Subscribe
Share
Share
Embed
Sermons preached at Trinity Reformed Church in Bloomington, Indiana.
We are continuing our progress through the gospel of John through Advent, as John is just filled with wonderful themes for us to meditate on this season, appropriate to this season. And we're finishing up chapter 5 today, which consists of a lengthy speech given by Jesus. And I wanna remind us of the context because that's very important. Jesus has just healed a man up in Jerusalem at the pool of Bethesda, who had been paralyzed for 38 years. Jesus sees this man lying there amongst many others.
Jody Killingsworth:He knows that he has been ill for a long time and lying there for a long time seeking healing, and Jesus says to him, do you want to be healed? And the man talks to him about how he'd longed to be in the water and had never obtained the healing that he had sought, and Jesus says, get up. Take up your bed and walk. And immediately, he's better and he obeys Jesus. That story serves as our introduction to a theme of controversy.
Jody Killingsworth:This is Jesus' first controversy recorded in John. And John, tells how Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath. And so the religious leaders see this man walking around, and they want to know who has done this. Why are you doing this, violating the Sabbath, carrying your bed? That's not allowed.
Jody Killingsworth:Who's told you that you could do that? And they finally find out who Jesus is. And they begin to persecute Jesus for what they perceive to be violations of God's law on the Sabbath day. Jesus responds to their accusations and attacks with this pithy defense. He says, my Father is working until now, and I myself am working.
Jody Killingsworth:And the Pharisees hearing this lose their ever loving minds. Not only was Jesus, as they saw it, breaking the Sabbath, now he's even calling God his own father, which for them was tantamount to blasphemy. And that's a capital offense in their book. So John tells us in verse 18 of chapter 5 that they were seeking all the more because of this statement to kill him. To kill him.
Jody Killingsworth:That's where we got to last week in chapter 5. What does Jesus do next? Well, that's what we see here. Jesus doesn't run away. He's not a mousy figure, timid, doesn't slip away quietly.
Jody Killingsworth:He leans in. He adds many words at this point, bravely defending himself against their hatred. He validates his claims of divinity with a lengthy speech. It's a speech that reads like a legal defense. And some people have even suggested that maybe he presented this formally before the Sanhedrin.
Jody Killingsworth:We don't know for sure who he's speaking to. But regardless, John has preserved for us here in this section an amazing and rare record of Jesus' own self testimony about himself. It's a rich and powerful defense where he claims to be the eternal begotten son and co equal of God the father. Let's read this account together. We find it in John chapter 5 starting in verse 19.
Jody Killingsworth:This is God's holy and inspired word, and it is eternally true, and it is profitable for our lives. Let's let's hear it together. So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing, and greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.
Jody Killingsworth:For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Jody Killingsworth:Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done good to the resurrection of life.
Jody Killingsworth:And those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment. I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge. And my judgment is just because I seek not my own will but the will of Him who sent me. If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.
Jody Killingsworth:There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light, but the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
Jody Killingsworth:And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice, you have never heard. His form, you have never seen. And you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life, and it is they that bear witness about me.
Jody Killingsworth:Yet, you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people, but I know that you do not have the love of God within you. I have come in my father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. How can you believe when you receive glory from one another, and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God.
Jody Killingsworth:Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? This is the word of the Lord.
Jody Killingsworth:Thanks be to God. Woah. That's intimidating to preach. Quite a speech. A deep well, one of the deepest in the whole scriptures.
Jody Killingsworth:I tried to pawn this text off on other people, but I couldn't find anybody available enough this week at the time. And I'm glad in the end because it's been so good to marinate in this text and to reckon with it. What is Jesus saying? What does he mean? How is this structured?
Jody Killingsworth:Well, I see three parts to the defense that he makes here. In the first verses, verses 19 to 30, Jesus presents testimony concerning himself, his own self testimony, what he has to say. In the next section, verses 31 to 40, he cites other witnesses who confirm his claims, corroborate the evidence. In verses 41 to 47, in conclusion, he invokes the testimony of Moses against the Jews who refused to believe in him. And he shows why.
Jody Killingsworth:He exposes the reason, the motivation behind why they reject him. So let's look, first of all, at what Jesus has to say about himself in verses 19 to 30. How does testimony open in a court of law in America? Do you solemnly swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, nothing but the truth, so help you God? They may or may not add that last phrase.
Jody Killingsworth:Jesus begins his testimony with a kind of solemn oath. He says, truly, truly I say to you. That in Hebrew is amen. Amen. That's like a very worshipful strong affirmation that is doubly invoked here by Jesus to make a deep impression.
Jody Killingsworth:Truly, amen, amen, I say to you. The son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing. Jesus is not trumpeting his obedience here. He is obedient, but that's not what he's emphasizing. He's telling us not that his works are divinely appointed works, but that they are divine works.
Jody Killingsworth:I and the Father are 1, is how he will put it later in John 10. We are 1 and the same. When I work, you're seeing the Father working through me. He and I are distinguishable persons, but we are so essentially and morally bound together and united that we are incapable of doing things separate from one another. We work together.
Jody Killingsworth:Jesus begins to explain and unfold how this unity between him and the father works. He says, he sees what the father is doing and he does like him, in verse 19. That is a profound claim, more profound than I knew when I started out. I was helped by D Wayne Pinkney. Pinkney.
Jody Killingsworth:I called you Pinkney. D Wayne. He taught the youth on Wednesday night, and then the elders also on Thursday night at our elders meeting, about the holiness of God. How God is so highly exalted, brilliantly exalted, and set apart from all of creation that even the most holy cherubim have to cover their eyes in His presence. They can't bear to look upon his radiance and holiness.
Jody Killingsworth:Job says that not even the heavens are clean in his sight. How much less that corrupt creature man, says Job. That's why John in his opening prologue said that no one has seen God at any time. The closest anybody ever came was Moses, who God allowed to see his backside after he had passed by. That's the closest anyone came.
Jody Killingsworth:But Jesus, on the other hand, because he is God, claims that he's able to look and see. He doesn't have to squint his eyes even. He can continually look and observe what the Father is doing and able to do likewise. What a claim. He goes on to explain this claim that he's able to see and do what the father is doing with a string of supporting 4 statements.
Jody Killingsworth:Statements to begin with 4. 4, says Jesus in verse 20. The father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing. Not only is Jesus divinely worthy to look and observe what the father is doing, but the father loves his son so much that he is eager to bring him in, reveal all that he is thinking and doing, and to show the son his work and his business. How many of us dads are too impatient with our sons to involve them in our work and our labor?
Jody Killingsworth:I read a book by a famous educator some years ago who said he got into the work of education, that calling, because as a little boy he remembers how often he just wanted any adult to stop for a minute and let them into what the work that they were doing. Give them a little window and insight into this mysterious adult world. Jesus has he says, my bones ached for that. That's why he got into education. Jesus doesn't have that ache.
Jody Killingsworth:He he has his father continually loving him and involving him in his business all the time. And one of the great things that this means for us, and this teaches us, is that as we look upon Jesus, as we see his works in the word of God expressed to us, we are seeing the love of the Father lived out incarnated. The love that he has for his son lived out towards us by his son, Jesus Christ. Isn't that amazing? Jesus says to them, the best of these works are yet to come.
Jody Killingsworth:Verse 20, greater works than these will the father show to the son, so that you may marvel. They just witnessed the man miraculously healed, able to walk again after 38 years of paralysis, and that's amazing. But that was just the beginning, says Jesus. Greater things are coming and it's going to increase your amazement. Not because Jesus needs our applause.
Jody Killingsworth:He's not motivated to to get affirmation from you and me. He has all the affirmation that he needs from his father. This marveling is for our good. It's to draw us to him and to confirm that he is who he says he is, and to lead us to marvel and to wonder and to glory in his power. Get ready to be amazed, says Jesus.
Jody Killingsworth:4, verse 21, as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whom he will. The Old Testament writers presuppose that only God has the power to raise the dead. He has the power of resurrection. 1 of the kings of Israel once said he was almost like offended and scandalized by a request that came to him and he said, am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life?
Jody Killingsworth:That's not in my power. The rabbis around Jesus' time used to have a one of them used to have a saying that's that that he talked about how there are 3 keys that God reserves for himself and never entrusts to any representative of his. Those keys are this: the key of the rain, the key of the womb, and the key of the resurrection from the dead. Prophet Elijah is one possible exception to that rule. He prayed and asked God to raise a boy from the dead.
Jody Killingsworth:He laid on top of the boy, and the boy was restored to life. But Jesus is greater than Elijah. Because not only, Jesus raises the dead, is going to go on to raise the dead, not through prayer, please God do this, but through command, his own command. God has entrusted this command authority to him over the dead. Talitha kum.
Jody Killingsworth:You know that story. Lazarus, come forth. We're going to hear about this later in John. This four statement that we're looking at in verse 21 emphasizes the equality that Jesus has with his father in this aspect, that they both have command authority, the power of life and death in their hands. The next statement in verse 22 informs of a distinction between the father and the son, introduced by the father.
Jody Killingsworth:It's the father's idea. He's made it He's brought this about. So that they would both end up with equivalent glory and worship. For, verse 22, the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him, says Jesus.
Jody Killingsworth:This is his claim. The father is so committed to his son's honor that he will not allow any for himself, except which comes indirectly through his son. And how has he ensured that he and the son together in this way will get honor for themselves by entrusting judgment, the authority to judge into the son's hands. We don't like judgment nowadays. You notice that?
Jody Killingsworth:We've decided that's hate, whether it be good judgment or bad judgment. Necessary and natural or forced and hateful. We don't care. It's all hate. But judgment used to be a desirable trait in a man.
Jody Killingsworth:James Boswell, biographer and friend of Samuel Johnson, author of the First English Dictionary, he loved doctor Johnson for his wise and discriminating judgments. They got together. Boswell got together with Johnson regularly to improve his own moral sense of things and his discriminating knowledge and ability to improve their judgments. That's why men used to get together and talk, to exercise the work of judgment. And the biography of Johnson is largely just a record of their conversations.
Jody Killingsworth:It's very interesting. It's very long, but it's very interesting. But as sharp and discerning, discriminating as Samuel Johnson may have been, his judgments pale in comparison to those of the Lord Jesus Christ. The father has entrusted all judgment to his son, so that he may be revered by all and not dismissed. Think of what Paul says in Philippians chapter 2, how someday, on that day, before him every knee will bow and every tongue confess that he is Lord.
Jody Killingsworth:That day when he exposes the secrets of hearts and every hidden motive is weighed in the balance. It will redound to his authority to judge. How many of you would like that day to come right now? Right now. I don't I think if we were honest, not very many of us would like it to come ever.
Jody Killingsworth:It's a fearful day, an awesome day. But those who trust in Jesus have this amazing word of assurance. Look what Jesus says next. It's unbelievable. Verse 24.
Jody Killingsworth:Truly, truly, amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word what a claim. Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment, but has passed already from death to life. Jesus is telling us that those who trust in him by faith have already been judged. Already. They were judged in Him as He hung on the cross and received the full wrath and anger of God against sin against their sin.
Jody Killingsworth:They've been judged already in him. And through trusting in him and his word, they have passed from death unto life. Judgment is about who lives and who dies. That's what it comes down to in its ultimate sense. Who lives and who dies and why?
Jody Killingsworth:The decision over our eternal destinies, yours and mine, and every living soul who has ever walked this earth, and ever will walk this earth, has been entrusted by the father completely to the son. And he is exercising that power and authority now, even in this room, while we sit here and I talk. He's exercising this judgment in the world now. By what standard is he judging? It's all about what you make of him, whether you trust him, and follow him, and believe on him.
Jody Killingsworth:Those who refuse to believe in the sun, as Jesus previously said in John 3 to Nicodemus, are condemned already. Already. Right now, condemned. They're failing God's test, and they will bear the condemnation of that on their soul and body to the grave and ever after unless they repent. Those who hear him and believe, is what he's saying here, have passed.
Jody Killingsworth:They have passed out of judgment into life. Where do you stand in regard to the judgment of Jesus Christ? If your honest answer is, oh, man, I'm a dead man, I stand condemned, Jesus' word to you is you do not have to accept that fate. That does not have to be your end. The father has sent the son into the world to call the dead to life.
Jody Killingsworth:That's what he says to us in verse 25. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead he's talking about the unbelieving, spiritually dead. The dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For, verse 26, as the father has life in himself, so he has granted the son also to have life in himself. The Bible describes us all as, in our natural fallen state, as dead men walking, condemned in our consciences, knowing that we are worthy of judgment, walking around expecting having only a terrifying expectation of judgment and wrath, and a sense of alienation from God.
Jody Killingsworth:Anybody ever lived that? I've lived that. It's often only after the when we've been relieved from it that we even know what we were under. But it's a terrible sentence. That's what we're born bearing in our souls, in our consciences, in our minds.
Jody Killingsworth:That sentence of condemnation, God's wrath. But the father has sent the son into the world to call the dead. That's what spiritual deadness is, bearing that curse, that judgment in our minds and our hearts. That's deadness. The father has sent the son into the world to call the dead to life.
Jody Killingsworth:Will you hear his word of life today and receive the liberty that he offers you? The freedom he offers you? The forgiveness he offers you? If you're dead in trespasses and sins, the Son of God is offering you life. It can't be found any other way than through him.
Jody Killingsworth:Jesus is the one mediator between God and man. He's the sole authorized dispenser of life and freedom from condemnation. Verse 26. He, Jesus is again speaking, this is his defense. He, speaking of the Father, has given him, Jesus, authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man.
Jody Killingsworth:I have this authority, says Jesus. The power of life and death is in my hands. I have it from the father because I am the son of man. That's a clear reference or an illusion to an old prophecy from Daniel in chapter 7. The prophet Daniel foresees this vision, of of of of of of one like a son of man who comes up to the ancient of days and receives all the prerogatives of divinity, of godhood, in order to exercise rule and authority and dominion over the world.
Jody Killingsworth:And Jesus is announcing to them with this term, I'm that one. That son of man. That's me. I'm uniquely qualified here to exercise eternal judgment. Don't marvel at this, he says in verse 28.
Jody Killingsworth:He'll stand around undecided and waiting, trying to figure this out. Time's short. Verse 28, the an hour is coming, he says, when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. That's such what a claim! Jesus you know, he's talking in a different tense.
Jody Killingsworth:It's easy to, like, forget that this is Jesus making personal claims. An hour is coming folks when everybody who's dead in the tomb is gonna hear my voice and they're going to come out. Is he for real? You got to make up your mind. He's either a Lord or a lunatic as it's been said.
Jody Killingsworth:But, no, he's a lord. The lord himself will descend, says Paul, from heaven with a shout. And the voice of an archangel and the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. And Everyone though is going to be raised. Albert Einstein is going to be raised.
Jody Killingsworth:Genghis Khan, Margaret Sanger, the Queen of England, all the popes of Rome, Michael Jackson, everybody, And all the many faceless millions and billions lost to history are going to be raised. The sound of a voice, of a shout from Jesus. Unto what? Raised unto what? He tells us in verse 29.
Jody Killingsworth:Those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Remember, what is the definition of good and evil according to Jesus here as he's using it in this speech? He's defined it for us. What is it? What is his what is his rubric for making these this discriminating judgment between men?
Jody Killingsworth:It's what you make of him. That's the whole standard. Do you believe? Good. Do you disbelieve?
Jody Killingsworth:Evil. It has to be this way. That has to be the standard. We've failed the other standard. Only Jesus has passed God's test, been tested by temptation, and proven himself worthy and obedient.
Jody Killingsworth:Only Jesus. We have to stand in him if we're going to have any hope of passing God's test. That's why belief in him, union with him through faith is the standard. There's no other standard possible. We have failed the test and are worthy of death.
Jody Killingsworth:Are you in Christ Jesus today? Have you come under the cleansing, atoning power of His blood? Jesus wraps up this part of his testimony by returning to the theme he opened with in verse 30. He says, I can do nothing on my own. Let me say it again.
Jody Killingsworth:I can do nothing on my own. Me and the father are 1. As I hear last time it was see, I see the father. Now it's I hear. As I hear, I judge.
Jody Killingsworth:Remember the Israelites at Mount Sinai? They couldn't even bear the sound of God's voice? Jesus has no such fear as the perfect obedient son, the voice of his he could listen to his father all day. And he does. As I hear, I judge.
Jody Killingsworth:And my judgment is just because I seek not my own will, but the will of him who sent me. I didn't make this standard up, says Jesus. This isn't my idea. This was the Father's idea. He told me to judge according to this standard of what you make about of me.
Jody Killingsworth:That's my father's idea. Will you trust him and submit to his rule? What a speech! It's only half over. Jesus' testimony includes some really big claims.
Jody Killingsworth:This is his personal self testimony. Can he be trusted? He bolsters his claims in the next section by bringing in some corroborating evidence, some other voices that have spoken concerning him. He shows us what others have testified about himself in verses 31 to 40. He starts off by saying, if I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.
Jody Killingsworth:If all you guys had to go on here was my what I'm saying, this guy, this guy from Nazareth, if that's all you could had, well then maybe you could be excused for disregarding me and writing me off as a lunatic or a madman. But that's not all you have. God has given you ample testimony from many others. For starters, there is another who bears witness about me and I know that the testimony he bears about me is true, namely, John the Baptist, who you guys used to care about. Remember him?
Jody Killingsworth:Verse 33. You sent to John. We learned about this in chapter 1. They sent a formal delegation to John in the wilderness to ask about him. Are you the Christ?
Jody Killingsworth:And John said, no. Behold He pointed at Jesus. Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. You men Jesus is saying, you men heard Him say that. Verse 34.
Jody Killingsworth:Not that the testimony that I receive is from man. Jesus is wanting to make really clear that this isn't where he gets his sense of himself. I don't need people to confirm for me what I know completely and perfectly from the moment before, from all eternity, that I was the Son of God. No man has confirmed that to me. But he says, I see these I say these things so that you will be saved.
Jody Killingsworth:So that you may be saved. I'm appealing to John's testimony, guys, for for your sakes. You heard him. Verse 35. He was a burning and a shining lamp and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
Jody Killingsworth:There was a time, I know, when you respected John. That's why you sent a delegation out to him. You thought he was something. You were attracted to him. Do you guys remember that?
Jody Killingsworth:But, okay, fine. You've moved on. Well, God has provided yet more. Verse 36. The testimony that I have is greater than that of John.
Jody Killingsworth:There's more. For the works the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me. Look at the works. They testify about me. Everything I do, says Jesus, has a stamp of my father's approval personality.
Jody Killingsworth:Everything about God is in the works that I do. You know this is true. One of your own selves came to me by night. I won't mention names, Nicodemus. And he said, teacher, we know that you come from God because nobody can do the things you do unless God is with him.
Jody Killingsworth:I would only add, says Jesus, that unless he be God, just wait. I'm going to do more. My works bear witness about me. And there's more than that. There's my Father's voice which you have heard audibly heard.
Jody Killingsworth:It says in verse 37, the Father who sent me has himself born witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen. Now, that's really hard. He's referring to his baptism and the supernatural things surrounding his baptism. Okay?
Jody Killingsworth:And this is hard to translate. I don't think they've done a good job translating it. It's more interrogative in the original. It's more like this, have you not heard his voice? Have you not seen his form?
Jody Killingsworth:When I was baptized, there was a voice that spoke audibly from the heavens. This is my beloved son. Listen to him. Haven't you heard? And there was this dove that descended visibly from the heavens and lit upon me.
Jody Killingsworth:This was the the the embodiment of the Holy Spirit of God. Didn't you see? You did. Verse 38. And yet, you do not have His word abiding in you for you do not believe the one whom He has sent.
Jody Killingsworth:Why don't you believe? Because you don't have His word in you. Let's talk about that word for a second. There's another witness. You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life.
Jody Killingsworth:And it is they that bear witness of me. Yet, you refuse to come to me that you may have life. How can you guys profit so little from your scriptures? Why when there's so much testimony abounding do you refuse to trust it and believe? Well, I'll tell you why, says Jesus.
Jody Killingsworth:And this is where he gets into the 3rd section. And it gets really personal. He does what you're never supposed to do. He uses an ad hominem argument. Motives.
Jody Killingsworth:He goes deep into motives. I'll tell you guys why you don't believe. And before he gets into it though, he wants to make something very very clear. Doesn't want any misunderstanding on this point. Verse 41: I do not I do not receive glory from people.
Jody Killingsworth:So, whatever I'm about to say, do not misunderstand where it's coming from. I'm not an ambitious man. I'm not seeking anything from you to shore up my self worth. That has to be clear. But I know, verse 42, that you do not have the love of God within you.
Jody Killingsworth:I know it. Why? How do I know it? Because I've come in my Father's name with satisfactory evidence abounding of the truth of my claims, and you do not receive me. That's how I know.
Jody Killingsworth:That's how I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts because you refuse to receive me. Meanwhile, here is what I observe about you, he says in verse 43. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. Who's Jesus referring to? Who's this other or these others?
Jody Killingsworth:Well, there were a number of false messiahs that popped up around this time. It could be some of them claiming to be the Christ. Or perhaps he was referencing their general kind of worldly habit of flocking to people and being attracted to people who toot their own horn, burnish their image, build their brand. Are we tempted by that? Oh, man.
Jody Killingsworth:Whoever Jesus is talking about, he's ready to tell the Jews precisely why they receive men like that and reject him. This is the applicational punch line that he's been driving at in his entire speech. He sticks the knife in. Verse 44. How can you believe?
Jody Killingsworth:How can you believe when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? Oh, Jesus. You were doing so well. Ad hominem. Don't you know that's a fallacy?
Jody Killingsworth:It's a fallacy. Stick to the arguments. You know? Jesus is revealing what lies at the heart of our refusal to trust him. He's and what is it?
Jody Killingsworth:He says it's seeking glory from men instead of from God. That's what keeps us from Jesus. When we are committed to seeking glory from men instead of from God. What does he mean by glory? Glory is a word that means wait.
Jody Killingsworth:And Jesus is using it here to refer to ultimate worth. Ultimate worth. He's saying that as long as we look for our worth, our sufficiency, our adequacy, our validation, our self esteem, to use common language, as long as we look for those things from one another, we will not find it from God. Which means we will not find it. That's why he says, the only God.
Jody Killingsworth:Because he wants us to understand that that is the only place that we will find a sense of security and ultimate worth. Is that where you're looking for these things? Husband? Wife? Mother?
Jody Killingsworth:Friend? Man? Woman? It's really a struggle, isn't it? It's hard to be constantly comparing ourselves with others, and and it's hard not to be, rather.
Jody Killingsworth:Hard not to be constantly comparing ourselves with others and assessing our sense of ourselves and our worth by how we measure up against other people. But how's that working? Is it making you happy? Leading to life, stability, success and relationships? Jesus is gloriously free from this junk.
Jody Killingsworth:That is all through this text, Jesus' profound sense of worth is overwhelming here. He has this ironclad sense of his own identity and of his acceptance and of his standing as the beloved Son of the Father. So much so that he's ab he's completely and gloriously free from even desiring the cheap counterfeit that exists among us in the normal pecking order of things. He didn't even one time play that game. And so he's able to say truthfully, I don't receive glory from men.
Jody Killingsworth:That's not what I care about, not where I look for my identity. And so what does this mean? That means Jesus is uniquely, amazingly free to love people, and to serve them. Because he's not using them, and sucking the life out of them, demanding that they shore up his insecurities. Now listen, that's just true.
Jody Killingsworth:That's where we live, That's how we live. And Jesus didn't. I find his freedom in that regard so enviable. Oh, man. So amazing.
Jody Killingsworth:I wanna be like that. And we can be. That's why Jesus came. He came to show us the Father. Where he found his security was in the Father.
Jody Killingsworth:And he came to show us the Father. And to make us sons together with him. Secure in the love of God. If only we will seek, just as the apostle Paul says, to be found in Him. To be found in Him.
Jody Killingsworth:How do we do that? Well, by repenting of our idolatry. We have to repent of our idolatry. That is what that is what we are guilty of when we seek approval and security from others that can only be found from God. We're idolaters.
Jody Killingsworth:We have set men up in the position of God and devoted our lives to serving them for our own advantage and blessing and glory. We have to repent. And we have to begin to believe in Jesus, and to live out of that faith on a daily basis. And once we found our security in the saving work of Jesus Christ in Him, and have received the love of the Father, we've got to maintain that on a daily basis in our lives. How are we going to maintain it?
Jody Killingsworth:This is kind of corny. I feel a little embarrassed sharing this with you. Okay? But this is a prayer that I have taken to reciting. It's not original to me.
Jody Killingsworth:But it has been profoundly helpful to me. Okay? It's a list of 4 affirmations. I know self affirmation. It's not self affirmation.
Jody Killingsworth:It's, I'm reminding myself in prayer daily who God is, and who I am to him, and why. Okay? Number 1. God is my father, and I am loved. Affirmation 2.
Jody Killingsworth:Jesus Christ died and rose again for me. So I know everything's ultimately going to be okay. 3. I am filled by God's grace with the Holy Spirit. And so I have everything, everything I need to do what God requires of me today.
Jody Killingsworth:Number 4, because I am His workmanship created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God has long ago prepared for me to walk in today. It's corny. It's powerful. You know, counselors and therapists talk about the need for self soothing. There's a Christian version of self soothing.
Jody Killingsworth:Reminding yourself and refreshing yourself in the amazing promises of God and the great love of God. To close out his defense, Jesus invokes the Jews' hero against them, Moses. Boris 45. Do not think don't think that I will accuse you to the father. Just as I have many who testify for me, so do you have someone who testifies against you, says Jesus.
Jody Killingsworth:Someone I know you respect. Unimpeachable source. Verse 45. There is one who accuses you, Moses, on whom you have set your hope. For if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote of me.
Jody Killingsworth:But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? Moses was their hero. He wrote the first five books of the Bible, which are called the Torah, and they devoted their whole lives to studying that word, knowing it, probably had it memorized. They'd set aside times daily and weekly to discuss it and debate it and apply it. They were the enforcers of this law in the community.
Jody Killingsworth:And this whole time, they had read him wrong. Moses, in so many ways, prophesied about Jesus, foretold of his coming. All kinds of details foreshadow and typify the messiah to come in Moses' writings. And these men were so blinded by their lust for approval from one another that they had missed the essential message of Moses' writings, the one that they most admired. And so Jesus says, he is going to rise up in my place on the judgment day and witness against you for your unbelief.
Jody Killingsworth:He's going to join God in damning you to hell for the guilt that you incur by your mistake. What is keeping you from believing in Jesus? Is there a sin that's blinding your eyes to the truth that is everywhere testified to? Is there something you love more than Jesus that you will not let go of? Something you trust cling to above him?
Jody Killingsworth:If you won't repent of it, then know that one day you will stand before him in judgment, seeing his glory and bearing your shame, and receiving his just condemnations. And how many voices in your life will rise up and witness against you? I told them. I told them a 1000 times. I prayed for them.
Jody Killingsworth:And they wouldn't repent. On the other hand, you could and trust and believe and pass out of judgment into life. Right now. What's it gonna be? Faith in Jesus or love for your sin?
Jody Killingsworth:Surrender to Jesus. Trust his word. Whoever has ears to hear, let him hear, Believe and be saved. Amen? Amen.
Jody Killingsworth:Father, we thank you for your word. What an amazing, amazing savior is Jesus, our Lord. I pray that we would be found in him, that we would live our lives secure in the knowledge of the father's love because of our trust in the savior Jesus and of his blood. Cleanse us, father, by faith. Free us through belief.
Jody Killingsworth:Help us to not seek glory from men and rob the privilege from you. I pray that we would seek to know you, that we would love you, and that we would live secure in that love. In Jesus Christ, we pray. Amen.