[Transcript represents full sermon's text]

       We begin today in John chapter 5, starting in verse 18: “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (ESV).

       Our journey starts with the terror of the whole thing, and that is that the Jewish people actually wanted Jesus to be eliminated from the picture. To kill him was the goal in mind. The verse points to the fact he violated the Sabbath, at least in point of law, but Jesus was establishing that things were really about the heart. The heart, and not that letter of the law. What was the heart behind what individuals did, and what they were doing? That was the question at hand. Interestingly, while Jesus broke the specific letter of the law, the true colors of the Jews manifested themselves by the demonstration that the greater concern was about that, yes, the greater concern was about that fact rather than why he had come in the first place. A jealous spirit within them had built up as a result of his following, that is, among the leaders. That’s a no-brainer. That’s easily discerned. The site of his large following was greatly disliked, and their rule and authority was diminishing before their very eyes. The same thing happens in our current time. It is seen a lot, if you look closely. It happens easily in the political realm, and it even happens in the church realm. The more popular and big a preacher becomes, man or woman, the more that person instantly goes under harsh judgment, and usually, not after a long period of time, is deemed a heretic, at least by some. That’s the way it usually goes.

       The second part of the equation, though, was the fact that Jesus was making himself equal to God. Equal to God. Remember, the Jews were waiting for the Messiah. It’s just that Jesus didn’t match their preconceived notion of what the Messiah should look like. The story comes to mind in the Old Testament of when the prophet Samuel showed up looking for the next King of Israel (this account is found 1 Samuel 16). And remember, he went through all the sons, and he said that none of them were the actual one. Those people back then had a preconceived notion of who the king should be, or must be. Yet the prophet said that none of the former fellows were actually the chosen one. That’s when David came into the picture, and the prophet acknowledged that the lowly fellow, the sheep-herder if you will, was truly the one God had chosen. And why? Why was that? Because, in that case, it was about the heart. Yet, some 1,500 years later, after all that happened, the Jews still hadn’t changed. Things were still the same. They were jealous of Jesus just like Saul was jealous of David. You remember. In 1 Samual chapter 18. It’s recorded there the following: “As they were coming home, when David returned from striking down the Philistine, the women came out of all the cities of Israel, singing and dancing, to meet King Saul, with tambourines, with songs of joy, and with musical instruments. And the women sang to one another as they celebrated, “Saul has struck down his thousands, and David his ten thousands.” And Saul was very angry, and this saying displeased him. He said, “They have ascribed to David ten thousands, and to me they have ascribed thousands, and what more can he have but the kingdom?” And Saul eyed David from that day on” (1 Samuel 18:6-9, ESV).

       Verse 19: “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. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will” (ESV).

       A slip-up hadn’t occurred wherein the Sabbath was accidentally violated. That’s not the point Jesus is making. The point is being made that he only does what is approved by the Father. That’s pretty big. He is, in essence, saying that it was God the Father who actually violated the Sabbath, and just him, a mere man. A new way of being, a new way of living, a new way of being in relationship with God, that is the transition which is taking place. Jesus points out that’s it not going to stop at this juncture. The changing of the Sabbath was small fry. The point is actually going to be reached wherein Jesus will raise people from the dead. That’s incredible and unheard of before this moment in time. We know specifically that he’s going to do that in chapter 11, when he raises his friend Lazarus from the dead. All will see that event. But, there’s more to it than for Lazarus. He’s literally going to do that for a lot of people. Fast-forwarding to our current time, and what we understand from the writings of the Apostle Paul, we know that one day he’s going to rapture the church, and when he does that, he’s going to quicken everyone’s bodies. All who believe in him. They are going to get new bodies. It’s not simply Lazarus. It’s not simply the young girl Jesus raised from the dead, but it’s going to be everyone who believes in him. The dead first, and then those of us who are alive. Pretty incredible stuff.

       Verse 22: “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” (ESV).

       Let’s start out with the first part of the passage: “For the Father judges no one.” “For the Father judges no one.” What a contrast, what a contrast to the perception of God from the Old Testament. Back there, in looking at God’s actions, many conclude that the Father judges a lot of people. And he did pronounce judgment at times, which, of course, always had love in mind, and always was righteous, taking into account his holy character. Yet, all this judgment from God has been relinquished, and has been handed over to the care of the Son. Handed over to the care of the Son. It would be, from this point forward, Jesus’ responsibility to pronounce judgment. This is for the Son’s honor. For his honor. This is one of the greatest evidences, actually, in the Scriptures to Jesus being equal to the Father. It’s not as the Mormon’s say, that Jesus is an equal but separate God from the Father. It’s not either as the Jehovah’s Witnesses would say, that Jesus is lesser than the Father, and not even God at all. No, rather, Jesus receives the honor that was originally the Father’s. For Jesus drives that point home in saying, “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.” That means that anyone who doesn’t see Jesus as God, as one with the Father, cannot really be honoring the Father. This is a big deal, and it’s important. This is where false religion begins. It began here with the Jews, and it continues to this day in the couple ways afore to mentioned.

       One has to hear Jesus’ words and believe the One, that is, God, who sent him in order to have, to possess, eternal life. This signifies the importance of the deity of Christ. If you don’t believe Jesus is God, if you don’t believe that, you can’t have eternal life. This is the Gospel in it’s most simplistic form. To not believe is to actually come into judgment, to still be in death. That’s the problem. This is why the Mormon’s need to see clearly on this issue, and perhaps some have. This is why the Jehovah’s Witnesses need to forsake their ways and see the truth. This is why anyone in error needs to come to the truth, to have life, to have ‘real’ life. Religion is had and possessed by many in the world, whether that be the two just mentioned, or even other religions like Islam or something else. A structure exists, and it probably begets some good disciple at least at times. But good discipline isn’t being saved. Even many New Agers have good discipline. Many non-religious Americans have good discipline. A Marine has good discipline. However, one needs to be believe in the Christ, that he is God, that he has provided a way for them to be saved from their sins. That’s the spiritual side, which is set apart from the earthly side. It was the earthly side that the Jews were so obsessed with, and, really, in reality, are still obsessed with even to this day. They don’t realize it often times. They have blinded themselves to it, and have hardened their hearts. Spirituality is believed to be present, but they genuinely don’t possess it. What has been missed is what God has already done, and still being looked forward to is what they believe God is going to do in the future.

       Verse 25: “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” (ESV).

       A double meaning, or double application, is presented within these verses. We understand that those of us who die in Christ will immediately be with him, as Paul talks about later. It doesn’t seem we, as Christians, really worry about that. That is, unless we don’t believe in eternal security. Then we might worry about it. But, truly, there is no need to worry about that. So, there’s that sense to the verse, and what it is alluding to. Yet, there is also the sense where those who are currently dead in their sins, which Paul also will talk about, truly hear God’s call on their life, and they take him up on it. They take God up on his truth, and they believe that they can be saved from their sins by turning to him through Jesus Christ. This is what all of us have done who believe in him. The free gift of salvation through the Lord Jesus Christ has been accepted. That’s what God was offering to the Israelites through Jesus’ ministry, and this is what he offered to us. To go from death to life. And notice, the Father already independently has life in himself, that is, with the Son and the Spirit. Jesus makes it clear that he also has life in himself, as a distinct Person, and yet as one with the Father and the Spirit. Jesus walking the earth has life in himself, but he is also in communion with the rest of the Godhead. Right now at this point in time, he is in submission to the Father, for he is the Son. The Father has granted him, the Son, to have life in himself.

       Verse 27: “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, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment” (ESV).

       As the Son of Man, Jesus will be given authority over all men by the Father. At a later point in time this will come, after the cross, as he will state in the Great Commission (see Matthew 28:18). This includes his “authority to execute judgment.” Jesus alludes to this role, this responsibility, in Matthew. Let’s read those verses. Matthew chapter 25, starting in verse 31: “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on his glorious throne. Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate individuals one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. And he will place the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left” (ESV). That’s how it all goes down in the end. That’s the fate of every human being who has ever lived and will live in the future. The Son of Man, Jesus himself, points us in the direction, which interestingly, we have freely chosen to go in. It’s not God’s fault anyone ends up in Hell. Certainly not. That’s up to each and every individual. That’s up to us to decide. Jesus points out that even those who have died in the past, even they will have their day of judgement. Exemption isn’t going to occur for people in the past. It’s not that since they lived before Christ, or never heard of Christ, they have nothing to be concerned about. It doesn’t work that way. The earth isn’t setup that way, or the universe for that matter. All are responsible for their thoughts, what they say, and what they do. The One who knows God will strive for good, and the one who doesn’t obviously won’t. It’s not salvation by works, but it’s simply a statement of fact.

       It’s a dual resurrection; note that, don’t miss that. No annihilation-ism is possible. It’s understood, and this was witnessed on a recent trip to Kansas of all places, for it seemed their population was greater there, but it was recently witnessed more Jehovah’s Witnesses than usual. The meeting houses, and even at the pop-up information stand and evangelism at a National Preserve of all places. One person noted that many become Jehovah’s Witnesses because they don’t want to believe in Hell, they find in not agreeable, intolerable even, and this religious group doesn’t believe in Hell. That’s a main pull they have for people to come into their group. It’s as if that somehow people think that by joining a group that doesn’t believe in Hell, but rather believes in annihilation for the unsaved, that somehow that will make those core beliefs become a reality. Isn’t that something? What if just by joining a group, one could then make those beliefs become true? In comparison, does it work with weight-loss groups? If a person joins a weight-loss group, does the belief in losing weight mean the individuals will automatically lose the weight? Actually, the people just save themselves from uncomfortable feelings in this life only to be entered into a life after they die with many uncomfortable feelings. Very ironic. But that’s Satan at work.

       Verse 30: “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. 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” (ESV).

       Jesus again points out his equality with the Father, and he shows this in that he agrees with the Father in everything. It’s not that he’s a separate God from the Father, One come down the earth with his own opinions. That’s not the way it worked, or the way it works today. Jesus as the God-man had it in his character to please the Father. That’s the way it’s supposed to be with us, right? That’s why we have the Bible, so that we understand and can follow what the will of the Father is for our lives. This is an amazing thing. God gave these Israelites John the Baptist first, and then the Lord Jesus Christ. Fast forwarding to today, look at what he has given us through the Scriptures! Lots of information assuredly. Most of the time we can easily have an answer for whatever it is that we have a question about. Most of the time we don’t have any kind of divine revelation from God. We follow what is already laid out in the Scriptures, in the Gospels and the epistles. This is our guidance. This is how we “seek… the will of him who sent [Jesus],” to change the verse up a little bit there.

       Witnesses were big in Jewish culture, and the operation of the process. This ties back to the Jewish Law in the Old Testament, in Deuteronomy 17:6, where it says: “On the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses the one who is to die shall be put to death; a person shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness” (ESV). Remember that? Even the Apostle Paul will carry that over in the New Testament, wherein he establishes that an accusation shouldn’t even be considered against a pastor, elder, or we could say other church leader if not on the ‘evidence’ of two or three witnesses (and the implication is that they would be credible witnesses). No cancel culture exists with God based on one witness. To cancel someone based on one witness is actually sin (except perhaps as pertains to some kind of assault). Anyhow, If Jesus had been walking around the earth and had no real connection with God, he would be the only witness to himself. John the Baptist is another witness who showed that what Jesus was saying is true. Yet, even God the Father and the Holy Spirit himself, they himself is bearing witness to Jesus through the use of signs. That totals three. God the Father, God the Spirit, and John the Baptist. Jesus meets the demand for three witnesses.

       Verse 35: “He [John] 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. And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me” (ESV).

       Not only do we see the comparison between Jesus’ ministry and that of John’s, but also Jesus shows how God is bringing in a new covenant for his people, for the Israelites. He is saying that his works prove that point. This new covenant is going to start with healings and exorcisms, those things display God’s power. John the Baptist didn’t have those signs in his ministry. In his ministry, it was simply water baptism. The turning from sin and water baptism. Things are taking on a whole new level. And these works, these works show that Jesus is genuinely the Messiah, the promised One who was to come into the world. We easily understand that. We are immune to that point, but the Israelites didn’t so easily understand it, and obviously most still do not. Hard for us it is to appreciate what is going on here since we have heard it some many times. Due the familiarity with the accounts and the blindedness that comes with that, we really don’t grasp how revolutionary Jesus’ ministry was, his helping of his people which displayed the character and heart of God. God is shown to be a Father, a helper, one who wants to deliver individuals from their bondage, whether that be bondage to sin, as all people experience, or whether that be bondage to some kind of physical distress or aliment.

       Verse 37: “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, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life” (ESV).

       These Jewish people standing before Jesus, if they knew God, if they had a personal relationship with him, he notes they would recognize that he had indeed come from God. An embracing of Jesus would occur rather than a judgment and words spoken against him. It is true that they had never seen God, which again, contrasts with the fact that Jesus had. Now, whether this was as a man, in his flesh, or not, we don’t know for sure. We do have written accounts that he heard God’s voice, like at his baptism or at the Transfiguration on the mountain. It’s interesting, nonetheless, how these Jewish folks were relying on the Scriptures, thinking that they were following them and that by doing that they would inherit eternal life. To the heart is where Jesus points. It’s about the heart, not about external religious service. They were all too caught up in the externals, which can be a temptation for any of us. They don’t realize the predicament they are in. This is the worst, when someone doesn’t realize they aren’t saved, and yet they think they are. It’s the worst as they aren’t even seeking to make correction in their lives, and the hope they have in is vain. Our minds can bring up whole groups of people who suffer like this, or individuals within groups who do. Religious groups. Those who think they have the right way, and yet, they really don’t know God.

       Jesus mentions how it is the Old Testament Scriptures, the main Scriptures for the Jews at this point in time, which actually point to the fact that Jesus is the Messiah, the promised one coming into the world. All the way back from Genesis 3, God has prophesied that one would come to save the people. He did this again in Genesis 12, howbeit covertly, when speaking to Abraham, in saying, “in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (12:3, ESV). It happened again with David in 2 Samual 7. We are familiar with these passages, as Christians. However, it’s probably what the Prophet Isaiah said in Isaiah chapters 52 and 53 that stand out as the most blatantly obvious. Even to this day, Jewish people will not read those chapters. They’re too compelling, too obvious, and convicting. We as Christians contrast in this picture. We could reverse John 5:37 through 40 to read something like this, as an affirmation to ourselves: “His voice we have heard, and his form we will see, for he have his word abiding in us, for we believe in the one whom he has sent. We search the Scriptures and we know that in them we have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Jesus, and we have gone to him that we may have life.” Scripture reversals, as the speaker has named them, can help us in our understanding of what is being said.

       Verse 41: “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? 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?” (ESV).

       The earthly ministry doesn’t exist, Jesus’ speaking isn’t happening, Jesus’ miracles aren’t been performed, to make himself and his disciples look good. For worldly applause. Jesus could care less about that. From the Jewish people’s attitudes toward him, Jesus can perceive they don’t know God. For if they knew him, they would treat him right. They wouldn’t be so full of judgment and so against him. Judgment is a clear sign, by the way, that one doesn’t honestly know the Father, even to our day. The less judgment one has toward others, ironically, the more like God they are. All judgments toward others we know, in truth, are actually a condemnation of ourselves, as the Apostle Paul noted. This doesn’t mean we aren’t to strive for good, but we need to be careful with our judgments. Are the words spoken to ultimately help others, to lead them to truth, or are they spoken really to make ourselves feel superior, to build ourselves up, or because we a jealous of others? These are the real questions. The Jewish people back then who were going against Jesus sought glory from the appearance between each either, in how good they perceived themselves to be when comparing themselves to each other. And we can be no different; we can act in the same kind of ways. Who’s glory are we seeking? The glory of other humans around us, or the glory of God in Heaven? If we are seeking God’s glory, this is manifested in that we will love others, and this will be done not to gain things from others.

       We know all about the one who is to come in his own name, the one of whom the Jews will actually receive. We believe this to be the Antichrist, the leader of the one world government, who, empowered by Satan, is going to show up at some point. The world will consolidate and form one government, and this man will be their leader. The Jewish people will think they have found their true Messiah. They will believe their happy day has come. The Jews failure to recognize Jesus as the Christ won’t be a Jesus versus them argument later on in Heaven, but rather they will have to face Moses and the rest of the Old Testament prophets who saw the coming of the Christ, who wrote about him. It is a tragedy because the Jewish people had based their hope one their old leader Moses, thinking that by doing what he said, they would get into Heaven some day. Yet, Moses pointed them toward Jesus. Moses was on Jesus’ side, not their side. Remember, Moses even comes down the earth to visit Jesus with Elijah and the Transfiguration event. God said in Deuteronomy 18:18: “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him. And whoever will not listen to my words that he shall speak in my name, I myself will require it of him” (ESV). This is exactly what Jesus was accomplishing.

- Daniel Litton