Religion - The Ultimate Promise breaker

Last week we took a look at a man who had his eyes fixed on a pool. His hope was in the promise of this pool. This man was a paralytic who longed to be healed after enduring 38 years in this condition.

The pool held a certain promise for him: that if he were to be the first to enter after the stirring of the waters, that he would be healed. However, he looked to a pool that offered a promise that could not deliver, at least not to this man. There were countless others that were faster than he ever could hope to be.

But then Jesus enters the scene, and with love and compassion lets the man know that He CAN deliver the healing, if the man would just believe.

We saw last week the physical healing of this man in John chapter 5 last week. We discussed that just like this man had his eyes and hopes placed in something that would never deliver what it promised, we also often set our eyes on things that will never deliver what they promise.

The unsaved are tempted to look into the pool of self-righteousness and good works; to think, "If I can just be a good person, surely that will earn me acceptance in God's sight."

But that promise will never deliver, for all of us have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Saved individuals often look into the pool of self-righteousness as well, trying to earn more of the Father's love and favor. And yet, Ephesians tells us that we are already blessed with EVERY spiritual blessing. We could never earn more of the Father's love, he already demonstrated the greatest version of His love toward us in that while we were yet sinners, He sent His Son to die for us.

Sometimes we look to various pools that promise a satisfied and fulfilled life, but those things can never deliver the satisfaction that they promise. We look to the pools of money, career paths, material possessions, beauty, a better physique, family, friendships, and other relationships. None of those things and none of those people can possibly give us the satisfaction that Jesus can.

We learned last week that we must tear our eyes off of those pools, and turn our eyes upon Jesus alone.

So as this man finally looked at Jesus in faith, rejecting the empty promise of the pool, Jesus healed him and commanded him to get up, take up his bed, and walk.

Let's read this story once again as we look at different things that happened after all of this.

John 5:2-11 Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches. 3 In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. 4 For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole of whatsoever disease he had. 5 And a certain man was there, which had an infirmity thirty and eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole? 7 The impotent man answered him, Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another steppeth down before me. 8 Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk. 9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. 11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk.

As we saw last week, this man took his eyes, and with them his faith, off of the pool of Bethesda and put them on Jesus and was healed. As we continue to read, you will see that this man does, in fact, get up, take up his bed, and walk away from that pool. And I want to note something with this man, a similarity that he shares with the paralytic that was let down through the roof of the house and was healed by Jesus.

No, the similarity is not that neither of them could not walk, the similarity is in the way they were healed. They were both healed by Jesus, yes, but in each of these men we see that they were healed by faith. I want to make a clear distinction this morning between faith and belief.

Faith takes belief a step further. Belief is knowing something is true in your heart and mind. Faith, on the other hand, is acting upon that belief.

Let's use this the example of the man at the pool of Bethesda. When Jesus said, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk," what did the man do? He got up. The same goes for the man lowered through the roof of the house. In neither instance did Jesus reach down and pick the men up. He told them, "Get up and walk," and when He did, these men had to put what they believed into action. At that moment, they were healed, but they had to move their joints, wiggle their toes, put weight on their legs and take steps. This showed that their belief was real and practical. Practical belief is called faith. Faith, we are taught in the book of James, is always accompanied by works. Faith cannot exist without works, only belief, mental acknowledgment.

So we see this man exercise great faith in Jesus and His words, and he is healed.

But even though that would make a great ending to the story, it is not the end. The end of this story is a bit more ominous than joyful, I'm afraid.

Remember what day this was? This was a Sabbath day. Now, Sabbath could mean one of two things. The regular Sabbath was on Saturday. Whereas we start our day at 12:00 midnight, the Jews start their day at 6pm. So on Friday at 6pm until Saturday at 6pm would be their regular Sabbath. The Sabbaths are days of rest, and by Mosaic law, the law that God gave Moses for the Jews, no work was to be done on the Sabbath day. It was a day meant for rest.

There were other Sabbaths as well that did not always fall on a Saturday. These days were special, sacred festivals, like the Passover feast, the feast of the tabernacles, etc. There were 3 major feasts that required the presence of every able-bodied, adult, Jewish male to present themselves in the Temple. These holy days were affixed to a certain calendar date that not always fell on a Saturday but were still considered a Sabbath. Now work was to be done on these days.

Now, God had given Moses some detailed instructions about the Sabbath. You can read these in Exodus, Leviticus, and Deuteronomy. But over the course of time, teachers and doctors of the law, and the religious sect of the Pharisees had added onto these instructions instructions of their own that were, by Jesus' time, regarded with the same authority as the instructions God gave.

So where God had told the people that they would do no work on the Sabbath, the Pharisees had added interpretations to that. In the 400 years of silence between the Old and New Testaments, a great deal of attention was given to the interpretation of Mosaic Law, in particular, rules regarding the Sabbath.

The inspired writers of Scripture did not give much detail in their writings about the Sabbath, especially when compared to the number of embellishments that later Jewish scholars such as the scribes and Pharisees did.

These teachings and interpretations were passed on mainly through oral traditions. There were few formal writings that compiled these until the 3rd century AD when they were all compiled into a collection called the Mishna. The Mishna contained 63 tractates, formal papers dealing with various segments of Mosaic Law. If you were to pick up an English collection of the Mishna it would be about 800 pages long.

So the Mishna was a commentary on the Law, but there were commentaries on the commentary also. These were assembled later into what is known as the Talmud that has 60 volumes of commentary on the Mishna and was, and still is for Orthodox Jewish followers, the guide for daily living.

Though the compiling of the Mishna was in its infancy during the time of Jesus' ministry on earth, the oral traditions were very strong and deeply regarded as "on the level with," and sometimes even greater than, the Mosaic Law.

An example of how these traditions differed from the actual stated law is this. The Torah, the Law given to Moses, said that no work was to be done on the Sabbath. Tradition added to this by taking it much further. To keep the instruction of "no work on a Sabbath" you had to define "work." A thing that would be considered work would be carrying a burden. Seems pretty straightforward so far. Well, what constitutes a burden? After 400 years of interpreting the various laws, it was determined that pretty much anything that wasn't clothing that was worn on your body was a burden. To even walk out of the house with a handkerchief was considered to be in violation of the Sabbath. Of course, many of the writings recorded in the Mishna and Talmud deal with loopholes. So if you needed your handkerchief with you on a Sabbath day, you could sew it to your clothes, and then it would be part of a worn garment and therefore not a burden you were carrying anymore. But make sure you sew it on on Friday, because running a needle and a thread through material would be considered labor and therefore a violation of the Sabbath.

Endless hours of debate were spent among the scholars trying to determine if even moving a lamp from one room of the house to another was violating the Sabbath.

So now, Jesus heals this man with the command, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk," and it was a Sabbath day. In the eyes of the Pharisees, the act of rolling up your bed and picking it up and carrying it were all violations of the Sabbath. It certainly defied the traditions they so dearly held, but it did not violate the law. Elsewhere in his confrontations with the Pharisees about the Sabbath, Jesus would clearly show his actions and commands did not violate the laws of the Sabbath, simply the traditions of men.

Traditions that many times, even in their aim to keep the Law of God even more closely, actually broke the law of God.

In Matthew and in Mark there is an interaction between Jesus and the Pharisees where they ask Jesus why the disciples don't keep the tradition. This "tradition" they spoke of was not just a customary thing to do, they are referring to the Oral Law or Oral Traditions that had been handed down from generation to generation. The scribes had begun compiling these traditions into formal writings around 10AD, now, those writings would not be complete for another 200 years, but these traditions were already about 200 years old when Jesus comes along.

Jesus responds to the Pharisees with this statement: Mark 7:6-9 He answered and said unto them, -- Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition.

Some of the traditions and some of the "loopholes" directly violated the laws that God had given to the people.

And now, as this man is healed and starts to walk out of that area carrying his bed, he in encountered by a group of Pharisees. John 5:9-13 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath.

10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed. 11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and walk. 12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto thee, Take up thy bed, and walk? 13 And he that was healed wist not who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place.

Remember that when John refers to "the Jews," he is referring to the religious rulers of the Jews that would have included the Pharisees and Sadducees. These men quickly go to this man and ask him what he is doing. "Don't you know that carrying your bed on the Sabbath day is breaking Sabbath law?"

And the man's answer is perfect: "The one that healed me, he told me to take up my bed and walk." Listen, when Jesus tells us to do something, regardless of what is law, what is tradition, or what is custom, we ought to do it with the same boldness that this man did.

He didn't argue with Jesus about the bed, knowing full well the traditions that were in place. When Jesus told him to take up his bed, he just did it, and when confronted by it, he didn't argue with them either. He just said, "The one that healed me told me to do it."

The response from the Jewish rulers is demeaning to Jesus as they ask him, "Who is this man that told you to take up your bed and walk on the Sabbath?" Remember, in the eyes of the Jews, the only one to be able to amend any law (which they considered their traditions to be the law as well) was God Himself. So they are upset that a mere man would dare instruct someone to go against their traditions.

Now Jesus had not told this man his name, and by that time, Jesus had disappeared into the crowd, so this man was unable to point Jesus out. But later that day, Jesus and this man meet up again, this time in the temple.

John 5:14 Afterward Jesus findeth him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, thou art made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee.

This ex-paralytic, who, because of his condition was not allowed in certain areas of the temple, takes the opportunity now that he is whole to go to the temple and worship. It is very possible that he is there offering sacrifices at the altar for the first time in 38 years. Sacrifices of thanksgiving and praise for the Lord healing him.

And Jesus approaches the man, and this is where we may get a hint that the condition that he was in may have been the consequence of some sin. Now, this in not a sure thing, as Jesus could have simply been telling the man that the consequences for sin are far more serious than 38 years of being unable to walk. But Jesus tells him, "You are healed now. Don't sin, because sin can cause worse things to come about in your life."

And when they are done talking, the man innocently goes back to tell the Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who told him to take up his bed and walk.

John 5:15-16 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. 16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.

You might think, well, that's a bit harsh, but the punishment for breaking the Sabbath was indeed death. And this is the first time we see that the Jewish rulers are intent on killing Jesus, a goal they will reach in a just 2 more years.

But that is not the only thing that outrages them. They confront Jesus, and the response He gives drives them wild with anger. John 5:17-18 But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. 18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

When Jesus responded this way, he was claiming God as his Father, the only one that could legitimately work on the Sabbath, because he is the God that does not rest or sleep, and it drives these religious leaders mad. From that point on is when they start to gather enough evidence to kill Jesus.

But Jesus, knowing their thoughts, doubles down on his claims. From verse 19-47 he backs up the claim that he is the Son of God, that he is there to bring life, and that the religious leaders are lost despite the religiosity.

We won't read all of it, for sake of time, but we will read a lot of it. We'll start with verse 19-20 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. 20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

This is a verse that we have studied on Wednesday nights as we go through the Experiencing God study. Jesus does what he sees the Father do. One of the reasons Jesus came to earth was to manifest, to show forth, the Father. That is why later he tells his disciples, "If you've seen me, you've seen the Father." And he is able to say that because Jesus only does what the Father does. He does this because of the special relationship they have, both being God.

Verses 22-24 For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: 23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. 24 Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.

Here Jesus is asserting his authority to pass judgement. Since he has that authority, he is to be honored, and those that do not honor him do not honor the Father.

There are those that will say that Jesus never claimed to be God. This right here is an in-your-face claim of being one with God and equal with God. Jesus is saying in no uncertain terms, "If you do not honor me, you do not honor God."

And he follows up those words with a clear message that to have salvation, you have to have faith that Jesus was not just a man, but that he was truly sent as the Son of God.

In verses 33 he reminds these Jewish leader that they had inquired of John what his message was, who had sent him, and if he was the Messiah, the promised savior.

V.33-37 Ye sent unto John, and he bare witness unto the truth. 34 But I receive not testimony from man: but these things I say, that ye might be saved. 35 He was a burning and a shining light: and ye were willing for a season to rejoice in his light.

36 But I have greater witness than that of John: for the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me. 37 And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape.

He reminds them of the testimony that John gave, and that it was true. But as bright a light as John's testimony was, Jesus had the testimony of the Father as well. When Jesus was baptized, all those that were present heard God's voice explicitly say, "This is my beloved Son."

But not only that, even the miracles that Jesus performed were done as a witness to his divine nature. The man that these Pharisees and other rulers had seen walk down the street holding his bedroll was testimony to the fact that Jesus had God's power working in him.

Verse 38-40 And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not.

39 Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. 40 And ye will not come to me, that ye might have life.

"Search the Scriptures," Jesus said. Those Scriptures that the religious leaders of Israel said they believed contained eternal life, those books of the Law, the Psalms, and the Prophets all spoke of Jesus. They testified to his being the son of God and the savior of the world.

Yet even though these men claimed to believe the Scriptures, none of them had come to Jesus seeking eternal life, which means that they had not truly studied the scriptures.

The last verses say this:

John 5:41-47 I receive not honour from men. 42 But I know you, that ye have not the love of God in you. 43 I am come in my Father's name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive. 44 How can ye believe, which receive honour one of another, and seek not the honour that cometh from God only? 45 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father: there is one that accuseth you, even Moses, in whom ye trust. 46 For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. 47 But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?

That phrase in verse 41, "I receive not honor from men," does not mean that he does not wish for people to honor him, or that no one honors him. What that means is that Jesus' honor does not originate from men. God the Father honors him. His worth is in who he is - the Son of God. He is honored by the Father and that is enough for him. Jesus never pandered to the people.

Jesus continues to explain that even though he comes in his Father's name, the religious leaders do not receive him, but Jesus was also making a prophecy saying that in the future, someone would come in his own name and he would be received as the Messiah. This could be a prophecy of the anti-christ that will lead all nations astray, but closer to Jesus' time, it is a prophecy of a man named Simon bar Kokhba who led a Jewish rebellion against the Roman Empire in A.D. 132, about 100 years after Jesus' death and resurrection. He would establish a Jewish state that would last for three years before once again being put down by the Romans. He stylized himself as "the Prince" as he sought the honor of others, and during this time he was believed by many, including the Sanhedrin, which was an assembly of Jewish religious leaders and doctors of the law. The Roman emperor Hadrian defeated bar Kokhba and with his death died any hope that he was actually the Messiah.

But this kind of gives you the image of the kind of Messiah the Jews were looking for - one that would wage war against human enemies.

After this revelation, Jesus tells these religious leaders that it isn't even necessary for the Father to bring up accusation against them. They stand accused already by the words of Moses, whom they falsely claim to follow, but they never realized Moses' prophesies concerning the Messiah fulfilled in Jesus Christ.

Had they truly believed and followed Moses' teachings, they would have been accepting of Jesus as the Messiah.

The word religion means "a particular system of faith and worship." The title to this sermon is Religion - The Ultimate Promise Breaker.

Last week we saw that the pool that the paralytic was hoping would cure him held a promise that would never be able to deliver to this particular man.

This week I want to look at religion in the same way. Religion has probably led more people through the gates of hell than any other one thing on this earth, because religion often claims, or is ascribed, a promise that it does not have the power to fulfill.

Religion is a system of faith and worship. That is it. Nothing more. I challenge any person to find in their Bible a single passage that indicates that any certain system of faith and worship could ever save a single soul from sin.

There is one thing that can save from sin, it starts with the letter "R" also, but it is not Religion, it is Relationship. And that RELATIONSHIP is is only through Jesus Christ, and no amount of religious acts, routines, or practices will achieve that relationship.

Religion is what the Pharisees were counting on. The more detailed they could get their system of faith, their system of worship, their system of following the rules, the more they could keep every detail of every rule, then the more they believed they were closer to God. Listen, religion on its own never brought anyone closer to God.

Remember what we read in Mark? What Jesus told the Pharisees? "These people honor me with their lips, with their system of worship, but their hearts are far from me."

To the lost, religion, a system of practicing faith and routines and sacraments and rules offers to bring them into the good graces of God.

So many religions, so many so-called "Christian" religions and denominations teach this. You need to follow these rules if you want to be forgiven. You need to partake of certain sacraments if you want to gain eternal life. You need to atone for your sins by giving a certain amount of money or serving a certain time in the church if you hope to have eternal life.

But it will never be enough because the Bible tells us in Titus 3:5-7 That is is "Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost; 6 Which he shed on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Saviour; 7 That being justified by his grace, we should be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life."

DO you find religion anywhere in that passage? No, it is a gift; no works, all grace. It is all undeserved favor from the Lord through the blood of Jesus.

If today you are here and you are not saved, there is no amount of praying, pilgrimages, giving offerings, reading the Bible or any other religious practice that will save you. Salvation comes from a RELATIONSHIP with the Father through his Son, Jesus Christ.

Christians, we also fall for the trap of religion. It is so easy to fall for the false promise that religion offers to us as well. Not, maybe not the promise of salvation, but the promise of nearness to God. Again, I want to say that religion alone will not bring any man close to God. You could be like the Pharisees- do everything that the law says, add even stricter "laws" and obey them, and none of that would bring you close to Jesus. You could hold onto traditions and the "old way of doing things", but that doesn't bring you closer to the Lord either.

But it is so easy to get caught up in it. The Pharisees were so proud of about all the things they did not do and did not participate in. I have heard too many sermons preached on so many things that are not in the Bible. To many Christians who hold so dearly onto traditions that have no Biblical foundation, thinking these traditions and practices are somehow allowing them better access to God than those that do not practice them.

I have heard rants about everything. Preachers teaching that women ought not to wear pants, that people ought not to have tattoos, that if the pulpit isn't wood then the preaching has no power.

I have heard that pews are more sacred than chairs, suits are more holy than tshirts, and back when I used to wear a suit and tie every Sunday, a pastor once told me I should only be wearing a white button up shirt, because to wear a colored shirt was vain-glorious.

I've heard that owning a TV was sinful, going to the movies was sinful, singing contemporary Christian songs was not as God honoring as singing hymns. There are those that believe that the clothes you wear, the the instruments you use in worship, the Bible version that you read out of, or type of decorations in your church will affect how close you can get to God.

Those are all preferences. And if you make a system out of it and traditions out of it, it's a religion. And if you focus on that religion and not on the relationship then you'll grow farther and farther away from God, and you won't even realize it.

Don't get me wrong. There are things that the Bible specifically commands us to do. We are commanded to sing. We are commanded to observe the Lord's supper. We are commanded to study the Scripture. We are commanded to make disciples.

The problem begins when we start adding to those commands. We become Pharisaical when we say, "Only certain types of songs are God honoring," "The Lord's supper must be observed every three months, or it is not enough," "Only this version of the Bible is the right one," "and only this method of disciple-making is valid."

When we start to add more to the Bible than what God has said in it, then fall into the same trap that the Jews did: setting traditions on par with what God has actually said. And then, we get proud of it, much like the Pharisees did. Those that fall into this trap look on others with judgment like the Pharisee that looked at a repentant sinner, and looked toward heaven and said, "Lord, I thank you that I am not like this man. I fast twice a week. I give tithes of all that I own. I am not an extortioner or unjust. Thank you for allowing me to be so great."

But the man that was being judged by this Pharisee, he knelt before God and cried, "Lord, be merciful to me, a sinner." Jesus said that it was this man, the repentant sinner, that left that altar and went home justified, closer in relation to the Father than that Pharisee ever could have dreamed.

Our standard for living is Jesus Christ. God gave us his word to reveal himself and his will to us. If it's not in here [in the Bible], it doesn't matter all that much. If it is here, we need to follow it; if it is not, we need to use Godly discernment and Godly wisdom in the way we approach it.

In either case, none of it should cause us to be boastful or prideful.

Life Groups

What are things that stood out to you throughout this sermon this morning?

Can you recall a time when you felt the weight of religious expectations or traditions overshadowing the essence of your relationship with God?

How can someone overcome or navigate those challenges?

Are there specific examples in today's churches where traditions have taken precedence over the core teachings of Jesus?

How would you define the difference between religious practices and a genuine relationship with God?

Are there aspects of your faith that you've realized might be more rooted in tradition than in a personal connection with God?

How can Christians avoid becoming self-righteous or judgmental in their walk of faith?

How can believers maintain a balance between adhering to essential scriptural commands and avoiding the legalistic pitfalls of traditions?

What criteria can Christians use to evaluate whether a practice is scripturally mandated or a man-made tradition?

Why is it crucial to acknowledge that salvation is a gift of grace rather than something earned through religious actions?

Can anyone share personal examples of how cultivating a relationship with God has transformed your life and perspective.

10DEC2023@GNBC