WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:18.760 It's an interesting fact that the first commercially distributed bottled water in the U.S. was sold here in Boston by Jackson Spa in 1767. 00:00:18.760 --> 00:00:25.740 And that was in fact the origin of bottled water and carbonated water in particular was imitation spa water. 00:00:25.739 --> 00:00:35.679 And because people believed that mineral springs had therapeutic properties and drinking from them or bathing in them could bring healing. 00:00:36.599 --> 00:00:38.159 And this is the case even today. 00:00:38.159 --> 00:00:46.799 It's called balneotherapy where you assign that doctors prescribe people bathe in mineral water in particular. 00:00:46.980 --> 00:00:48.799 It is very common in Europe and Japan. 00:00:49.039 --> 00:00:51.200 It's for healing from certain ailments. 00:00:51.200 --> 00:00:55.920 Because hot water can dissolve more minerals than cold water. 00:00:56.359 --> 00:01:01.000 For that reason they do contain more calcium, sodium bicarbonate as well as other things. 00:01:01.440 --> 00:01:11.020 And reputable journals that you can find do talk about how hot springs increases blood circulation, relaxes tense muscles, alleviates chronic joint and muscle pain. 00:01:11.640 --> 00:01:17.040 Could treat arthritis to a degree and eczema as well because of its silica and sulfur content. 00:01:17.040 --> 00:01:24.340 And that's why if you find that some of the most popular hot springs throughout the world, they tout their medicinal value. 00:01:24.840 --> 00:01:29.540 And some of them have grown alongside them are rehabilitation clinics for those with disabilities. 00:01:30.280 --> 00:01:35.180 And that's very similar to the situation you find right here in this passage in John 5, 1 to 18. 00:01:35.840 --> 00:01:41.880 And if you pay attention to the verse numberings in the Bible, you may have noticed that it skips verse 4. 00:01:41.879 --> 00:01:46.659 And that might leave you wondering, why does it skip verse 4? 00:01:46.859 --> 00:01:51.340 And if you have the ESV Bible, NIV Bible has a similar footnote. 00:01:51.439 --> 00:01:52.699 If you look at the footnote, it says, 00:01:52.699 --> 00:01:57.899 Some manuscripts insert wholly or in part, waiting for the moving of the water. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:02.939 For an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred the water. 00:02:03.579 --> 00:02:08.699 Whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had. 00:02:08.699 --> 00:02:16.139 Right. Now, this verse was not omitted from our present-day translations because it offends our modern scientific sensibilities. 00:02:16.639 --> 00:02:23.039 Rather, it was omitted because with more archaeological discoveries and advanced techniques for recovering manuscripts, 00:02:23.599 --> 00:02:30.159 scholars have determined that this verse was a gloss or a comment that was later added by a scribe 00:02:30.159 --> 00:02:33.019 and was mistakenly included as part of the original text. 00:02:33.339 --> 00:02:35.399 That's why it's omitted from our Bibles today. 00:02:35.400 --> 00:02:43.460 And as they do that, because there were a lot of English Bibles already in print with a lot of commentaries using the verse numberings, 00:02:43.599 --> 00:02:47.759 instead of changing the verse numbering and throwing off the rest of the verse numbering in John, 00:02:48.080 --> 00:02:52.400 they decided just to skip verse 4 so that we can keep that intact. 00:02:52.500 --> 00:02:53.439 So that's what's going on here. 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:58.159 And whether an angel really stirred up the pool or not is not our present concern 00:02:58.159 --> 00:03:01.200 because it wasn't part of the original Bible there. 00:03:01.199 --> 00:03:06.939 But the pool of Bethesda certainly appears to have had some kind of medicinal properties. 00:03:07.719 --> 00:03:10.659 The water was stirred up, as it says in verse 7. 00:03:10.839 --> 00:03:13.899 And you can still visit the archaeological remains of the pool in Jerusalem. 00:03:14.519 --> 00:03:20.280 And some ancient writers who write about the pool of Bethesda note that it had a redness to it, 00:03:20.620 --> 00:03:27.399 which is a common way ancient writers refer to mineral water that potentially had healing properties. 00:03:27.400 --> 00:03:31.240 And so 2,000 years later, not much has changed, has it? 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:36.520 People still seek out hot springs, go to spas, and they seek medicine because people don't like to be sick, 00:03:37.060 --> 00:03:38.640 especially those with chronic illnesses. 00:03:38.640 --> 00:03:39.540 They want to be healed. 00:03:39.620 --> 00:03:42.400 They want to find remedies, both modern and ancient. 00:03:43.460 --> 00:03:49.759 And in this passage, Jesus heals one such man of his disabling condition. 00:03:49.759 --> 00:03:59.019 And as he does so, he demonstrates that he is the Lord of creation who heals both our sicknesses and sins. 00:04:00.399 --> 00:04:05.340 And so in verses 1 to 9, John tells us about how Jesus heals sicknesses here. 00:04:05.500 --> 00:04:11.219 And in verses 10 to 15, John tells us about how Jesus heals sin, our ultimate disease. 00:04:11.539 --> 00:04:16.699 And then finally, in verse 16 and 17, he tells us why Jesus is able to do this, 00:04:16.699 --> 00:04:18.959 namely that he is the Lord of creation. 00:04:19.759 --> 00:04:23.459 And look at verses 3 to 7 with me to begin. 00:04:24.379 --> 00:04:28.459 It tells us about a very desperate invalid who was seeking healing. 00:04:29.019 --> 00:04:35.300 And because of the healing value of Pool of Bethesda, maybe miraculous, maybe just from the offspring, 00:04:35.740 --> 00:04:39.360 there lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, and paralyzed. 00:04:40.300 --> 00:04:44.120 And one of them was a man who has been an invalid for 38 years, it says. 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:50.879 The exact nature of this man's condition is not specified, but it was clearly a disabling condition, 00:04:51.240 --> 00:04:57.379 because he writes later in verse 7 that he didn't have enough mobility to get himself into the pool in time to receive healing. 00:04:58.379 --> 00:05:01.920 And so likely the man was lame or partially paralyzed. 00:05:01.920 --> 00:05:04.379 So he was bedridden for some reason. 00:05:05.220 --> 00:05:09.420 And John tells us this, that this man had been an invalid for 38 years. 00:05:09.640 --> 00:05:17.860 And the length of this man's suffering and his disability is there to show us what a remarkable healing this is. 00:05:18.020 --> 00:05:21.319 It's not that he had, you know, twisted his ankle or pulled a hamstring. 00:05:21.319 --> 00:05:26.019 This is a 38-year-old invalid, I mean, 38 years of disability. 00:05:26.779 --> 00:05:33.579 And so if you look at this man's condition, he's clearly, and you look around the pool at all the multitude of invalids there, 00:05:34.139 --> 00:05:37.139 there's no doubt as to why this man is here, right? 00:05:37.159 --> 00:05:38.079 He's seeking healing. 00:05:39.539 --> 00:05:42.719 Yet Jesus asks him in verse 6, 00:05:43.519 --> 00:05:44.959 Do you want to be healed? 00:05:45.939 --> 00:05:49.180 And the sick man is understandably exasperated. 00:05:49.180 --> 00:05:51.439 You could hear his frustration. 00:05:51.579 --> 00:05:56.240 He says, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. 00:05:56.699 --> 00:05:59.720 And while I am going, another steps down before me. 00:06:00.400 --> 00:06:04.420 So he doesn't yet understand exactly who he's talking to. 00:06:04.439 --> 00:06:09.100 Because if he knew who Jesus was and that he could heal him right there and then, 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:11.540 he would not be responding in such a way. 00:06:11.579 --> 00:06:15.199 But in his limited understanding, the only way he could possibly get healing, 00:06:15.199 --> 00:06:21.599 the faint hope of healing in this situation is by getting into that pool as soon as the water was stirred. 00:06:22.519 --> 00:06:27.620 And so with that, he grumbles to Jesus for asking this obvious question. 00:06:28.459 --> 00:06:29.539 Yet Jesus is patient. 00:06:30.300 --> 00:06:31.060 He's compassionate. 00:06:31.180 --> 00:06:32.480 He says to him in verse 8, 00:06:33.219 --> 00:06:33.719 Get up. 00:06:34.759 --> 00:06:36.959 Take up your bed and walk. 00:06:36.959 --> 00:06:45.219 And John notes that at once the man was healed and he took up his bed and walked. 00:06:46.419 --> 00:06:52.180 This is not like the campaign of kind of modern day pseudo healers that go around, 00:06:52.259 --> 00:06:57.639 the healing people, where they carefully curate at their campaigns who comes up on the stage. 00:06:58.319 --> 00:07:03.139 They make sure that it's people who have diseases or ailments that you can't readily see 00:07:03.139 --> 00:07:04.719 that come up on the stage. 00:07:04.720 --> 00:07:08.360 So that when they declare, oh, you are healed, there's no way to actually verify. 00:07:08.720 --> 00:07:10.400 So someone with cancer or diabetes. 00:07:10.820 --> 00:07:14.260 But if you find someone that is lame or blind and they're on their wheelchair, 00:07:14.440 --> 00:07:15.780 they make sure they sit in the back. 00:07:16.220 --> 00:07:17.940 They don't come anywhere near the stage. 00:07:18.020 --> 00:07:21.020 It's not like one of these pseudo healer campaigns, 00:07:21.400 --> 00:07:26.760 but rather this man who was an invalid for 38 years and couldn't even get off from his mat, 00:07:26.760 --> 00:07:29.680 he tells him, get up, take up your bed and walk. 00:07:29.680 --> 00:07:34.819 And not gradually, right, does he recover after a period of time. 00:07:35.060 --> 00:07:39.600 And not ambiguously, you know, the man was formerly bedridden, but now he could kind of limp around. 00:07:39.920 --> 00:07:46.639 No, he gets up, picks up his bed and walks in front of everybody, in front of Jesus. 00:07:46.780 --> 00:07:52.040 That's an immediate, incredible healing that Jesus administers. 00:07:52.040 --> 00:07:56.700 And this fits the pattern of what Jesus has been doing, 00:07:56.819 --> 00:08:02.840 because he's told us in chapter 2 that he fulfills the Old Testament purification laws 00:08:02.840 --> 00:08:07.920 in no purification ritual, in a way that no purification ritual could fulfill. 00:08:07.920 --> 00:08:13.860 And in chapter 4, he told us that he could satisfy the human thirst for eternal life 00:08:13.860 --> 00:08:17.840 in no way that Jacob's water, the well from Jacob's water can. 00:08:18.500 --> 00:08:23.780 And in this chapter, in chapter 5, he shows that he can heal and transform the needy 00:08:23.780 --> 00:08:26.680 in a way that no miraculous pool can. 00:08:27.460 --> 00:08:31.220 Jesus is the greater healer in this passage. 00:08:31.840 --> 00:08:36.580 And the Old Testament had prophesied of a time when God would visit his people. 00:08:36.580 --> 00:08:39.360 In Isaiah 35, 5, it says, 00:08:39.700 --> 00:08:44.580 The eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf unstopped. 00:08:44.820 --> 00:08:50.080 Then shall the lame man leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute sing for joy. 00:08:50.860 --> 00:08:52.940 That time has come. 00:08:53.759 --> 00:08:57.440 And Jesus' ministry of healing is a fulfillment of that prophecy. 00:08:57.800 --> 00:09:01.720 He's a promised Messiah, the Son of God, Emmanuel, which means God with us, 00:09:01.720 --> 00:09:02.660 has been singing about. 00:09:02.659 --> 00:09:08.799 And his ministry of healing signals to the world that the kingdom of God is now upon us 00:09:08.799 --> 00:09:11.059 because the King has come. 00:09:11.799 --> 00:09:16.120 And Jesus, as he heals, he's rolling back the effects of the fall. 00:09:16.679 --> 00:09:20.719 Because of sin having entered into the world, because of the fall, there is brokenness. 00:09:20.860 --> 00:09:26.299 There's not just sinfulness, but also brokenness of body and sickness and illness, ailments. 00:09:26.360 --> 00:09:27.759 They're all here because of the fall. 00:09:27.759 --> 00:09:32.580 And in his healing ministry, Jesus signals that he's rolling back the effects of the fall. 00:09:32.679 --> 00:09:34.679 He's come to redeem the world. 00:09:35.659 --> 00:09:38.759 And of course, that kingdom is not yet consummated. 00:09:38.960 --> 00:09:42.480 It's not fulfilled in its entirety, which is why there's still sick people today. 00:09:43.700 --> 00:09:47.100 But because the kingdom has been inaugurated, it has begun, 00:09:47.899 --> 00:09:49.580 there are people who do get healed. 00:09:49.919 --> 00:09:51.500 And God still heals today. 00:09:51.500 --> 00:09:55.279 And so this is the in-breaking of the kingdom of God. 00:09:55.379 --> 00:09:59.659 It's kind of like the light piercing, you know, through a dark sealed room, 00:09:59.740 --> 00:10:04.580 through the cracks, eventually to eventually break through in entirety and fill the whole room. 00:10:04.779 --> 00:10:06.799 That's kind of what we're seeing, the beginning of that. 00:10:07.100 --> 00:10:10.440 And we're in that in-between kingdom of the kingdom that has begun 00:10:10.440 --> 00:10:12.159 and kingdom that has not yet been consummated. 00:10:12.159 --> 00:10:19.419 And the fact that Jesus is doing this, that he heals this invalid, shows us two things. 00:10:19.679 --> 00:10:23.039 First, it shows us that God cares about the material world. 00:10:24.559 --> 00:10:29.139 Jesus came primarily to atone for our sins and save our souls, 00:10:29.519 --> 00:10:32.539 yet his kingdom also brings healing to the sick. 00:10:33.799 --> 00:10:38.079 The spiritual life and the wholeness are more important, it's true, 00:10:38.079 --> 00:10:40.100 than physical life and the wholeness. 00:10:40.100 --> 00:10:43.340 But God nevertheless cares about our physical life. 00:10:43.779 --> 00:10:46.500 And we as a church, as a family of believers, 00:10:46.820 --> 00:10:52.180 should be concerned also for the physical welfare of our neighbors and our friends. 00:10:52.620 --> 00:10:55.540 And that's why we care when a fire like this happens 00:10:55.540 --> 00:10:57.879 and 50, 60, 70 of our neighbors are displaced. 00:10:58.080 --> 00:11:01.940 That's why we seek to meet that need and care for the physical needs of these people. 00:11:02.360 --> 00:11:05.800 Because when we see our neighbors and friends in a dire physical need 00:11:05.800 --> 00:11:09.440 and yet do nothing but simply say that God loves you 00:11:09.440 --> 00:11:11.340 and you need to believe in him so that you can be saved, 00:11:11.400 --> 00:11:14.080 then we expose our soul-saving mission as a sham. 00:11:15.520 --> 00:11:18.440 And we belie the fact that there was no love to begin with. 00:11:19.620 --> 00:11:23.000 And secondly, it shows us, the fact that Jesus heals this invalid, 00:11:23.080 --> 00:11:27.380 shows us that God is presently at work in our material universe. 00:11:27.379 --> 00:11:32.840 Sometimes even Christians who believe in the supernatural and miracle 00:11:32.840 --> 00:11:36.879 can be so enculturated in the naturalistic framework of this world 00:11:36.879 --> 00:11:40.939 that we function, that we live like functional deists 00:11:40.939 --> 00:11:45.720 who believe that God never intervenes or acts in an ongoing, continuous way. 00:11:46.299 --> 00:11:50.019 But we are a church that believes in the ongoing activity of the Spirit 00:11:50.019 --> 00:11:53.440 and sometimes surprising activity of the Spirit of God. 00:11:53.440 --> 00:11:56.520 And we should cultivate an openness to this kind of work 00:11:56.520 --> 00:12:01.080 for God to work, whether it be through prophecy or miraculous healing of the sick. 00:12:02.240 --> 00:12:04.560 And if you do not yet believe in God, 00:12:04.660 --> 00:12:07.440 then you might be wondering how, just how, 00:12:07.600 --> 00:12:11.440 seemingly reasonable people can believe these things. 00:12:12.240 --> 00:12:13.740 How can, what do you mean? 00:12:14.000 --> 00:12:17.600 That it's things that violate blatantly the laws of nature. 00:12:17.600 --> 00:12:24.560 But it's one thing to say that science and reason is not equipped, 00:12:24.680 --> 00:12:26.800 is only equipped to test for natural causes. 00:12:27.480 --> 00:12:29.820 And it's a whole another thing to say that science, 00:12:29.920 --> 00:12:31.860 because science can only test for natural causes, 00:12:32.139 --> 00:12:34.040 only natural causes exist. 00:12:35.120 --> 00:12:35.860 You guys follow that? 00:12:36.060 --> 00:12:38.540 It's one of my favorite philosophers, 00:12:38.980 --> 00:12:41.740 Alvin Plantinga says, he puts it this way in his book, 00:12:41.820 --> 00:12:42.879 Warranted Christian Belief. 00:12:42.879 --> 00:12:50.360 To say that, to insist in that, would be not unlike the drunk who insisted on looking for his lost car keys 00:12:50.360 --> 00:12:53.879 under the streetlight on the grounds that the light was better there. 00:12:55.039 --> 00:12:57.299 In fact, it would go the drunk one better. 00:12:57.860 --> 00:13:01.299 It would be to insist that because the keys would be hard to find in the dark, 00:13:01.620 --> 00:13:03.240 they must be under the light. 00:13:03.240 --> 00:13:09.139 The claim that worldly phenomena only have naturalistic causes and explanations 00:13:09.139 --> 00:13:13.159 is in the end an unprovable, indemonstrable presupposition, 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:16.519 and no more grounded in reason than our belief in the supernatural. 00:13:18.060 --> 00:13:20.019 And so Jesus heals our sicknesses. 00:13:20.039 --> 00:13:21.060 He cares about this. 00:13:21.120 --> 00:13:25.000 And in doing so, he announces that the kingdom of God is here, 00:13:25.159 --> 00:13:28.700 and that he is the God-appointed Messiah and King. 00:13:28.700 --> 00:13:32.580 But the story doesn't end there. 00:13:32.800 --> 00:13:37.759 We find an interesting backdrop to this former invalid story in verse 14. 00:13:38.460 --> 00:13:41.879 When Jesus once again runs into this man, he tells him, 00:13:42.820 --> 00:13:43.300 verse 14, 00:13:43.860 --> 00:13:45.900 See, you are well. 00:13:46.780 --> 00:13:50.600 Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you. 00:13:50.600 --> 00:13:53.100 That's a remarkable statement. 00:13:53.779 --> 00:14:00.940 Because he's saying that this invalid was disabled because of his sin. 00:14:02.759 --> 00:14:06.159 And now we have to note this qualification, 00:14:07.040 --> 00:14:09.200 and please get this, 00:14:09.279 --> 00:14:13.980 that this doesn't mean that every sickness is caused by a specific sin. 00:14:14.360 --> 00:14:14.480 Right? 00:14:14.480 --> 00:14:17.980 And it does not mean that every time you get sick, 00:14:18.240 --> 00:14:21.720 that you should ask yourself what sin caused it. 00:14:22.120 --> 00:14:24.899 Because not necessarily does this sin cause your sickness. 00:14:25.279 --> 00:14:26.700 And later in the Gospel of John, 00:14:26.980 --> 00:14:27.840 he does offer, 00:14:27.960 --> 00:14:31.139 Jesus offers a corrective to this in chapter 9, verses 1 to 3. 00:14:31.500 --> 00:14:35.399 Because when his disciples ask Jesus about this man who was born blind, 00:14:35.480 --> 00:14:36.120 they ask him, 00:14:36.340 --> 00:14:39.279 Who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind? 00:14:39.800 --> 00:14:41.159 And then Jesus answers them, 00:14:41.320 --> 00:14:44.379 It was not that this man sinned or his parents, 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:48.180 but that the works of God might be displayed in him. 00:14:48.820 --> 00:14:48.899 Right? 00:14:49.100 --> 00:14:52.800 So sometimes people are sick or disabled for no particular sin, 00:14:52.980 --> 00:14:56.100 but to serve God's greater purposes and display his glory. 00:14:57.039 --> 00:15:01.139 However, this truth should not lead us to overlook the fact 00:15:01.139 --> 00:15:04.539 that some sicknesses and disabilities are, in fact, 00:15:04.800 --> 00:15:07.539 direct results of specific sins. 00:15:07.779 --> 00:15:09.159 That's what this passage teaches us, 00:15:09.200 --> 00:15:13.100 and that's numerous examples of that throughout the Old Testament and New Testament. 00:15:13.100 --> 00:15:19.860 And this is not talking generally about the fact that sin is the root of all sicknesses in the world. 00:15:20.519 --> 00:15:22.139 That is a true statement. 00:15:22.700 --> 00:15:24.420 But it's more than that, 00:15:24.460 --> 00:15:26.700 because Jesus' statement is very emphatic and directive. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:27.920 Sin no more, 00:15:28.159 --> 00:15:30.080 that nothing worse may happen to you. 00:15:30.080 --> 00:15:35.100 It's this invalid's specific sin that had led to his disability. 00:15:36.340 --> 00:15:39.660 And that may be the reason why, actually, 00:15:39.840 --> 00:15:42.920 Jesus, among a multitude of invalids, 00:15:43.460 --> 00:15:44.800 singles out this man. 00:15:45.300 --> 00:15:46.940 He could have gone to any number of them, 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:48.700 but he goes to this man and talks to him, 00:15:48.920 --> 00:15:53.240 perhaps because his sin, uniquely, particularly, was tied to his sin. 00:15:53.460 --> 00:15:56.340 And Jesus sought the man's repentance and spiritual restoration, 00:15:56.460 --> 00:15:57.860 as well as physical healing. 00:15:57.860 --> 00:16:02.800 And this is probably why the phrase, 00:16:03.060 --> 00:16:04.800 nothing worse, 00:16:04.980 --> 00:16:08.720 refers to spiritual perdition, 00:16:09.560 --> 00:16:11.460 damnation and being separated from God. 00:16:11.960 --> 00:16:12.720 Because, I mean, 00:16:12.840 --> 00:16:15.639 one, it's hard to imagine a physical condition 00:16:15.639 --> 00:16:18.440 more debilitating and full of suffering 00:16:18.440 --> 00:16:20.399 than being bedridden for 38 years. 00:16:20.899 --> 00:16:21.879 But not only that, 00:16:21.960 --> 00:16:24.080 the immediate context in chapter 5, 00:16:24.159 --> 00:16:25.320 in the passages that follow Jesus, 00:16:25.440 --> 00:16:27.000 talks about the resurrection of the dead 00:16:27.000 --> 00:16:28.940 and how he brings life. 00:16:29.399 --> 00:16:31.460 And so, nothing worse may happen to you, 00:16:31.519 --> 00:16:32.299 it seems to be, 00:16:32.379 --> 00:16:34.600 referring to the threat that faces him 00:16:34.600 --> 00:16:35.919 if he fails to repent 00:16:35.919 --> 00:16:38.100 and he is judged by God in the end. 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:40.179 And now, 00:16:40.419 --> 00:16:43.039 as we recognize that sin and sickness 00:16:43.039 --> 00:16:45.519 can be connected in a very intimate way, 00:16:46.519 --> 00:16:49.100 we recognize that sin is at the root 00:16:49.100 --> 00:16:50.419 of some of the physical problems 00:16:50.419 --> 00:16:52.959 that we or others around us might experience, 00:16:53.459 --> 00:16:56.899 we have to make sure that we're not desensitized to that 00:16:56.899 --> 00:16:57.899 and to remember that. 00:16:58.699 --> 00:16:58.919 Because, 00:16:59.279 --> 00:17:01.899 and this is not as surprising as you might think. 00:17:02.279 --> 00:17:04.539 Even some non-Christians make note of this, 00:17:04.639 --> 00:17:04.759 you know, 00:17:04.779 --> 00:17:05.759 observe this kind of thing. 00:17:06.159 --> 00:17:08.480 I came across an article last year sometime 00:17:08.480 --> 00:17:09.279 called, 00:17:09.279 --> 00:17:10.379 God at the Bedside, 00:17:11.299 --> 00:17:12.759 published by New England Journal of Medicine, 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:13.619 right here, 00:17:13.940 --> 00:17:16.079 by Dr. Ed Jerome Groupman, 00:17:16.139 --> 00:17:16.980 who was an oncologist, 00:17:17.119 --> 00:17:19.500 and he argues that spiritual beliefs and practices 00:17:19.500 --> 00:17:22.039 factor in to people's health heavily. 00:17:22.779 --> 00:17:23.720 And he, 00:17:24.220 --> 00:17:26.639 much more heavily than we're comfortable admitting. 00:17:27.220 --> 00:17:28.680 And even though he writes that, 00:17:28.740 --> 00:17:29.399 understandably, 00:17:29.519 --> 00:17:31.220 doctors are leery of moving outside 00:17:31.220 --> 00:17:32.819 the strictly clinical and venturing 00:17:32.819 --> 00:17:34.160 into the spiritual realm, 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:37.099 he concedes that a rigid separation 00:17:37.099 --> 00:17:38.000 between the two, 00:17:38.079 --> 00:17:39.480 religion and science and health, 00:17:39.759 --> 00:17:40.619 has been detrimental. 00:17:41.359 --> 00:17:43.039 And he writes that in his experience, 00:17:43.179 --> 00:17:46.059 the patient's guilt and anxieties and fears 00:17:46.059 --> 00:17:47.439 affect their illness 00:17:47.439 --> 00:17:49.019 and that their faith in God 00:17:49.019 --> 00:17:51.379 affects the prospects of their healing. 00:17:52.359 --> 00:17:54.139 And he's certainly not the first doctor 00:17:54.139 --> 00:17:55.319 to make this observation. 00:17:56.119 --> 00:17:56.419 And so, 00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:59.059 the link then between sin and sickness 00:17:59.059 --> 00:18:01.019 should make us certainly more vigilant 00:18:01.019 --> 00:18:02.519 about our sins, 00:18:02.919 --> 00:18:03.079 right? 00:18:03.539 --> 00:18:05.439 So don't assume that you're sick 00:18:05.439 --> 00:18:06.279 because of your sin 00:18:06.279 --> 00:18:07.420 and certainly don't assume 00:18:07.420 --> 00:18:08.480 that other people are sick 00:18:08.480 --> 00:18:09.799 because of their sins, 00:18:10.200 --> 00:18:12.259 but that's a great opportunity 00:18:12.259 --> 00:18:13.259 to examine ourselves, 00:18:14.259 --> 00:18:16.240 take inventory of how we have been living 00:18:16.240 --> 00:18:16.980 before God. 00:18:18.079 --> 00:18:20.160 And that's also a great reason 00:18:20.160 --> 00:18:21.759 to confess our sins freely. 00:18:22.899 --> 00:18:26.579 And also because sin is the greater disease 00:18:26.579 --> 00:18:29.160 at the root of all suffering and sin, 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:30.559 we should demonstrate 00:18:30.559 --> 00:18:33.440 a proportionate concern for sin, 00:18:33.440 --> 00:18:36.240 the gravity of sin. 00:18:36.500 --> 00:18:37.660 Because more often than not, 00:18:37.720 --> 00:18:40.059 as we live suffering and sickness, 00:18:40.380 --> 00:18:42.799 they feel more real to us than sin does. 00:18:43.600 --> 00:18:46.279 We're more concerned as we share prayer requests 00:18:46.279 --> 00:18:47.700 about the circumstances, 00:18:47.840 --> 00:18:49.220 about our physical well-being, 00:18:49.320 --> 00:18:51.480 than the spiritual well-being. 00:18:51.480 --> 00:18:54.640 And this is, 00:18:55.039 --> 00:18:57.500 it happens to all of us. 00:18:57.599 --> 00:18:57.720 I mean, 00:18:57.799 --> 00:18:58.620 even for me, 00:18:58.700 --> 00:18:59.160 as I've been, 00:18:59.640 --> 00:19:00.759 this is week three of, 00:19:00.819 --> 00:19:01.039 I guess, 00:19:01.079 --> 00:19:02.039 having my cold 00:19:02.039 --> 00:19:03.940 and my concern can so easily be, 00:19:04.000 --> 00:19:04.720 I just want to get well 00:19:04.720 --> 00:19:05.740 and get over with this. 00:19:05.900 --> 00:19:07.319 But the greater problem 00:19:07.319 --> 00:19:08.839 is that in my sickness, 00:19:09.019 --> 00:19:10.720 I become more irritable 00:19:10.720 --> 00:19:12.200 and I'm more easily annoyed 00:19:12.200 --> 00:19:14.059 and that I can be, 00:19:14.299 --> 00:19:16.120 that I can sin against my brothers and sisters, 00:19:16.240 --> 00:19:17.120 my family members 00:19:17.120 --> 00:19:18.380 and in that context, 00:19:18.380 --> 00:19:20.880 and that besmirches the name of God 00:19:20.880 --> 00:19:22.460 for the sake of my selfishness 00:19:22.460 --> 00:19:24.260 and that's the greater evil. 00:19:24.820 --> 00:19:26.260 That's the greater concern. 00:19:27.220 --> 00:19:28.620 And in the same way, 00:19:28.740 --> 00:19:29.340 for us, 00:19:29.460 --> 00:19:30.240 if someone, 00:19:30.460 --> 00:19:32.900 a member from our church gets cancer, 00:19:33.600 --> 00:19:33.920 yes, 00:19:34.000 --> 00:19:35.600 let's pray for that person's healing, 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:37.520 let's minister to that brother or sister, 00:19:38.060 --> 00:19:39.500 meet their physical needs, 00:19:39.640 --> 00:19:40.860 but let's also make sure 00:19:40.860 --> 00:19:41.860 that we pray for them 00:19:41.860 --> 00:19:44.520 so that they can persevere in faith, 00:19:44.820 --> 00:19:46.020 entrusting themselves 00:19:46.020 --> 00:19:47.120 to God's sovereign care 00:19:47.120 --> 00:19:48.080 in the midst of suffering. 00:19:48.380 --> 00:19:48.820 Right? 00:19:49.840 --> 00:19:52.320 Maybe you're wracked with anxiety 00:19:52.320 --> 00:19:54.180 or worry about something. 00:19:54.920 --> 00:19:56.240 And in that context also, 00:19:56.320 --> 00:19:57.740 let's not merely seek prayer 00:19:57.740 --> 00:19:59.440 that God would help you 00:19:59.440 --> 00:20:02.920 to solve whatever the situation 00:20:02.920 --> 00:20:03.560 or circumstances 00:20:03.560 --> 00:20:04.620 that you're worried about, 00:20:04.960 --> 00:20:05.960 but also let's pray 00:20:05.960 --> 00:20:07.460 that in the midst of that, 00:20:07.500 --> 00:20:08.840 in the middle of that fire, 00:20:09.340 --> 00:20:11.400 that you're able to have faith in Him, 00:20:12.180 --> 00:20:13.140 to believe in Him, 00:20:13.240 --> 00:20:14.300 to cry out to Him, 00:20:14.300 --> 00:20:16.400 to cultivate a dependence on Him. 00:20:19.240 --> 00:20:20.080 We have, 00:20:20.320 --> 00:20:20.800 from the beginning, 00:20:20.940 --> 00:20:21.540 been a church 00:20:21.540 --> 00:20:23.520 that does a really good job 00:20:23.520 --> 00:20:24.780 meeting one another's needs. 00:20:25.480 --> 00:20:27.380 And we have sought also 00:20:27.380 --> 00:20:28.560 to be a church 00:20:28.560 --> 00:20:31.100 that regularly confesses our sins. 00:20:31.180 --> 00:20:32.120 We're open and vulnerable 00:20:32.120 --> 00:20:32.820 to one another. 00:20:33.640 --> 00:20:34.860 And so let's do that. 00:20:35.200 --> 00:20:36.680 Confess our sins to one another 00:20:36.680 --> 00:20:37.960 regularly and openly. 00:20:38.440 --> 00:20:40.100 And even more importantly, 00:20:40.200 --> 00:20:41.240 and even more frequently, 00:20:41.340 --> 00:20:43.260 let us pronounce the good news 00:20:43.260 --> 00:20:44.440 of Jesus Christ, 00:20:44.440 --> 00:20:45.680 the full assurance 00:20:45.680 --> 00:20:46.680 of pardon that we have 00:20:46.680 --> 00:20:47.279 because of Him, 00:20:47.539 --> 00:20:48.580 the forgiveness of sins 00:20:48.580 --> 00:20:49.840 because Jesus absorbed 00:20:49.840 --> 00:20:50.920 the wrath of the Father 00:20:50.920 --> 00:20:52.100 and paid the penalty 00:20:52.100 --> 00:20:52.779 for our sins. 00:20:52.960 --> 00:20:54.539 Let's remind each other of that. 00:20:55.160 --> 00:20:56.620 Let's preach that to one another. 00:20:56.680 --> 00:20:57.240 Let's be a church 00:20:57.240 --> 00:20:58.620 that's obsessed with the gospel. 00:21:01.200 --> 00:21:03.360 Although in this particular passage, 00:21:03.539 --> 00:21:05.500 Jesus doesn't exactly pronounce 00:21:05.500 --> 00:21:07.620 that this invalid is forgiven, 00:21:08.680 --> 00:21:11.180 probably because He hasn't repented yet. 00:21:11.220 --> 00:21:11.720 He tells him, 00:21:11.860 --> 00:21:12.700 sin no more. 00:21:12.700 --> 00:21:15.720 We see a glimpse 00:21:15.720 --> 00:21:17.759 of Jesus' authority to do so 00:21:17.759 --> 00:21:19.840 in His direct command 00:21:19.840 --> 00:21:21.680 to the man in verse 8 00:21:21.680 --> 00:21:23.680 because He says to the invalid, 00:21:24.360 --> 00:21:24.880 get up, 00:21:25.420 --> 00:21:26.160 take up your bed, 00:21:26.259 --> 00:21:26.980 and walk. 00:21:27.700 --> 00:21:28.400 And the command, 00:21:28.559 --> 00:21:29.059 get up, 00:21:29.140 --> 00:21:30.519 can literally be translated, 00:21:31.080 --> 00:21:31.519 rise. 00:21:32.279 --> 00:21:34.380 And that's resurrection language 00:21:34.380 --> 00:21:35.960 throughout the gospel of John 00:21:35.960 --> 00:21:37.319 and in the immediate context 00:21:37.319 --> 00:21:38.279 in chapter 5. 00:21:39.000 --> 00:21:41.180 And so when it's later 25, 00:21:41.259 --> 00:21:42.240 verses 25 and 29, 00:21:42.240 --> 00:21:42.859 Jesus says, 00:21:43.140 --> 00:21:43.359 truly, 00:21:43.519 --> 00:21:43.740 truly, 00:21:43.839 --> 00:21:44.579 I say to you, 00:21:44.640 --> 00:21:45.539 an hour is coming 00:21:45.539 --> 00:21:46.559 and is now here 00:21:46.559 --> 00:21:48.319 when the dead will hear 00:21:48.319 --> 00:21:49.980 the voice of the Son of God 00:21:49.980 --> 00:21:51.299 and those who hear 00:21:51.299 --> 00:21:52.799 will live. 00:21:53.019 --> 00:21:54.299 And that's what He's doing 00:21:54.299 --> 00:21:55.140 with this invalid. 00:21:55.299 --> 00:21:56.420 He speaks 00:21:56.420 --> 00:21:57.940 and when the voice 00:21:57.940 --> 00:21:58.599 of the Son of God 00:21:58.599 --> 00:21:59.000 is heard, 00:21:59.220 --> 00:22:00.059 He gets up 00:22:00.059 --> 00:22:00.779 and He walks, 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:01.740 carries His mat. 00:22:01.980 --> 00:22:02.859 And the same thing 00:22:02.859 --> 00:22:03.960 happens spiritually. 00:22:04.380 --> 00:22:05.440 When you hear the voice 00:22:05.440 --> 00:22:06.400 of the Son of God, 00:22:06.720 --> 00:22:07.720 the spiritually dead 00:22:07.720 --> 00:22:08.940 come to life. 00:22:09.259 --> 00:22:10.420 We're forgiven of our sins 00:22:10.420 --> 00:22:11.680 and reconciled to God. 00:22:12.480 --> 00:22:13.420 And why? 00:22:13.880 --> 00:22:14.580 So He heals, 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:15.940 Jesus heals us 00:22:15.940 --> 00:22:17.000 both of our sicknesses 00:22:17.000 --> 00:22:17.940 and sins. 00:22:18.400 --> 00:22:18.759 Yet, 00:22:19.240 --> 00:22:20.980 then how is He able 00:22:20.980 --> 00:22:21.480 to do that? 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:22.860 Why does He have 00:22:22.860 --> 00:22:23.500 the authority 00:22:23.500 --> 00:22:24.500 to do that? 00:22:24.580 --> 00:22:25.460 And we'll learn more 00:22:25.460 --> 00:22:26.360 of this in the coming weeks 00:22:26.360 --> 00:22:26.960 and we're going to talk 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:28.460 about that at verse 17 00:22:28.460 --> 00:22:28.880 and more 00:22:28.880 --> 00:22:30.360 in the following weeks. 00:22:30.480 --> 00:22:31.400 But we see a glimpse 00:22:31.400 --> 00:22:32.360 of it already here 00:22:32.360 --> 00:22:33.220 in His confrontation 00:22:33.220 --> 00:22:34.300 with the Jewish leaders. 00:22:34.299 --> 00:22:36.539 verse 9 00:22:36.539 --> 00:22:38.720 kind of prefigures it. 00:22:38.779 --> 00:22:38.960 It says, 00:22:39.399 --> 00:22:40.359 Now that day 00:22:40.359 --> 00:22:41.639 was the Sabbath. 00:22:43.940 --> 00:22:45.700 That's a foreboding statement 00:22:45.700 --> 00:22:47.039 because in the Gospels, 00:22:47.099 --> 00:22:47.940 if you're familiar with it, 00:22:48.019 --> 00:22:48.899 the Sabbath becomes 00:22:48.899 --> 00:22:50.319 a point of contention 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:51.440 between the Jewish leaders 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:51.980 and Jesus. 00:22:52.700 --> 00:22:54.599 And it's from this point on 00:22:54.599 --> 00:22:55.539 that the conflict 00:22:55.539 --> 00:22:56.839 really escalates 00:22:56.839 --> 00:22:57.740 and Jesus is really 00:22:57.740 --> 00:22:58.859 on His way to the cross, 00:22:59.319 --> 00:22:59.879 being persecuted 00:22:59.879 --> 00:23:00.500 and killed 00:23:00.500 --> 00:23:02.180 by Jewish leaders 00:23:02.180 --> 00:23:02.639 and others 00:23:02.639 --> 00:23:03.379 for our sins. 00:23:04.299 --> 00:23:08.279 And note the response 00:23:08.279 --> 00:23:09.039 of the Jewish leaders. 00:23:09.440 --> 00:23:11.119 Look at verses 10 to 13. 00:23:11.220 --> 00:23:11.740 Read it with me. 00:23:12.000 --> 00:23:12.180 It says, 00:23:12.700 --> 00:23:14.099 So the Jews said to the man 00:23:14.099 --> 00:23:14.799 who had been healed, 00:23:15.519 --> 00:23:16.599 It is the Sabbath 00:23:16.599 --> 00:23:18.039 and it is not lawful 00:23:18.039 --> 00:23:19.299 for you to take up your bed. 00:23:20.019 --> 00:23:21.319 But He answered them, 00:23:22.000 --> 00:23:22.960 Well, the man who healed me, 00:23:23.039 --> 00:23:23.779 that man said to me, 00:23:23.839 --> 00:23:24.839 Take up your bed and walk. 00:23:25.500 --> 00:23:26.419 They asked Him, 00:23:26.539 --> 00:23:27.700 Who is the man 00:23:27.700 --> 00:23:28.539 who said to you, 00:23:28.639 --> 00:23:30.000 Take up your bed and walk? 00:23:31.159 --> 00:23:31.559 Now, 00:23:31.559 --> 00:23:33.019 the man who had been healed 00:23:33.019 --> 00:23:34.339 did not know who it was 00:23:34.339 --> 00:23:35.879 for Jesus had withdrawn 00:23:35.879 --> 00:23:36.900 as there was a crowd 00:23:36.900 --> 00:23:37.639 in the place. 00:23:38.400 --> 00:23:39.940 Note the extraordinary 00:23:39.940 --> 00:23:40.940 callousness 00:23:40.940 --> 00:23:43.160 of the Jewish leaders 00:23:43.160 --> 00:23:44.059 here. 00:23:44.879 --> 00:23:45.879 A man who had been 00:23:45.879 --> 00:23:47.960 an invalid for 38 years 00:23:47.960 --> 00:23:49.200 just gets up, 00:23:49.359 --> 00:23:50.240 picks up his mat, 00:23:50.299 --> 00:23:51.079 and walks. 00:23:51.799 --> 00:23:52.740 And then their response 00:23:52.740 --> 00:23:53.859 is not amazement 00:23:53.859 --> 00:23:55.160 and wonder and worship, 00:23:55.619 --> 00:23:56.400 but it's petty 00:23:56.400 --> 00:23:57.220 and legalistic. 00:23:57.940 --> 00:23:58.279 They're like, 00:23:58.279 --> 00:23:59.279 Oh, but you shouldn't 00:23:59.279 --> 00:23:59.779 carry your mat 00:23:59.779 --> 00:24:00.240 on the Sabbath. 00:24:02.539 --> 00:24:03.940 And they're so disturbed 00:24:03.940 --> 00:24:04.420 and perturbed 00:24:04.420 --> 00:24:04.779 by this, 00:24:04.899 --> 00:24:06.420 that perceived violation 00:24:06.420 --> 00:24:06.960 of the Sabbath 00:24:06.960 --> 00:24:08.319 that they ask Him, 00:24:08.500 --> 00:24:09.359 Who is the man 00:24:09.359 --> 00:24:09.940 who told you 00:24:09.940 --> 00:24:10.899 to take up your bed 00:24:10.899 --> 00:24:11.200 and walk? 00:24:11.259 --> 00:24:12.559 Because in their mind, 00:24:12.660 --> 00:24:12.879 I mean, 00:24:12.920 --> 00:24:13.539 the person that's 00:24:13.539 --> 00:24:14.379 violating the Sabbath 00:24:14.379 --> 00:24:16.559 is not a big problem 00:24:16.559 --> 00:24:17.399 compared to the person 00:24:17.399 --> 00:24:18.480 who's telling people 00:24:18.480 --> 00:24:19.279 to break the Sabbath. 00:24:19.720 --> 00:24:20.899 So they're concerned 00:24:20.899 --> 00:24:21.279 about Jesus 00:24:21.279 --> 00:24:21.899 and want to find out 00:24:21.899 --> 00:24:22.460 who He is. 00:24:23.200 --> 00:24:24.200 But if you look 00:24:24.200 --> 00:24:25.539 at the biblical teaching 00:24:25.539 --> 00:24:26.079 on the Sabbath, 00:24:26.160 --> 00:24:26.899 it's not even clear 00:24:26.899 --> 00:24:27.460 that this man 00:24:27.460 --> 00:24:28.399 violated the Sabbath. 00:24:28.400 --> 00:24:29.740 Like, there is 00:24:29.740 --> 00:24:31.880 a verse in Jeremiah 17 00:24:31.880 --> 00:24:33.480 that prohibits people 00:24:33.480 --> 00:24:34.640 from bearing a burden 00:24:34.640 --> 00:24:35.720 on the Sabbath day, 00:24:36.040 --> 00:24:37.420 but that had in view 00:24:37.420 --> 00:24:38.120 the specific, 00:24:38.380 --> 00:24:39.900 the people who bore burden 00:24:39.900 --> 00:24:42.000 related to their work, 00:24:42.160 --> 00:24:43.200 their profession, right? 00:24:43.960 --> 00:24:44.840 And this man 00:24:44.840 --> 00:24:46.100 is certainly not working. 00:24:46.240 --> 00:24:46.360 I mean, 00:24:46.380 --> 00:24:46.940 he's been an invalid 00:24:46.940 --> 00:24:47.820 for 38 years 00:24:47.820 --> 00:24:48.820 and he's picking up his mat. 00:24:48.900 --> 00:24:50.560 That hardly constitutes work 00:24:50.560 --> 00:24:51.660 according to the biblical teaching 00:24:51.660 --> 00:24:52.160 on the Sabbath. 00:24:53.259 --> 00:24:54.240 And here, 00:24:54.380 --> 00:24:54.900 what the elders, 00:24:55.080 --> 00:24:55.800 what the Jewish leaders 00:24:55.800 --> 00:24:56.740 are concerned with here 00:24:56.740 --> 00:24:57.580 are rather what they call 00:24:57.579 --> 00:24:58.799 the tradition of the elders, 00:24:59.179 --> 00:25:00.599 traditions that had accumulated, 00:25:00.819 --> 00:25:02.199 created on top, 00:25:02.279 --> 00:25:03.720 in addition to the Bible, 00:25:04.359 --> 00:25:05.759 and where they defined 00:25:05.759 --> 00:25:07.899 39 different classes of work 00:25:07.899 --> 00:25:09.639 and according to that classification, 00:25:10.119 --> 00:25:10.899 carrying one thing 00:25:10.899 --> 00:25:12.119 from one domain to another 00:25:12.119 --> 00:25:12.559 considered, 00:25:13.000 --> 00:25:14.460 was constituted work. 00:25:15.099 --> 00:25:15.939 So in their mind, 00:25:16.019 --> 00:25:16.539 yes, Jesus, 00:25:16.759 --> 00:25:17.819 this man broke 00:25:17.819 --> 00:25:19.819 the Sabbath. 00:25:19.819 --> 00:25:22.480 Yet, 00:25:22.599 --> 00:25:23.539 they go even further 00:25:23.539 --> 00:25:23.879 than that, 00:25:23.919 --> 00:25:24.220 don't they? 00:25:24.579 --> 00:25:25.579 They don't just confront 00:25:25.579 --> 00:25:26.559 this man for breaking 00:25:26.559 --> 00:25:26.899 the Sabbath, 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:28.000 they confront Jesus. 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:29.259 Because later in verse 16, 00:25:29.339 --> 00:25:29.599 it says, 00:25:30.039 --> 00:25:31.279 this was why the Jews 00:25:31.279 --> 00:25:32.539 were persecuting Jesus 00:25:32.539 --> 00:25:33.839 because he was doing 00:25:33.839 --> 00:25:35.159 these things on the Sabbath. 00:25:35.519 --> 00:25:37.059 So they think that his healing, 00:25:37.579 --> 00:25:38.179 miraculous healing, 00:25:38.279 --> 00:25:39.799 also constitutes work. 00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:41.059 You shouldn't be working, 00:25:41.139 --> 00:25:42.259 you shouldn't be healing people 00:25:42.259 --> 00:25:43.339 on the Sabbath. 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:45.419 And so this persecution 00:25:45.419 --> 00:25:46.419 is being ramped up 00:25:46.420 --> 00:25:48.420 and then Jesus answers them, 00:25:48.460 --> 00:25:49.519 it says in verse 17. 00:25:49.920 --> 00:25:50.740 It doesn't just say 00:25:50.740 --> 00:25:51.700 that Jesus says to them, 00:25:51.759 --> 00:25:53.220 it says Jesus answers them. 00:25:53.539 --> 00:25:54.560 That's legal language, 00:25:54.660 --> 00:25:56.220 the language of court defense. 00:25:56.640 --> 00:25:57.860 So Jesus answers them. 00:25:58.279 --> 00:25:59.500 And the answer is 00:25:59.500 --> 00:26:00.560 really interesting 00:26:00.560 --> 00:26:03.220 and unique to the Gospel of John. 00:26:03.640 --> 00:26:05.279 Because in the other Gospels, 00:26:05.380 --> 00:26:06.160 in the Synoptic Gospels, 00:26:06.259 --> 00:26:07.340 Matthew, Mark, and Luke, 00:26:07.779 --> 00:26:09.140 Jesus' answer in essence 00:26:09.140 --> 00:26:10.420 is that he's bringing about 00:26:10.420 --> 00:26:11.400 a new age 00:26:11.400 --> 00:26:13.480 so that he fulfills 00:26:13.480 --> 00:26:14.740 and reinterprets 00:26:14.740 --> 00:26:15.840 the law of the Sabbath 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:17.259 as well as all the other laws 00:26:17.259 --> 00:26:18.019 in the Old Testament. 00:26:18.359 --> 00:26:19.240 That's his answer 00:26:19.240 --> 00:26:19.980 and that's true. 00:26:20.299 --> 00:26:21.500 But in the Gospel of John, 00:26:21.579 --> 00:26:22.039 the focus, 00:26:22.179 --> 00:26:22.919 the attention turns 00:26:22.919 --> 00:26:23.659 more directly 00:26:23.659 --> 00:26:25.439 to Jesus' identity. 00:26:26.139 --> 00:26:27.619 He says in verse 17, 00:26:28.179 --> 00:26:29.599 my father is working 00:26:29.599 --> 00:26:30.699 until now 00:26:30.699 --> 00:26:32.439 and I am working. 00:26:33.659 --> 00:26:35.659 If you know the context 00:26:35.659 --> 00:26:36.799 of Jewish discussions 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:37.500 about the Sabbath, 00:26:37.659 --> 00:26:39.159 this was a question 00:26:39.159 --> 00:26:40.939 that preoccupied them 00:26:40.939 --> 00:26:41.480 for a while 00:26:41.480 --> 00:26:43.299 because they asked themselves, 00:26:43.299 --> 00:26:45.079 well, if Genesis 2 says 00:26:45.079 --> 00:26:46.919 that God rested 00:26:46.919 --> 00:26:47.759 on the seventh day, 00:26:47.819 --> 00:26:48.559 on the Sabbath day, 00:26:49.480 --> 00:26:50.799 but the world 00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:51.599 is still running 00:26:51.599 --> 00:26:53.039 on the seventh day, 00:26:53.639 --> 00:26:54.720 does that mean 00:26:54.720 --> 00:26:56.139 that God violates 00:26:56.139 --> 00:26:57.319 his own Sabbath? 00:26:57.419 --> 00:26:58.539 Because he has to be working 00:26:58.539 --> 00:26:59.339 or the world 00:26:59.339 --> 00:27:00.099 would fall apart. 00:27:00.579 --> 00:27:02.019 So how is he resting 00:27:02.019 --> 00:27:02.699 on the Sabbath day 00:27:02.699 --> 00:27:03.399 and how is the world 00:27:03.399 --> 00:27:04.299 running at the same time? 00:27:04.419 --> 00:27:05.220 So this was a question 00:27:05.220 --> 00:27:06.019 that they preoccupied 00:27:06.019 --> 00:27:06.740 themselves with 00:27:06.740 --> 00:27:07.819 and the answer 00:27:07.819 --> 00:27:08.539 that they came to, 00:27:08.579 --> 00:27:09.159 a consensus 00:27:09.159 --> 00:27:10.519 among the Jewish rabbi, 00:27:10.519 --> 00:27:11.440 was that yes, 00:27:11.519 --> 00:27:12.420 God is indeed 00:27:12.420 --> 00:27:13.980 working on the seventh day 00:27:13.980 --> 00:27:15.539 but it does not 00:27:15.539 --> 00:27:16.519 constitute a violation 00:27:16.519 --> 00:27:17.819 because he's God 00:27:17.819 --> 00:27:19.680 that he transcends 00:27:19.680 --> 00:27:20.639 the universe, right? 00:27:20.720 --> 00:27:21.359 So that was 00:27:21.359 --> 00:27:22.480 the sensible answer 00:27:22.480 --> 00:27:23.339 that they had come to 00:27:23.339 --> 00:27:25.279 and Jesus knows this 00:27:25.279 --> 00:27:26.920 and he says, 00:27:27.259 --> 00:27:28.200 my father is working 00:27:28.200 --> 00:27:28.819 until now, 00:27:28.879 --> 00:27:29.440 as you know, 00:27:30.000 --> 00:27:32.500 and I am working. 00:27:33.859 --> 00:27:36.259 That's an audacious claim. 00:27:36.660 --> 00:27:37.400 In other words, 00:27:37.400 --> 00:27:38.200 Jesus is saying 00:27:38.200 --> 00:27:39.340 that the father 00:27:39.340 --> 00:27:40.580 is the Lord of creations 00:27:40.580 --> 00:27:41.580 who sustains 00:27:41.580 --> 00:27:42.640 the creation 00:27:42.640 --> 00:27:45.140 and I am his son. 00:27:45.720 --> 00:27:46.900 I am also God 00:27:46.900 --> 00:27:48.480 who is bringing about 00:27:48.480 --> 00:27:50.100 this new creation 00:27:50.100 --> 00:27:51.259 and that's why I work. 00:27:51.660 --> 00:27:53.120 I work on the Sabbath day 00:27:53.120 --> 00:27:54.360 just like my father does. 00:27:55.640 --> 00:27:56.460 That would be 00:27:56.460 --> 00:27:57.440 a blasphemous thing 00:27:57.440 --> 00:27:58.460 to say 00:27:58.460 --> 00:27:59.400 if he weren't actually 00:27:59.400 --> 00:28:00.220 the second person 00:28:00.220 --> 00:28:00.780 in the Trinity. 00:28:01.840 --> 00:28:02.400 And so it's like 00:28:02.400 --> 00:28:03.019 you're using 00:28:03.019 --> 00:28:04.700 a computer program 00:28:04.700 --> 00:28:05.780 and the person 00:28:05.780 --> 00:28:06.759 who quoted the program 00:28:06.759 --> 00:28:07.700 is right next to you 00:28:07.700 --> 00:28:08.339 and then you say, 00:28:08.400 --> 00:28:09.220 well, that's not the way 00:28:09.220 --> 00:28:10.200 you use the program. 00:28:10.379 --> 00:28:10.559 I mean, 00:28:10.879 --> 00:28:11.379 he could do 00:28:11.379 --> 00:28:12.140 whatever he wants. 00:28:12.240 --> 00:28:12.799 He could manipulate 00:28:12.799 --> 00:28:13.379 the code to do 00:28:13.379 --> 00:28:14.140 whatever he wants. 00:28:14.460 --> 00:28:15.420 That's what's going on. 00:28:15.460 --> 00:28:15.579 He said, 00:28:15.619 --> 00:28:16.019 Jesus says, 00:28:16.099 --> 00:28:17.660 I am one with the Father. 00:28:17.839 --> 00:28:19.339 I rule over creation. 00:28:19.559 --> 00:28:20.980 I'm the Lord of the Sabbath, 00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:22.879 not vice versa. 00:28:24.480 --> 00:28:25.680 And that's why 00:28:25.680 --> 00:28:26.539 Jesus is able 00:28:26.539 --> 00:28:27.940 to heal our sicknesses. 00:28:27.940 --> 00:28:29.019 That's why Jesus 00:28:29.019 --> 00:28:30.200 is able to heal 00:28:30.200 --> 00:28:31.819 our sins. 00:28:32.379 --> 00:28:32.519 Right? 00:28:32.519 --> 00:28:34.680 And it's particularly 00:28:34.680 --> 00:28:35.660 appropriate to remember 00:28:35.660 --> 00:28:37.700 this Advent season 00:28:37.700 --> 00:28:39.259 that Jesus is 00:28:39.259 --> 00:28:40.059 the Lord of creation. 00:28:40.180 --> 00:28:40.980 He's both man 00:28:40.980 --> 00:28:42.039 and God. 00:28:42.319 --> 00:28:42.400 Right? 00:28:43.980 --> 00:28:45.720 Because if he were God 00:28:45.720 --> 00:28:47.480 but not man, 00:28:47.579 --> 00:28:48.339 he would not be able 00:28:48.339 --> 00:28:49.519 to represent us 00:28:49.519 --> 00:28:50.220 or empathize 00:28:50.220 --> 00:28:51.039 with our weaknesses 00:28:51.039 --> 00:28:52.039 or reconcile us 00:28:52.039 --> 00:28:52.500 to God 00:28:52.500 --> 00:28:54.579 because he would not 00:28:54.579 --> 00:28:55.259 be able to identify 00:28:55.259 --> 00:28:55.920 with our sins 00:28:55.920 --> 00:28:56.900 if he were only God 00:28:56.900 --> 00:28:57.440 and not man. 00:28:57.740 --> 00:28:59.099 But if he were only man 00:28:59.099 --> 00:28:59.900 and not God, 00:28:59.980 --> 00:29:01.039 he would not be able 00:29:01.039 --> 00:29:02.139 to represent God 00:29:02.139 --> 00:29:04.019 or reveal God to us 00:29:04.019 --> 00:29:07.099 because if you offend 00:29:07.099 --> 00:29:08.000 a friend of yours 00:29:08.000 --> 00:29:10.240 and then I come to you 00:29:10.240 --> 00:29:11.339 and say I forgive you 00:29:11.339 --> 00:29:12.680 doesn't do you any good. 00:29:14.819 --> 00:29:16.680 Sins committed against God, 00:29:16.779 --> 00:29:17.960 only God can forgive. 00:29:18.899 --> 00:29:20.259 The person who represents God 00:29:20.259 --> 00:29:21.639 must be God himself 00:29:21.639 --> 00:29:22.920 and that Jesus is able 00:29:22.920 --> 00:29:23.980 to do that for us. 00:29:24.859 --> 00:29:25.659 In the same way, 00:29:25.799 --> 00:29:27.440 and also if you have a friend, 00:29:27.779 --> 00:29:28.539 you would not think 00:29:28.539 --> 00:29:29.759 that someone else 00:29:29.759 --> 00:29:31.119 will know more about this friend 00:29:31.119 --> 00:29:32.079 than that friend himself. 00:29:32.559 --> 00:29:33.279 So likewise, 00:29:33.579 --> 00:29:34.480 Jesus is the one 00:29:34.480 --> 00:29:35.599 who is uniquely capable 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:36.740 of revealing God 00:29:36.740 --> 00:29:38.579 in his fullness to us 00:29:38.579 --> 00:29:39.839 because he is God. 00:29:40.220 --> 00:29:41.379 He is the second person 00:29:41.379 --> 00:29:41.619 in the truth. 00:29:41.720 --> 00:29:43.200 He is the son of God. 00:29:45.839 --> 00:29:47.119 And for that reason, 00:29:47.220 --> 00:29:48.420 because Jesus is the Lord 00:29:48.420 --> 00:29:48.980 of creation, 00:29:49.099 --> 00:29:49.879 he can deal with 00:29:49.879 --> 00:29:51.400 both our sicknesses 00:29:51.400 --> 00:29:53.079 and sins. 00:29:53.079 --> 00:29:55.899 as Isaiah 53, 00:29:56.500 --> 00:29:57.279 4-6, 00:29:57.460 --> 00:29:58.539 which was our assurance 00:29:58.539 --> 00:29:59.879 of pardon today, 00:30:00.059 --> 00:30:00.339 it says, 00:30:00.519 --> 00:30:03.480 Surely he has borne our griefs 00:30:03.480 --> 00:30:05.359 and carried our sorrows, 00:30:05.799 --> 00:30:07.720 yet we esteemed him stricken, 00:30:08.279 --> 00:30:09.159 smitten by God 00:30:09.159 --> 00:30:10.000 and afflicted. 00:30:10.960 --> 00:30:12.559 But he was pierced 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:14.579 for our transgressions. 00:30:14.980 --> 00:30:15.919 He was crushed 00:30:15.919 --> 00:30:17.659 for our iniquities. 00:30:18.079 --> 00:30:19.859 Upon him was the chastisement 00:30:19.859 --> 00:30:21.659 that brought us peace. 00:30:22.099 --> 00:30:23.759 And with his wounds, 00:30:24.019 --> 00:30:25.039 we are healed. 00:30:27.799 --> 00:30:29.599 Jesus is the Lord 00:30:29.599 --> 00:30:30.539 of creation 00:30:30.539 --> 00:30:31.459 who heals 00:30:31.459 --> 00:30:32.519 our sicknesses 00:30:32.519 --> 00:30:33.339 and sins. 00:30:33.399 --> 00:30:34.859 So let's turn to him 00:30:34.859 --> 00:30:36.240 and run to him 00:30:36.240 --> 00:30:37.099 unreservedly 00:30:37.099 --> 00:30:38.319 for all our sicknesses, 00:30:38.399 --> 00:30:39.059 all our sins. 00:30:39.279 --> 00:30:40.099 Expect him to move. 00:30:40.359 --> 00:30:41.240 Expect him to work. 00:30:42.059 --> 00:30:42.839 Let's pray together. 00:30:42.839 --> 00:30:42.899 Amen. 00:30:42.899 --> 00:30:43.000 Amen. 00:30:43.000 --> 00:30:43.039 Amen. 00:30:43.039 --> 00:30:43.079 Amen. 00:30:43.079 --> 00:30:43.119 Amen. 00:30:49.859 --> 00:30:55.579 God, we want to be 00:30:55.579 --> 00:30:57.259 a church full of faith, 00:30:58.259 --> 00:31:02.059 praying and living 00:31:02.059 --> 00:31:04.219 and working expectantly, 00:31:05.240 --> 00:31:06.439 expecting to see 00:31:06.439 --> 00:31:07.619 the surprising work 00:31:07.619 --> 00:31:08.559 of the spirits, 00:31:08.939 --> 00:31:09.819 to see you work, 00:31:10.539 --> 00:31:13.000 to act in normal ways 00:31:13.000 --> 00:31:14.659 but also in extraordinary ways. 00:31:14.659 --> 00:31:14.759 Amen. 00:31:19.859 --> 00:31:22.699 Yet when you do not 00:31:22.699 --> 00:31:24.379 intervene the way 00:31:24.379 --> 00:31:25.699 we expect or desire, 00:31:26.639 --> 00:31:27.339 Lord, we also want 00:31:27.339 --> 00:31:27.879 to be a church 00:31:27.879 --> 00:31:28.559 that remembers 00:31:28.559 --> 00:31:29.919 your faithfulness 00:31:29.919 --> 00:31:31.240 in sending your son, 00:31:31.699 --> 00:31:32.279 Jesus Christ, 00:31:32.359 --> 00:31:33.719 to die for our sins 00:31:33.719 --> 00:31:37.199 so that we can be assured 00:31:37.199 --> 00:31:38.139 of your faithfulness 00:31:38.139 --> 00:31:38.899 and your grace 00:31:38.899 --> 00:31:40.240 and goodwill toward us. 00:31:46.459 --> 00:31:47.779 So help us, God. 00:31:49.859 --> 00:31:50.799 To be a church 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:52.659 that faithfully proclaims 00:31:52.659 --> 00:31:55.439 the good news 00:31:55.439 --> 00:31:56.240 of Jesus Christ 00:31:56.240 --> 00:31:58.199 in both works 00:31:58.199 --> 00:32:00.659 and word 00:32:00.659 --> 00:32:02.419 in this neighborhood. 00:32:04.279 --> 00:32:05.619 In Jesus' name we pray. 00:32:06.179 --> 00:32:06.399 Amen. 00:32:19.859 --> 00:32:20.619 Amen. 00:32:20.899 --> 00:32:21.519 Amen. 00:32:21.519 --> 00:32:37.779 Amen. 00:32:39.859 --> 00:32:40.740 Amen. 00:32:40.879 --> 00:32:41.979 Amen. 00:32:46.819 --> 00:32:47.219 Amen.