John 5:1-47 Jesus is Equal with God August 29, 2020
This is a key chapter in John’s Gospel. This
chapter holds the strongest arguments for the deity of Jesus as the Creator and
Savior of all mankind.
The Healing at the Pool on the Sabbath
John 5:1 Later on, there was another festival of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
Probably not the 2nd Passover after His ministry began, not sure, no proof, Purim, is literally feast of the Jews {Queen Esther}, or Hanukkah {Feast of Dedication – John 10:22}, literally a feast of the Jews
John 5:2 Near the Sheep Gate in Jerusalem is a pool called Bethesda in Hebrew. It has five porches, five covered platforms or porches surrounding it.
Bethesda means House of Mercy. The Bethesda pool was 2 large rectangular pool, about 2-3 ft deep and about 20 - 30 ft. across. Five Porches built for the sick. Sheep Gate for sheep to go through to Temple for sacrifice, which places it north of the temple, near Fort Antonia. During Jesus’ time, the Pool of Bethesda lay outside the city walls.
John 5:3-4 and under these a large number of sick people were lying; blind, lame, or paralyzed--waiting for the movement of the water. (4) At certain times an angel of the Lord would go down into the pool and stir up the water, and whoever stepped in first after the stirring of the water was healed of whatever disease he had.
There were usually about 300 people lying around the pool. People believed that an angel came and stirred it. According to local tradition, the first one in the water would be healed. Vs. pt 3 and 4 is not in the NIV.
John 5:5-6 One particular man was there who had been ill for 38 years. (6) When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?"
With discouragement of not being healed often comes disbelief. Jesus is asking here, Are you earnestly desiring to be made well? Do you have faith.
John 5:7 The sick man answered him, "Sir, I don't have anyone to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I'm trying to get there, someone else steps down ahead of me."
Instead of saying he wished to be cured, depressed saying he cannot get in.
John 5:8 Jesus told him, "Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk!"
Jesus
command to rise and walk with authority that compelled obedience.
He
couldn’t walk but by a miracle;
His healing was right then and complete
Mat is a rough cotton wool quilt called the poor man’s bed.
This miracle made quite an impression on the people, because it is brought up again.
John 5:9 The man immediately became well, and he picked up his mat and started walking. Now that day was a Sabbath.
John records this miracle because it was a witness to Jesus’ deity. Jewish Leadership considers carrying a mat on the Sabbath was violation of the Law.
Observe the process: (1) Christ addresses the man; (2) he commands; (3) the man obeys. It is the obedience of faith. (4) In the act of obedience he is healed. Christ is the healer, but he is healed by the obedience of faith
John 5:10 So the Jews {leaders} told the man who had been healed, "It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful {illegal} for you to carry your mat.
The Jews ignore the miracle and take offense because of the Sabbath.
It was
unlawful to carry a bed on the Sabbath, especially in Jerusalem. The punishment
was death by stoning. According to the Mishna, a man could not be accused of
violating the Sabbath unless he had first been formally warned against such an
action. {from Jer 17:21-22} {Who carried
him there}
It is a violation of the Jewish wrong interpretation of God’s law on the Sabbath. This comes back in chapter 7.
The Pharisees held the power of the religious leadership at this time. The Sadducees had power of the religious leadership in Acts.
John 5:11-12 But he answered them, "The man who made me well told me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'" (12) They asked him, "Who is the man who told you, 'Pick it up and walk'?"
The Jewish leaders did not care who healed the man,
they wanted to know who told him to carry his mat.
John 5:13 But the one who had been healed did not know who it was, because Jesus had slipped away from the crowd in that place.
John 5:14 Later on, Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, "See, you have become well. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you."
This
implies that this particular illness was caused by some type of sin
Jesus was concerned for his spiritual health, not just his physical health.
John 5:15 The man went off and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.
Why, so he would not be punished by being put out of the Temple or death
John 5:16 So the Jews began persecuting Jesus, because on the Sabbath. {called Him a Sabbath breaker}
This is
when the Jewish begin to persecute Jesus. Jesus is Equal with God in Nature: They do not like Jesus, therefore they do not
like the Father
John 5:17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I, too, am working."
The Pharisees explain what he means: he “making himself equal with God.
Declares Jesus of His Deity, Equal with God
Equal with God in Nature John 5:17-18
Equal with God in Power John 5:19-21
Equal with God in Authority John 5:22-24
Jesus is Equal with God
John 5:18 So the Jews were trying all the harder to kill him, because he was not only breaking the Sabbath but was also calling God his own Father, thereby making himself equal to God.
The strongest statement of His deity comes from His enemies. Jesus claim seemed to the Jewish leaders, blasphemy.
The Authority of the Son
John 5:19 Jesus told them, "Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, the Son can do nothing on his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing, What the Father does, the Son does likewise.
Jesus is
Equal with God in Power, is a claim of deity and unity with the Father
John 5:20 The Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing, and he will show him even greater actions than these, so that you may be amazed.
John 5:21 Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to those he chooses.
Jesus never acted independently of the Father. Jesus claimed the same power as God, thus claiming that He is equal with God. Even to the extent of giving life to the dead
Jesus is Equal with God in Authority:
John 5:22 The Father judges no one, but has given all authority to judge to the Son,
Jesus will judge all people, the Father acts not without the Son or the Son without the Father.
John 5:23 so that everyone may honor the Son as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
The Son is worthy of same worship, constantly putting Him first in every area of your life. He doesn’t want to be “number one” on a list of 10; He wants to be “one” on a list of one! Jesus claimed equal authority with God.
The Jews
expected the Messiah as a great and powerful Prince;
John 5:24 "Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, whoever hears what I say and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but has passed from death to life.
John 5:25 Truly, I tell all of you with certainty, the time approaches, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live.
So did Jairus's daughter, the widow's son, Lazarus. Three Examples where the dead heard Jesus Voice
Jairus's daughter: Mark 5:41-42 He took her by the hand and told her, "Talitha koum," which means, "Young lady, I tell you, get up!" (42) The young lady got up at once and started to walk. She was twelve years old. Instantly they were overcome with astonishment.
The widow's son: Luke 7:14-15 Then he went up and touched the bier, and the men who were carrying it stopped. He said, "Young man, I say to you, get up!" (15) The man who had been dead sat up and began to speak, and Jesus gave him back to his mother.
Lazarus: John 11:43-44 After saying this, he shouted
with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" (44) The man who had died
came out, his hands and feet tied with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in
a handkerchief. Jesus told them, "Untie him, and let him go."
John 5:26 Just as the Father has life in himself, so also he has granted the Son to have life in himself,
Giving Life: Son of God, Jesus have life in himself, absolute and independent. Jesus can give life because He Himself possesses life and is the source of it. Shows He is God.
John 5:27 and he has given him authority to judge, because he is the Son of Man.
Judgment: Son of Man {Kinsman-redeemer}
There are Two main Resurrections and Judgments that we are told about
John 5:28 "Don't be amazed at this, because the time is approaching when everyone in their graves will hear the Son of Man's voice
John
5:29 and will come out--those who have done what is good to
the resurrection that leads to life,
and those who have practiced what is evil to the resurrection
that ends in condemnation.
Bema Judgment: Revelation 20:4,5 Then I saw thrones, and those who sat on them were given authority to judge. I also saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony about Jesus and because of the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or its image and had not received its mark on their foreheads or hands. They came back to life and ruled with the Messiah for a thousand years. (5) The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years were over. This is the first resurrection.
White Throne Judgment: Revelation 20:11-12 Then I saw a large, white throne and the one who was sitting on it. The earth and the heavens fled from his presence, and no place was found for them. (12) I saw the dead, both unimportant and important, standing in front of the throne, and books were open. Another book was opened--the Book of Life. The dead were judged according to their actions, as recorded in the books.
Witnesses to Jesus
John 5:30 I can do nothing on my own accord. I judge according to what I hear, and my judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me."
Jesus says He can do nothing independent of the Father
John 5:31 "If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony is not trustworthy.
John 8:17 In your own Law it is written that the testimony of two people is valid.
There are Five Witness:
1.
John the Baptist {5:33-35}
2.
The Works {John 5:36}
3.
The Father {John 5:37}
4.
The Scriptures {John 5:39}
5.
Writings of Moses {John 5:45-47}
John 5:32 There is another who testifies about me, and I know that the testimony he gives about me is true.
John the Baptist Witness
John
5:33 You have
sent messengers to John, and he
has testified to the truth.
John 5:34 I myself do not accept human testimony, but I am saying these things so that you may be saved.
John
5:35 That man
John was a lamp that burns and brightly shines,
and for a while you were willing to rejoice in his light.
The Works Witness
John 5:36 "But I have a greater testimony than John's, because the actions that the Father has given me to complete--the very actions that I am doing--testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me.
Works does not necessarily mean miracles or miracle of mercy only.
The Father Witness
John 5:37 Moreover, the Father who sent me has himself testified on my behalf. You have never heard his voice or seen what he looks like,
Had not listen to the voice or command of God.
1 John 3:6 No one who lives in him keeps on sinning. No one who continues to sin has either seen him or known him.
John
5:38 nor do you have
his word at work in you, because you
do not believe in the one whom he sent.
The Scriptures Witness
John 5:39 You examine the Scriptures carefully because you suppose that in them you have eternal life. Yet they testify about me.
Jesus is talking about the Old Testament here. All the Scriptures testify and written about Jesus.
Psalms 40:7 Then I said, "Behold, I come; In the scroll of the book it is written of me.
There are many individuals today who master the Scriptures but do not allow the Scriptures to master them. God doesn’t promise to bless Bible reading per say, but, rather, but following the Commands of Jesus
Revelation 1:3 How blessed is the one who reads aloud and those who hear the words of this prophecy and obey what is written in it, for the time is near!
John 5:40 But you are not willing to come to me to have life.
They refused to consider any evidence that would bring them to Jesus. Eternal life which can only come by Jesus
John 5:41 "I do not accept human praise.
Jesus does not need honor or testimony from men as the Jewish leadership needs honor and human applause from men. {Glory}
John
5:42 I know
that you do not have the love of God in you.
Jesus can read their hearts and minds. The love of God here is not love from God but love for or towards God.
John 5:43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me. Yet if another man comes in his own name, you will accept him.
They will accept some false Christs and yet reject Jesus. Jesus came in the Father’s name, revealing God to the people, but the Jews rejected Him.
Now, if someone
had come in his own name, giving
his own ideas in harmony with the people’s ideas, the people would have
received him, they will follow them or obey him as a teacher.
This has happen with the Jews and Christians in history.
John 5:44 How can you believe when you accept each other's praise and do not look for the praise that comes from the only God?
Is unbelief due to a moral condition. The people did not believe in Jesus because they did not seek honor that comes from the only God. All sports, movie, plaques, and trophies will one day be consumed by fire. What is really important in life.
Romans 8:18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us.
Writings of Moses
John 5:45 Do not suppose that I will be the one to accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom you have set your hope,
If they rejected the testimony and writings of Moses, of whose laws you set your hopes for, of heaven, how could they believe him now of whom Moses spoke?
John 5:46 because if you believed Moses, you would believe me, since he wrote about me.
Jesus said Moses wrote in all his writings about Him, believe Moses, they would have received Jesus gladly.
Deuteronomy 18:15 "The LORD your God will raise up a prophet like me for you from among your relatives. You must listen to him.
John 5:47 But if you do not believe what he wrote, how will you believe my words?"
Individuals did not believe the Word of God was written by Moses.
Jesus
saves us hours of boring background, because He tells us that Moses wrote the
Torah!
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