Father, please pour out your Holy Spirit upon us, lead us and guide us into all truth.
And this we ask in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.
Please be seated.
I heard what he said, and what he said to me was that if I knew who he really was,
I would fall down on my knees or on my face right then, and I would worship him.
And that's what he said to me.
And when I heard him say that, I said I wouldn't do that.
And I'm not talking about Jesus.
I'm talking about the guy who was sitting in a chair in my living room.
And the guy in the chair in my living room, it was July.
We'd had a good period of about, we'd had like three or four or five or a week,
or it would have been quite a while of plus 30 weather.
He was wearing long jeans.
He had a T-shirt on with a plaid jacket over him.
Our house was un-air conditioned.
And he had been dressed like that without changing his clothes for four or five days.
He hadn't had a shower.
You could smell him from several feet away, more than several feet away.
And he, with all of the seriousness, the mentally ill can be spectacularly serious,
just like a Supreme Court judge reading their judgment.
And with all of the seriousness that only a mentally ill man can have,
he said to me that if I knew who he was, I would fall down and worship him.
To which I said something to the effect of, I'm not going to worship you and you need a shower
and a change of clothes or something like that.
At the time, I was part of a group that had a ministry to those who were mentally ill.
Now, I say all of that because I don't know how well you followed what was going on in the gospel text,
which I just read a couple of minutes ago.
But in there, it's very clear that Jesus claims to be God.
Jesus claims to be God.
And here's the thing.
If you could put up the first point, that would be spectacular.
This is coming from John, who wrote one of the four ancient biographies of Jesus.
John is an eyewitness to the different things.
He's an earwitness and an eyewitness.
He writes this early biography when there are many, many people around who could contradict it.
There's no contradictions of it.
He's recording something which Jesus actually said.
And if Jesus actually said that people, the dead can hear his voice,
the dead can hear his voice and rise,
that he will judge every single human being who's ever lived,
that whatever God the Father does, he can do as well.
If Jesus said that with complete and utter seriousness,
and if he is not God, then he is either a con man or seriously mentally ill.
If he's a con man, his con backfired on him because he died in his mid-30s in a terrible, horrible death.
If he's mentally ill, it's still tragic the way he died.
But the main thing about it is the one thing you can't say about somebody who would say that,
just like nobody would say about my friend Bob,
sitting there unwashed for four or five days,
smelling from feet, many feet away,
that I should fall down and worship him.
A man like that just needs help, doesn't he?
In fact, one of the times in my life when I was very afraid was a little bit after this,
and he was still in our house, and he had a big knife,
and he was helping in the kitchen, cutting up an onion.
He started to get into a real, he got angry about something,
and he was a big guy, like, you know, for me.
He's like 6'3", 6'4",
and he was sort of waving this knife around angry,
and I was worried, actually, as to what he was going to do.
And shortly after that, of course,
he had to be put into the Royal Ottawa Hospital
because his psychoses just got too bad.
The point of it all is,
why should, I mean,
if Jesus says these things,
and the historical evidence is that he does,
if he says this and he's not God,
he's either a con man or seriously mentally ill.
The point is, we should have nothing to do with him.
Nothing to do with him whatsoever,
if he is not God.
And in fact, Islam is wrong on this
because they say that Jesus is the second greatest prophet.
The average Canadian who says that Jesus is a good guy,
they have a problem with the church,
but they love Jesus,
they can't possibly be correct.
They're well-meaning.
The Baha'i who see Jesus as a prophet,
they are well-meaning,
but they cannot possibly be correct
if Jesus says the things that he says.
If he is not God,
he's either a con man
or seriously mentally ill.
And we should flee from him.
Now, some of you might say,
George, I'm more than a little bit confused now
by what you've said.
Yeah, I get all that that you just said.
I get it.
But, you know, George,
when I was listening to you read that text,
what sort of struck me is
it wasn't Jesus, right?
George, it wasn't Jesus who said
he's claiming to be equal to God.
That's why the Jewish leaders were upset with him.
He didn't claim that.
But when, George,
isn't it the case that when he answers,
does it sort of sound like when he answers
that maybe he isn't God,
that he's not equal with God?
He doesn't say he's equal with God,
does he, George?
And doesn't it sort of say
that he only has these things
because God the Father gives it to him?
So, George, are you maybe
not reading it accurately?
Are you sort of reading it out of context?
Like maybe the Jehovah Witnesses
have something on it,
that he's just,
he's a man
who is sort of like what Islam
describes him at,
and God has given him these special powers,
but he's just a man.
Well, that's a very, very good question.
And in fact,
if there happened to be a Jehovah Witness here today,
they might actually say,
George, you've completely misunderstood the text.
He doesn't claim to be equal to God at all.
So let's look.
So if you have your Bibles,
it's John chapter 5.
John chapter 5.
And as I said,
the story before is the healing of the man.
John chapter 5.
In verse 17,
to explain why Jesus told him to carry,
told, you know,
why he did what he did,
healed on the Sabbath,
told the guy to carry his mat on the Sabbath,
Jesus says,
my father is working until now,
and I am working.
And the Jewish religious leaders,
they understand the grammar
and the context.
And in verse 18,
this is what John says.
This was why the Jews,
and in the text,
it could really be more accurately translated
as Jewish leaders.
This was why the Jewish leaders
were seeking all the more to kill Jesus,
because not only was he breaking the Sabbath,
but he was even calling God his own father,
making himself equal with God.
And those of you,
my preaching Bible actually happens to be
a red letter Bible.
It has the words of Jesus in red.
And if you have a Bible like that,
you'll see that all of the,
what follows is red.
So it's,
and if you look at verse 19,
it begins with so.
And in other words,
Jesus understands
that that's what's going on.
He understands what's going on
in the minds and the hearts
and the affections of the religious leaders.
And he probably understands as well
the doubts of his own disciples,
because making himself equal with God
is just not right.
And,
I mean,
they've seen him,
I don't want to be impolite,
but they've seen him pee
and poo.
And he claims to be equal with God.
That's a pretty big jump,
just to be honest.
And they've seen him eat,
they've seen him hungry,
they've seen him tired,
they've seen him thirsty.
It's a pretty big claim.
So Jesus knows what's going on
in their thoughts,
and that's why it says so.
So Jesus now makes a statement about it.
And this,
the truly,
truly,
I love the old King James Version,
verily,
verily.
Some of your things say,
I solemnly declare.
It could also be translated as,
amen,
and it's a verbal and literary technique
to draw attention to the solemn truthfulness of something.
And if I was to start saying,
amen,
all of you who've been drifting off,
would wake up,
right?
Whoa,
amen,
amen.
What,
what,
is it over?
And,
and it's,
so it's a literary technique,
it's a verbal technique,
it's a technique to aid,
aid memory.
And,
and so how does he answer?
He goes like this,
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.
Now,
you can see right off the bat,
it,
it does sound,
I mean,
it,
it's a bit confusing,
isn't it?
It,
it doesn't really sound like equal,
if he can't do anything of his own accord,
and if he can only do what the father is doing.
Then verse 20,
for the father loves the son and shows him all that he,
that he himself is doing,
and greater works than these will he show him,
so that you may marvel.
For as the father raises the dead and gives them life,
so also the son gives life to whom he will,
the father judges no one,
but has given all judgment to the,
the,
the son,
and we'll just sort of pause there.
You can see sort of a bit of the problem,
right?
So first of all,
Jesus doesn't begin by saying,
yes,
I'm equal to God.
In fact,
if you go on,
a Jehovah witness,
if they tell you that Jesus doesn't seem to be equal with God,
they're correct.
They haven't misread the Bible.
It's not that they have a weird Bible translation.
He actually doesn't say he's equal with God.
He doesn't,
he could just say,
yep,
you know,
that's me,
but he doesn't.
And the language is a bit confusing.
He only has certain things because the father gives it to him.
It doesn't sound like it's equal.
So actually,
if you could put up the next point,
that would be very helpful.
It's sort of a big point.
And we're going to park here just for a few minutes.
But the unceasing love of the father for the son and of the son for the father means that thinking in terms of equality will only confuse me.
See,
Jesus is a great teacher and he teaches to our hearts.
And he knows how our hearts will be easily confused.
You know,
look,
look at verse 20.
For the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing.
The unceasing love of the father for the son and of the son for the father means that thinking in terms of equality will confuse me,
will only confuse me.
So what on earth do I mean by that?
Well,
here's the,
it's not a point,
sort of a point,
but not written down.
Equality is medicine,
not food.
Equality is medicine,
not food.
Now,
this isn't putting down equality.
I'm not putting down equality.
We need equality,
don't we?
I mean,
there's many times we need medicine.
You know,
I used to be very prone to strep throat.
Before they had antibiotics,
I could have died from strep throat.
And I needed the antibiotics to get better and to not die.
Medicine's a very,
very good thing.
And there's a very,
very big problem of inequality.
I mean,
in Canada,
whatever,
a hundred years ago,
women wouldn't have had the vote.
They needed to become fully equal in the law.
Our neighbors to the south of us had slavery up until they had to fight a very,
very bloody civil war.
over that and many other issues.
But that was a very key part of it.
And those who were of African American descent,
they needed to be free.
They needed equality.
It's still an ongoing issue in our society.
A couple of years ago,
I was talking to a doctor,
and there had been a bit of thing in the news about some freestanding medical clinic,
because you're not allowed to have private medical care, by and large, in Canada.
And the arguments were going that you couldn't go to private because there'd be two-tiered medical,
that our country would be divided between those who could get better medicine and those who had to go to the socialized medicine.
And I mentioned that to my doctor, and he said, there already is two-tiered medicine in Canada.
He said, why is it that when a player on the Ottawa Senators needs an MRI,
they don't have to wait for a long time like an average Canadian?
Do you ever think about that?
And he said, you think anybody in the cabinet, at the time it was a conservative government,
he said, you think anybody in the cabinet has to wait as long as one of your kids to get a medical treatment?
He said, there's already two.
Anyway, that's a bit of an aside.
Now I've lost you all.
The rest of you are just going to be thinking about that,
and I've done a bad thing in my sermon.
I apologize.
So back to the topic.
It's not about Medicare.
But here's the thing.
We need equality.
We need medicine at different times,
and equality is exactly what we need.
People need to be treated equally.
And in fact, I would just say that one of the problems we're going to face,
and we already see it going on in our culture right now with some of the social trends
and the things which are going on,
is that we're losing our sense of equality before the law,
and we need to be careful about it.
But it is, in fact, only the biblical narrative,
only the biblical narrative and the biblical worldview grounds equality,
because only the biblical narrative, only the biblical narrative,
says that every human being that is conceived in the womb
is made fully in the image of God
and is worthy of equality with all other human beings.
Only the biblical narrative, not evolution, not Hindu mythology,
not Buddhism mythology, not indigenous mythology,
not ancient mythology.
Only the biblical narrative grounds equality.
And as the biblical worldview is lost in a culture,
we will lose equality in a culture as well.
Well, so the Bible, I'm not saying,
when I say that thinking in terms of equality will only confuse us,
I'm not denigrating equality.
Equality is very important medicine, and we should never lose it.
But deep down, deep down,
every human being wants something more than equality.
I mean, we want equality, but once we've got equality,
we want something more than equality.
What do you mean?
We want love and intimacy.
We want community.
We want love and intimacy and community,
which is grounded in equality,
but is something way more.
You see, in the best marriages
and in the best friendships,
there are rhythms.
And there are rhythms of sacrifice
and trust,
of asking and giving,
of command and of being.
If I come home someday,
and Louise said,
I've been to Costco,
and there's a whole pile of milk,
can you take it downstairs to the fridge?
And I said to her,
how dare you boss me around?
We're equal.
Well, that would not go over very well.
Nor should it.
I shouldn't get away with that,
should I?
Like if afterwards,
you know,
I came and complained to people
and said,
Louise is a little bit upset with me
for saying that to her.
Not single one of you would side with me,
which is right.
You shouldn't.
I would have been being a jerk.
Well, but she commanded me.
She asked me.
But it's the very nature of all intimacy
and all love,
of all affection,
that there is a request
and a sacrifice,
a giving and a denying.
It's, in a sense,
the air that love
and intimacy
breathes.
It's its food.
And that's what we desire
more than equality.
Medicine comes in
when that reciprocity
and that affection
and that intimacy
and that trust is broken.
But we want to move
beyond equality
to that which is more.
And so it is,
we see in this text,
that what confuses us
in this text
is actually
the diagramming,
the picturing
of how intimacy
and the unity
and the trust
actually works.
One more example.
A couple of years ago,
one of my sons
was playing indoor soccer
and he's just in a house league.
And occasionally,
his team would play
another team
and they were,
I mean,
they're not pros
because they're kids,
but they're in competitive soccer
all year round,
probably with special coaching.
And it was always,
especially in the early days
when they're just around
10 or 11 or whatever
and they're playing
other 10 or 11 year olds,
it's actually quite,
it was astounding to watch
because,
and this is partly
what makes sports
so wonderful to watch.
But with these,
so, you know,
my son and his friends,
they would sort of
get the ball
and then you could tell,
okay, you get the ball,
okay, what are we going
to do with the ball?
And so people would start
to move to be passed to
or to dribble.
But that's not how
the other trained team worked.
It seemed as if
the second one of them
got the ball,
the other four people
were moving
and rather than them
moving to where
they could have
the ball passed,
some of them were moving
to where the ball
would be three passes later.
It was just,
it was beautiful to watch.
Just all of a sudden,
they didn't all sort of
converge around the ball
or just move near it.
Some of them were going there,
some of them were going
way over there
and it would go like this,
like this,
and in.
And, you know,
you watch a football play
and it's just,
it's astounding
if you think about it.
These 22 guys,
11 on one team
and they,
and the ball is snapped
and they're all moving
all over the different places
and the next thing
the ball goes
and it looks
and it's just spectacular.
When you watch
the snowbirds fly,
they seem to be moving
as if they're one
and one person
obviously must be
some type of initiator
but what you don't see
is the initiation
and the command.
You don't see
sort of one person
doing something
and others all
trying to catch up.
It's as if
there's such a trained unity
that even though
there's one
whom they're obviously
going to be taking
their lead for,
you can't actually
even tell it
when you watch it
because it seems
as if they move as one.
What you're actually
seeing diagrammed here
is love and intimacy.
This unceasing love
of the father
for the son
and the unceasing love
of the son
for the father
so that there is
in sense
but one will.
You see,
why is equality
a problem for us?
What is it we usually
connect with equality?
If I'm equal,
I can do what I want.
Isn't that what
equal means to us?
The sign of equality
is independence.
The freedom to choose
to make our own decisions.
Well, as I said,
that's an important medicine.
You have slavery.
There's still slavery
throughout the world.
You want to give them equality.
You want to have it
so that they
can make their own choices.
But what do you want in marriage?
Marriage ain't going to work
if every day
the two of them
are saying,
we're equal.
You can't tell me
to do that.
That wouldn't even make
past the first date,
would it?
Wouldn't make it
past the first date.
Wouldn't work in friendship.
Doesn't work in husbands
and kids.
I mean,
parents and kids.
It just doesn't work.
But for us,
the sign of equality
is independence,
being able to do
what we want.
And that's why
Jesus,
who is such a good teacher,
who knows that equality
is medicine and not food,
who knows that
even in Genesis chapter 3,
what they wanted,
what human beings wanted
when they fell,
was to be equal with God.
And the sign of being
equal with God
was being able to do
whatever they wanted,
even if it meant
that God told them
not to do it,
even if it meant
eating of the knowledge,
the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil.
That equality for us
is so deeply connected
to independence
that if he had said,
yeah, we're equal,
we would have all
been confused.
And instead,
what we see here
is it's almost
like a creed.
And I was sharing
when I was speaking
in Parliament Hill
Christian Fellowship
on Parliament Hill
on Friday,
I was sharing,
you know,
if you think about it,
if you just think about it
for a second,
when Jesus was around,
they had no Facebook,
no iPhones.
It was such a different world.
And Jesus and these guys,
they would have walked
from place to place to place
and they weren't all
checking their Instagram updates,
they weren't listening
to podcasts,
they were just walking.
And Jesus must have spent
that time going over
and over and over
simple truths with them,
simple things that he said
over and over and over.
And there would have been
a culture that remembered
that far better
because they weren't filled
with the noise
that we're filled with.
But listen to this text
if you understand it
in terms of
that everything it says
about the Father
is true of the Son.
But it's describing it
in terms of intimacy.
Go back and we'll read
verse 19.
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,
the Son does likewise.
And our Jehovah Witness friend
says,
you know,
that shows they're not equal.
One moment.
God makes the sun rise.
Jesus just said
he does that.
God holds the galaxies.
Jesus just said
he does that.
I mean,
that's an unbelievable claim.
I shouldn't say unbelievable.
It is believable.
I hope you do believe it.
It's an astounding claim.
But it's mingled there
with this sense of intimacy.
The Father,
in some ways,
is the initiator
and the Son
is going to do everything
that the Father does
and it's going to look like
the snowbirds fly.
It's going to look like
an unbelievably spectacular
football team
or soccer team.
It's going to look like
a couple
where,
in a sense,
when the couple
is really in a good groove
and they're really in love
and one can sort of tell
almost instantly
from the other
what they're thinking
or what they're wanting
and they seem to act as one
as if there's some type
of a unity
and that's what's
being described here.
Verse 20,
For the Father loves the Son
and shows him
all that he himself
is doing.
One moment here.
It's saying that
the Father
is completely
and utterly
transparent
and visible
to the Son.
and the Son,
Jesus is saying
that him actually
seeing God
in his heart
and in his plans
and in his actions
and in his affections
does not
explode him
and unmake him.
That he can handle that.
And isn't that what happens
in,
I mean,
that's one of the things,
will marriage survive
the husband discovering
what the wife
is really like
and the wife discovering
what the husband
is really like.
When they see each other
when they're grumpy
and when they're
successful
and when they first
wake up in the morning
it's not a pretty sight
in my case
if you're looking at me
when you just wake up
in the morning.
You have to look at me.
And that's
what Jesus is saying.
Verse 21,
For the Father
raises the dead
and gives them life.
So also the Son
gives life
to whom he will.
This doesn't mean
he's willful
or just sort of picky.
It means that
it's just by his will
that life is given
to the dead.
It's in his power
to will it.
The Father judges
no one
but has given
all judgment
to the Son
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.
Why?
Because
whatever is true
of the Father
is true of the Son.
Jesus,
God,
the Son
made flesh
is fully God.
Fully and completely God
in this intimacy
of reciprocity
and giving.
Verse 24,
Truly, truly,
I say to you,
whoever
hears my word
and believes him
who sent me
has eternal life.
Present tense.
He does not come
into judgment
and here the word
judgment means that
you're not going
to be judged
and found guilty
but has passed
from death
to life.
Truly, truly,
I say to you,
an hour is coming
and is now here
when the dead
will hear the voice
of the Son of God
and those who hear
will live.
This is a wonderful text.
It works on three
different levels.
It's, of course,
on one hand
going to be speaking
of what's going to happen.
I think it's in six more chapters
when Jesus,
after Lazarus,
has been dead
for four days,
Jesus speaks
to Lazarus.
Dead four days
and Lazarus
comes back to life.
Not only does he
come back to his body
but the body
that the soul
that comes back
to the body
is not the body.
I mean,
that body's been
decomposing
for four days.
It's a spectacular act
of healing
and recreation
so that whatever
it was
that led Lazarus
to die
has been healed.
All of the decomposition
is completely
and utterly reversed.
It's almost,
in a sense,
like a new body
for the soul
to come back to
and Lazarus hears
and is made alive
and as we know
when the story
comes out.
But it's not only
talking at this level.
The Greek is very,
very subtle.
It's also talking
about the fact
that every single
human being
apart from Christ
is dead.
In fact,
the way we tend
on one hand,
I mean,
we tend to think
of conversion
on one hand
as some type
of a process
and on one level
becoming more like,
I mean,
not on one level,
on every level
becoming more like
Jesus in my day-to-day life
is a process.
But what Jesus
is saying here
is that we are
all spiritually dead
and we need
to hear his voice
and when we hear
his voice
and obey
and believe
that God,
in fact,
is the father of Jesus,
that all of this
is the father's,
it is the power
of God
for salvation
for all who believe.
It comes from God.
It is his provision.
It is his accomplishment
and that when I hear that
and receive it,
I move from death
to life.
It is a difference
not in degree
but in kind.
It is the difference
between a cut rose
and a rose bush
planted,
protected,
well-watered,
well-nourished
in the ground.
Completely different.
Difference in kind,
not a difference
of degree.
Verse 25,
verse 26,
for the father
has life
in himself
so he has granted
the son also
to have life
in himself
and he has given him
authority
to execute judgment
because he is
the son of man.
Do not marvel at this
for an hour is coming
when all who hear,
who are in the tombs
will hear his voice
and come out
and those that have done
good to the resurrection
of life
and those who have done
evil to the resurrection
of judgment
and here in the text
within the overarching
context
you can see
that what brings them out
is God's sovereign act
in the person of Jesus
and so have done good.
Goodness isn't the cause
of the resurrection
to life,
it is the sign
that they have given
their life to Jesus
because good works
is to flow
from saving faith.
It is not the cause
of resurrection
to life
or resurrection
to judgment,
it is the sign
of conversion.
Now,
the only reason
we should believe Jesus
is if he rose
from the dead.
Right?
This all,
Jesus making these claims
the only possible reason
any human being
could have
to believe Jesus
is that not only
does he rise
from the dead
but that his resurrection
from the dead
comes within a certain
type of context
otherwise it is just weird.
You know,
it would be like
a horror movie
or something like that
where the person
shoots somebody
in the head
and you see
the blood splatter
story
you know,
out the back
and then
you know,
a day later
they come up
and they start
chasing you
and it's just
a horror movie
it's just weird
it's just creepy
it's just crazy
and it makes
no empirical sense
whatsoever.
Right?
So it's not just
that Jesus
comes back to life
he has to come back
to life within
a certain context
and the context
is that of course
is that he's made
prophecies
the context is
as we're going to see
next week
is that he's saying
that the entire
Tanakh
the entire Old Testament
is pointing
to what's about to happen
and the other thing
is that it
it fits in
with our deepest
longings
and our fears
so what do I mean
by this?
If you could put up
the next point
that would be
very helpful
all of the best
science proves
that death
wins
and life loses
did you know that?
We have at least
one physicist here
you can ask him
the first law
of thermodynamics
wins
the Big Bang Theory
shows that
shows that at some
point in time
all of the planets
all of matter
will move so far
away that all life
will come to an end
and cease
all of it
everywhere
doesn't matter
if we jump
from planet
to planet
doesn't matter
if we are like
in the movie
altered carbon
and somehow
or another
figure out how
to digitalize
who we are
and keep putting
ourselves in
different bodies
doesn't matter
if any of those
things happen
at some point in time
first law of thermodynamics
wins
the Big Bang
wins
all life ends
all the best
science proves it
can you put up
the next slide
but here's the problem
human beings
have a deep longing
for life to be
stronger than death
and for love
to be stronger
than death
don't we?
doesn't every human
being feel
that there's something
just wrong
about death?
doesn't every human
being
even when we hear
that
there's part of us
that rebels
and says
but surely
that cannot be so
surely
life must be
stronger than death
in fact
surely love
must be stronger
than death
and surely
don't we sort of
have a deep
sense that love
and life
are deeply connected
that they're
intertwined
that life without
love wouldn't be
life
and love without
life
well what does
that even mean
that somehow
love should be
stronger than death
life should be
and is
in some way
even though
yes the best
science proves
that that intuition
is completely
and utterly
wrong
but shouldn't
it be the case
doesn't our
heart cry out
that that should
be the case
only the biblical
narrative explains
this
only the biblical
narrative explains
this
Buddhism doesn't
explain it
Islam doesn't
explain it
and atheism
definitely doesn't
explain it
it's only
this
biblical
teaching
that before
anything existed
the father
has loved the son
from all eternity
the son
has loved the
father
from all eternity
only the biblical
narrative that
God makes all
things good
and makes human
beings in the
image of God
so that we have
a natural desire
as image bearers
of God
to be connected
to God
and only the
doctrine of the
fall of how
we've turned
our back in God
and sin has come
into the world
and death through
sin
and so death
comes but still
we have this
sense this longing
that we should be
connected to our
creator
and it is in the
context of such a
story and in the
context of such
intuitions and such
longings and yearnings
that Jesus comes
next point please
John tells the
true story of the
death of death
in the death of
Jesus
John tells the
true story of the
death of death
in the death
of Jesus
look back to what
it says here in
verse
26
for as the
father has life
in himself
so he has
granted the
son also
to have
life
in himself
this is a
very very
important thing
because here's
here's how it
works there's two
different ways to
think of death
with you and me
one way to think
of it is it in
sense as I'm
walking through
life death is
following behind
me and I try
to jog and I
try to eat bread
and food that
has like lots of
grains and
sprouted and my
wife you know
make sure I eat
vegetables and
stuff like that
against my natural
desires and so
I'm walking along
and death is
following along
behind me but the
one thing we know
is death will
eventually catch me
another way that we
think of it is that
we're going through
our life and death
is standing there in
front of us and
in some point in
time we meet
death and what
happens death
always wins but
what it's saying
here about Jesus
when it says here
that he has life
in himself it
means that death
wasn't following
Jesus and death
wasn't facing
Jesus in a sense
it's saying that
death knew that
Jesus was there
and salivates over
him but cannot
touch him and so
it is that it's
very very powerful
that the way the
Bible describes the
death of Jesus is
the final words of
Jesus upon the
cross are it is
finished which means
it is accomplished
I have done and
accomplished what I
with the father's
heart had to have
accomplished and
then he gives up
his spirit he
enters death
death doesn't
catch him he
enters death and
what the Bible
describes is that
it is the true
story of the death
of death in the
death of Jesus
if you could put up
the next point and
all it is is verse
24 I tell you that
the solemn truth the
one who obeys my
message and believes
the one who sent me
has eternal life and
will not be condemned
but is passed over
from death to life
it's the present
tense because Jesus
knows that his
victory is coming and
he shares it he's
speaking from beyond
the grave to you and
me right now that when
we put our faith and
trust in Jesus that
Jesus who is has life
in himself that when
he dies he dies having
accomplished all that
he had to do so that
you and I that the
condemnation that I
deserved is on him
the accusations that
come against me come
on him the shame that
troubles me comes on
him the life I could
not live he gives to
me his conquering of
death he gives to me
the life that will is
needed for me to once
again live and see my
father face to face and
walk with him in the
garden in the cool of
the day he gives to me
he accomplishes it all
he wins it all he
offers it to me and
one of the things which
is so powerful and
precious about this
text is that we might
say well how is it
that even if Jesus
died on the cross maybe
he dies on the cross
for me but he doesn't
have the authority to
give me life but he
does have the authority
to give me life because
it says it might be well
maybe he dies upon the
cross but the one who
stands in judgment of
us is different than
Jesus but it says Jesus
is the one who stands
in judgment upon us and
he is the one who
died for us and maybe
maybe it's the case
that that you know
that God is doing all
of these other things
he doesn't know that
Jesus is dying on the
cross but Jesus knows
everything that God is
doing he knows
everything in his heart
he knows everything
that's going on and
the same one who knows
everything that's going
on is the same one who
dies for us and is the
one who promises us
that when we put our
faith and trust in him
that we have that we've
passed from death to
life that we are no
longer cut flowers that
we are his if you could
put up the final point
I cannot honor Jesus
too much I mean what
Jesus is saying here
science tells us that
death wins but we see
we have this intuition
that death cannot
possibly be the final
word the highest word
the deepest word the
oldest word the
eternal word the
everlasting word something
within all of us says
that cannot possibly be
the case and the only
way that we can
understand that that
not is in fact the
entire case is because
of Jesus where we see
the death of death and
the death of Jesus and
it means that all of our
truest and deepest
yearnings find their
rest in him and and this
discussion of the
intimacy of God and the
fact that he is the
creator and the
sustainer and and the
source of life and that
that the fact that life
and love in fact are at
one and at unity and at
peace and goodness and
power and beauty and all
of the our minds can rest
in these our affection can
rest in Jesus our fears
find their rest in Jesus
because of who he is and
what he's done and the
wonderful thing about
Jesus is that no one who
comes to him will ever be
denied no one who comes
to him in the words of
verse 24 will ever be
thought to be too
unworthy no one who
comes to him is too
little or too unimportant
to be passed over
because he says that he
comes to do it for us
he loves the important
poobahs in the eyes of the
world and he loves the
least and there is no one
so broken no one so far
from God that these
words of verse 24 that if
you believe and obey that
you receive and trust that
you will pass from death to
life please stand
bow our heads in prayer
father we thank you for
Jesus we ask that you help
us to honor him more and
more and father we ask that
you help us to turn to him
that we could come to him
with our fears that we will
know that we can come to him
father with our learn our
yearnings and our longings
father that we might come to
him for life and father we
thank you for him we thank you
that he died the death that we
could not die without coming
into judgment that he did that
for us he did for us out of
love for us father make us
disciples of Jesus who are
gripped by the gospel learning to
live for his glory father draw us
to yourself we ask this in the
name of Jesus your son and our
savior amen