Episode Transcript
[00:00:01] All right, we're going to turn in our bibles to John, chapter five. We're going to finish chapter five, three sermons in chapter five. We're not moving very fast, but that's all right. Lots of powerful stuff here. In this gospel, I've entitled a sermon this morning, how intelligent people can make disastrous decisions. I don't know if you know this, but I post a blog, and so I'm trying to get as many people as I can over there to read these messages so that they get an understanding. How in the world can smart people do stupid things? Okay, that's another way of saying it, but I'm trying to be real polite here. You can see that.
[00:00:42] So I don't know if you've ever heard this term cognitive dissonance. You say, what's that? Well, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress that people experience when they're exposed to information that conflicts with their beliefs, values, ideals and actions. Now, how many know? We're constantly being bombarded with stuff, right? So how do we deal with things, especially when the evidence seems to point that what you and I are believing is wrong? How about that one? And that causes a lot of consternation inside of people. And there's only two responses to cognitive dissonance, and it's simply this. You dig in and you continue in your current way of thinking and acting by dismissing and fighting the evidence mounting against your position. Okay, you can do that, and a lot of people do that. The more evidence that tells you you're wrong, you just get, I'm just going to be stubborn. I'll just dig in.
[00:01:42] There's another response, and this is the one that I think probably is. The better approach is to embrace the evidence and change your beliefs and actions. And this is really what repentance is all about. It's all about coming in agreement with God.
[00:01:59] A lot of times we're fighting God. You ever get in those moments, and I'll just say this, you'll always lose if you resist God, you're in a tough place because you're fighting the truth. You're fighting what's best for us in the long run.
[00:02:15] We're in the moment. We just think, no, I don't want to change. But yet change is what God is calling us towards.
[00:02:22] Now, consider what Jesus was saying to the religious leaders of his day. And rather than repent, you know what they did? They started digging in, and there was a lot of evidence mounting against where they were at. And so, you know what they did? Instead of repenting they chose to get rid of the person that was creating the tension in their life and that was Jesus. And so they began persecuting him. And when they finally couldn't deal with it, they finally crucified him. And I think that's what happens in a lot of people's lives. People are fighting God today. How many know that's true? Resisting, fighting, rebellion, rebelling against what God wants. And then eventually they just run away and it's all to their own harm and hurt. That's what happens.
[00:03:12] And especially when know everything that he was saying and claiming it was pointing out to be true. As a matter of fact, the high priest, when Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead, he goes, listen, if we don't get rid of this guy, the whole world is going to be following him. Well that's the point. The whole world needs to follow Jesus.
[00:03:35] But you can see why they felt the pressure they were underneath. So earlier in this chapter five, Jesus clearly is communicating to them that he's God. Now that's a little shocking because it kind of was messing with them. They knew God in a transcendent sort of way, but they just could not wrap their head around the fact that God could come to the planet in a person. They just couldn't relate to that. They were having difficulty with that idea. And Jesus was trying to support all of this by doing the miracles that he was mean. You know, the things he was doing was pretty powerful and if they really were reading scripture and understanding them, it would be affirming everything Jesus was saying and doing. But they were dismissing it all and beginning to attribute what Jesus was doing and saying, well, that's Satan's kingdom. He's doing it in the power of Satan, which really know negating and basically saying that Jesus was from the wrong side.
[00:04:34] Well, Jesus is telling them, no, these miracles are the father's sign or authentication of what I'm doing here. And so last week I talked a little bit about how Jesus shares that he's God because he said, I have life inherent in me. And then the Father's given me all authority to do all judging. He's given me that responsibility. And these are all aspects of God's essence. So Jesus is basically saying, I'm God. So Craig Keener explains why Jesus continues to cite now the concluding parts of chapter five, these witnesses supporting his claims. And he says, confronted by accusations that he's guilty of blasphemy, a capital offense by the way, when Jesus was making himself equal to God, that's what they thought he was doing. Jesus responds by citing witnesses in his defense. He accommodates the biblical rule that requires at least two witnesses to validate testimony in a capital case. So he's making these appeals and these people are going to bear witness of the personhood and the identity of Jesus Christ.
[00:05:51] And I believe that it's so critical that we understand his identity because to embrace Christ we need to know who he is. And when we understand who he is, the end result for us is eternal life. That's so beautiful. It's a quality of life and it's a forever life. Now, in describing the purposes of Jesus'ministry and John's gospel, I believe, is very deeply concerned with this idea of testimony. There's the testimony of who Jesus is and John starts out his gospel. John the apostle starts out his gospel this way.
[00:06:30] Speaking of John the Baptist, he came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him, through Christ, all might believe he himself was not the light. He came only as a witness to the light. So John is basically saying, this is what I'm doing. And then Jesus now responds in the closing verses here, that he alone is validating himself, like he's kind of self deceived and self deluded. And he's saying, this about goes, no, no, there's other people that are testifying as to who I am. He says, if I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. I do have witnesses.
[00:07:14] Keener points out, in the ancient world, to testify on one's own behalf was easily dismissed in a court of law. Ancient greek and roman courts weighed heavily the arguments from probability, however, or nevertheless, witnesses often proved essential for demonstrating a case. Thus, Jesus is answering the charge that he alone is testifying of himself.
[00:07:43] So Jesus thus answers the charge.
[00:07:48] Well, he cites the witness of John in chapter five, verse 33. We're going to look at that, and then on a higher level he's saying, the Father is my witness because look at what I'm doing, the works, and then also the scriptures. So we're going to look at three witnesses, John, the work of Christ or the authentication of the Father, and then the scriptures that all testify as to who Jesus is. In other words, the claim that Jesus'testimony about himself without any support from others is actually a false accusation. That's what he's telling them. If many did not accept and share in this witness, it was only because the world was too corrupt to recognize and understand heaven's agent. In other know. The problem isn't so much that Jesus wasn't making a valid case, the problem was the people weren't receiving the message. That's the point of what Jesus is going to say in these verses. So now he begins by sharing this. There is another one who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is true.
[00:08:57] Tasker says this. That witness alluded to in that verse 32 is God himself the father. He's the only witness, in fact, whom Jesus regards as important as far as his own vindication is concerned. In other words, he's saying, I'm giving you these other witnesses, but as far as I'm concerned, there's only one that really matters for me. There's only one. That's what he's saying, and that's the fact that the Father is validating me.
[00:09:23] So he's saying, these other witnesses or testimonies are really for the sake of his opponents sake of the argument.
[00:09:35] Carson describes it this way. This is of a peace with the perfect inward awareness of the Father's will that Jesus displays elsewhere. He's the one who speaks what he knows, the one who's able to disclose heavenly things. See, Jesus is able to say things that nobody else understands because he's been in heaven. He's going to give us spiritual truths. Actually, earlier in John's gospel, he says fairly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know and we testify to what we've seen. How many know? That's all you can do is testify to what you've experienced or what you know or what you've seen. That's all you can testify of. You can't speak of things you don't know of. You can't just use hearsay. You can't just say, well, no, you can only talk about what you actually.
[00:10:20] And then he goes, but still you people do not accept our testimony. And then he says this, I've spoken to you of earthly things and you do not believe. How then will you believe if I speak of heavenly things?
[00:10:34] So I want you to notice that every time Jesus is talking, he uses the earthly things to convey spiritual truth. Because if he was to start talking to you and me about heaven, we'd be lost.
[00:10:49] We have no frame of reference. See, when you're explaining to someone, you have to have a frame of reference. You got to start with a common knowledge before you can take them to something they don't know. You and I know nothing about heaven really, except for what the Father is going to tell us about it, or what the Son is going to tell us about it, or what he's going to reveal to us. That's it. That's all we know.
[00:11:12] So, verse 13, it says, no one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven, the son of man.
[00:11:26] Then Don Carson says, jesus knows where he came from and where he's going, and stands with the father who sent him. Jesus knows that he does not speak of his own accord. The father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. That's an important line. I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the father's told me to say. That's chapter twelve, verse 49 and 50. Those are beautiful, beautiful words. This is precisely what ensures that Jesus is not simply testifying about himself. What's he saying? I'm not telling you what I want to say. I'm telling you what the father wants me to tell you. Wow.
[00:12:08] Now, I thought about this. Can you imagine living our lives in such a way that we would only do what the father wants us to do and only saying what the father wants us to say?
[00:12:24] How do you think that would impact the people around us?
[00:12:28] You think that might be powerful? I'm only saying what the father wants me to say. You see, Jesus lived a life in such perfect obedience to his father that he didn't even say what he wanted to say. He only said what his father wanted to say. But in reality, there was such a union between the father and son that actually they both wanted to say it. And they both said it. The father said it through Christ. Right. So let's take a look here at the three witnesses who are testifying as to who he is. And the first one is John the Baptist. So what did John have to say about Jesus? Remember, he's not looking for human testimony, but he's using John as a person who's going to speak to his opponents, his critics, the people around him.
[00:13:13] He says in verse 33, you have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony, but I mention it, that you might be saved. In other words, I'm only bringing this up for your sake. I'm bringing it so you can get saved. It's not just me saying this. Look what John had to say. The Baptist. John was a lamp that burned and gave light. And you chose for a time to enjoy his light. Now, remember the story of John the Baptist. He comes on the scene, the religious leaders. When there's multitudes of people listening to John the Baptist, they send a delegation. They want to know who is this guy where crowds of people are listening to him because his messaging is so profound and powerful. He's unlike anybody in that moment.
[00:14:04] We pick up in John earlier in his gospel, he said, now, this was John's testimony when the jewish leaders in Jerusalem sent priests and Levites to ask him who he was, and he did not fail to confess, but confess freely. I am not the messiah. See, there was that messianic expectation and anticipation. He goes, I'm not him. He goes on to say, finally they said, well, then, who are you? Give us an answer to take back to those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?
[00:14:33] And John replied, in words of Isaiah the prophet, I'm the voice of one calling in the wilderness. Make straight the way for the Lord. So what does he say? He said, I'm just the one who's preparing the coming of whom the Lord. I think that's an important statement. He's saying, it's not just see their concept of the messiah, and we're going to see is John is, no, no, God himself is coming. That's an important point. He said, I baptize with water, but among you stands one whom you do not know. In other words, John hadn't already baptized Jesus. He recognized that Jesus was among them. He was the messiah. He was the Lord. Okay, now, verse 29. The next day, John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, look, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. Well, it's a very powerful testimony, isn't it? And then he goes on to say, this is the one I meant when I said, a man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me. Wow.
[00:15:44] So what was John's response? He was saying, hey, my role is just to announce the messiah, the kingdom of God. And you need to prepare your hearts, because the Lord is arriving and he's going to deal with things. He's going to judge people for what's going on in their lives. Now, he also pointed that he was among them, but they didn't recognize that.
[00:16:09] So there's this heightened sense of anticipation. How many could you imagine living in that hour? Know, the prophets had been prophesying that the messiah would come. People were anticipating, and John comes on the scene. They think he's the messiah. Goes, no, I'm preparing the way. And then all of a sudden, boom, Jesus is on the scene. Are you getting a picture of the excitement, the intensity, the anticipation? And then John points out that they were ignorant as to who that person was. Now, he makes it even clear he identifies Jesus as the messiah. Is it any wonder why people turn from following John to begin to follow Jesus? That's the reason. Now, the tragedy was that, as Jesus points out, that John was not the light. He was a lamp. He was illuminating the path to the light.
[00:17:01] But they enjoyed that for a season. But then all of a sudden, he was gone. And Ephraf Bruce says, but instead of taking urgent action while John's lamp still burned, they procrastinated. And now that lamp had been removed, but here was the light of the world himself, with greater accreditation than even John could supply. That's powerful. You know what? Leaders were blind to the reality.
[00:17:27] Now, why did some people believe in Jesus and others reject him in this hour? And I want to get to that in a moment. Let's move to the second witness, the father's affirmation of Jesus through the miracles. This is even a greater witness or testimony by what Jesus was doing among them of who he was, okay. And who he is. The miracles were signs of Jesus's identity. Look at verse 36. I have a testimony weightier than that of John. I'm going to give you even a weightier argument. A weightier testimony for the works that the Father has given me to finish. The very works that I am doing testifies that the father has sent me. The miracles. They're all signs. They're pointing to know. We focus on the miracles, but the miracles are actually focusing as a signal as to the person of Jesus Christ and who he is.
[00:18:24] Not only had the majority not listened to John the Baptist, but now they were rejecting the weightier evidence of the works or signs that Jesus was doing, then John the Baptist, in a moment of despair and imprisonment, how many know we can have a revelation like John had of who Jesus was, but then all of a sudden he starts to despair. Why? Because I think John was influenced a bit by the popular misconceptions of the Messiah. And how many know that when you have a certain idea lodged in your you? I'm going to call it a preconceived idea. And you're locked into this. When something doesn't fit your paradigm, your way of thinking, it messes with your head. That becomes what we call cognitive dissonance. So now John is struggling. Yeah, I saw the spirit come down upon Jesus, but I thought he would come and rid the Romans. I mean, he had some sort of an idea that God was going to take care of their problems, and now he's in jail. So you can see this is a low point in John's life. How many follow what I'm saying? And sometimes even good believers struggle with faith issues because their expectation and anticipation of how God's supposed to do something isn't materializing, and it creates an angst in our soul. And John was experiencing that. And we picked that story up in Matthew, chapter eleven, when he said, when John, who was in prison, heard the deeds of the messiah, sent his disciples to ask him, are you the one who is to come? And should we spec someone else? How many go, John's got a little bit of doubt going on here. Anybody see that? Can you see he's struggling a little bit? Now, I want you to notice how Jesus responds to John. This is so critical. He says, now go back and report to John what you hear and you see.
[00:20:09] The blind receive sight, the lame walk. Those who have leprosy are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the good news is proclaimed to the poor. So let's pause there. This is the weightier evidence. He's saying, no, the father's evidence is the things. What I'm doing. Now, here's what may surprise some of you. Do you know what Jesus is doing him? He's pointing him back to the word of God. I want you to go all the way back to one of my favorite chapters in the book of Isaiah, chapter 35. It's very poetic, but I want you to notice what Isaiah says about the coming of the Lord.
[00:20:44] They will see the glory of the Lord, the splendor of our God.
[00:20:50] Strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way. Oh, by the way, kind of where John was at, how many think he needed a little encouragement?
[00:21:01] When God comes, he's going to strengthen the feeble hands. He's going to steady the knees that give way. This is people who are discouraged. He goes, say to those with fearful hearts, hey, John, I'm saying this to you. You have a fearful heart right now. Listen, be strong and do not be afraid. We ever have to hear that message. I think we all do at moments, right? Your God will come. He will come with vengeance, with divine retribution. He will come to save you.
[00:21:27] Next verse in Isaiah. Then will the eyes of the blind be open and the ears of the deaf unstopped. Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute shout for joy. How many are catching on? What is he saying? The Lord's going to come. And when the Lord comes, you're going to see this evidence. And Jesus says to him, go back and tell him, this is what's going on. What's he doing? He's bringing them back to this text of scripture. Don't you think John understood what this verse was all about? What is Jesus saying? Hey, listen, I know you're a little disappointed, John, but I'm him, and I'm doing exactly what I should be doing. I have come. I'm the Lord. I'm coming in my glory. I'm here right now. I'm doing these things. You've done your job. You've done a great job. Be encouraged.
[00:22:14] So Jesus is reassuring John that he is the messiah, and he's demonstrating his glory by the deliverance over sin and sickness and Satan's kingdom. Jesus is actually defeating the powers of darkness right in front of their eyes. How many know that's true? That's what's going on? So Jesus now identifies the real issue of their rejection of him. And I think this is important. Why do people not believe? Why are people, in the face of mounting evidence pointing that there's a God that exists, that there's a savior to save from our sinfulness and our brokenness and all of our problems? Why aren't people still rejecting, well, let's take a look. And the father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice and nor seen his form.
[00:23:06] Now who's he talking to? He's talking to a bunch of people who are the religious leaders. He said, number one, you've never heard his voice. Two, you've never seen his form. Very strong language. Now, how many think there's a little irony in this? Because right now they're standing there looking at God, but they're not computing it, okay? And they're not listening to Jesus, therefore they're not hearing the voice of God. Now, these people think they know God, but really they don't. That's what Jesus is saying to them.
[00:23:41] As a matter of fact, Hebrews reminds us of this. He says, in the past, God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways. But in these last days, which was since Jesus came, till now, he has spoken to us by his son. God is speaking to us by Jesus, whom he appointed heir of all things and through whom also he made the universe. Wow.
[00:24:07] The fact that they were not listening now suggests they had never understood the scriptures.
[00:24:14] That's pretty strong. I think that's strong. But let's move on to the third witness, is the scriptures as they're fulfilled in Jesus. So what was the message that God had been communicating to his people? Well, the overarching message is one where God comes to save his people. I mean, if you read the Bible from COVID to cover, there's an overarching story. You know what the overarching story is? Man sinned and got estranged from God. God says, I'm going to fix the problem. You're not capable of doing it. And so you have the story of God coming and delivering, first of all, in a picture form, the nation of Israel from slavery. That's what happens when you and I are in sin. We're in sin slavery, and we need to be delivered from it. And God has to come and deliver his people, and he does. So it's a beautiful picture of it. And then God gives them a law, a law that shows us the ways of God and understand how we're to live. But how many know you and I can't keep the law? The law only tells us what pleases God. But it also makes us realize we're incapable of doing the law. How many know that's true? We keep breaking it. And then eventually you have the prophets who remind the nation that they're violating their covenant contract with God. And so God allows judgment to come into their lives. And that's what happens in our lives when we continually disregard God's ways. We are judged not because God's so mean, but it's because the consequences of sin is always estrangement with God and with people.
[00:25:44] Right? That's what happens. But God doesn't give up on us. And so he himself comes to the earth to save us from our sins. He takes on our penalty. He conquers sin by conquering sin's ultimate end, which is death. And Jesus conquers death by rising again from the dead. And now he can make a promise that you and I can have eternal life and be with him forever. That's the whole message of the Bible. I just said it to you in 1 minute.
[00:26:13] I gave you a synopsis of the whole book. That's pretty good. I thought, what am I trying to tell you? That Jesus is the fulfillment of that book. Everything that we're reading about him. Now, here's what Jesus says to them. Nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent. You're totally missing the message.
[00:26:37] You're reading the book, but you're not getting know ever had people. Did you read that book? Oh, yeah. What did you get out of it? I don't know.
[00:26:46] I just didn't get the message. They're not getting the message.
[00:26:54] So here they were.
[00:26:56] Jesus comes to make God known. And they're rejecting the one who came to make God known. And therefore they're rejecting the message and they're rejecting eternal life.
[00:27:06] Listen, how Jesus earlier, John earlier in the book says this, he said, you know, the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. So they picked up on the law, but they missed grace and truth. Okay? They're missing the person of Christ. In the story. No one has ever seen God but the one and only son who is himself. What?
[00:27:29] He's himself God. You know, I'm amazed how many times know. Try to tell me Jesus is not God. I'm going, it's pretty blatant in scripture that Jesus knows who he is. And the scriptures are teaching us that Jesus is fully God and fully man, who is himself God and is in closest relationship to the father. Yeah, because he's God. There's a union. There's only one God and has made him known. Who makes the father known? The son makes the father known. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. And you cannot know God the Father if you don't know the son, Jesus.
[00:28:14] Are we getting that?
[00:28:17] You won't know him. The law only makes a person aware of what God expects, but doesn't change the person.
[00:28:26] You ever met people? Yeah, they have the answers, but they never do them.
[00:28:30] How many know people like that? They have the answers, but they don't do know. Like what? What good is, you know? In other words, the law can only point out what's wrong with us. It can't fix us. Jesus is the one that fixes us.
[00:28:46] So the proper interpretive approach to studying scripture, Jesus is now going to tell us what it is. Now he comes to their problem, and it's a problem our society is having right now. How many know people are having a hard time with truth right now? Anybody figure that out? People don't want. Don't confuse me with the facts. I don't want to know.
[00:29:06] We got a whole society like an ostrich. They got their heads in the sand. Don't tell them anything. They don't want to be told anything.
[00:29:16] The scriptures are not an end in themselves.
[00:29:19] They're just pointing to the solution. Look what Jesus says here. You studied the scriptures diligently. Well, that's a good thing because you think in them you have eternal life. So they have misunderstood and think the scriptures themselves give them eternal life. He goes, no, scripture does not give you eternal life. It says scriptures.
[00:29:44] What they do is testify about Jesus. See, you can read the scriptures, but if you don't get to Jesus, you don't get to eternal life. You have to get the message, you have to figure out the person that the scriptures are talking about, he says, yet you refuse to come to me to have know. There are many people who come to scriptures with a blindness and do not understand that they're pointing us to Jesus.
[00:30:11] The scriptures themselves. I'm going to use a term here, christocentric. What do you mean by that? It means that the whole Bible is really about Jesus.
[00:30:23] And when you begin to understand that, how many have ever had those moments where you couldn't figure something out? And all of a sudden you got the key in your mind and all of a sudden everything starts making sense now. And you know what happens when you come to Jesus? Not only does the Bible start making sense, this is going to shock you, but life starts making sense. And all the nonsense you see around you starts making sense. You go, why? Because now you understand that people are steeped in sin and why intelligent people make such stupid, you know, contrary decisions to their own well being and benefit. People do it all the time. Wonderful, beautiful people who are making devastating decisions that are destructive to themselves and to the people they love.
[00:31:11] If therefore, some of the Jews refuse to come to Jesus for life, that refusal constitutes evidence that they're not reading the scriptures as they were meant to be read. That's true.
[00:31:25] As a matter of fact, da Carson goes on to say here, no independence is more arrogant and more delusive than religious independence, which reaches its tragic apogee or its highest point when the central meaning of scripture is perverted.
[00:31:46] There's nothing worse than to be religious, but not get the essence of what it's all about.
[00:31:52] The world's resistance to God is based on its imagined security, which reaches its highest and most subversive form in religion. And thus for the Jews and their pattern of life based on scripture, you say, what's he saying? What's Carson saying here? He's saying, when you think you have the answer, you don't look for the answer.
[00:32:16] And if you're totally wrong with your answer, you'll never go on to look for the real answer. That's what he's telling us.
[00:32:23] Isn't that amazing?
[00:32:25] It's true.
[00:32:27] And every time you get this other things coming at you that go, wow, this is conflicting with what I believe. That's a challenging thing, but sometimes we need that. If we're believing a lie, you have to be confronted with the truth. And when you have the wrong understanding, it leads to a false sense of security. And there are many groups and people today who are reading into biblical text what's not there. They're basically twisting it and making it say what it's not saying at all. As a matter of fact, if you don't think that's happening, just think about.
[00:33:06] Okay, all right.
[00:33:09] What Peter says about Paul's writings. Look what he says here. Bear in mind that our lord's patience means salvation, just as our dear brother Paul also wrote you with the wisdom that God gave him. He writes the same way in all of his letters, speaking in them of these matters. His letters contain some things that are hard to understand, which ignorant and unstable people distort. And as they do the other scriptures, to their own destruction. In other words, it's possible to misunderstand scripture. That's what Peter's telling us. Okay?
[00:33:42] Matter of fact, Jesus himself says after he raises from the dead, he's in the upper room. He's explaining to these people, his followers. He's going, you know what? You guys had such a big problem because I was telling you, but you couldn't see it. You were locked into your own worldview. You didn't understand what the messiah was all about. Let me just go back to the scriptures and show you what you needed to understand. Can I show you where he went wrong?
[00:34:11] Let's have a very informal conversation. Let's sit down here with Jesus. And he's going to say something to us. He's going, he said to them, this is what I told you while I was still with you. Everything must be fulfilled that was written about me in the law of Moses, which is the first five books, the prophets and the psalms, or the writings. And then he opened their minds so they could understand the scriptures. So what he did was he went through and said, you see this text that's talking about me? You see this? This is why this happened. And he began to explain it to them. So when Matthew finally starts writing the gospel, what does he say? This is what happened to Jesus in fulfillment of the scripture. This is what happened to Jesus in fulfillment of the scripture. Now, he understood the scriptures because they were speaking of Jesus.
[00:34:55] And that's the reason why the Bible is christocentric. But it's also here. This is an important statement. Can he open their minds? We need to have our minds open. And so it's not enough just to say, okay, I get it, it's about Jesus, but we need the work of the Holy Spirit revealing these truths to us, otherwise we're blind to it. As a matter of fact, Paul writing about the jewish people, not in a contrary way, he says they read the law of Moses, but there's a blinder. Their minds are veiled from the truth. They have to understand, there have to be that key. Once they see it, once they realize that Jesus is the messiah, and they look at the scriptures they were looking at before it goes, oh, it all makes sense now.
[00:35:38] I get it. How many ever struggled with something like math or algebra or something like that, and you just were having a hard time with it, and then all of a sudden there's a moment where it dawns on you and, oh, I get how this works now. And then all of a sudden it starts making sense. But before that, it looked like a bunch of nonsense to you, or you were studying a language and you just couldn't seem to get it, and all of a sudden, bang, it just starts coming to you. And you go, oh, I get it. Now. You see what I'm saying? It's the same way. In that way, we have to understand that things have to change.
[00:36:07] I'm teaching a course here starting next week, and I'm going to talk a little bit about the challenge of post modernity. You go, what's that, pastor? Well, we've moved to a new season before we were in modernity. You go, what's that? Well, that was shaped by the enlightenment, where we trusted solely in human reason. And now we recognize that human reason alone isn't going to explain everything. Okay? But the Bible teaches that we have to learn how to have faith and trust God. That's why the Bible says, trust in the Lord. Don't lean on to your own understanding. But what's happening today, we've gone to the other extreme, where nothing can be known. As far as people that are in postmodernism, in other words, their whole approach to life is based on an interpretive grid. They've borrowed this idea of this word hermeneutics, which is interpretation. And basically, they're basically saying there are no objective stances possible. In other words, there's nothing that you can hinge your life on, there's nothing you can base your life on. And in this new way of thinking, in their minds, nothing can be known. I want you to just think about how crazy this is.
[00:37:14] So they're basically saying, when people come to the text of scripture, whatever you get out of it, that's the right meaning. Well, I'm going, no, it's not.
[00:37:24] So they've dismissed this idea of the author's intent. Now, how many here would have really appreciated if you were writing a book and then people came along and read your book and said, I know what you were meaning, and then they tell you stuff that you never meant, you'd go, well, how can you communicate with people if you can't say something? And then that's not what you mean, but yet that's what they take from it. And they go, that's what it means. I'm going, no, it doesn't mean that at all. That's what you want it to mean. That's what you think it means, but that's not what I was intending. And what the world is doing now is when you don't have a basis to buy into something that what the author intends, what you're going to believe is something that's not intended, which is another way of saying you're going to actually be misled and believe a lie. And Jesus goes on now to share this with them. So why do people reject the message of Jesus and embrace lies? Isn't that a great question? Why is this happening to so many people that they can't hear the truth? Why are they embracing lies? Well, my very simple answer is, if you don't believe the truth, you end up with a lie. That's the only place you can land. And Jesus says that he knows what only God can know and what he hears.
[00:38:36] He sees that a love for God in these people is absent and people are seeking the praise of other people rather than the praise of God. There's the fundamental problem. Look, while he says it, he says, I don't accept glory from human beings. Now, we can glorify God, but he says, I'm not living for your glory.
[00:38:56] But I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts. This is pretty strong language. Here are people that are saying that they love God and Jesus is God. He's looking at him and he says, you don't love God.
[00:39:10] That's pretty strong. He says, I have come in my father's name and you do not accept me. If someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.
[00:39:21] What's he saying? He's saying, if you guys basically made it about yourselves, you buy it.
[00:39:31] So how can you believe, since you accept glory from one another, but do not accept the glory that comes only from God?
[00:39:41] Well, because of their rejection of Jesus, what are they going to do now? They're going to embrace false messiahs? Do you know that's true. Jewish people have embraced false messiahs over the history since Jesus is coming. They haven't actually. One of their great revolts in 132 AD was led by someone who one of their respected rabbis said was the messiah, and he led them to destruction.
[00:40:06] When we leave the truth, all we're left with is lies. Don Carson explains why we are so susceptible to following what is false. He says, inevitably, that meant they were open to messianic claimants who used flattery, or who panted after great reputations, or whose values were so closely attuned to their audience that their audience felt that they were very wise and farsighted.
[00:40:30] What's he saying? If you get up here and preach and tell people what they want to hear, they'll think you're marvelous.
[00:40:37] But you know, the false prophets, that's what they did all through the history of Israel. They told people what they wanted to hear, and people loved them. And Jesus warns us, he says, be careful when all men speak well of you. That's how they treated the false prophets.
[00:40:51] Because, you see, most people, they don't like to be corrected, and they don't want to be told when they're wrong. But when we're wrong and we don't correct people, what we're doing is not dealing with the problem in their life. What would a doctor be like if he discovered that you had a disease in your body and it was just as simple as removing maybe a tumor and to eradicate that disease? Now, how many know that's going to be a painful process of doing that, but it means that you'll continue to have life? We wouldn't go, oh, that's a terrible thing. Why is he going to cut open and take out a know? But when it comes to spiritual things, we have a real problem with anybody saying anything that would maybe correct what we're thinking or saying, but we need to have that happen. He goes on to say they were not open to the messiah, that Jesus was turning out to be one who thought the only glory of praise worth pursuing was the glory of God.
[00:41:43] He wasn't trying to please them. He was trying to please the father. That's what he's telling us here. What's even more tragic was that these religious leaders felt that Moses, just like during his earthly lifetime, would intercede for the nation and they would be spared God's judgment. Jesus, however, warns them that Moses, as Lawgiver, is going to be their accuser. How's that?
[00:42:07] Pretty damaging. And listen how he concludes. But do not think I accuse you before the father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set.
[00:42:16] See, you've put your hopes on Moses.
[00:42:20] He goes, if you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me.
[00:42:26] But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?
[00:42:31] So when confronted with the truth in the person of Jesus, all the witnesses and actions were pointing to that reality, the religious leaders remaining steadfast in their opposition and rejection of Jesus. But if we think that we're beyond that folly, let me point out to something to you so that you'll hear this. I just finished reading a book by a historian. Her name is Barbara Tukman. The book is entitled the March of Folly. It's a Pulitzer winning book. The very conclusion. This is one of the concluding lines in the book I'm reading. At the end, here's. I'm going to give it to you. She goes, divine reason was more often than not overpowered by non rational human frailties. Ambition, anxiety, status seeking, face saving illusions, self delusions, fixed prejudices. She's basically writing, how do intelligent people make such devastatingly dumb, terrible, destructive decisions? Here's her reason.
[00:43:35] Because she goes, we have basically. She goes on, although the structure of human thought is based on logical procedure from premise to conclusion, it's not proof against the frailties and the passions. It's not a proof against those things. In other words, what she's basically saying is this.
[00:43:53] And it's real simple. I'm summarizing and saying, simply put, sin distorts our abilities to think straight about the consequences of our actions. How's that?
[00:44:04] And you know what? Everyone in this room, including me, we are not above that.
[00:44:11] We can all be seduced by sin, and it distorts our thinking. And we do things that would.
[00:44:19] We may be intelligent in a lot of ways, but we're going to make some pretty stupid decisions. The moment we choose to sin, it's going to bring devastation. And we can see that with these religious leaders. The person they said they were Worshipping was standing in front of them saying, you're not getting it. How's that?
[00:44:36] I don't think any of us want to have that level of folly in our lives. Let's stand.
[00:44:46] I would say that John is being pretty direct in his comments about who Jesus is. How many say that's true? Anybody see that? Would you say this is pretty direct?
[00:44:59] How many go, we have to kind of walk with a little more humility. How many see that? A little more humility. A little more dependency. And just say, God, keep me from making stupid decisions. Right?
[00:45:13] Because it's devastating, not only to me, but it affects other people too, right? It certainly does. Let's pray. Know.
[00:45:23] We need to know Jesus. How many say, I can see that, that the entire scriptures are pointing to a person.
[00:45:30] That's why we encourage people. Give your life to Jesus. Surrender to Jesus. Obey Jesus. Get to know Jesus. It seems like we're enamored with Jesus and we are and we ought to be.
[00:45:45] Bible reminds us we're going to read a little further as we get into John. Jesus said, I am the way.
[00:45:51] I am the truth.
[00:45:53] I am the life.
[00:45:55] No man comes to the father except through me.
[00:46:01] He's the key.
[00:46:03] He's the key to understanding scripture. He's the key to walking with God.
[00:46:08] He's the key to living this life that he promises more abundantly. This eternal life where there's joy and hope and grace. Maybe you're here today. You say, you know, as I'm listening to you talk about Jesus, I'm starting to realize I have never fully grasped who he really is.
[00:46:27] He's not just another human being.
[00:46:31] He's God himself come to this earth.
[00:46:34] He's the one who made the provision so that you and I could be in a right relationship with the Father. He's the one that you and I need to serve and worship. He's the creator of our universe. He's the sustainer of our lives. He's the one that all of life can be fulfilled in. As I get to know him, he's the answer to every problem we have. He really is.
[00:46:56] I'm going to encourage us to come to, you know, I've been praying. This has. My prayer has been, Lord, I pray for an awakening. I'm praying that the Holy Spirit would awaken us, that we would have a quickening in our souls about who Jesus is. You see, I believe that we need a deeper awareness of the presence of Christ in our lives.
[00:47:19] I believe if we could catch a new vision, an awakened vision of Jesus, there would be a movement in our soul towards a greater love and a desire and a longing to know him and to walk with him and to serve him.
[00:47:34] I think that our agendas would change rather rapidly. I believe that you and I need to decrease in order for Christ to increase that. You and I need to start saying, it's not about my life, it's about his life. It's about me diminishing so Christ can increase, so that I can actually begin to do what my father in heaven wants that I can allow Christ to live through me and begin to do the things he wants me to do and begin to say the things he wants me to say. How many think this is a radical new way of living?
[00:48:06] It's not about what's best for me, though I do believe what's best for you and me is actually living the life that Jesus has plotted for us and getting to know him, I think that's the best life. But at the time, it may seem like, well, I have to die to myself. I'm going, yes, that's true. I have to die to myself. You have to die to yourselves in order for Christ to increase. Can we see it?
[00:48:30] And is he worthy of it? Of course he is. He's amazing.
[00:48:35] And let's pray today. I want to pray for you today, every one of us, that we would have a deepening revelation of the person of Jesus Christ and that he would apprehend us in a way that we've never been apprehended before, that the Holy Spirit would reveal Christ to you and me in a way we've never had it revealed. Yes, I've had it happen. I have a revelation. I know who Jesus is, but I'm talking at a deeper level. Can that happen? Of course it can.
[00:49:04] And I think when it does, all of a sudden a lot of the things that you and I have anxieties about or frustrations about, those will all disappear, believe me. And you will begin to see life in a totally different way. Your agenda may change, your goals may change. Your desires may change as you focus in. In this direction towards Christ. And so, Father, as we come to you in this new year, as we're looking through the gospel of John, and we're beginning to see through the lens of scripture the person of Jesus. We're coming to you, Jesus. We see you and we're hearing your words, and we're believing in you, Jesus. And we're surrendering to you, Jesus, and we're learning of you, Jesus, and what you're really like.
[00:49:46] And I just pray, Father, that you would help us this year to have such an awakening. Holy Spirit, would you come and awaken us to the person of Jesus? May 2024 be the year where we say, I had such a profound awakening in this year, and I met Jesus at a level I never knew him before, and it was transformative in my life. And I thank you for that, Father. In Jesus name, amen. God bless you as you leave today.
