October 22, 2025 • 16 mins
A man waits thirty-eight years by a pool for healing—and walks home carrying the mat that once carried him. That moment at Bethesda isn’t just a miracle; it’s a mirror that shows how easily we cling to rules and miss mercy when it stands up right in front of us. We lean into John 5 to explore how Jesus turns a Sabbath controversy into a revelation of who He is and why the Word of God is meant to lead us to the Word made flesh.
We unpack Jesus’ bold claims about His relationship with the Father: shared work, shared life, and entrusted judgment. Rather than flattening the mystery, He invites us to live inside it with relational language—love, seeing, showing, sending. From the promise that the dead will hear His voice to the assurance that belief crosses us from death to life, we trace how authority and compassion meet in the Son. Along the way, we examine the witnesses that validate His mission: John the Baptist, the works themselves, and the Father’s testimony.
The heart of the conversation centers on Scripture’s purpose. You search the Scriptures because you think they give you eternal life, yet they point to me. We talk about how to read the Bible to encounter Jesus, not just to collect facts; why salvation is a free gift and freedom grows with our daily obedience; and how gratitude can widen our view so we see God’s work beyond our narrow worries. Expect practical prompts, clear takeaways, and a renewed desire to open your Bible as a meeting place, not a checklist.
If this resonated, subscribe, leave a five-star review, and share the episode with a friend who’s hungry to read Scripture with fresh eyes. Then tell us: what chapter of the Bible has shaped you most?
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The More We Dig. The More We Find.
Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation (NLT).
Copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation.
Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBibleBreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's Wordtogether.
Well, hello, everybody.
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your
host, Pastor Brandon.
(00:20):
Today, John chapter 5.
Man, once again, another amazingchapter.
And if I were to give thischapter a title, it would be
Jesus Explains Why the Bible isso important.
Like, why do we read the Bible?
If we have received Christ asour Savior, are we not done?
Why should we read the Bible?
Well, Jesus is going to jumpinto that as well as a whole
(00:42):
bunch of other good stuff.
Can't wait to get into this.
But as always, if you like whatwe're doing here, make sure you
are liking the video on YouTube.
You are commenting.
You are sharing this witheverybody.
If you are listening to thepodcast, you are my brothers and
sisters.
I'm so thankful for that.
Make sure that you are leavingus a five-star review and help
us get the word out.
I would love to know that we arereally working hard together to
(01:04):
develop a community of justgushing about the Bible
together.
You know, just being fellowtravelers in God's word.
So make sure you're going to ourFacebook page.
You can find it in the shownotes section.
You can type in Bible breakdowndiscussion.
And I want to know how you'rerelating to this.
And I want to know this.
What is your favorite chapter inthe Bible?
What of all the chapters in theBible, what is your favorite?
(01:26):
I don't know what mine is.
I've got to really think on it.
There's some that I love, andthere's some that I um I don't
read often.
Like I don't read the Song ofSolomon that often.
If you don't know why, uh goread it.
And then you'll then you'll knowwhy.
It is just, it makes me feelawkward.
It's fine.
It's fine.
But this one today is a really,really good one.
So remember the context ofwhat's going on.
(01:46):
The author is the Apostle John.
He's the best friend of Jesus.
And he's writing to the church.
He's writing primarily to theseven churches that we read
about in the book of Revelationthat he is an overseer over.
And he is not focusing on theblow-by-blow account of the life
of Jesus.
He's left that to the othergospels that are possibly
already in circulation at thetime.
(02:08):
But he has been inspired by theHoly Spirit to give the central
message that Jesus preached,primarily in the final chapter
of or final year rather of hislife.
And think about this.
If your best friend were to givea message about you, what would
they say?
Well, Jesus' best friend says,I'm gonna tell you guys
(02:28):
something.
I walked with him for threeyears.
He's God.
And here's the thing you mayhave 99 problems, but Jesus
ain't one of them.
He is the king, he is God, andthis is his message.
And so what we're realizing isseven different times in the
message that Jesus is sharingwith us in the Gospel of John,
it says there are seven signs topoint to the divinity of Jesus
(02:50):
and seven statements that hemakes.
He makes these I am statementsto point to the fact that he is
not just a healer, he is notjust a messenger, he is God.
And we're gonna get into thatmore today as he claims to be
the Son of God.
So if you got your NLT Biblesopen with me, got your cup of
coffee ready, I want you to sendme a picture in our Facebook
group of your favorite cup ofcoffee as well.
(03:11):
Let's dive into this.
We're gonna read this and thenwe're gonna break it down
together, okay?
Because the more we dig, themore we find.
Here we go.
John chapter 5, verse 1 says,Afterward, Jesus returned to
Jerusalem for one of the Jewishholy days.
Inside the city, near thesheepgate, at the pool of
Bethesda, with five coveredporches.
Crowds of sick people, blind,lame, or paralyzed, lay on the
(03:35):
porches.
One of the men lying there hadbeen sick for thirty-eight
years.
When Jesus saw him and knew thathe had been ill for a long time,
he asked him, Would you like toget well?
I can't, sir, the sick man said,for I have no one to put me into
the pool when the water bubblesup.
Someone else always get thereahead of me.
(03:55):
Jesus told him, Stand, pick upyour mat, and walk.
Instantly the man was healed.
He rolled up his sleeping matand began walking.
This miracle happened on theSabbath.
So the Jewish leaders objected.
They said to the man who wascured, You can't work on the
Sabbath.
The law doesn't allow you tocarry your mat.
But he replied, Well, I mean,the man who healed me told me,
(04:18):
pick up your mat and walk.
Well, who said such a thing asthat?
They demanded.
The man didn't know, for Jesushad disappeared into the crowd.
But afterward, Jesus found himin the temple and told him,
Listen to this, now that you arewell, stop sinning, or something
else worse may happen to you.
Then the man went and told theJewish leaders that it was Jesus
(04:38):
who had healed him.
You know, it's amazing to me.
I'm gonna pause for a momentthat the Jewish leaders couldn't
see the forest for the trees.
You ever heard that phrasebefore?
It's like you get so focused onminute details that you lose the
sight of what's going on.
They were so focused on gettingthe letter of the law perfectly
accurate that they missed that amiracle had happened.
(05:00):
And isn't that true so manytimes in our life that we get so
focused on a certain area of ourlife that we don't realize the
good things that God is doingall around us?
That's why it's so important forus to take a step back and have
an attitude of gratitude in ourlife because many times there's
more going on good in our lifethan bad.
Now, that's not always the case.
(05:20):
There are very difficult seasonswe go through, but most of the
time, the reason why we arestruggling so bad is because we
are hyper-focused on one arearather than stepping back a
little bit to see that God isactually doing great things in
other areas of our life.
The other thing I love aboutthis is that Jesus told him,
now, Jesus is not saying thereason why he was sick was
(05:41):
because he had sinned.
He was saying, I need you tostop sinning.
Like whatever it was going on inthis guy's life, he wasn't
perfect.
I need you to stop sinning orsomething else bad is going to
happen to you.
And so what Jesus is not afraidto tell us is that I am willing
to heal you, but you are only asfree as you're willing to be.
In other words, salvation isfree.
Freedom is an opportunity.
(06:01):
If we are willing to remove allthe things that break us, all of
the poison that wants to destroyus, we need to get rid of all of
that stuff so we can keep thefreedom that Jesus has given us.
So once again, this is notlegalism.
This is not saying we earn oursalvation.
Salvation is free.
Freedom is an opportunity basedon the way we follow after
(06:23):
Jesus.
And that's what Jesus is saying.
You want to stay free?
Do you want to stay, you know,like you are right now?
Walk in freedom.
Get rid of the sin, get rid ofwhatever broken places in your
life so you can walk in freedom.
All right.
The next thing, Jesus is goingto talk about how he claims to
be the Son of God.
So here we go, verse 16.
So the Jewish leaders beganharassing Jesus for breaking the
(06:43):
Sabbath rules.
I mean, can you imagine?
Can you imagine harassing Jesus?
Well, it doesn't work out wellfor him.
Here we go, verse 17.
But Jesus replied, My father isalways working, and so am I.
So the Jewish leaders tried allthe harder to find a way to kill
him.
For he not only broke theSabbath, he called God his
Father, thereby making himselfequal with God.
(07:04):
So Jesus explained, I tell youthe truth, the Son can do
nothing by himself.
He does only what he sees theFather doing.
Whatever the Father does, theSon also does.
For the Father loves the Son andshows him everything he is
doing.
In fact, the Father shows himhow to do even greater works
than healing this man.
(07:25):
Then you will truly beastonished.
For just as the Father giveslife to those he raises from the
dead, so the Son gives life toanyone he wants.
In addition, the Father judgesno one.
Instead, he has given the Sonabsolute authority to judge, so
that everyone will honor theSon, just as they honor the
Father.
Anyone who does not honor theSon is certainly not honoring
(07:48):
the Father who sent him.
I tell you the truth, those wholisten to my message and believe
in God who sent me have eternallife.
They will never be condemned fortheir sins, but they have
already passed from death tolife.
And I assure you that the timeis coming, indeed, it is here
now, when the dead will hear myvoice, the voice of the Son of
(08:09):
God, and those who listen willlive.
The Father has life in himself,and he has granted that same
life-giving power to his son.
He has given him authority tojudge everyone because he is the
Son of Man.
That's a an Old Testament uhphrase for the Messiah.
Don't be surprised.
Indeed, the time is coming whenall the dead will, when all the
(08:32):
dead will hear in their graves,will hear the voice of God's
Son, and they will rise again.
Those who have done good willrise to experience eternal life,
and those who have continued inevil will rise to experience
judgment.
I can do nothing of my own.
I judge as God tells me.
Therefore my judgment is just,because I carry out the will of
(08:54):
the one who sent me, not my ownwill.
Now pause.
Jesus just said a mouthful oftheologically rich and deep
topics.
We could take every single verseand write a book on the
theological complexity that isthe Trinity and the tri-unity of
God.
It is this interestingtransubstantiation, is the word,
(09:15):
where you have God who is nowhoused in flesh.
And so he is equally God andequally man.
But then when you add to it thathe is also co-equal, co-eternal,
co-all-powerful with the Father,our brain starts to slowly fall
apart because there really isnot an adequate analogy.
Like, you know, you ever heardthe analogy of trying to
(09:37):
understand the Trinity is likethe sun?
You have that big ball of light,you have the actual light you
see, and you have the height,the heat that you experience.
That's the Trinity.
Well, I mean, yeah, but yet no,because there is this
interesting dynamic where theyare co-equal, co-eternal,
all-powerful, yet they havegiven themselves, Father, Son,
(09:58):
and Spirit, different jobs,different roles within this
complete total unity.
And that's what Jesus is tryingto help us slowly grasp.
I mean, imagine, imagine youwere to take an ant, like a
little insect, like a littleant, and try to teach it
advanced calculus.
It wouldn't communicate, right?
Like there's so many barriersyou wouldn't even try.
(10:20):
That would be like God, or thatis what it's like when God is
trying to help us understand hisdivine nature.
It's like trying to teachadvanced calculus to an insect.
There's so many barriers to getto that understanding.
Why would you even try?
Yet God, in his infinite wisdom,is trying to give us dignity by
helping us understand theinfinity, the impossible to
(10:43):
understand.
And so one of the things he'strying to do is he is trying to
say, Jesus is God, the Father isalso God, and in their perfect
symmetry, in their perfectunity, they work together
completely.
So the Father is the creator ofall, so is the Son.
The Son has been given authorityto judge all, just as the Father
(11:04):
creates, the Son createsjustice, the Spirit gives life,
and my brain explodes.
But that's what Jesus is sayingis he is saying, Yes, I am God
just like the Father, but theFather is not me, and I am not
him.
So if that didn't hurt yourbrain a little bit, you're not
thinking about it.
All right, let's move on.
Verse 31.
If I were to testify on my ownbehalf, my testimony would not
(11:27):
be valid.
But someone else is alsotestifying about me.
I assure you that everythingthat he says about me is true.
In fact, you sent investigatorsto listen to Johnny B.
John the Baptist, and histestimony about me was true.
Of course, I have no need ofhuman witnesses, but I say these
things so that you might besaved.
(11:47):
John was like a burning andshining lamp, and you were
excited for a while about hismessage.
But I have a greater witnessthan John, my teachings and my
miracles.
The Father gave me these worksto accomplish, and they prove
that he sent me.
And the Father who sent me hastestified about me himself.
You have never heard his voiceor seen him face to face, and
(12:09):
you do not have his message inyour hearts because you do not
believe me, the one he sent toyou.
Now, what Jesus is going to sayin the rest of it is why we read
the Bible.
Are you ready?
Here we go.
Why do we spend time goingthrough this one chapter at a
time?
Here we go, verse 39.
You search the scripturesbecause you think they give you
eternal life, but the scripturespoint to me.
(12:32):
Yet you refuse to come to me toreceive this life.
Your approval means nothing tome, because I know you don't
have God's love within you.
For I have come to you in myFather's name, and you have
rejected me.
Yet if others come in their ownname, you gladly welcome them.
No wonder you can't believethis, for you gladly honor each
(12:53):
other, but you don't care aboutthe honor that comes from the
one who alone is God.
Yet it isn't I who accuse youbefore my father.
Moses will accuse you.
Yes, Moses in whom you put yourhopes.
For if you really believedMoses, you would believe in me
because he wrote about me.
But since you don't believe whathe wrote, how will you believe
(13:14):
what I say?
Jesus is just telling it like itis.
I mean, he is just ripping thesepeople up because they have a
form of godliness, but have noidea who God is.
And here's the the concern Ihave as a just a Christian,
forget a pastor, just aChristian, is what Jesus is
saying, and the rest of this ishe is saying the reason why you
(13:35):
read the Bible is because itshows me.
It helps you get to know me.
It points to God so that now weknow.
And I have this horrible feelingthat that one day when all of
this is over with and we standbefore God, there's gonna be
this moment of reckoning whereGod is going to say, Why didn't
you get to know me?
(13:56):
Why why did you not do this?
Well, I mean, you know, I I didthis and did that.
No, no, no.
But the Bible points to me.
So why did you spend so littletime in my word?
That is how I've chosen toreveal myself.
So this is this biding critiquethat Jesus gives that you claim
you want to know me, but yet youdon't try to get to know me.
And so I don't want to be thatperson.
(14:16):
I want to be someone who is justconsistently going through the
Bible one chapter at a time.
Because once again, verse 39says, You search the scriptures
because you think they give youeternal life.
That is not what the scripturesdo.
The scriptures point to the onewho does.
So we we don't we don't worshipthe Bible, we worship the God of
the Bible, and he has revealedhimself through scripture, and
(14:39):
so we honor the scripturebecause by knowing it, we know
God better.
And so here's the question Iwould have for you as we end.
Jesus is revealing himself to usthrough his word.
The overall message of theGospel of John is Jesus' best
friend saying, He is God.
How can we learn about Jesus asGod in this chapter?
(15:00):
Well, to me it's very clear, andthat is we learn his word.
It's by learning his word thatwe learn that it points to him,
and when we find him, we findlife.
Let me pray for us today.
We we've been hearing a wholelot about Jesus.
Let's talk to him, then let'sread our scripture and we'll be
done.
Father, thank you so much thatyou give us the dignity and the
honor of explaining theimpossible.
(15:22):
Lord, the the idea that you,Father, and you, Son, and you,
Spirit are co-equal, co-eternal,same in your godness, yet
separate in your personhood.
Lord, it is so hard tounderstand, but I'm thankful for
that because I don't want toserve a God that's as big as me.
I don't want to serve a God thatfits inside my head.
I want a God that astonishes meand surprises me, makes me feel
(15:46):
like an idiot because I don'tunderstand.
Thank you for being bigger thanmy ability to comprehend,
because it is my joy toinvestigate and discover you
more every day.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Don't forget that John 20 says,These things were written, that
you may continue to believe thatJesus is God, and that by
(16:06):
believing in him, we will havelife by the power of his name.
I hope you're experiencing thatpower and that life every day
because the more we dig, themore we find.
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow for Johnchapter six.
Welcome to the Bible Breakdown Podcast.
Every day, we take one chapterof the Bible, dig deeper, and
discover that the more we dig,the more we find.
You can find out more at theBibleBreakdown.com.
Now let's grow in God's Wordtogether.
Well, hello, everybody.
Welcome back to the BibleBreakdown Podcast with your
host, Pastor Brandon.
(00:20):
Today, John chapter 5.
Man, once again, another amazingchapter.
And if I were to give thischapter a title, it would be
Jesus Explains Why the Bible isso important.
Like, why do we read the Bible?
If we have received Christ asour Savior, are we not done?
Why should we read the Bible?
Well, Jesus is going to jumpinto that as well as a whole
(00:42):
bunch of other good stuff.
Can't wait to get into this.
But as always, if you like whatwe're doing here, make sure you
are liking the video on YouTube.
You are commenting.
You are sharing this witheverybody.
If you are listening to thepodcast, you are my brothers and
sisters.
I'm so thankful for that.
Make sure that you are leavingus a five-star review and help
us get the word out.
I would love to know that we arereally working hard together to
(01:04):
develop a community of justgushing about the Bible
together.
You know, just being fellowtravelers in God's word.
So make sure you're going to ourFacebook page.
You can find it in the shownotes section.
You can type in Bible breakdowndiscussion.
And I want to know how you'rerelating to this.
And I want to know this.
What is your favorite chapter inthe Bible?
What of all the chapters in theBible, what is your favorite?
(01:26):
I don't know what mine is.
I've got to really think on it.
There's some that I love, andthere's some that I um I don't
read often.
Like I don't read the Song ofSolomon that often.
If you don't know why, uh goread it.
And then you'll then you'll knowwhy.
It is just, it makes me feelawkward.
It's fine.
It's fine.
But this one today is a really,really good one.
So remember the context ofwhat's going on.
(01:46):
The author is the Apostle John.
He's the best friend of Jesus.
And he's writing to the church.
He's writing primarily to theseven churches that we read
about in the book of Revelationthat he is an overseer over.
And he is not focusing on theblow-by-blow account of the life
of Jesus.
He's left that to the othergospels that are possibly
already in circulation at thetime.
(02:08):
But he has been inspired by theHoly Spirit to give the central
message that Jesus preached,primarily in the final chapter
of or final year rather of hislife.
And think about this.
If your best friend were to givea message about you, what would
they say?
Well, Jesus' best friend says,I'm gonna tell you guys
(02:28):
something.
I walked with him for threeyears.
He's God.
And here's the thing you mayhave 99 problems, but Jesus
ain't one of them.
He is the king, he is God, andthis is his message.
And so what we're realizing isseven different times in the
message that Jesus is sharingwith us in the Gospel of John,
it says there are seven signs topoint to the divinity of Jesus
(02:50):
and seven statements that hemakes.
He makes these I am statementsto point to the fact that he is
not just a healer, he is notjust a messenger, he is God.
And we're gonna get into thatmore today as he claims to be
the Son of God.
So if you got your NLT Biblesopen with me, got your cup of
coffee ready, I want you to sendme a picture in our Facebook
group of your favorite cup ofcoffee as well.
(03:11):
Let's dive into this.
We're gonna read this and thenwe're gonna break it down
together, okay?
Because the more we dig, themore we find.
Here we go.
John chapter 5, verse 1 says,Afterward, Jesus returned to
Jerusalem for one of the Jewishholy days.
Inside the city, near thesheepgate, at the pool of
Bethesda, with five coveredporches.
Crowds of sick people, blind,lame, or paralyzed, lay on the
(03:35):
porches.
One of the men lying there hadbeen sick for thirty-eight
years.
When Jesus saw him and knew thathe had been ill for a long time,
he asked him, Would you like toget well?
I can't, sir, the sick man said,for I have no one to put me into
the pool when the water bubblesup.
Someone else always get thereahead of me.
(03:55):
Jesus told him, Stand, pick upyour mat, and walk.
Instantly the man was healed.
He rolled up his sleeping matand began walking.
This miracle happened on theSabbath.
So the Jewish leaders objected.
They said to the man who wascured, You can't work on the
Sabbath.
The law doesn't allow you tocarry your mat.
But he replied, Well, I mean,the man who healed me told me,
(04:18):
pick up your mat and walk.
Well, who said such a thing asthat?
They demanded.
The man didn't know, for Jesushad disappeared into the crowd.
But afterward, Jesus found himin the temple and told him,
Listen to this, now that you arewell, stop sinning, or something
else worse may happen to you.
Then the man went and told theJewish leaders that it was Jesus
(04:38):
who had healed him.
You know, it's amazing to me.
I'm gonna pause for a momentthat the Jewish leaders couldn't
see the forest for the trees.
You ever heard that phrasebefore?
It's like you get so focused onminute details that you lose the
sight of what's going on.
They were so focused on gettingthe letter of the law perfectly
accurate that they missed that amiracle had happened.
(05:00):
And isn't that true so manytimes in our life that we get so
focused on a certain area of ourlife that we don't realize the
good things that God is doingall around us?
That's why it's so important forus to take a step back and have
an attitude of gratitude in ourlife because many times there's
more going on good in our lifethan bad.
Now, that's not always the case.
(05:20):
There are very difficult seasonswe go through, but most of the
time, the reason why we arestruggling so bad is because we
are hyper-focused on one arearather than stepping back a
little bit to see that God isactually doing great things in
other areas of our life.
The other thing I love aboutthis is that Jesus told him,
now, Jesus is not saying thereason why he was sick was
(05:41):
because he had sinned.
He was saying, I need you tostop sinning.
Like whatever it was going on inthis guy's life, he wasn't
perfect.
I need you to stop sinning orsomething else bad is going to
happen to you.
And so what Jesus is not afraidto tell us is that I am willing
to heal you, but you are only asfree as you're willing to be.
In other words, salvation isfree.
Freedom is an opportunity.
(06:01):
If we are willing to remove allthe things that break us, all of
the poison that wants to destroyus, we need to get rid of all of
that stuff so we can keep thefreedom that Jesus has given us.
So once again, this is notlegalism.
This is not saying we earn oursalvation.
Salvation is free.
Freedom is an opportunity basedon the way we follow after
(06:23):
Jesus.
And that's what Jesus is saying.
You want to stay free?
Do you want to stay, you know,like you are right now?
Walk in freedom.
Get rid of the sin, get rid ofwhatever broken places in your
life so you can walk in freedom.
All right.
The next thing, Jesus is goingto talk about how he claims to
be the Son of God.
So here we go, verse 16.
So the Jewish leaders beganharassing Jesus for breaking the
(06:43):
Sabbath rules.
I mean, can you imagine?
Can you imagine harassing Jesus?
Well, it doesn't work out wellfor him.
Here we go, verse 17.
But Jesus replied, My father isalways working, and so am I.
So the Jewish leaders tried allthe harder to find a way to kill
him.
For he not only broke theSabbath, he called God his
Father, thereby making himselfequal with God.
(07:04):
So Jesus explained, I tell youthe truth, the Son can do
nothing by himself.
He does only what he sees theFather doing.
Whatever the Father does, theSon also does.
For the Father loves the Son andshows him everything he is
doing.
In fact, the Father shows himhow to do even greater works
than healing this man.
(07:25):
Then you will truly beastonished.
For just as the Father giveslife to those he raises from the
dead, so the Son gives life toanyone he wants.
In addition, the Father judgesno one.
Instead, he has given the Sonabsolute authority to judge, so
that everyone will honor theSon, just as they honor the
Father.
Anyone who does not honor theSon is certainly not honoring
(07:48):
the Father who sent him.
I tell you the truth, those wholisten to my message and believe
in God who sent me have eternallife.
They will never be condemned fortheir sins, but they have
already passed from death tolife.
And I assure you that the timeis coming, indeed, it is here
now, when the dead will hear myvoice, the voice of the Son of
(08:09):
God, and those who listen willlive.
The Father has life in himself,and he has granted that same
life-giving power to his son.
He has given him authority tojudge everyone because he is the
Son of Man.
That's a an Old Testament uhphrase for the Messiah.
Don't be surprised.
Indeed, the time is coming whenall the dead will, when all the
(08:32):
dead will hear in their graves,will hear the voice of God's
Son, and they will rise again.
Those who have done good willrise to experience eternal life,
and those who have continued inevil will rise to experience
judgment.
I can do nothing of my own.
I judge as God tells me.
Therefore my judgment is just,because I carry out the will of
(08:54):
the one who sent me, not my ownwill.
Now pause.
Jesus just said a mouthful oftheologically rich and deep
topics.
We could take every single verseand write a book on the
theological complexity that isthe Trinity and the tri-unity of
God.
It is this interestingtransubstantiation, is the word,
(09:15):
where you have God who is nowhoused in flesh.
And so he is equally God andequally man.
But then when you add to it thathe is also co-equal, co-eternal,
co-all-powerful with the Father,our brain starts to slowly fall
apart because there really isnot an adequate analogy.
Like, you know, you ever heardthe analogy of trying to
(09:37):
understand the Trinity is likethe sun?
You have that big ball of light,you have the actual light you
see, and you have the height,the heat that you experience.
That's the Trinity.
Well, I mean, yeah, but yet no,because there is this
interesting dynamic where theyare co-equal, co-eternal,
all-powerful, yet they havegiven themselves, Father, Son,
(09:58):
and Spirit, different jobs,different roles within this
complete total unity.
And that's what Jesus is tryingto help us slowly grasp.
I mean, imagine, imagine youwere to take an ant, like a
little insect, like a littleant, and try to teach it
advanced calculus.
It wouldn't communicate, right?
Like there's so many barriersyou wouldn't even try.
(10:20):
That would be like God, or thatis what it's like when God is
trying to help us understand hisdivine nature.
It's like trying to teachadvanced calculus to an insect.
There's so many barriers to getto that understanding.
Why would you even try?
Yet God, in his infinite wisdom,is trying to give us dignity by
helping us understand theinfinity, the impossible to
(10:43):
understand.
And so one of the things he'strying to do is he is trying to
say, Jesus is God, the Father isalso God, and in their perfect
symmetry, in their perfectunity, they work together
completely.
So the Father is the creator ofall, so is the Son.
The Son has been given authorityto judge all, just as the Father
(11:04):
creates, the Son createsjustice, the Spirit gives life,
and my brain explodes.
But that's what Jesus is sayingis he is saying, Yes, I am God
just like the Father, but theFather is not me, and I am not
him.
So if that didn't hurt yourbrain a little bit, you're not
thinking about it.
All right, let's move on.
Verse 31.
If I were to testify on my ownbehalf, my testimony would not
(11:27):
be valid.
But someone else is alsotestifying about me.
I assure you that everythingthat he says about me is true.
In fact, you sent investigatorsto listen to Johnny B.
John the Baptist, and histestimony about me was true.
Of course, I have no need ofhuman witnesses, but I say these
things so that you might besaved.
(11:47):
John was like a burning andshining lamp, and you were
excited for a while about hismessage.
But I have a greater witnessthan John, my teachings and my
miracles.
The Father gave me these worksto accomplish, and they prove
that he sent me.
And the Father who sent me hastestified about me himself.
You have never heard his voiceor seen him face to face, and
(12:09):
you do not have his message inyour hearts because you do not
believe me, the one he sent toyou.
Now, what Jesus is going to sayin the rest of it is why we read
the Bible.
Are you ready?
Here we go.
Why do we spend time goingthrough this one chapter at a
time?
Here we go, verse 39.
You search the scripturesbecause you think they give you
eternal life, but the scripturespoint to me.
(12:32):
Yet you refuse to come to me toreceive this life.
Your approval means nothing tome, because I know you don't
have God's love within you.
For I have come to you in myFather's name, and you have
rejected me.
Yet if others come in their ownname, you gladly welcome them.
No wonder you can't believethis, for you gladly honor each
(12:53):
other, but you don't care aboutthe honor that comes from the
one who alone is God.
Yet it isn't I who accuse youbefore my father.
Moses will accuse you.
Yes, Moses in whom you put yourhopes.
For if you really believedMoses, you would believe in me
because he wrote about me.
But since you don't believe whathe wrote, how will you believe
(13:14):
what I say?
Jesus is just telling it like itis.
I mean, he is just ripping thesepeople up because they have a
form of godliness, but have noidea who God is.
And here's the the concern Ihave as a just a Christian,
forget a pastor, just aChristian, is what Jesus is
saying, and the rest of this ishe is saying the reason why you
(13:35):
read the Bible is because itshows me.
It helps you get to know me.
It points to God so that now weknow.
And I have this horrible feelingthat that one day when all of
this is over with and we standbefore God, there's gonna be
this moment of reckoning whereGod is going to say, Why didn't
you get to know me?
(13:56):
Why why did you not do this?
Well, I mean, you know, I I didthis and did that.
No, no, no.
But the Bible points to me.
So why did you spend so littletime in my word?
That is how I've chosen toreveal myself.
So this is this biding critiquethat Jesus gives that you claim
you want to know me, but yet youdon't try to get to know me.
And so I don't want to be thatperson.
(14:16):
I want to be someone who is justconsistently going through the
Bible one chapter at a time.
Because once again, verse 39says, You search the scriptures
because you think they give youeternal life.
That is not what the scripturesdo.
The scriptures point to the onewho does.
So we we don't we don't worshipthe Bible, we worship the God of
the Bible, and he has revealedhimself through scripture, and
(14:39):
so we honor the scripturebecause by knowing it, we know
God better.
And so here's the question Iwould have for you as we end.
Jesus is revealing himself to usthrough his word.
The overall message of theGospel of John is Jesus' best
friend saying, He is God.
How can we learn about Jesus asGod in this chapter?
(15:00):
Well, to me it's very clear, andthat is we learn his word.
It's by learning his word thatwe learn that it points to him,
and when we find him, we findlife.
Let me pray for us today.
We we've been hearing a wholelot about Jesus.
Let's talk to him, then let'sread our scripture and we'll be
done.
Father, thank you so much thatyou give us the dignity and the
honor of explaining theimpossible.
(15:22):
Lord, the the idea that you,Father, and you, Son, and you,
Spirit are co-equal, co-eternal,same in your godness, yet
separate in your personhood.
Lord, it is so hard tounderstand, but I'm thankful for
that because I don't want toserve a God that's as big as me.
I don't want to serve a God thatfits inside my head.
I want a God that astonishes meand surprises me, makes me feel
(15:46):
like an idiot because I don'tunderstand.
Thank you for being bigger thanmy ability to comprehend,
because it is my joy toinvestigate and discover you
more every day.
In Jesus' name we pray.
Amen.
Don't forget that John 20 says,These things were written, that
you may continue to believe thatJesus is God, and that by
(16:06):
believing in him, we will havelife by the power of his name.
I hope you're experiencing thatpower and that life every day
because the more we dig, themore we find.
I love you.
I'll see you tomorrow for Johnchapter six.
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