If you have your Bible with you, please open it up to the Gospel of John.
As we get back into the swing of things this fall, we're going to continue on in our journey through the Gospel of John.
We began this journey way back in January, and we continued the series by video once services were suspended because of COVID,
right up until about the end of May, and then we kind of hit the pause button.
And summer came, a bit of an extended summer for many.
Many people were traveling in a way, and many of us spent time camping, visiting family and friends.
So we were in Proverbs for a bit, but now with fall right around the corner and school starting up again,
we want to get back into the swing of things as well, and we're going to pick up where we left off in John.
So let's start this morning by remembering what we've heard in this account from John so far.
We're going to do a bit of a flashback here over a number of messages.
If we remember back to the very beginning, we remember that John starts this story by telling us how the story of Jesus began.
But of course, he starts at a different place than the other Gospel writers.
He tells us that Jesus is the Word who was at the very beginning, and that he was with God and was God back then,
that through him all things were made, and that he became flesh and stepped down into our world and became one of us.
From there, we heard how John, I guess his introductory comment, he said,
we saw his glory.
We saw how he is full of grace and truth.
And that's been kind of something we've been looking for throughout this series,
to see the glory of Jesus, how he is full of grace and truth.
From there, we heard about the delegation that was sent by the religious leaders from Jerusalem
out to the Jordan River near Bethany, where John the Baptizer was dunking people in the river
and proclaiming that there was someone special who was coming after him.
And then, of course, we were there and heard about that moment when that someone special came.
Jesus came out to John, and in front of everyone, John pointed to him and said,
look, everyone, the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.
We saw how some of Jesus' first disciples began to follow him.
And we felt the excitement about who Jesus was.
We have found the Messiah, said Andrew.
Rabbi, you are the Son of God, the King of Israel.
Nathanael declared Nathanael in his first encounter with Jesus.
And Jesus said to them, you ain't seen nothing yet.
From there, we went to Cana, where Jesus performed his first sign.
He turned water into wine.
Then we followed Jesus up to Jerusalem, where he drove the money changers and sellers out of the temple courts.
Stop turning my father's house into a market.
We heard about how he performed other signs and miracles there in Jerusalem,
and how John and the other disciples began to see how Jesus knew things about people.
He seemed to know things that they were thinking in the quiet of their own hearts.
We saw an example of this with Nicodemus, who came and acknowledged,
you're doing things that nobody could do unless God were with him.
And we listened in on the conversation they had about the need to be born again in order to enter the kingdom of God.
We heard then about how the spotlight and the attention that was on John the baptizer began to shift now to Jesus,
as the people began to go to him instead.
We followed Jesus through Samaria, and we saw how he was full of grace and truth towards the woman at the well,
and the people of Sychar, many who came to believe that he was the Messiah.
Then we saw Jesus go back into Galilee, where he was met with initial excitement,
but also with stubborn-heartedness and unbelief.
We saw him do another amazing sign and heal the royal official's son from a distance.
Now, Jesus is back in Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals.
He has just healed a man who had been unable to walk for 38 years at the Pool of Siloam.
And he did this on the Sabbath.
And the religious leaders have come after him with a charge of breaking the Sabbath.
This is in John chapter 5.
Jesus has given his defense.
Amazingly, he has not denied working on the Sabbath.
He instead has claimed that both God, his Father, and he, the Son, are always at work together.
That as they do their works, they work in unison, even on the Sabbath.
Let's pick up what Jesus is saying in John chapter 5, verse 19.
Jesus gave them this answer.
Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself.
He can only do what he sees his Father doing.
Because whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.
Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these so that you will be amazed.
So we spent a couple Sundays of messages reflecting...
Just go back there.
I'm not doing it, eh?
Maybe the battery's dead on that.
That's a good place to leave it.
So we spent a couple Sundays of messages just reflecting on this profound mystery of how the Father and the Son are two persons,
and yet one and the same God acting in unison.
The Father is continuously showing the Son what he is doing.
And the Son is seeing what his Father is doing and acting in unison together with him.
And then in the midst of all of this conversation with the religious leaders,
Jesus makes this statement.
He says, yes, and he, the Father, will show him, the Son, even greater works than these so that you will be amazed.
So Jesus is saying, the healing of that man who couldn't walk for 38 years,
you're going to see greater things than that.
Things that will cause your jaw to drop to the floor.
You'll be amazed.
Now let's pause for a moment and think.
What's greater than being able to heal somebody who has not been able to use his legs for almost 40 years in an instant?
That's pretty amazing.
Who can do that?
Nobody.
Nobody but God.
So what's greater than that?
Well, there's not a whole lot of levels above that in terms of spectacular.
I wonder what the religious leaders are thinking here.
Like, what kind of greater works is Jesus talking about?
Well, amazingly, Jesus goes right to the top of the list.
Not just a little bit greater, but a lot greater.
And he makes this statement in verse 21.
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.
Like, whoo!
That's a greater work.
It's one thing to heal a living man's paralyzed condition so that he can walk,
but it's a whole nother level to bring a man back to life from the dead.
There can be no doubt here.
Only God can do that.
And Jesus affirms that this is something that God does.
He says,
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life,
let's stop and think for a moment.
When has God raised the dead and given them life?
At this moment in history, as Jesus stands before them,
it's only happened three times
that are recorded in the Old Testament Scriptures.
You might remember some of those stories.
By the power of God, Elijah raised the prophet.
He raised from the dead the son of the widow of Zarephath.
By the power of God, Elisha raised from the dead the Shunammite woman's son.
And then there was that one unnamed guy
whose funeral was interrupted by a raiding party.
And so they took his body and quickly threw it into Elisha's tomb.
And his body touched Elisha's dead bones
and God caused his own power to flow through Elisha's dead bones.
And that guy was raised from the dead.
We might say it's the ultimate miracle of healing,
which God's power did.
Only three times in all human history,
up until this conversation that Jesus is having,
has someone been raised from the dead and given life again.
And Jesus is looking at these religious leaders and saying,
just as God does that,
the Son also does that to whoever he wants,
to whoever he is pleased to do it.
I've said it many times,
but I would have loved to have been there
just to see the look on people's faces,
the reaction on their faces as Jesus said this.
But it gets even better than this.
Verse 24.
Jesus says,
Very truly, I tell you,
whoever hears my word
and believes him who sent me
has eternal life
and will not be judged,
but has crossed over from death to life.
Let me read it again.
Very truly, I tell you,
whoever hears my word
and believes him who sent me
has eternal life
and will not be judged,
but has crossed over from death to life.
Do you hear what Jesus is saying here?
He's not just claiming to be able to give life to people
like those three times in the Old Testament
when dead people came back to life.
We all know that those three individuals
eventually died again.
No.
Jesus makes it pretty clear here
that the kind of life
that he is talking about giving to people
is not just a second chance,
here and now kind of life.
The kind of life he is talking about giving to people
is eternal life.
Life that goes on forever.
The never to die again kind of life.
And it's here that some of us have to admit
that Jesus is talking about
an even greater kind of raising from the dead
than we all thought he was at first.
He's talking about the ultimate resurrection.
The kind that results in people
not receiving the final sentence
of God's judgment.
Listen to Jesus in verse 25.
Very truly I tell you,
a time is coming
and has now come
when the dead will hear the voice
of the Son of God
and those who hear
will live.
What is Jesus talking about?
Well I think first notice
the sense of time in Jesus' words.
He says a time is coming
and has now come.
There's a few possibilities
of how to take these words
but it seems to me
from those words
has now come
that Jesus is saying
that the time is here
right now.
We're on the edge of it
and it's unfolding
right now.
What time?
A time
when the dead
will hear the voice
of the Son of God
and those who hear
will live.
Now we might be tempted
to think that Jesus
is talking specifically
about people like Lazarus
or Jairus' daughter
but as we just heard
in verse 24
Jesus is not talking
about that kind of
life from the dead.
He's talking about
eternal life.
Ultimate life.
And so it seems
that Jesus is not
referring to the dead
dead
but to the living dead.
To those who are
spiritually dead.
To those who are
as good as dead
when it comes to
God's final judgment.
The time has come
now
says Jesus
when people will hear
the voice
of the Son
of God
and when they do
those who hear
those who believe
will cross over
from death
to life.
They will come alive
now
not with
their
not in their
physical bodily life
they already have that
but with spiritual life
their status
in God's
books
forever changed.
We might think
back to Jesus
talking with
Nicodemus
about being
born again
receiving new
life
in our souls
in our spirits
by the Spirit
of God.
But
Jesus says
that's just the
beginning
that's the first
part
people here
and now
will hear
my words
and believe
and come alive
with new
eternal life
that I will
give them.
but the end
of the story
he goes
right
not right
to it
but in
verse 28
he gets
to it
we're going
to skip
over a few
things here
verse 28
Jesus says
this
do not
be amazed
at this
for a time
is coming
when all
who are
in their
graves
will hear
his voice
and come
out
those who
have done
what is
good
will rise
to live
and those
who have
done
what is
evil
will rise
to be
condemned
so
so Jesus
is talking
about the
full spectrum
of life
from the
dead
the spiritual
life from
the dead
which those
who hear
his words
and believe
will receive
can receive
right now
but he goes
on to say
that there
will yet
come a time
in the future
when the
physically
dead
in their
graves
will hear
his voice
and come
out
and notice
who he's
talking about
there in
verse
28
a time
is coming
when all
who are
in their
graves
will hear
his voice
and come
out
he goes
on to say
this includes
both those
who will
rise to
live
and those
who will
rise to
be condemned
the righteous
and the
wicked
those who
belong to
God
to Christ
and those
who do
not
so in
these
few
verses
Jesus is
talking about
two things
both
spiritual
life
here and
now
that we
may
receive
by
believing
in his
words
but also
ultimate
eternal
life
after we
die
at the
final
resurrection
when
all people
are brought
back to
life
to be
sorted out
in the
final
judgment
and
you know
I had
to chuckle
as I was
reading these
words
in verse
28
Jesus says
do not
be amazed
at this
do not
be amazed
at this
and then he
tells them
that it's
his voice
the voice
of the
son of
God
that they
will hear
calling
them out
of their
graves
before the
final
judgment
what a
thing to
say
how can
they not
be amazed
by such
a statement
who has
ever
claimed
anything
like this
in all
history
of course
they're
amazed
here's a
human
being
a man
standing
in front
of them
telling
them that
he has
the power
to give
life
and raise
people from
the dead
just like
God
does
and not
just a
temporary
extension
of life
but permanent
life
that lasts
forever
a gift
that they
can receive
now
by hearing
his words
and believing
them
and a gift
that they
will ultimately
open up
later
when he
calls them
out of their
graves
at the end
of this
world's
story
you have
to know
that with
these words
Jesus is
causing a
stir
I mean
listen to
what he's
saying
to what
he's
claiming
to what
he's
promising
to people
he's
offering
people
what
only
God
can
offer
them
and his
claim is
this
God
has sent
me
to put
this
gracious
gift
on the
table
for you
and offer
it to
you
listen
to me
I have
the solution
to your
death
problem
and so
I ask
all of
you
this
afternoon
this
morning
not
there
yet
do
you
believe
that
Jesus
can
give
you
eternal
life
I
wonder
where
these
words
hit
you
this
morning
I
wonder
if
some
of
us
hear
this
and
think
well
that's
Christianity
101
that's
the
basics
why
are you
telling
me
this
again
I
know
that
already
I've
already
believed
that
tell me
something
that has
to do
with my
life
here
and
now
and
the
things
I
was
doing
this
week
but
it
does
have
to
do
with
your
life
here
and
now
yesterday
I was
out at
the
cemetery
with
a
family
as
they
lowered
the
body
of
a
loved
one
into
the
ground
and
I
was
reminded
again
that
sooner
or
later
each
one
of
us
here
in this
room
will have
our turn
when our
families
will lower
into the
ground
what's left
of our
bodies
the
day
we
die
is
coming
for
each
and
every
one
of
us
perhaps
even
sooner
than
we
might
expect
and
when
the
day
for
our
funeral
comes
everything
we
did
with
our
lives
here
and
now
will
be
put
into
perspective
nothing
will be
as
important
as
the
eternal
spiritual
life
that
we
did
or
did
not
receive
from
Jesus
nothing
will be
as
important
as
whether
or
not
we
listened
to
the
words
that
Jesus
spoke
nothing
will be
as
important
as
whether
or
not
we
believed
them
and
responded
to
them
and
lived
according
to
them
here
and
now
in
every
area
of
our
lives
it's
easy
to get
caught
up
in
this
world
isn't
it
in
the
cares
and
concerns
of
this
world
in
this
world's
priorities
even
in
its
pleasures
but
are
you
ready
for
the
day
when
Jesus
voice
will
command
you
out
of
your
grave
to
stand
before
him
those
who
believed
in
him
and
by
faith
have
done
what
is
good
will
rise
to
live
forever
and
those
who
did
not
believe
and
have
continued
on
doing
what
is
evil
will
rise
to
be
condemned
are
you
ready
for
that
day
this
should
absolutely
change
the
way
that
we
think
and
feel
and
plan
and
decide
and
live
in
this
next
week
I
hope
and
pray
that
it
does
let's
pray
yeah
father
in
heaven
we
thank
you
for
these
precious
words
that
we
get
to
be
there
and
hear
what
Jesus
really
said
to
those
religious
leaders
I
pray
God
that
you
wouldn't
let
us
just
pass
over
these
words
is
something
that
we
heard
a lot
of
before
but
that
you
would
cause
those
words
to
take
root
in
our
heart
please
draw
our
attention
and
our
affection
to
heaven
to
the
things
that
are
most
important
in
this
great
story
do
a
miracle
in
our
hearts
and
in
the
hearts
of
all
who
call
this
church
their
home
many
of
who
are
not
here
today
we
ask
and
pray
this
in
Jesus
name
amen