The Gospel of JOHN “The Gospel of Boldness” Chapter Five: “A Bold Defense” “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” Page 40 1

The Third Miracle – Healing A Lame Man  Some time after the things in Chapter 4, Jesus went to Jerusalem from Galilee for “a feast” of the Jews  Born into the world as a Jew, Jesus was obedient to the laws which God had made for the Jewish people  It is not stated which feast it was but it seems to have been the annual Passover event 2 Page 40 John 5:1-9

Annual Feast Days of the Jews - All males were required to appear before God  Passover [April] Celebrating exodus from Egypt  Commemorative of the tenth plague (Lev.23:5-8)  Necessity of blood applied  Approx years earlier  Pentecost [June, 50 days later] Celebrating giving of law and day the church was established  Also called feast of weeks and feast of harvest [barley]  Lev. 23:10-16  Tabernacles [Oct.] Celebrating ingathering of harvests  Lev. 23:

Other Feast Days of the Jews  Dedication [Dec.] Started by Judas Maccabaeus  Instituted to commemorate the purging of the Temple and the rebuilding of the altar, after Judas Maccabaeus had driven out the Syrians (B.C. 164)  Mentioned in John 10:22 and no other place in the Bible  Purim [Shortly before Passover]  Instituted to commemorate the preservation of the Jews in Persia from the massacre with which they were threatened  No mention in the gospels [mentioned only in Esther] 4

Other Feast Days of the Jews  Trumpets [7 days before Tabernacles]  It was the festival of the New Year's day of the civil year  It was “a day of blowing of trumpets”  Lev. 23:23-25, Num. 29:1  No mention in the gospels  The Day of Atonement [5 days before the feast of Tabernacles]  To cleanse the people of all their sins before the Lord  No work on that day  Lev. 16:29-31; 23:26-32  No mention in the gospels 5

The Third Miracle – Healing A Lame Man  The healing occurred on a Sabbath day [rest] (v.10)  Commemorative of the creation when God rested on the seventh day  They were to do no work (Lev. 23:3) 6 Page 40 John 5:1-9

The Third Miracle – Healing A Lame Man  The miracle happened at a certain pool in Jerusalem called “Bethesda”  This pool was a gathering place for the ill and infirm of the area.  Its five porches provided shelter for a “great multitude” of desperate men and women seeking relief from their maladies  It was thought that when the waters of the pool were “troubled” [stirred] by an “angel,” healing was available to the first person getting into the water 7 Page 40 John 5:2

The Third Miracle – Healing A Lame Man  Jesus knew this man had endured his severe infirmity for thirty-eight years  Jesus had not yet been born when the infirmity began  “Do you want to be made well?”, Jesus asked  Surely, the invalid’s very presence at the pool made the answer obvious?  But, a willing recipient was as important as a willing dispenser of mercy  This miracle of healing required no initial faith in the Person of Christ  The invalid had no knowledge then or even later of who the healer was 8 Page 41 John 5:3-6

The Third Miracle – Healing A Lame Man  The lame man had been unable to be the first into the pool  Jesus said to him, “Rise, take up your bed and walk.”  In response to Jesus’ command, the lame man picked up his bed and walked  The Lord on numerous occasions deliberately challenged the religious leadership about their ridiculous interpretations and applications of the Sabbath laws 9 Page 41 John 5:7-9

Recorded Healings on the Sabbath 1. A Demoniac, in Capernaum (Mk. 1:12-27) 2. Peter’s Mother-in Law, in Capernaum (Mk. 1:29-31) 3. A Lame Man, in Jerusalem (Jn. 5:1-9) 4. Man with Withered Hand (Mk. 3:1-6) 5. Woman Bowed Over (Lk. 13:10-17) 6. Man with Dropsy (Lk. 14:1-6) 7. Man Born Blind (Jn. 9:1-14) 10 Page 40 John 5:1-9

Consequences of the Miracle  The Jews said to man who was cured, “It is the Sabbath day: it is not lawful for you to carry your bed.”  They were unappreciative of the mercy demonstrated in this miracle of healing  The Jewish leaders instead seized upon the legality of carrying a bed on the Sabbath!  The Sabbath law never prohibited performing acts of necessity or benevolence on the seventh day (Matt.12:1-12) 11 Page 41 John 5:10

Consequences of the Miracle  Jesus later found man in the temple, and said to him, “See, you have been made well. Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you.”  Unrevealed motives prompted the man to report Jesus’ identity to the authorities  This probably is exactly what Jesus wanted to happen  For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath 12 Page 42 John 5:14-16

A Bold Defense  Jesus’ Bold Action on the Sabbath called for a BOLD DEFENSE by the Savior  He must answer to the “powers that be”! 13 Page 42 John 5:17, 18

A Bold Defense  He answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”  “My Father” makes a BOLD DEFENSE that Jesus and God enjoy a special relationship  Christ’s BOLD DEFENSE claimed that God had never stopped His providential governance of the world since its creation  Jesus Boldly Defended His actions by claiming a unity with the Father when He did precisely what the Father had always done on the Sabbath 14 Page John 5:17, 18

A Bold Defense  Two issues generated a great hatred for Jesus 1.His claims of deity and His close relationship with the Father, and 2.His “working” on the Sabbath day  These issues finally resulted in Christ’s death on the cross a couple of years later  Over the course of time, the Jews [rulers] sought more and more intently to kill the Christ 15 Page John 5:17, 18

Identity With the Father  A lengthy continuation of Jesus’ BOLD DEFENSE follows His initial response  The claim to the Divine Nature follows four routes. Jesus and God maintain  a complete unity of action (v.19)  a complete unity of love (v.20)  a complete unity of relationship to men (v.21)  a complete unity of honor (v.23) 16 Page 43 John 5:19-23

Identity With the Father  “Most assuredly,…he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life…”  Jesus executes God’s work by entitlement, not by usurpation.  Strong emphasis is placed on the “sending” of Jesus into the world.  Six times it is said He was “sent” by God (vs. 23, 24, 30, 36, 37, and 38)  Once He has “come” in the Father’s name (vs. 43). 17 Page 44 John 5:24

Identity With the Father  The hour was “coming and now is” for the revelation and execution of the Gospel plan of salvation  “…when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.”  The “voice of the Son of God” [the word of truth] would soon give spiritual life to those who were dead in sin  God and His Son possess life-giving power –  Spiritual judgment has been given to Jesus  “...the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day” (John 12:48) 18 Page 44 John 5:25

Identity With the Father  “…for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth— those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” (vs )  The hour is “coming” [not “and now is”-- it was far in the future] when a physical resurrection to life will also occur  The Father had endowed the Son with the function of righteous judgment because of His unique relationship to men as a man 19 Page 44 John 5:28-30

The Greatest Witness  This was a BOLD DEFENSE of His actions, and these were Bold Claims that constituted His defense  There were SIX witnesses that could be called to testify to His veracity 20 Page 44 John 5:31-39, 45-47

The Greatest Witness  Jesus discounted His own testimony about divinity because He knew that others would do the same “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.” (v.31) 21 Page 45 John 5:31

The Greatest Witness  God Himself had testified about the divinity of the Son “But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.” (vs ) 22 Page 45 John 5:36-38

The Greatest Witness  God Himself had testified about the divinity of the Son  At His birth  At His baptism  The Old Testament prophets  In the miracles  God’s word of testimony 23 Page 45 John 5:36-38

The Greatest Witness  The third witness to Christ’s divinity was that of John the Baptizer “You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.” (vs.33-35) 24 Page 45 John 5:33-35

The Greatest Witness  The fourth witness was the “works” that had been done and those that would be “finished” prior to His death “But I have a greater witness than John's; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.” (v.36) 25 Page 45 John 5:36

The Greatest Witness  The “Scriptures” generally were revered by the Jews “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” (v.39) 26 Page 46 John 5:39

The Greatest Witness  Finally, the Lord cited the writings of Moses in particular as a valid witness to His divinity “For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me.” (v.46) 27 Page 46 John 5:46

A Parting Shot  Jesus’ stated conclusion to this long discourse on the unbelief of the Jewish lead­ership was, “But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life” (v. 40)  They did not embrace a love for God “But I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you.” (v. 42) 28 Page 46 John 5:40-42

A Parting Shot  His role was not that of a prosecutor but that of a Savior – “For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:17) 29 Page 46 John 5:40-45

Early Judean Ministry First Passover (Spring A.D. 30): Cleanses the temple Jesus left Judea for Galilee via Samaria (Sychar) He met a woman at a well After two days in Sychar, He departed for Cana.