

and the plan of salvation is put in effect in Genesis 3:15 “I will put hostility between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring. He will strike your head, and you will strike his heel.”

So let us stand and read this morning

Text

Read the Text

Illustration

Authority illustration

In the years 1014-1035 there ruled over England a Danish king named Canute.

King Canute tired of hearing his retainers flatter him with extravagant praises of his greatness, power and invincibility.

Now this king was religious himself

as I mentioned he was being called a God

many of his supporters try to worship him as so

He ordered his chair to be set down on the seashore, where he commanded the waves not to come in and wet him. No matter how forcefully he ordered the tide not to come in, however, his order was not obeyed.

Soon the waves lapped around his chair. One historian tells us that, therefore, he never wore his crown again, but hung it on a statue of the crucified Christ.

Its one thing to have authority on earth

as the Pharisee’s and scribes did over the Jews

But it is a whole another thing to have authority over

creation

over life

over judgement

and to have divine authority

as we will see that Jesus possesses

so as we move from the miracle of last week

to the message of this week

our points this morning will be

where we left off last week

The Persecution Begins

The Father and Son

and The Divine Authority

Where we left off

last week we covered Jesus’ conversation with the man

and we will pick up with the Jews conversation with the man

then Jesus’ Sermon or message with the Jews

which will end up taking us the next 3 to 4 weeks to complete

Persecution Begins!

John 5:9–10 Now that day was the Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “This is the Sabbath. The law prohibits you from picking up your mat.””

So what is the Sabbath?

According to Exodus 20:8–11, the Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, on which the children of Israel were to rest, in remembrance that God created the universe in six days and then “rested” on the seventh day.

The sabbath was created for us to rest

to rest from our normal day to day

to set a day aside for the lord and his work

Sure we mostly celebrate the “sabbath” on Sunday's when we attend church

But we are not bound by a specific sabbath day

The lord set this aside to bless us

not place a heavy burden on us

But that is exactly what they were doing with it

They were turning this blessing from God

into a burden

I mean think about it

This man had just been healed

after 38 years of illness and disability

and the first thing the Jews said to him was

the law prohibits you from picking up your mat

See, physical labor was not permitted

as in your job

Acts of kindness, mercy

and things that benefitted people

fit exactly in what the spirit of the day

was promoting

They still performed sacrifices on the sabbath

they still worshipped on the sabbath

so how this is different

it is merely just an interpretation of their man made laws

their oral laws

They actually made 39 additional laws

in order to make sure they adhered to the law of the sabbath

“Discuss some examples”

see their tradition

their rules

their legalism

outweighed their compassion

Legalism isn’t a word that we find in the bible

however, it is a word used to describe a concept which is widely discussed throughout scripture

Legalism describes a position that emphasizes a system of rules or regulations,

or traditions

in order to achieve salvation

in order achieve spiritual growth

it is pretty much a works based salvation

See legalism is directly opposed to grace

and these Jews began to oppose and persecute Jesus because

he imposed on their religion

he didn’t fit the mold they thought a religious person should fit

he did look how they thought he should look

and he didn’t play by the rules

even though he essentially made the rules

See many legalists back then

and now

make the error that their own personal

biblical interpretations and even their own traditions outweigh that of grace

and isn’t that what the jews were doing,

interpreting the scriptures in a fashion that bred legalism

that promoted their agenda

and dismissed grace and compassion in the process

Now I am not saying we go along with blasphemy

or heretical theology

I am simply saying

that grace should be at the forefront of our

thoughts when practicing discernment

that we should look at all circumstances through the lens of grace

biblical grace

not through the lens of tradition or legalism

after all Jesus did not come to abolish the law

right

he came to fulfil it

to show us its true meaning

So the Jews confronted the man about breaking

“their law”

see he did not break Gods law

What we would call the OT law

he broke the oral law

which are rules they enacted

the rules we just discussed that they made up

The man answers their question of

who told you to do this with

John 5:11 “He replied, “The man who made me well told me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’”

He blames Jesus for it..

haha

I mean he had just been healed

but as we discussed last week

it does not seem as though he was converted

it does not seem as though he put his faith in the man that had just healed him

he was more worried about himself

he told on Jesus

right

Kinda reminds me of the Garden of Eden

when God asks Adam, who told you eat to eat the fruit

and Adam looks around and says

she made me do it…

But none this less

he showed little to no gratitude

and we see that he didn’t even learn the name of

Jesus

This man was so self centered

and focuses on himself

that even after his own healing

he couldn’t get out of his own way

But does that surprise you?

I mean how many of us?

or how many people do we know

that have had God show up big in their life

I mean really big

only to go back to their lives as if nothing happened

or, how about those that cry out to God

and pray when times are tough

but when times are good

oh it isn’t easy to forget God

saying

oh, I got this

they slide back into the norm right

but brothers and sisters

this is something we must make every attempt to avoid

we must praise God in the sunshine and daisies

just as much as we long for him in the storms

**Pause**

The Jews then ask him in verse 12

John 5:12 ““Who is this man who told you, ‘Pick up your mat and walk’?” they asked.

looking around this man notices

that Jesus is nowhere to be found

John 5:13 “But the man who was healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there.”

and judging by the fact that he didn’t

even learn his name

I assume he just shrugged his shoulders and

walked away,

on his newly working legs

He walked right up those steps we talked about last week

into the temple or at least the temple mount

and who is standing there

Jesus

and at that point he discusses verse 14 with him

we covered that last week right

John 5:14 “After this, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well. Do not sin anymore, so that something worse doesn’t happen to you.””

So we are going to skip that

if ya missed it its up on our facebook page

John 5:15 “The man went and reported to the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.”

So… even after Jesus met him in the temple

told him what he told him

the man, who actually at least took the time to

learn Jesus’

name this time

went back to the Jews and told on him again

this time disclosing Jesus’ name

So, what happens

Well verse 16 says

John 5:16 “Therefore, the Jews began persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.”

See by creating these oral laws

they creating power among the people

however, they were about to come in contact with the one that actually held the power

The persecution increased

But Jesus did not back down

Now therer are two things we must highlight as we transition from the miracle of last week

to the message of this week

One is that the opposition to Jesus

is increasing as a result of the lame mans betrayal

and this persicution and opposition that starts here

will soon

nail Jesus to the cross

and, now Jesus will will be able to finally

reveal his true relationship

with his father

Here is how he answered them

in our next point of the morning

Father and Son

John 5:17 “Jesus responded to them, “My Father is still working, and I am working also.””

See Jesus knew it was the sabbath when he healed this man

He did it on purpose honestly

to show what we are about to discuss

To show that He is equal to the Father

to show that Jesus has authority over the sabbath

and essentially authority over all things

including those very Jews

and including us

See the Jews believed that God worked even on the sabbath

Right, because as the all powerful God of the universe he could not take a day off

because he is the very being that holds it all together

He sustains the universe

So the Jews and we also believe that

when God rested on the 7th day of creation

he didn’t rest because he was tired

because as

Isaiah 40:28 The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the whole earth. He never becomes faint or weary;

he rested in order to show us an example of

the rest that we need

that we are to set aside one day to rest from our normal everyday work

and to focus on Him and the things that he has done

WE need that rest, not HIM

so, the sabbath does not apply to God

and now, since we know that God still works

on the sabbath

when Jesus says he works also

He is equating Himself with God

See He did not defend himself by clarifying the purpose of the sabbath

His defense as we just discussed was that God was working on the Sabbath

and he didn’t say anyone can work on the sabbath

No, he is saying that since God can work on the

Sabbath

so can he

Because Jesus has equal authority with God

and this is one thing the Jews and many today

cannot and will not submit to

See one of the biggest arguments against

Christianity is the fact that Jesus

is not God

many say he is a great teacher

many say a great role model

many say a great profit

in todays time of “tolerance”

all forms of religion lead to God right

that we are all on the same journey

your path is your path

and my path is my path

and they will all end in heaven

but see that cannot be true

because Christianity says that there is only one way

and that is through Jesus Christ

and that Jesus Christ is God

and it is only through him that we are to find eternal life and salvation

So if that is true the other ways must be false

But its ulmatley about submission right

this time of tolerance

see if we acknowledge that Jesus is God

and that the things he says are true

then we must acknowledge that we are to

submit to him

that we are to make him our everything

that we are to make him Lord of our life

And this is exactly what the Jews of that day

and many today simply cannot do

our hearts are a battlefield right

within us there are two opposing forces

at battle with each other

we battle against the flesh that wants

self worship

that wants the ultimate say so

that wants self rule

**PAUSE**

and the other side of that battle is our

desire to submit to the Lordship

of Jesus Christ

and each day we go to battle knowing that the Lord will prevail

and knowing that we can only with that battle thought the powerful

work of Jesus within us

And as I have already said this goes against tolerance

and this goes against culture

as for the most part the culture says to follow your own heart

and do what makes you feel better

not to submit

Now lets move on

see verse 18 tells us what what the Jews thought of Jesus being equal with God

John 5:18 “This is why the Jews began trying all the more to kill him: Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal to God.”

And in verses 19-23 we will see that Jesus

has that

Divine Authority which is our second point of the morning

Divine Authority

Now that we have established Jesus Diety

The fact that Jesus is revealing himself as God

He will double down on this

just to make sure the Jews, and us

don’t misinterpret what he said or meant

He will now go into just how that authority works

John 5:19 “Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, the Son is not able to do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, the Son likewise does these things.”

Now, when Jesus says Truly

or Truly Truly

he is saying, perk up your ears

this is something you have to listen to

It is essentially a double amen to start off a substantial truth

right and Jesus is saying

That He does only what God can do

Jesus always works in perfect harmony

with the Fathers will

And this sets a very substantial theological fact

It gives us a glimpse of the relationship between these 2 in the trinity

See it shows

Jesus’ equality with the Father

as well as his subordination to the Father

Everything we will learn during the next 3 weeks as we examine Jesus sermon here

stems from this as what we could call his thesis statement

and I will quote here from one of my commentators

Grant R. Osborne

“This says three things about the Father-Son relationship:

the Son does nothing apart from his Father;

the Son sees and knows his Father intimately;

and the Son is completely obedient to the Father,

so that he reveals the Father perfectly in everything he does.

This means that the “work” of the Son is as limitless as that of the Father.”

Grant R. Osborne, John: Verse by Verse, ed. Jeffrey Reimer et al., Osborne New Testament Commentaries (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2018), 130.

Lets continue with verse 20 as we continue to dive into his father son relationship as we look at the love of the father

John 5:20 “For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him greater works than these so that you will be amazed.”

most of the time when we see the word love in the NT it is referring to the greek word

AGAPEO

That is the love of will and choice right

But here it is the word PHILEO that is translated to love

and this type of love is the love of deep feelings

the warmth and deep affection that a father

feels for his son

it indicates an eternal

uninterrupted

all knowing love

that leaves it impossible for Jesus to be unaware of Gods will

The sharing is perfect

verse 19 said that Jesus sees what the father is doing

and here it says that

the father shows Jesus what he is doing

the union is perfect right

so much so that we see the love reciprocated

and that knowledge will be reciprocated as well

for all truth and knowledge is available to Jesus from the father

and it is within this truth and knowledge that we will see even greater works than these

we already saw that Jesus has authority over healing

but we will now see that he has authority over life and death

John 5:21“And just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so the Son also gives life to whom he wants.

The bible teaches that God only has the power to give life to the dead

this is an attribute that is unique to God only

and here, by Jesus having equality with God

and being God himself he will show that he too

has the power over the living and the dead

moreover, he has the power

to give spiritual life to the spiritually dead

Because just as God is the source of life

so Jesus is the source of life

and he wants to

and will give life to all that believe upon his name for salvation

another characteristic unique only to God is the ability to judge

and v22 says that

John 5:22 “The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son,”

So just as the Jesus has the authority to give life

he also has the authority to judge all men on the last day

this is an eschatological reality

thats a big word but it is one we should know

eschatology is the study of the last things

and here Jesus, through John,

is saying that for all of history

Jesus will give life to those that call upon his name

but at the end of time

Jesus has been entrusted with the judgement of all

now this is not a contradiction to what we learned in John 3:17 “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

See Jesus came to save the world

the first time

But he will come back again

that is why John 8:15–16 “You judge by human standards. I judge no one. And if I do judge, my judgment is true, because it is not I alone who judge, but I and the Father who sent me.”

See Jesus encounters every person and offers grace to those that believe

but to those that reject that grace

he will become their judge

PAUSE

now what is Jesus’ purpose in revealing all of this

as John 5:23 says

John 5:23 “so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”

one cannot fully believe in or honor God

without believing in and honoring Jesus

To worship God is to worship Jesus

and to worship Jesus is to worship God

Because Jesus is the only path to God

There are no rules

no traditions

no pre-resequites

no works that can get our sins

forgiven

There is only faith in the person of Jesus Christ

Whom is equal to God in all things

and is himself God

and we are able to put our faith in him because of

his outpouring of grace

and the same grace that he gives to us freely

we should give to those around us

grace that is loving

but also grace that is steadfast in opposition

We saw last week that Jesus is the Lord

over sickness

and this week that he is lord over the sabbath

and what that means is that Jesus can can heal us and give us rest

beacause when we are broken,

tired

weary

and we dont have the strength to go one

he is there

with all the authority given from God

to rescue us

should we only believe in him

Let us pray

Invitation

So now as we will enter into a time of invitation

This is a time of prayer and commitment

If you would like to pray with me

or one of our deacon about your salvation

or any other needs

now is the time

also, if you would like to begin the process of

becoming a member here

you can come up front as well

Let us sing