Sermon Audio

Reading of God’s Word

“So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me— not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.” (John 6:41–48, ESV)

Introduction

Our family as been reading, rather slowly, through C.S. Lewis’, The Chronicles of Narnia. We get to it once or twice a week, and we are currently in the middle of the second book in the series called, The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.  This is the one that was made into a motion picture a number of years ago – perhaps you’ve seen it.

I would imagine that most of you are somewhat familiar with Lewis’ work. These books are, of course, fictional.  But they are filled with Christian symbolism. It’s hard to miss, I think.

In this particular book there are four children: Peter, Susan, Lucy, and Edmond. They are staying at a large home in the countryside and come upon a wardrobe which leads into another world. It is a frozen world with talking fawns and beavers, dwarfs, and great white witch.

I obviously will not take the time to tell the whole story, but I do want want to say a word about the way that Lewis develops his characters.

It it obvious, at least at this point in the story, that there is division that exists between the children.  Peter, Susan and Lucy seem to be of a particular spirit – they are generally nice children. But Edmond seems to be of another kind. He is portrayed as being rather nasty. He lies to the others. He is cruel to his younger sister, Lucy. He seems to look out only for himself.

Edmond’s wickedness is apparent, not only because of the way that he treats his siblings, but also because of the things that his heart is drawn to – the things he loves.

All of the children have, at this point in the story, encountered the witch, either by meeting her face to face or hearing about her from others. The three are of the opinion that she is indeed wicked and to be avoided and feared. But Edmond is drawn to her. He insists that she is not really bad, as all of the creatures in Narnia say.

Consider also that when the name Aslan is mentioned for the first time – Aslan being the one who will represent God in this story – we are told that,

“a very curious thing happened. None of the children knew who Aslan was any more than you do; but the moment that the Beaver had spoken these words everyone felt quite different… At the name of Aslan each one of the children felt something jump in its inside… Peter felt suddenly brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delicious smell or some delightful strain of music had just floated by her. And Lucy got the feeling you have when you wake up in the morning and realize that it is the beginning of the holidays or the beginning of summer.”

But Edmond felt something different. We are told that, at the name of Aslan, he “felt a sensation of mysterious horror.”

Edmond, at this point in the story, is portrayed as a cruel young man. He is rather fond of the witch. And the name of Aslan fills him with dread.

But there is one other thing to notice about Edmond as it pertains to our study of John 6 today.

Edmond is portrayed as sensual young man. By that I mean he is driven and controlled by his senses. He seems to live for fleshly, worldly, pleasures.

When he first met the witch she acted in a most cunning way. She asked the boy if he was hungry. Of course he was. He was wandering in a frozen wilderness. She asked him if would like something to eat. His food of choice, as it is for most children, was a dessert – he asked for Turkish Delight. And so she gave him a whole cake, several pounds worth. The more he ate the more he wanted. It was the best thing he had ever tasted! He ate the whole thing.  When it was gone, he desperately wanted more. But the witch would not give it.

She promised that if he would go and get his siblings and bring them to her house she would give him more. She spoke to Edmond saying,

“It is a lovely place, my house… There are whole rooms full of Turkish Delight, and what’s more, I have no children of my own. I want a nice boy who I could bring up as a Prince and who would be King of Narnia when I’m gone. While he was Prince he would wear a gold crown and eat Turkish Delight all day long.”

Your are beginning to wonder what this has to do with John 6.

I actually hope that it is clear.

The way that Lewis describes his characters in this wonderful little story is not all that different from the way that the crowd of John 6 is described.

The multitude of men and women following after Jesus in the wilderness seems to have much in common with this boy, Edmond.

They too are sensual. They want more bread! They want power and prestige!

Instead of being drawn to the name of the Eternal Son of God, the true and heavenly bread given by the Father, they are offended by him. They find his words repulsive.

We are beginning to see in John’s gospel that Jesus is a divisive figure. Some are drawn to him, but others find him offensive. By the end of John 6 we see clearly that, not only do some reject him – most do.

“When many of his disciples heard it, they said, ‘This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?’” (John 6:60, ESV)

“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” (John 6:66, ESV)

The question that looms large as we consider this narrative is this: Why do these not come? Why do the majority of these men and women remain in their unbelief?

This passage gives a most direct answer to that question. The answer, to borrow the language used in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus in John 3, is that those who reject Jesus have been born of the flesh only, and not of the Spirit of God.

Verses 41-42: they have been born of the flesh 

That they have been born of the flesh only is evident as we consider verses 41-42.

Vs. 41: “So the Jews grumbled about him, because he said, ‘I am the bread that came down from heaven.’ They said, ‘Is not this Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How does he now say, ‘I have come down from heaven’?” (John 6:41–42, ESV)

It is obvious that they have been born of the flesh in that they are living and breathing. This is what it means to be born of the flesh. All who are born into this world are born of the flesh.

And what to the scriptures tell us about the condition of all those born according to the flesh?

“What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.” “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive.” “The venom of asps is under their lips.” “Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness.” “Their feet are swift to shed blood; in their paths are ruin and misery, and the way of peace they have not known.” “There is no fear of God before their eyes.”” (Romans 3:9–18, ESV)

That they have been born of the flesh only is evident given the way that they respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

How do they respond?

They grumbled because he claimed to be bread that came down from heaven.

They could understood his human origin, but could not comprehend his divine origin.

They grumbled. This should remind us of the people of Israel as they wandered in the wilderness under Moses.

“All the congregation of the people of Israel moved on from the wilderness of Sin by stages, according to the commandment of the Lord, and camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. Therefore the people quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” And Moses said to them, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you test the Lord?” But the people thirsted there for water, and the people grumbled against Moses and said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt, to kill us and our children and our livestock with thirst?”” (Exodus 17:1–3, ESV)

“Then all the congregation raised a loud cry, and the people wept that night. And all the people of Israel grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The whole congregation said to them, “Would that we had died in the land of Egypt! Or would that we had died in this wilderness! Why is the Lord bringing us into this land, to fall by the sword? Our wives and our little ones will become a prey. Would it not be better for us to go back to Egypt?”” (Numbers 14:1–3, ESV)

“And the Lord spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, “How long shall this wicked congregation grumble against me? I have heard the grumblings of the people of Israel, which they grumble against me.” (Numbers 14:26–27, ESV)

Just as many in Israel who were under the Old Covenant did not have faith, but grumbled, so to this multitude, though they were externally following Jesus, did not believe in him from the heart.

Paul hones in upon this same principle and makes application for us.

“For I do not want you to be unaware, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea, and all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, and all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank from the spiritual Rock that followed them, and the Rock was Christ. Nevertheless, with most of them God was not pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness. Now these things took place as examples for us, that we might not desire evil as they did. Do not be idolaters as some of them were; as it is written, “The people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play.” We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did, and twenty-three thousand fell in a single day. We must not put Christ to the test, as some of them did and were destroyed by serpents, nor grumble, as some of them did and were destroyed by the Destroyer. Now these things happened to them as an example, but they were written down for our instruction, on whom the end of the ages has come.” (1 Corinthians 10:1–11, ESV)

Verses 43-46: they have not been born of the Spirit

That they have not been born of the Spirit is clear from Verses 43-46.

Listen to Jesus’ words concerning them.

Vs. 43: “Jesus answered them, ‘Do not grumble among yourselves.’” (John 6:43, ESV)

D.A. Carson:  “The grumbling was not only insulting, but dangerous: it presupposed that divine revelation could be sorted out by talking the matter over, and thus diverted attention from the grace of God. ‘So long as a man remains, and is content to remain, confident of his own ability, without divine help, to assess experience and the meaning of experience, he cannot “come to” the Lord, he cannot “believe”; only the Father can move him to this step, with its incalculable and final results’ (Lightfoot, pp. 160–161)”.

Do not grumble amongst yourselves. It will do no good.

Vs. 44a:“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:44a, ESV)

What needs to happen in order for these people (or anyone, for that matter) to come to Christ and to believe in his name is for the Father to draw them to the Son.

Remember that a connected idea has already been communicated in verse 37: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37, ESV)

So we have already been told, in positive terms, that everyone given to the Son by the Father will come to faith in Christ. And everyone who comes to faith in Christ will certainly be saved – none will be lost.

Here the idea is stated in a negative way: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him…” (John 6:44a, ESV)

The teaching is that no one is able to come to Christ unless the Father draws that person to Christ.

To state it another way, it is impossible for someone to believe in Christ, to trust in him for salvation, unless the Father has given that person to the Son, and draws that person to Christ.

The word translated “draws” is really quite strong. It’s basic meaning is this: “to pull or drag, requiring force because of the inertia of the object being dragged—‘to pull, to drag, to draw.’” (Louw Nida 15.212)

It appears six times in the New Testament, five of those occurrences being in John. Bedside this passage it also appears in:

John 12:32: “And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people [all the peoples of the earth – Jew and Gentile] to myself.” (John 12:32, ESV)

John 21:6: “He said to them, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’ So they cast it, and now they were not able to haul it in, because of the quantity of fish.” (John 21:6, ESV)

John 21:11: “So Simon Peter went aboard and hauled the net ashore, full of large fish, 153 of them. And although there were so many, the net was not torn.” (John 21:11, ESV)

John 18:10: “Then Simon Peter, having a sword, drew it and struck the high priest’s servant and cut off his right ear. (The servant’s name was Malchus.)” (John 18:10, ESV)

Act 16:19: “But when her owners saw that their hope of gain was gone, they seized Paul and Silas and dragged them into the marketplace before the rulers.” (Acts 16:19, ESV)

The word is rather strong, then. It speaks of the need of God the Father to effectively bring sinners to faith in the Son. Without that drawing, wooing, effective calling – whatever you want to call it – no one will be saved.

As you know many professing Christians struggle with this teaching. They claim that it is unfair and unjust for God choose some our of the world for salvation. Their opinion is flawed for a number of reasons.

One, they have thrust upon God their opinion concerning what is right and wrong for him to do.

Two, they have underestimated the severity of our sin. We cannot say that we deserve God’s love and mercy. He would be right and just to judge all. In his mercy and grace he has determined to save some.

Three, the teaching of election is just to clear in the scriptures. It is clear in this passage that God has given some to the Son. Those given to the Son will come and be raised up on the last day. And they will come as the Father draws them to the Son, and thus to himself.

Notice that this is a not a drawing that everyone experiences. Were it something that everyone experience, then everyone would be saved given that it is perfectly effective. According to verse 44, those drawn by the Father are certainly raised up on the last day.

We are not told exactly how the Father goes about drawing people to himself in this passage. The rest of John makes it clear, though. The rest of John is clear that it is the Holy Spirit who draws.

That is what Jesus said to Nicodemus. John 3:3, 5-7:

“Jesus answered him, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God…’ ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’” (John 3:5–7, ESV)

This is what Jesus says later in the gospel. John 16:7–8:

“Nevertheless, I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you. But if I go, I will send him to you. And when he comes, he will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment:” (John 16:7–8, ESV)

And it is in the following passage as well.

“It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh is no help at all…” (John 6:63a, ESV)

The drawing of the Father is done through the power of the Holy Spirit.

In verse 45 Jesus shows that this was promised from long ago.

Vs. 45a: “It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ (John 6:45a, ESV)

This is a quotation from Isaiah 54:13. Here that prophet speaks of day when all of the children of God will be taught by God. This is important for a number of reasons.

One, it tells something about how the Father draws sinners to himself. He teaches them. Sinners are brought to faith in the Son through the proclamation of the gospel, through the teaching of the word. The Spirit of God himself opens blind eyes and enlivens dead hearts so that the word of God might be received. God draws us to himself through teaching us his words.

Two, this quotation from Isaiah 54 is significant in that it brings to remembrance the promise from long ago that the day was coming where all of the covenant people of God would know God and be taught by him. You see, although the Old and New Covenants are indeed connected, there are also differences. One of the major differences is both believers and non-believers were rightly said to a part of the Old Covenant. Jacob and Esau were both under the Old Covenant. They were both circumcised, and rightly so. But God loved Jacob and hated Esau. As we consider the multitude that followed Moses out of Egypt and into the wilderness we would have to say that, though some believed, many did not – they grumbled and complained against God – but all of them were under the Old Covenant. The males received the sign of the covenant, circumcision, and rightly so. They were apart of the covenant community even if they did not believe – many were circumcised according to the flesh, but not according to the heart.

Jesus is here saying that the time has come, just as Isaiah had promised, where all of the children of God would know him truly and from the heart. It is those who believe in Christ who are apart of the New Covenant, made in Christ’s blood. This is why we give the sign of the covenant – baptism – to those who believe, and not to our children as they did with circumcision under the Old Covenant.

Three, this quotation from Isaiah 54 helps us to understand why Jesus sent these men and woman away. Think of it! Jesus and Moses are compared with one another throughout this text. Moses put up with the grumbling and unbelieving multitude there in the wilderness. They were allowed to go on eating the physical bread, though many who ate did not believe. They drank from the rock with hearts of unbelief. The nation of Israel was preserved through them so that the Christ might come. But now that he has come, Christ does not receive these unbelieving ones as apart of the covenant community, but rather he sends them away. “Jesus answered them, ‘Do not grumble among yourselves. No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day. It is written in the Prophets, ‘And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—” (John 6:43–45, ESV)

Notice the confidence of Jesus in verse 45:

Vs. 45b: “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—” (John 6:45b, ESV)

The gospel has been preached to the multitude. The free offer of the gospel has been given, Jesus has said to them again and again – come to me, believe, partake, eat, drink, be satisfied. He has said this, not to a few, but to all. And now he confidently says, “Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—” (John 6:45b, ESV)

All have heard the gospel with their physical ears. Is is those who hear the voice of the Father in those words by the power of the Holy Spirit who will come.

This is what Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 2:!4: “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.” (1 Corinthians 2:14, ESV)

And then in verse 46 we read these words:

Vs. 46: “not that anyone has seen the Father except he who is from God; he has seen the Father.” (John 6:46, ESV)

Some have been puzzled concerning the meaning of this verse. I think it is important. There has been all of this talk of the Father drawing people, the Father teaching people. Here it is clarified that the Father is in fact drawing and teaching through the Son. It is Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God who comes from God, having seen God as he is, and therefore, Jesus Christ is uniquely qualified to reveal the Father to us. The Father draws through the Son and by the Spirit.

So what have we learned so far?

As Jesus interacts with this crowd he teaches that some have been given by the Father to the Son. They will come to him. They will believe in him. They will by no means be lost. They will be drawn to faith in the Son, by the Father, through the word of the Son, and by the power of the Holy Spirit. They will be raised up on the last day.

This is doctrine of election, or predestination. The is the doctrine of irresistible grace. This is the doctrine of the perseverance, or preservation of the saints. It is here in no uncertain terms.

I find it interesting that one of the complaints that I often hear from those who deny the doctrine of predestination is that the doctrine has a way of killing evangelism. The rational is that if some are predestined by the Father, and if they will indeed come, then why preach?

Tell me, what do you notice about this entire dialogue between Jesus and crowd as it pertains to evangelism, or the free offer of the gospel? What is Jesus constantly urging people to do? He is urging them to believe! He is offering the gospel freely! He is saying, come to me, partake, believe.

Verses 47-48: Notice that Jesus still offers himself freely in the gospel

Notice in verses 47-48 that Jesus still offers himself freely in the gospel.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life. I am the bread of life.” (John 6:47–48, ESV)

From beginning to end Jesus is compelling the crowd to come, to believe, to have faith in him. He offers himself to them as the bread of life. He pleads them with to partake.

This makes it clear that a biblical understanding of the doctrine election is by no means opposed to the free offer of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Christ himself is our model. He, in the same dialogue, managed to do both. He taught that some were given to him by the Father, and also continuously compelled the crowds to come.

Application and Conclusion

Present the gospel freely.

Pray for the lost and for your own soul.

Are you ruled by the flesh or the Spirit? Walk by the Spirit.

Reading of God’s Word

“On the next day the crowd that remained on the other side of the sea saw that there had been only one boat there, and that Jesus had not entered the boat with his disciples, but that his disciples had gone away alone. Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks. So when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor his disciples, they themselves got into the boats and went to Capernaum, seeking Jesus. When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’ Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.’ Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’ Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.’ So they said to him, ‘Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’ ’ Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’ They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’ Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.’” (John 6:22–40, ESV)

Introduction

John 6 follows the same pattern as John 5. Both chapters present, first of all, a story of a miracle preformed by Jesus followed by extensive teaching from Jesus which explains the true significance of the miracle that was preformed.

In John 5 the sign was the healing of the invalid; the significance was that Jesus has life in himself. Men and women were urged to look to Jesus for eternal life.

In John 6 the sign was the multiplication of the bread and the fish. The significance, as we will see, is that Jesus is the bread of life. Men and women will be urged to partake of him by faith in order to have eternal life – in order to be eternally satisfied.

John 6:1-21 tells of the sign. 6:22-71 reveals the significance of the sign. The structure of 22-71 is really simple. Verses 22-24 are traditional as we are told of the movement of the crowd form the eastern shore of the Sea of Galilee up to Capernaum, located on the northwestern shore of the sea. Once there were hear of a back-and-fourth between Jesus and the Jews. They ask a question, and he answers. This repeats six times before they go their way. Jesus then asks his own disciples a question, and they respond in 60-71. So what we have is a dialogue between Jesus and the Jews, followed by a dialogue between Jesus and his own disciples. There is much to learn from this dialogue.

Let me state briefly my plans for John 6:22-71. Today we will consider 6:22-40. Lord willing, we will consider 6:41-59 next Sunday, and then 6:60-71 the Sunday after that. These three sermons will be exegetical in nature, meaning that we will consider the text rather methodically, verse by verse. After that I plan to devote one sermon to the doctrine of salvation asking the question, how does John 6 contribute to our understanding of the salvation of man? That sermon will be topical or theological in nature.

This particular passage (6:22-40) is divided into three parts. Verses 22-25 contain transitional material, as I have already said. In verses 26-36 we will observe Jesus’ most penetrating assessment of, and appeal to, the will of man. And in verses 37-40 we are exposed to Jesus’ most revealing statement concerning the will of the Father and the Son. This passage is indeed revealing. It is penetrating. It gets to the heart of the issue, if you will, laying bare deep and hidden truths concerning the heart of man and the heart of God.

Verses 22-25: Transitional Material – The Zealous Pursue Jesus

Let’s consider briefly the transitional material found in 6:22-25.

I do not want to linger here to long. In a way the passage is utterly simple. The people were eager to meet with Jesus after he had fed them with the bread and fish, but he is nowhere to be found. They saw his disciples leave in the boat, but Jesus was not with them. In verse 23 we are told that, “Other boats from Tiberias came near the place where they had eaten the bread after the Lord had given thanks.” Some have taken this to mean that these boats were blown to the eastern shore by the storm that almost ruined the disciples the night before. This is entirely possible, but uncertain.

At any rate, the crowed that remained got into the boats and headed to Capernaum. We are not told how many of the 5,000 remained and made the journey. It would seem that there was still a good number, for they are still called a crowd, but not all of the 5,000 were still present. Some had gone home.

The crowd that remained chose to go to Capernaum because this was Jesus’ home town and base of operations at this point. If they were to find him, this would be the most likely place.

If anything beyond the historical details is to be gleaned from 22-25 it is this: These people were serious about finding Jesus. They had walked deep into the wilderness, and now they were traveling by sea to find him. They were far from half-hearted and apathetic in their pursuit of the man. They would rightly be called zealous for Jesus.

Vs. 25: “When they found him on the other side of the sea, they said to him, ‘Rabbi, when did you come here?’” (John 6:25, ESV)

This is their leading question for him. They are curious how he had made the journey so quickly given that he did not leave with his disciples. You would think that this would be a perfect opportunity for Jesus and his disciples to tell of his having walked upon the water and his bringing of his disciples safely to shore after the storm had threatened them in that most terrifying way, but he does no such thing. The reason, I think, is that for some, miracles are in fact a hindrance to true faith, instead of an aid to it. This will prove to be true for these as they are the type who are more concerned with the signs themselves than the significance of the signs.

Verses 26-36: A Most Penetrating Assessment of and Appeal to the Will of Man

What follows is a most penetrating assessment of, and appeal to, the will of man.

He saw through their superficial and misdirected faith and called them to task on it.

Vs. 26: “Jesus answered them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.’” (John 6:26, ESV)

Notice that he does not even answer their question. They come to him saying, “Rabbi, when did you come here?” This should remind us of the way that Nicodemus approached Jesus in 3:2. He approached him saying, “Rabbi…” after which he made a statement (which was really a question, I think). And Jesus responded to Nicodemus in the same way that he responded to these! He brushed aside the initial statement and addressed the heart of the man. Here he addresses the heart of the crowed. He calls them to task.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me, not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves.” (John 6:26, ESV)

This seems to, at first, contradict what was said in 6:14. There we are told that “When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, ‘This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!’” (John 6:14, ESV) And so the people did see the sign. And having witnessed the sign they came to confess that Jesus was the Prophet who was to come into the world. This was all good and correct.

What Jesus is criticizing here is that the crowed saw the sign, but failed to perceive the true significance of the sign.  They saw the sign – they witnessed he multiplication of the bread and fish – but they did not see the sign, really and truly. They did not comprehend, or perceive, the truth signified by the miracle preformed.

They wanted more bread. They want a second Moses. They want an earthly King.  They want a free and reestablished Israel.

These people were worldly and fleshly, thinking in mere human terms. They were failing to grasp the spiritual, heavenly, and eternal significance of Christ’s works.

And so Jesus responded, saying,

Vs. 27: “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you. For on him God the Father has set his seal.” (John 6:27, ESV)

Jesus offered the woman at the well living water – “Jesus said to her, ‘Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’” (John 4:13–14, ESV). 

Jesus offers these food that endures. 

The water of the world cannot satisfy permanently. It cannot provide eternal life.  You drink of it, and you must drink again.  The same is true of bread. It cannot provide eternal life. You eat of it, and you grow hungry again. The bread of this world perishes. It grows stale. It molds and rots. It perishes in that when we eat of it we grow hungry and must eat again.

You are beginning to see this consistent theme in John, that he is again and again persuading us to see beyond the stuff of this world – to lift up our eyes that we might see that Christ has come to to give eternal life, to bring eternal satisfaction, to establish an eternal kingdom. And yet man in his natural state is unable to discern these spiritual truths.

Vs. 28: “Then they said to him, ‘What must we do, to be doing the works of God?’” (John 6:28, ESV)

This question is understandable. Jesus has just said, “Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life…” and now they want to know what work is required – what they must do to have eternal life.

Vs. 29: “Jesus answered them, ‘This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.”” (John 6:29, ESV)

Here is what God requires – that men and women believe in Christ.

This would have been a most surprising response. The Jews who asked the question, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?”, undoubtably expected to hear, keep this law, or do this thing, but instead Jesus says,  this is the work that God requires, that you believe in the Son whom he has sent. 

Belief is the way that men and women are to partake of the food which endures to eternal. We partake of earthly food by way of the mouth and digestive system. We partake of the bread of life by the instrument of faith.

To believe in Christ is to know what is true concerning him. To believe in Christ is to confess that those things are indeed true. To believe in Christ is to trust in him, confessing that no good thing exists within us that could possibly earn eternal life, but that life eternal is found in him alone.

This is “work” that God requires, that men and women believe in the one whom Christ has sent.

Vs. 30-31: “So they said to him, ‘Then what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform? Our fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” (John 6:30–31, ESV)

Two things are made clear by this request.

One, these men and women will never be satisfied with signs.

They will go on forever wanting to see more and more. They had witnessed Jesus’ multiplication of the bread and the fish, and they had witnessed who-knows-how-many signs before that, and yet it was not enough. “…what sign do you do, that we may see and believe you? What work do you perform?” Give us more, and more, and more. No sign – no proof – no matter how spectacular will be enough to open their their blind eyes and awaken their dead hearts.

Two, these men and women cannot comprehend the difference between Moses and Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

They are correct to make the connection between the two. Jesus was the Prophet promised from long ago. He was the one like Moses who would arise from amongst the people – the one to whom the were to listen, according to Deuteronomy 18:18. They were correct to see the connection between the giving of manna in the wilderness under Moses and Jesus’ multiplication of the bread and fish. They were correct to make the connection between the two!

However, they failed to understand that Jesus was so much greater than Moses.

When they ask for another sign in verse 30, and go on to point out in verse 31, how their “fathers ate the manna in the wilderness; as it is written, ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat’”, they are urging Jesus to do the same thing that Moses did – that is to feed the people bread, not once, but perpetually.

Under Moses the people were given bread, not once, but daily. The people are are pursuing Jesus by land and sea urging him to feed them, not once, but time and again as Moses did.

They are right to see the connection between Moses and Jesus. They are wrong in that they have failed to recognize that Jesus is so much greater.

Here is how the writer to the Hebrews puts it:

“Therefore, holy brothers, you who share in a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the apostle and high priest of our confession, who was faithful to him who appointed him, just as Moses also was faithful in all God’s house. For Jesus has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses—as much more glory as the builder of a house has more honor than the house itself. (For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God.) Now Moses was faithful in all God’s house as a servant, to testify to the things that were to be spoken later, but Christ is faithful over God’s house as a son. And we are his house if indeed we hold fast our confidence and our boasting in our hope.” (Hebrews 3:1–6, ESV)

Jesus came, not feed the people with earthly bread, but to give them the bread of life from above.

He explains:

Vs. 32-33: “Jesus then said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, it was not Moses who gave you the bread from heaven, but my Father gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.’” (John 6:32–33, ESV)

Three things are stated here:

One, the manna given to Israel in the wilderness did not come from Moses, but from God the Father. Moses was a servant in God’s house, a mediator. Though he was indeed significant, he was nothing more than that.

Two, the Father has always been concerned that the people eat, not only of the bread of this earth, but also of the true bread which comes from him alone – “my Father gives you the true bread from heaven”, Jesus says.

Three, Jesus is that true bread. He is “the bread of God… who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”

Vs. 34: “They said to him, ‘Sir, give us this bread always.’” (John 6:34, ESV)

I see this, not as a legitimate declaration of faith, but as a sarcastic reply to the offer of bread from heaven. The woman at the well responded in the same way.

“‘…The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’  The woman said to him [I think with a smirk and a chuckle], ‘Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.’” (John 4:14–15, ESV) So too the people say, “Sir, give us this bread always.”

Vs. 35-36: “Jesus said to them, ‘I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.’” (John 6:35–36, ESV)

This is the first of the seven great “I AM” sayings of Jesus in John’s gospel.

“I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35 ESV)

“I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”” (John 8:12, ESV)

“I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.” (John 10:9, ESV)

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.” (John 10:11, ESV)

“I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,” (John 11:25, ESV)

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6, ESV)

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser.” (John 15:1, ESV)

The message is clear. What we have throughout John, and particularly here in this passage, is an appeal to the will of man. These men and women were looking to earthly, worldly, fleshly things for life. Jesus is calling them to look to him, to believe in him, to have faith in him. “…Whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” (John 6:35 ESV)

But look at Jesus’ assessment  of the will of man. “But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe.” (John 6:36, ESV)

Summery: 

And so verses 26-36 tell this story: A crowd has followed Jesus. We might even say that they were zealous for him, traveling by land and see to find him. But their motives were worldly, their hearts and minds set upon the things of this world. Jesus called them out. He condemned their worldliness and urged them to see him as the bread of life, the bread from heaven,  but they do not believe.

Verses 26-36 prove to be a most penetrating assessment of and appeal to the will of man.

Transition:

Let’s pause for a moment. We’ve been moving rather quickly through this text, considering each verse. But I would invite you to put yourself in the midst of this event as it happened. I think it would be particularly beneficial if we were to look at it through the eyes of the disciples of Christ. See it from their perspective.

They had left all to follow Jesus, who they believed to be the Messiah. Their understanding of the what the Messiah would be was still forming. This was relatively new to them. We know that they also tended to see things from a worldly perspective – it would seem that they too wanted a political Messiah, an earthly kingdom, and the fame that would naturally come with it. They saw the miracles. They even took part in feeding the multitude! They distributed the food and gathered up the fragments. They had been saved from certain doom by Jesus as walked across the sea and brought them safely to shore.

I would imagine that from their perspective – their worldly, human, and earthly perspective – things are going quite well. 5,000 men journeyed a great distance into the wilderness to be with Jesus. Many of those also pursued him all the way back to Capernaum. It would seem as if Jesus’ ministry is finally flourishing! He has at his disposal what amounts to a small army. But what does Jesus do? He does not receive these men. He rebukes them. Why? Because he unwilling to be their Christ, their Messiah, made in their own image.

Seeing this story from the perspective of the disciples helps to understand what follows.

Verses 37-40: A Most Revealing Statement Concerning the Will of the Father and the Son

What we have here in 37-40 is a most revealing statement concerning the will of the Father and the Son.

Christ gives us a glimpse into the purposes of God. Man has his purposes, and they are tainted with pride and selfish ambition. But God has his purposes. Jesus here reveals them to us. He makes the hidden purposes of God known.

Vs. 37: “All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out.” (John 6:37, ESV)

Christ has just called this unbelieving crowd to come to him. Verse 35: “whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.” There is here a general call to come to Jesus and partake.

In verse 37 we are told that, “all that the Father gives me will come to me…”

And so the principle of election is set forth: Some have been given by the Father to the Son. God the Father, in his infinite and unsearchable wisdom, has given some to the Son. We are not told who they are. We are not told how many. We are only told that from amongst the unbelieving masses, some have been given to the Son by the Father.

Furthermore we are told that “all that the Father gives [to the Son] will come to [him]…” And so not only is some particular group of people given by the Father to the Son, but it is guaranteed that those given will come. There is certainty concerning this. 

Beyond that we have this promise that, “whoever comes to [the Son] will never [be] cast out.”

Jesus has delivered this general call to the crowd – come to me, partake of me, believe in me. And now he reveals this, that it is those whom the Father has given to him who will believe in his name, and those who believe in his name will never be cast out.

How can this be? Jesus tells us in verse 38:

Vs. 38: “For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me.” (John 6:38, ESV)

This is a certain thing because it is the will of God. Christ came to do, not his own will, but the will of the Father. He came to accomplish the Fathers will established from eternity past.

Vs. 39-40: “And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” (John 6:39–40, ESV)

Here the will of the Father is stated in no uncertain terms. The reason why the Father has sent the Son is so that all whom the Father has given to him would be raised up on the last day. The will of the Father is that all who look to the Son and believe in him should have eternal life and be raised up on the last day.

The teaching is clear. Christ came to accomplish the Father will. The Fathers will is to redeem a particular people for himself from every tongue, tribe, and nation. These are the ones given to the Son by the Father from eternity past.

That was his mission – not to gather a a great multitude to himself in the wilderness – not to establish, or reestablish, a nation – not to feed men with bread – but to redeem, to save, to raise up a particular people – those given to him by the Father. That was his mission, according to John 38-40.

And how important it was for Jesus’ disciples to hear this. They, of all people, needed know what the mission of Christ was. They needed to have this settled in their minds so that they could walk faithfully with him while he was on earth, and so they could serve him faithfully after his death and resurrection.

If Jesus mission was to save all, or to gather a great following and establish an earthly kingdom, then he certainly failed. But if his mission was to pay for the sins of those given to him by the Father, to draw them to faith, and to raise them up on the last day, then we can say with complete certainly that his mission was accomplished. It is finished.

John 6 is one of those passages that gets to the heart of things. It moves us beyond the appearance of things.

From a human perspective this was the hight of Jesus’ ministry.

From the divine perspective this was nothing more than mob a of worldly, sensual, and idolatrous people eager to make God in their own image.

Application & Conclusion

Let’s apply this text briefly before we conclude.

Partake of Christ. I am to do the very thing that Christ did when speaking to the multitude, and that is to call you to faith in Christ.

If you are concerned only with worldly things, may I urge you to see that these things perish with time. They cannot give life.

If you are concerned about eternal things, yet looking to something or someone, other than Christ to save, may I urge you to look to Christ alone, to abandon all, confidence in the flesh, and to confess him as Savior and Lord.

If you have believed in Christ, may I urge to remain in him. Feast upon him perpetually!

Reading of God’s Word

“After this Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him, because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover, the feast of the Jews, was at hand. Lifting up his eyes, then, and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, “Where are we to buy bread, so that these people may eat?” He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Philip answered him, “Two hundred denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little.” One of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, “There is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many?” Jesus said, “Have the people sit down.” Now there was much grass in the place. So the men sat down, about five thousand in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, “Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost.” So they gathered them up and filled twelve baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. When the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world!” Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. When evening came, his disciples went down to the sea, got into a boat, and started across the sea to Capernaum. It was now dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them. The sea became rough because a strong wind was blowing. When they had rowed about three or four miles, they saw Jesus walking on the sea and coming near the boat, and they were frightened. But he said to them, “It is I; do not be afraid.” Then they were glad to take him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land to which they were going.” (John 6:1–21, ESV)

Introduction

Do you like bread? I certainly do! One of my favorite things is to walk into the house after my wife has made a fresh loaf of bread. I love the smell of it. I love the way that it satisfies when you eat it. Bread is one of those very simple and yet wonderfully pleasing things.

But have you ever stopped to ask the question, what is bread for? Why is it here? Why do we have it?

On one level you may respond saying, well that’s a ridiculous question. Bread is food! It nourishes the body. It’s purpose is to sustain us, to strengthen us, to give us life. And that is true. Bread does indeed serve the physical body. But may I suggest to you that bread serves another more important purpose – a higher purpose. Bread serves, not only the body, but, in a way, it also serves the human soul. Read the rest of Sermon: John 6:1-21: Bread from Heaven »

Reading of God’s Word

John 5:31–47 (ESV)

31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light. 36 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. 37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. 39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. 41 I do not receive glory from people. 42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 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. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God? 45 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. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. 47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

Introduction

I had an interesting conversation with a man this past week. He was in my home trying to sell me something and he soon asked, so what do you do for a living? I said, I’m a Pastor. He looked surprised and said, I would have never guessed that! I responded, well, I’m not exactly sure how to take that… (He was actually the second person in two weeks to say that to me – I’m thinking it’s the beard). But we ended up talking about Christ for some time. I would guess that an hour of the the hour and a half that he was in my home was devoted to conversation about Christ – it was really quite a nice conversation.

This man said that he had been studying the scriptures. His wife is a Jehovah’s Witness. And so the conversation eventually came to center upon the person of Jesus Christ as I asked the question, who is he? 

As you know Christians disagree with the Jehovah’s Witnesses on a number of points, but their view of the person of Christ seems to be most at odds with biblical Christianity, and therefore it is one of the easiest things to discuss in a relatively short period of time.

To state things briefly, this man seemed to be struggling with two things in particular.

One, he could not understand how the man Jesus Christ could be one with God the Father.

I emphasized two things in response to this. One, the fact that there were two natures – the divine and the human – united in the one person of Christ is difficult for anyone to comprehend – one should not deny a biblical doctrine because it hard for the human mind to comprehend.  Two, I emphasized the fact that the scriptures clearly teach this. The Father and the Son, though distinct in some way, are in fact one. They are of one essence – one substance.

We looked at John 1:1 – “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1:1, ESV). We looked at it in the Greek text and compared it with his New World Translation, in which the Jehovah’s Witnesses have altered the wording to make room for their unorthodox doctrine.

I aslo alluded to John 14:9-11where Jesus speaks to Phillip, saying,

“Have I been with you so long, and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on my own authority, but the Father who dwells in me does his works. Believe me that I am in the Father and the Father is in me, or else believe on account of the works themselves.” (John 14:9–11, ESV)

We also spoke of the fact that the scriptures everywhere insist that there is only one God – not two, or three, or more.

I came across Mark 12:28-31 in my scripture reading this past week. It is that famous passage where the scribe asks Jesus what the most important commandment is. You and I know that Jesus emphasizes two things – the command to love God, and the command to love your neighbor as yourself. But what caught my attention is how Christ presents the command to love God. He quotes from Deuteronomy 6:4 saying, “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength…” (Mark 12:29–30, ESV)

The point that I tried to make with him then, and the point I am making now, is that Jesus, though he certainly claimed to be God, was dogmatically monotheistic. He claimed to be God – divine – and yet according to him there was and is and will only ever be one God.  Therefore we have one God eternally existing in three subsistences or persons – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

This has been the confession of the Church throughout the ages. The Nicene Creed, which I read to you last week, was penned, in part, to combat the heresy of Arianism. It’s worth noting that the Jehovah’s Witnesses are really nothing more than a modern resurgence of the Arian heresy when it comes to the doctrine of Christ.

The Jehovah’s Witness view of Christ can be summarized in this way:  

1. Jesus is to be called “a god” and not God. Thus, Jehovah’s Witnesses translate John 1: 1 “In the beginning the Word was, and the Word was with God, and the Word was a god.”
2. While Jesus is worthy of honor, he is not to be worshiped. 
3. Jesus is a created being. He is not eternal in his preexistence but rather was created by Jehovah as Michael the Archangel.
4. Jesus did not rise physically from the grave. Rather, Jehovah raised his spirit from death and then provided another body for his appearances to his disciples. 
5. The second coming of Jesus took place in 1914, when Jesus returned invisibly to Earth.[SLIDE]

It’s no wonder this man was struggling to come to terms with the Biblical doctrine of the divinity of Christ, and with the Trinity with all of this in his background.

But remember that I said he was struggling with two things. The first was the deity of Christ. But I think there was deeper issue – a more foundational issue. He was struggling to know where to look to find answers to these questions. He was struggling with the question of authority.

This came up again and again. In his mind you have all of these opinions – all of these interpretations – and who are we to believe? Who is correct?

It was evident that this man was swimming in sea of subjectivity, and was struggling to stay afloat. It was a reminder that this world is a very uncertain and confusing place for those who have bought into the philosophy of relativism, that there is no truth, that it cannot be found. 

My response to this was simple. I said that we, as Christians, believe that God is our authority for truth, and that he has revealed himself in many way, but supremely through Christ his Son, and through his Holy Word.

We have something objective – something concrete and sure to set our feet upon. We believe that truth can be known, but only because God has determined to make it known through the person of Jesus Christ and through the pages of inspired scripture, Old and New Testaments.

It really was a good conversation. I learned a lot. I hope he learned something. I’ve been praying for him, that the Spirit of God would move upon his heart. I gave him a card and encouraged him to listen to sermons. Perhaps he will listen to this one. I also offered to meet with him to study the scriptures together. I am growing more convinced that evangelism in our modern time will need to be done like this – it needs to be personal, thorough, and methodical.

So why am I telling you about all of this now?

I tell you about this to make the point that John’s gospel is incredibly relevant for today.  The people that John was trying to pursued in the writing of his gospel were not altogether different from the people that you and I interact with today.

The question was the same then as now. Who is Jesus? How are we to understand his person and work? How are we to understand his relation to the Father?

The goal was the same then as now – that people would “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing… may have life in his name.” (John 20:31, ESV)

Notice something about the text before us this morning. Jesus (and John, as he wrote) understood that if people were to believe that he was indeed the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing may have life in his name, the issue of authority would need to be addressed.

What I mean is that it is one thing for Christ to claim that he was God incarnate – that he was God in the flesh. It’s another thing to provide credible evidence in support of this claim.

Says who? That is how people respond to the claims of Christ then and now. Says who? On who’s authority? Who are we to believe concerning these things? On who’s word?

Notice that this is precisely the issue that Jesus is dealing with here in this wonderful passage.

He admits in verse 31 that, “If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.”

We are to think in legal terms here. A defendant’s testimony, if it stands alone, is not valid. It’s not credible. He may in fact be telling the truth, but his testimony is invalid – it carries little, if any, weight. Jesus is aware that if his word is to be accepted and recognized as true, others need to testify on his behalf.

In verse 32 he says, “There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.”

So there is another witness, Jesus says. There is someone who is testifying on my behalf, that I am indeed the Son of God. 

Some have been confused by this statement because Christ speaks of one witness here – “There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true”.  But then John goes on to mention three witnesses in the  proceeding text. He will talk about John the Baptist as a witness; the works that he was doing as a witness, and the scriptures themselves as a witness – three witnesses, not one. And yet he only mentions one witness in verse 32.

The meaning is this: God the Father is the one who testifies concerning the Son. God the Father is the witness that Jesus is referring to here. And yet God has spoken through the Baptist, through the works or signs, and through the Holy Scriptures themselves – though Moses.  That is what is said in verse 37 – “And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me…” (John 5:37a, ESV)

So to answer the critical question, says who? or, on who’s authority are we to accept the claims of Christ? The answer is that God the Father is authoritative. God the Father is the one who testifies that Jesus is indeed the eternal Son of God. He has done so through the Baptist, through the works of Christ, and through the scriptures themselves.

Let’s consider these one at a time:

First of all, Jesus urges us to believe in him because God the Father has testified concerning him through John the Baptist.

Verse 33: “You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. Not that the testimony that I receive is from man [ultimately], but I say these things so that you may be saved. He [John] was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.” (John 5:33–35, ESV)

The testimony of John the Baptist might not seem that impressive to those of us who live almost 2,000 years removed from the event, but we should remember that John’s ministry was a powerful one. He gathered large crowds to himself. Many believed in his message and considered him a prophet.

Jesus is reminding these Jews of their willingness to except John’s word at first. He was a burning lamp, and they, for a time, took joy in walking in the light that he provided. The reminder that Jesus is providing is that John’s ministry culminated in his proclamation that Jesus was the Christ, the lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world. John himself confessed that Jesus must increase and that he must decrease. John’s mission was to testify – to serve as a witness – that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God.

 

Secondly, Jesus urges us to believe in him because God the Father testified concerning him through the works that he was preforming.

In verse 36 Jesus says, “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.” (John 5:36, ESV)

Jesus points to a greater and more powerful testimony than the testimony of John, namely, the works that he was doing. Jesus’ works were the works that the Father gave him to accomplish. The works – the signs – the miracles that he preformed served to testify or bear witness that Jesus was truly from the Father – he was from above.

These works were, and are, a most powerful testimony. It is one thing for one man to say concerning another, “behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”, but it is another thing all together for that man to turn water to wine, to heal the lame and blind, to calm a stormy sea, to multiply a few loaves and fish to feed thousands, to call a man to life who was in the grave for three days, and to raise himself up from the dead.

These miracles of Christ served to testify that his words were true – that he was indeed the Christ, the eternal Son of God.

Thirdly, Jesus urges us to believe in him because God the Father has testified concerning him through the Holy Scriptures.

Verse 39: “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…” (John 5:39, ESV)

Verse 45 and 46: “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.” (John 5:45–46, ESV)

Jesus has identified John the Baptist as a witness; he has also identified the works that he was doing as a witness; here he points to Holy Scripture.

This, I think, is the most powerful testimony of the three. It is the most sound, objective, and concrete of the three. Scripture is timeless. It is immovable. It is sure. We are able to study it now just as they were able to study it then. And as we study it we see that it everywhere points to Jesus Christ.

And so, yes, John the Baptists testimony was powerful. Yes, it would have been wonderful to see the works of Christ. Both of these witness are indeed persuasive. But the scriptures are able to persuade us even still as they, from Genesis to Revelation, testify to Jesus the Christ the Son of God, and the salvation that is found in his name.

Think of it. The scriptures were written over a 1,500 year period of time. They were written by at least 40 different authors. There are 66 individual books, and yet they come together to tell one story. It is the story of redemption.

The scriptures tells us about creation – “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…”. The scriptures tell us about the fall, man’s alienation from God, and just condemnation. But the scriptures also tell us the story of God redeeming love.

God promised to save. He promised to redeem. He promised to defeat the serpent and to conquer sin and death. He promised to establish his eternal kingdom, a kingdom where,

“…the dwelling place of God is with man. [where] He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3–4, ESV)

The Holy Scriptures are the inspired record of God’s redeeming acts. They are the record of God’s covenants and promises. The scriptures have Jesus Christ at the center – they all point to him. To borrow Paul’s language from 2 Corinthians 1:20, “…all the promises of God find their Yes in [Jesus]. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory.”

Jesus points people, ultimately, to the scriptures. The scriptures testify concerning him, that he is the Christ, the eternal Son of God.

This is, of course, most ironic when it comes to the Jews who opposed Jesus. It is ironic because they claimed to love the scriptures.  “You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me…” (John 5:39, ESV)

There were some (perhaps we can even say, many) in Jesus’ day who, though they read the scriptures, failed to read them correctly. There were some who, as they read the Old Testament, came to the conclusion that they would stand right before God because of their ethnicity. There were others who, as they read the Old Testament, came to the conclusion that they would stand right before God because of their morality. Christ and his apostles interpreted the Old Testament properly insisting that salvation is available, not on the basis of race, and not on the basis of law keeping, but through faith in the Christ, whom God promised to send from long ago – Jesus of Nazareth, the Eternal Son of God.

The Jewish people were particularly fond of Moses. Many had set their hope upon him, and upon their ability to keep the law given through him. And what does Jesus say concerning Moses? “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.” (John 5:45–46, ESV)

Jesus said this kind of thing again and again in his ministry. He insisted that he was the one to whom the scriptures pointed as the Messiah – as the Savior of the World.

Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” (Matthew 5:17, ESV)

Jesus spoke to two of his disciples on the road to Emmaus, saying, “‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?’ And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself.” (Luke 24:25–27, ESV)

So what does Jesus point to in the end? The scriptures! The scriptures bear witness concerning him!

And so Jesus has piled up three substantial witnesses on his side. All of them, he claims, are from the Father – John the Baptist, the works (miracles) that he preformed, and the Holy Scriptures themselves.

That is quite a collection! Jesus has a lot going for him. He has assembled quite a team! You would think that, with these witness stacked in Jesus’ corner, the Jews would soon believe.

But what is the result?

Verse 40:  “…yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.” (John 5:40, ESV)

They refuse to come. They refuse the offer of life found in his name?

This is our reaction to Jesus apart for the wooing of the Holy Spirit. We reject him. We refuse to come. Even with all of this testimony heaped up before us we, in our sinful condition, refuse to believe.

The question is why?

What is it about man that makes him so hostile to the things of God?

What is it that make us refuse to come to Christ that we might have life in his name?

Jesus identifies three things in this text. He levels three criticisms against those were persisting in their rejection of him. All of them point to the thoroughly depraved, and altogether hardened condition of their hearts.

First of all, Jesus points out that those rejecting him are persistent in their unwillingness to receive the word of God.

They stubbornly refused to receive, in their hearts, as it were, God’s word – God’s revelation.

Verse 37-38: Jesus says, “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.” (John 5:37–38, ESV)

I don’t know that I could explain these two verses any better than Leon Morris has done:

“There ignorance is threefold. (i) They have never heard God’s voice. Moses heard that voice (Exod. 33:11), but they are no true followers of Moses, otherwise they would have heard God’s voice in Jesus (3:34; 17:8). (ii.) They have never seen God’s form. Israel saw that form (Gen 32:30-31), but they are no true Israelites. Were they, they would have seen God in Jesus (14:9). (iii.)They do not have God’s word abiding in them. The Psalmist laid up God’s word in his heart (Psalm 119:11), but they do not share his religious experience. Had they done so they would have receive that word from Jesus.”

There remained in these a hardness of heart, an unwillingness to receive God’s revelation.

Secondly, Jesus points out that those rejecting him do not have the love of God abiding in them.

Verse 42: “But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.” (John 5:42, ESV)

Thirdly, Jesus points out that those rejecting him are more concerned with living for the glory that comes from man than for the glory that comes from God.

Verses 43-44: “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?” (John 5:43–44, ESV)

These three indictments are significant.

They reveal that the reason why people remained in unbelief is not ultimately due to a lack of evidence concerning the Jesus Christ, the Son of God. It’s not as if these witnesses are insufficient, or their testimony unclear.

The issue is the human heart. People, apart from the work of the Holy Spirit, are unwilling to receive God’s words. They do not love God as they ought. They do not seek to please him, but rather to please men so as to benefit themselves in regards to the things of this world.

Conclusion  

Let’s return briefly to my conversation with the salesman, by way of conclusion.

It was interesting that, in the course of conversation, three things emerged as significant hindrances to this man confessing Jesus as the eternal Son of God, the second person of the Trinity.

One, he seemed unwilling to look to the scriptures as authoritative. He was unwilling to confess them as inspired, inerrant, authoritative and clear.

Two,  there were things in his life that he was not willing to give up in order to follow Christ.

Three, he was concerned that if he were confess Christ as the eternal Son of God, he would jeopardize and perhaps loose his relationship with his wife and children.

By no means am I suggesting that these are easy things. I am simply pointing out that some things never change.

What about you? Are you willing willing to receive God’s word? Is the love of God in your heart, so much so that you would gladly loose all to possess him? And finally, are you living to please man or God?

Reading of God’s Word

John 5:19–30 (ESV)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. ²⁰ 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. ²¹ For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. ²² The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³ 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. ²⁴ 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. 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. ²⁶ For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. ²⁷ And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. ²⁸ Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice ²⁹ and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 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.

Introduction

There are three major world religions which find their origin in Palestine: Islam, Judaism, and Christianity.  All three insist that there is but one God. This is the thing that the three share in common – the insistence that God is one!

One of the things that sets Christianity apart from the other two is our answer to the question, who is Jesus? The Muslims regard him as a prophet; the Jews consider him a false prophet, a false Messiah; Christians confess that he is nothing less than the Son of God.  The question, who is Jesus?, or what is the relation of Jesus to the one true God? is a question that divides.

Listen to the words of the Nicene Creed, penned in A.D. 325. It is a wonderful summery of the Christian understanding of who Christ is.

“I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.

And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.

Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary, and was made man; and was crucified also for us under Pontius Pilate; He suffered and was buried; and the third day He rose again, according to the Scriptures; and ascended into heaven, and sits on the right hand of the Father; and He shall come again, with glory, to judge the quick and the dead; whose kingdom shall have no end…”

This is a good confession concerning Christ! This is a true confession! The expectation is not that we would fully comprehend these things – how the nature of God and man could be united in one person – but that we would confess them as true because God has revealed these things to us through his Word.

What we have here in John 5:19-30 is a very careful explanation from Jesus himself concerning the relationship between he and the Father. Read the rest of Sermon: John 5:19-30: The Way to the Father is Through the Son, for Father and Son are United as One »

Reading of God’s Word

After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’ ” They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 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. (John 5:1–18, ESV)

Introduction

This story marks the beginning of a new section in John’s gospel.

Chapters two through four clearly go together. They begin and end in Cana of Galilee. Two miracles – the turning of water to wine and the healing of the official’s son – bracket the section, beginning and end. We learned a lot about Jesus from chapters two through four.

As we move forward notice that chapters five through six also go together. Both chapters are patterned in the same way. Both begin by presenting us with a miracle preformed by Jesus.

In chapter five we are told of the healing at the pool on the sabbath; and in chapter six we are told of the feeding of the five thousand. But notice also how both stories give way to long speeches from Jesus. Our red letter versions of the Bible are helpful here in that we see the pattern at a glance. Notice that 5:1-18 is printed mainly in black (the story of the miracle) whereas verses 19-46 are in red (Jesus’ teaching in response to the miracle). The same pattern is present in chapter six:  Verses 1-24 are mainly in black (the story of the miracle) whereas verses 25-71are mainly red (Jesus’ teaching in response to the miracle).

The reason I point this out is to reiterate what has already been said concerning the miracles of Jesus: they are signs. Signs have this function – they point to something greater. They are not an end to the themselves but direct our attention to some greater spiritual, heavenly, and eternal reality. And that is how John uses these miracles in his gospel. They certainly get the attention of the reader (just as they would have captured the attention of the eyewitnesses) but they soon give way to words of explanation – words of interpretation which explain more fully the meaning of the miracle – the significance of the sign.

Two things will happen in chapters five and six.

One, it will become clear that a serious division exists between Jesus and many of the Jews. The conflict was hinted at in chapters two through four, but it will grow and become more obvious in chapters five through six. The religious powers will seek Jesus’ life. The multitudes who follow him will prove fickle and will desert him in the end. There is no mistaking it in John’s gospel – Jesus is headed to the cross form the outset.

Two, Jesus’ true identity and true mission will grow more clear in chapters five and six. It is here in these chapters that Jesus will speak most directly and most clearly concerning his who he is and what he came to accomplish.

And wouldn’t you assume that the more Jesus revealed concerning himself the more people would be drawn to him? Not so. In fact the the opposite is true. The more specific and direct and open Jesus was concerning his true identity and mission, the more people rejected him. Look at the result near the end of chapter six: “After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” (John 6:66, ESV)

So that is the lay of the land – that is where we have been and where we are headed.

Let’s Consider the Setting

Notice that in verse 1 we find ourselves back in Jerusalem. John is not concerned to tell us how we got there, nor is he concerned to tell us how much time has passed between Jesus’ visit to Cana of Galilee and this second visit to Jerusalem – the significant thing is that Jesus is there again. Notice that he is there at a feast of the Jews. We do not know which one. Many have speculated. This too seems to be unimportant to John. The significant thing is that Jesus is walking in the way of his people. He is observing the feast days. He is walking with his own, shining as a light amongst them. He is there in their most significant city, observing their most significant holy days, interacting with their most significant people. Jesus came to his own, but, as we will see, his own people did not receive him.

As the story picks up we find Jesus at a pool called Bethesda, which was near a very famous gate called the Sheep Gate, located in the northern part of Jerusalem, to the northeast of the temple square. The pool was probably fed by natural springs.

Notice the detail that John provides. He tells us that there were five colonnades surrounding the pool. You can picture this, can’t you? A pool of water with five large verandas, or covered patios, surrounding it. Sounds like a beautiful place, doesn’t it? But John tells us that, “In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed.” (John 5:3, ESV)

I don’t know if you have ever been in a place with a high concentration of suffering and sickness. Hospitals are a bit like this, only more sterile and organized in our day. The slums of India are like this. I’ve been to orphanages in Mexico where handicap children are cared for. Places like these have a way of stirring compassion within the heart. I think it is very significant that, of all the places Jesus could have been, he is found here walking amongst the needy.

Verse 4?

The question that naturally arises is, why are these people gathered here at this pool?  

How may of you are reading from either the ESV,  NIV84, TNIV, NLT, or NET? Do you notice something peculiar about verses three through five? Yes! There is no verse four – we move immediately from verse three to verse five.

How many of you are reading from the KJV, NKJV, NASB? Your versions contain verse four. And it reads, “For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.” (John 5:4, NKJV)

How are we to explain the discrepancy? The simple answer is that certain manuscript traditions contain the words of verse four whereas others do not. In my opinion the ESV, NIV, NLT,  and NET are based upon the more reliable reading. I will slow way down when we come to chapter eight of John’s gospel and teach a bit on textual variances and the discipline of textual criticism when it comes to the ancient Biblical manuscripts. For now it will have to do to simply say that their are two readings found in the ancient manuscripts. The shorter of the two readings (the one lacking “verse four” seems to be the original).

You can imagine a scribe copying the gospel of John and, after copying verse three – “In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water” – thinking to himself, I need to explain why these invalids were gathered here. And so he wrote (perhaps in the margin) the explanation – “For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.” Over time this note probably found it’s way into the text itself.

It is a helpful explanation, isn’t it? We, as modern readers are unfamiliar with the pool of Bethesda and so it is good to know that there were a great number of people who were sick and superstitions gathered at this pool. At certain times the water would stir.  They believed it to be an angel. And they believed that the pool had healing potential. They were superstitious.

The note of explanation is helpful, but probably not a apart of the original gospel – thus the jump from verse three to five in many of our modern translations. If you are troubled by this please talk to me, or wait a couple of months until we come to John 8 where more time will be devoted to this topic.

The important thing is to notice that Jesus was there walking amongst the very needy. There is a great multitude of them. They are clearly desperate.

The Invalid 

Notice that Jesus, though he certainly could have touched and healed every one of these, sets his attention upon one particular individual. We are told in verse five that, “One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years.” (John 5:5, ESV) The story zooms in upon him.

This man is desperate. He has been in this state for thirty-eight years. That is a long time. Perhaps he was thirty-eight years old, having been born this way. Perhaps he was much older than that, having been paralyzed later in life. We don’t know. But we can sympathize with him. Thirty-eight years is a long time to suffer in this way. He was desperate. He was probably willing to try anything. So far the pool of Bethesda thing was not working to well for him.  We don’t know how long he had been at the pool. The text only tells us that Jesus “knew he had already been there a long time.”

It’s hard to believe that, having been there a long time, he never made it down into the pool. I would imagine that he did. But you know how superstitions go. If you get into the water and it doesn’t work, an explanation must be provided – Well, you need to be the first one in; Or, you need to have more faith as you go in; Or, you need to say these words as you go in – or something like that. 

Clearly this man is in a place of desperation and despair. This man is buried in hopelessness. Year upon year of disappointment has been heaped up upon him.

The Sign

And then Jesus, the Son of God arrives. He – the one who spoke the universe into existence – looks upon this man with compassion and simply says, “Do you want to be healed?”

Jesus knew the answer to the question. Obviously the man wanted to be healed. Jesus asked the question to involve the man. And notice how he responds! Verse 7: “The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.’” He’s utterly clueless concerning the identity of the man standing before him.

This kind of response should sound familiar to you by now.

To Nicodemus Jesus said, “you must be born again.” Nicodemus said to him, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?’” (John 3:4, ESV)

To the woman at the well Jesus said, ‘If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.’” (John 4:10, ESV) The woman response? “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” (John 4:11, ESV)

Jesus offers healing to this man and he, like the others, could not see beyond the things of this world. His eyes were fixed upon the here and now – upon the physical and tangible. His only hope was the pool of Bethesda – he could not see beyond that. The great irony is that the Son of God – the one who spoke the universe into existence – was speaking to him, offering him healing, and he didn’t perceive it.

Notice that Jesus heals him anyways, despite his lack of understanding.

He healed him by simply speaking a word. The eternal Word of God healed the man by speaking a word. “Jesus said to him, ‘Get up, take up your bed, and walk.’ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked…” (John 5:8–9, ESV)

That’s quite a miraculous thing. We talk about the miracles of Jesus often so they may become common to us. Think of it. A man could not walk for thirty-eight years and he stands up and walks when Jesus speaks a word. That is incredible. That is a miracle.

The Jews and the Man

The last six words of verse nine serve as a transition. The text says, “Now that day was the Sabbath.” (John 5:9, ESV) This will become very significant.

The scene shifts from the working of the miracle to the interaction between the invalid-man-made-whole and the Jews.

Tell me, how would expect the Jews to react to an event like this? You would expect them to rejoice! You would expect them to stand in awe! You would expect them to inquire of Jesus concerning his ability to heal.

But how do they respond to the man? Surprisingly they rebuke him for carrying his mat on the Sabbath!

This is terrible for two reasons.

One, it is an abuse of the Sabbath command. The fourth commandment forbids the people of God from engaging in work on the Sabbath. It is to be a day of rest and worship. To claim that a man – just healed – is breaking the fourth commandment by carrying the bed he had been bound to for thirty-eight years is a complete misunderstanding of the fourth commandments, and an abuse of it. As it is said elsewhere, the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath. The Sabbath was a gift to man. It still is. We are to rest one day out seven. Now that Christ has come we rest on the first day, not the seventh, because of his resurrection. We call it the Lord’s Day. It is to be obeyed, but in the right spirit and and without the added trappings of legalistic religion. Some in Jesus’ day had transformed the Sabbath from a gift into a great burden.

Two, this response of theirs was terrible in that they were so concerned with the details of their man made religion that they were unable to see the glory of God displayed before their very eyes. A man paralyzed for thirty-eight years was walking before them, carrying the thing he was once bound to, and they are unimpressed.

I picture a child bringing an assignment home with an “A+” on it beaming with excitement. He shows it to Dad expecting the Father to rejoice with him. Instead the Father says, look you misspelled this word. You can do better next time. Such a response would be unthinkable, and yet this is how many of the Jews responded to this miracle. “It is not lawful for you to take up your bed on the Sabbath.” Wow. Talk about blindness.

The invalid made whole responded to them saying, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” (John 5:11, ESV)

I’m not sure I like his response.

Notice that there is a tone of blame-shifting here. “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’”  You would expect the man stand up to the critics and say, are you kidding me! I am walking and you are concerned about me carrying my mat. Instead he cowers before the religious leaders and shifts the blame to Jesus, though he does not yet know him by name. He does not know Jesus by name because, according to verse thirteen, “Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place.” (John 5:13, ESV)

The Man and Jesus 

Now in verse fourteen we are told of yet another interaction between Jesus and this particular man. “Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.’” (John 5:14, ESV) 

Notice that Jesus found the man; the man was not looking for Jesus. This says something about the condition of the man’s heart. Though he had been made whole at Jesus’ command he does not seem interested in finding Jesus. Instead he is enjoying his health in the temple, associating with those who had just criticized his Sabbath breaking.

Notice also what Jesus says to him. in verse 14: “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” Some have taken this to mean that the paralysis experienced by the man was the result of some sin and that Jesus was urging repentance so that some worse physical ailment would not come upon him.

That interpretation is possible. The scriptures are clear concerning the relationship between sickness and sin.

One, all sickness is the indirect result of sin. Sickness and death did not exist before the fall.

Two, some are ill because of specific sin. For some, there is a direct link between their sin and their sickness.

“Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many of you are weak and ill, and some have died. But if we judged ourselves truly, we would not be judged.” (1 Corinthians 11:27–31, ESV)

Three, not all illness is the direct result of sin. Jesus addresses this most specifically in John 11:4, saying,  “But when Jesus heard it [the sickness of Lazarus] he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’” (John 11:4, ESV)

So it is possible that when Jesus warned against something worse happening to the man he had something worse physically in mind.

I think it more likely that Jesus is here concerned for the man’s soul. The worse thing that he has in mind is not physical sickness, but the final judgment.

Notice that this man seems altogether uninterested in knowing and following Jesus. He was healed, and did not know the name of the man who healed him. When he was confronted by the Jews concerning his breaking of the Sabbath he does not confess Christ – he does not defend Christ – but shifts the blame to him. Furthermore, he does not look for Jesus but rather Jesus has to look for him. He simply enjoyed the blessing of physical healing and wanders freely about the temple. In verse fifteen we see that after he learns the name of the man who healed him, he actually goes out of his way to report him to the Jews. Verse 15: “The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him.” (John 5:15, ESV). Also, in the following passage (the one we will consider next week ) Christ responds to all of this emphasizing two things – his ability to give eternal life and also to judge.

Therefore, when Jesus warns the man, telling him to repent so that nothing worse may happen to him, he is concerned, not for his health, but for his soul. This man is in danger of gaining the world but loosing his own soul – of being healed in body, but not in spirit – of experiencing life in the here and now but suffering eternal death at the judgment.

I think all of this becomes even more clear when we compare this story with John chapter nine and the story of the healing of the man born blind. The stories share much in common, but the response of the men who were healed could not be more different. The blind man confesses Christ, defends him in the face of persecution, and is finally expelled from the synagogue by the Jews, being comforted by Jesus afterwards.

So Jesus healed the invalid, but that was not his deepest concern. He finds him and addresses more serious things – eternal things – things pertaining to the salvation of his soul. Sadly, the healed man simply disappears from the story, which suggests that he was uninterested in following Christ – uninterested in trusting in him for the forgiveness of sin. It is a tragic story in the end.

The Jews and Jesus

The story eventually leads to the first direct conflict between Jesus and the Jews.

Verse 15:  “The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.” (John 5:15–16, ESV)

The Sabbath becomes a prime source of tension between the Jews and Jesus. They have have heaped rules and regulations upon the biblical concept of the Sabbath, Jesus keeps it correctly.

Notice Jesus’ response in verse 17: “But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father is working until now, and I am working.’” (John 5:17, ESV)

Two things should be observed.

One, Jesus points out that when God rested from his work of creation on the seventh day, he did not rest from all his labors, he rested specifically from his work of original creation. His work of providence continued. He continued to rule and reign. He continued to preserve the world he had created. Jesus was following his the Fathers example in his observance of the Sabbath – he certainly rested from his labor, but he did not give himself over to total inactivity. He still engaged in doing acts of mercy.  We know from other texts that he still gave himself to acts of necessity (picking grains and eating with his disciples).

This is what we believe concerning the Christian Sabbath and teach our children:

Q. 65. How is the Sabbath to be sanctified?

A. The Sabbath is to sanctified by a holy resting all that day, even from such worldly employments and recreations as are lawful on other days, and spending the time in the public and private exercises of God’s worship, except so much as is to be taken up in the works of necessity and mercy. (Lev. 23:3; Isa. 58:13,14; Isa. 66:23; Matt. 12:11,12)

Notice, secondly, that Jesus makes a tight link between he and the Father in verse 17.  He says, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” In other words, these works preformed by the Jesus are the Fathers works. Jesus was doing the will an work of the Father.

Verse 18 concludes, “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath [that is, the Sabbath according to their customs], but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” (John 5:18, ESV)

What does this text mean?

First of all, it is important to recognize that this story is about much more than physical healing.

I suppose that some would read this text and say, do you see! Jesus came to heal physical ailments. That was his primary mission, and it is his primary concern still today – to heal those who are sick. That is the will of Jesus for you! That would be a misinterpretation of the text.

One, notice that Jesus healed one man out of a great multitude of people who were sick. If physical healing were his prime concern you would expect Jesus to set up a clinic there in that place.

Two, notice that Jesus was not finished with the man after he healed his body. He found him expressing deep concern over his soul.

Three, notice that Jesus explains the reason for this miracle in 19-29, a text we will explore together next week. There he makes it clear that this miracle was a sign which signified some greater spiritual and eternal truth – namely the Sons authority to give life to whom he choses (5:21).

Physical healing is not the main point of this text. Jesus’ ability to give life is.

Secondly, this story calls people away from trusting in superstitious religion. The man could not Jesus for who he was because eyes were so fixed upon the pool of water in front of him. He was blind to Christ because his eyes were fixed upon the things of this world.

This is common today. People are superstitious in their religious devotion They say, if only I could touch that icon, or, if only that man would pray for me, or, perhaps it is true if I sent money to that ministry blessing will come my way. We are to look to Christ, trusting in him alone, resting in his him, humbly submitting to his will for us.

Thirdly, this story warns against the absurdity of legalistic religion. Legalism in religion – that is is the adding to the commands of God, or the belief that keeping the commands of God will lead to life eternal – has a way of deadening the soul to the things of God. The legalist cannot see the glory of Christ; he can only see his rules and regulations. The cross is foolishness to him. Salvation by grace alone through faith alone is unintelligible to him. So it was with many of the Jews in Jesus’ day.

Fourthly, this story warns against the emptiness of worldliness.  The man was healed in body, but lost in soul. Many, I fear, go on enjoying the blessings of God in this life – they eat and drink, and laugh and play – and yet they do not give a thought to the God who made them, from who’s hand these blessing come. “For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul?” (Matthew 16:26, ESV)

Fifthly, this story exalts Jesus.  He is kind and compassionate. He has the power to give life. You and I are helpless apart from him. We, before we came to Christ, were in a most desperate state. The only reasonable thing is to call out to him for life. And once we have been raised up, the only reasonable thing is that we would follow after him with all we are.

Reading of God’s Word

“After the two days he departed for Galilee. (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death. So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.” Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way. As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.” (John 4:43–54, ESV)

Introduction

As we study the scriptures together on Sunday mornings I hope you never grow tired of asking the question, what does this text mean? or what was the authors intention as he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit?

It’s important that we settle down in the text of scripture together – that we immerse ourselves in it – swim in it, wanting nothing more than to know what it means. It is only after we know what it means that we are able to go on making proper application to our lives. This takes work. It takes patience.

Notice that the text before us today is a historical narrative – it is a story (that is the case with the majority of John’s gospel). It’s important to keep this in mind as we approach this passage because narratives are to be interpreted in a particular way.

The narratives (stories) found in scripture and the didactic (teaching) portions of scripture have this in common: they both convey truth. The author, be it Paul or John or some other, had something particular in mind when he wrote under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit. Paul had something in mind when he wrote his letter to the Romans, for example. But he wrote in a most direct way. Romans is didactic literature. Paul conveyed truth there in the form of a letter. He instructed the Roman church in a most rational, linear, and black and white way.

We should remember, though, that John, like Paul, had something particular to say. There was something on his mind – some truth that he wanted to convey. He wrote, not a letter, but a gospel. He wrote, not in didactic form, but in the form of historical narrative.

I say this today because I think it is common for folks to approach the narrative portions of scripture as if they have no real concrete meaning – as if anything goes – as if the passage is completely open to one’s personal and subjective interpretation. This is not so. John is communicating something specific by telling this story as he does. We must study the passage with care so as to understand the authors intent.

When studying narratives it is important to (among other things) give special attention to the place the author gives to the story in his overall work. Also, we should be mindful of how the author introduces the story; to the things he emphasizes while telling the story, and to the things he does not emphasize. We should give special attention to the characters in the story, the way they are introduced and developed, and to the way they interact with or contrast other characters already introduced.

I would argue that this story in particular is a difficult one to understand if we fail to apply these sound principles of interpretation. The story is confusing, I think, and it looses it’s force if it is considered on it’s own and divorced from the rest of John’s gospel.

What I am saying is that this story is an important one. It has been told for a reason. It’s aim is to move us to an authentic faith in Christ.

Let’s consider it carefully together.

Consider, first of all, the placement of this story in John’s gospel

This story serves as the conclusion to a pronounced section in John.

Chapter 2 begins with the story of Jesus turning water to wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee. Chapter 4 ends with Jesus back up in Cana of Galilee preforming yet another sign.

John tells us in 2:11 that the turning of water to wine was, “…the first of his signs, Jesus did at Cana in Galilee, and manifested his glory…” 4:54 reveals that the healing of the officials son “…was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.” (John 4:54, ESV)

Clearly this story is connected to what came before it. Jesus has completed a circuit, if you will, having traveled from Cana to Jerusalem to the wilderness of Judea up into Samaria and now back to Cana of Galilee. The first and second miracles preformed in Cana of Galilee serve as brackets, it you will, to this entire section in John.

This is important to recognize. It clues us into the fact that this story is not meant to stand alone. It is a part of something bigger, namely, chapters 2-4 of John, and the gospel of John as a whole.

Consider, secondly, how John introduces this story

Look with me at verses 43-46:

“After the two days he departed for Galilee. (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast. So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine…” (John 4:43–46, ESV)

There are some things that need to be explained in verses 43-46.

For example, how are we to understand the words, “For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.” What does that mean?

We should remember that Jesus was born in the region of Galilee. Specifically, he was born in Nazareth. Nazareth was about 10 miles to the south of Cana where the water was turned to wine and where Jesus spoke healing to the officials son. Capernaum – the city where the official traveled from – was about 15 miles to the east of Cana. So Jesus is about return to his homeland (the word hometown that we see in the ESV can also be translated homeland).

We should also remember that Jesus had just experienced wonderful success in Samaria. Many believed in him in an authentic way in that place. He was largely rejected down in Judea where the Baptist was ministering (he gained a few disciples but had to flee the religious powers), he was received by the Samaritans, and, with that as the context,  we read in verse 43, “After the two days he departed for Galilee. (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.)”

The word “for” is significant. It indicates that there was a purpose behind Jesus leaving Samaria and going to Galilee again. He traveled to Galilee – back to his homeland, back to his fellow Jews, “For… [and here is the reason] Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown [homeland]”.  

The meaning of this is rather straightforward. Jesus left Samaria and traveled back to Galilee because he would not be honored there. This statement is confusing only because we would never do such a thing. It’s hard to understand why Jesus would leave behind success and go on to a place where he knew he would be rejected.

But this was his mission. He was to minister primarily to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. His disciples would be sent to the ends of the earth, but he came to offer himself to his own even though his own would not receive him. They would reject him. They would kill him. But this was the purpose for his coming. 

Consider also another difficulty. In verse 44 we are told that “a prophet has no honor in his own hometown [or homeland]”, but in verse 45 we read, “So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.”

John seems to immediately contradict himself:  “a prophet has no honor in his homeland”, but then “the Galileans welcomed him”.

There is no contradiction here when we realize that it is possible to welcome Christ, but for all the wrong reasons. Why did they welcome him? Because they had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. 

They were interested, not in Jesus as Jesus – but in the signs and wonders that he preformed. There is a way of welcoming Jesus that is all wrong. There is a way of believing in Jesus without believing in him at all.

This is a constant theme in John. In John we see that some reject Jesus outright while others receive him. But among those who receive him are those who reactive him truly, and those who receive him only superficially. There are those who believe, and then there are those who believe.

John 2:23-25:

“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” (John 2:23–25, ESV)

And so these introductory remarks are more than just transitional details. They set the stage for what is going to happen in this place. Jesus is leaving fruitful ministry behind amongst, of all people, the Samaritans. He is going back to his own. But he going back knowing that they will reject him. They welcome him, but only superficially.

I wonder, why would the people welcome Jesus in this way?

People love to be associated with power.

People love to root for a hometown boy.

People are greedy for gain.

Consider, Thirdly, the main character in this story.

We are told in verse 46 that there was an official who lived in Capernaum who’s son was ill. When he heard that Jesus was in Cana he urgently traveled the 15 miles up to Cana to seek Jesus’ assistance.

Notice a few things about this man:

One, he was an official. This means that he worked in some capacity for the Roman government. Perhaps he was associated with Herod Antipas, who was a wicked man. This seems significant to me. He would have been viewed by the Jews as a traitor if he was Jewish, and a heathen if he was Greek. He is therefore, like the Samaritans, a most unlikely figure to get it right when it comes to the Messiah.

Two, notice that he is at a place of desperation. His son is ill and at the point of death. We see here a father deeply concerned for his son. This is no trivial thing, but a matter of life and death.

Three, notice that he runs to Jesus thinking that he would be able to help. Verse 47: “When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.”

Though this is not the meaning of the text, there is here a beautiful picture of the love that a mother and father ought to have for their children and how we ought to intercede for them.

But notice Jesus’ strange response to this man’s request. Verse 48: “So Jesus said to him, ‘Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’”

This response should not surprise us to much. Do you remember how Jesus responded to his own mother when she requested that he deal with the problem of the lack of wine? “And Jesus said to her, ‘Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.’” (John 2:4, ESV) Jesus, as I explained when preaching on that text, resisted at first in order to draw out deeper faith. The same is true here.

Also, it should be recognized that the “you” in verse 48 is plural while the “him” is singular (obviously). This is significant. “Jesus said to him, ’Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.’” It was as if Jesus were talking to the Galileans through the man. It is a criticism of them in general, and not necessarily the man.

But notice that man is undeterred. He continues on expressing his desperation – his legitimate need. Verse 49: “The official said to him, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’” Verse 50: “Jesus said to him, ‘Go; your son will live.’ The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.” (John 4:50, ESV)

As the story progresses we are told that the man journeyed home on the next day (it was to late to make the journey back home on the same day, though I’m sure he was anxious to return).  As he traveled his servants meet him on the road with good news. His son was recovering. The fever had broken. The man asked when the recovery began. They reported that it because at about 1:00pm the previous day, the same time that Jesus had spoken this word.

The man believed. His whole household, following his lead, believed in Jesus.

The Point of the Story

So what is the point of this story?

John, again and again, is setting examples before us that are meant to compel us to consider Christ deeply and truly, and to welcome him, follow him, believe in him from the heart.

The disciples of John who became the disciples of Jesus are to be imitated. They followed him, listened to his teaching and believed.

Nicodemus is to be imitated. He was one of the few from amongst the Pharisees who came to Jesus inquiring deeply of him.

The woman of Samaria, and fellow townspeople, are to be imitated. They came to Christ and implored him to stay that they might hear more.  John 4:42: “They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’”

And now this man is to be imitated. He came to Jesus out of a sense of deep and legitimate need. He came believing, but his faith grew. He came to led his whole household to faith in Christ.

All of these, each of them coming from different sectors of society, are compelling us to do the same thing: to consider the claims of Christ and to believe in his name.

Do not forget John’s concluding remarks in John 20:30-31:

“Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30–31, ESV)

In contrast to these are many others who are interested in Jesus, but for all the wrong reasons.

Some welcomed him or believed in him so long as he showed promise as a politician.

“Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself.” (John 6:15, ESV)

“After this many of his disciples turned back and no longer walked with him.” (John 6:66, ESV)

Some welcomed him so long as he would preformed signs.

“Now when he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many believed in his name when they saw the signs that he was doing. But Jesus on his part did not entrust himself to them, because he knew all people and needed no one to bear witness about man, for he himself knew what was in man.” (John 2:23–25, ESV)

Many were preoccupied with the signs. They were interested in Jesus so long as he would continue to turn water to wine, heal the sick, give sight to the blind, and multiply the bread fish. That was fine by them. Jesus the miracle worker was someone they could believe in.

But, as we will see in John’s gospel, when Jesus begins to suggest that he not interested in being the kind of king that they wanted, the people rejected him. When he begins to suggest that he is not primarily interested in wine and bread, physical sight and physical healing, the people are quick to leave him. When Jesus teaches that these signs are just that – signs which point to something greater – the people abandon him.

A sign is something that points to a greater reality. The miracles of Jesus are just that – signs. The sign is not the main thing – it points to the main thing.

When Jesus turned the water to wine he was not mainly concerned with the wine, but show forth his glory and to say something about how he would provide purification by the shedding of his blood.

When Jesus gave sight to bind man his primary concern was not the blind man (though he was certainly overwhelmed with compassion, but to display is ability to open the eyes of men, spiritually speaking.

I could go on and on. The point is that the people were fixated with the things of this world. They were only interested in Jesus so long as he would benefit them in a worldly way. The gospel of John insisted that we come to Christ ultimately, not for what he can do for us in the here and now, but because of what offers the human soul as it pertains to eternity.

“…these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” (John 20:30–31, ESV)

Introduction

I’d like to approach this text a bit differently from the way I typically organize my sermons. Notice that verses 7-26 focused upon one scene. The camera, if you will, remained focused upon the interaction between Jesus and the Samaritan woman at the well. We settled there for a while. Much was said. And we witnessed a progression. Jesus slowly revealed the truth concerning who he was, and the woman slowly came to see Jesus for who he was, eventually confessing him to be the Messiah, the Savior of the world.

But in verses 27-42 the pace of the narrative picks up a bit; the camera moves rather quickly from one scene to the next.

At first, in verse 27-30 we see the disciples return form their journey to town. They  find Jesus talking with the woman at the well. The woman then returns to town and the story follows her there as she tells her fellow Samaritans of her interaction with Jesus.

Then, in verses 31-38, the camera returns to the well. Now it is the disciples who are being instructed by Jesus. The woman and the disciples have exchanged places – she returned to the city and now the disciples are with Jesus at the well, and he is teaching them.

After that, in verse 39-42, the focus shifts to the Samaritans. They, upon hearing the testimony of the woman, come to Jesus to see and hear for themselves. They ask Jesus to stay with them that they might learn more, and  many come to believe.

So, there are three scenes contained within verses 27-42. I’d like take each of them, one at a time and make observations and draw application from each.

Scene 1 – 4:27-30

Let’s consider the first scene in verses 27-30:

“Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, ‘What do you seek?’ or, ‘Why are you talking with her?’ So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’ They went out of the town and were coming to him.” (John 4:27-30, ESV)

An Awkward Moment

So evidently there was an awkward moment when the disciples of Jesus returned from the city and  found Jesus conversing with the woman of Samaritan.

Remember, this woman had three things against her in the eyes of the Jew’s of Jesus’ day. One, she was a Samaritan (Jew’s would often avoid contact with Samaritans); two, she was a woman (a Jewish man would never converse openly with a women in the way that Jesus did); and three, she was an adulteress (the disciples of Jesus could not have known this, but perhaps she looked the part).

So as the disciples of Jesus return from the town and find this situation I imagine tension in the air – you know what I’m talking about. This was an awkward moment, I think. Everyone there knew what everyone else was thinking, but no one said a word. I picture the disciples avoiding eye contact with Jesus and with the woman; I picture the woman looking down at the ground, avoiding eye contact with the disciples; and I picture Jesus looking confidently both at the woman and at the disciples – his conscience was clear because his motives were pure.

The significant thing to notice here is that the mind of Christ, and the ways of Christ, were often at odds with the cultural norms – Christ’s view of the world was at odds with the worldview of his disciples in this moment. And what is Christ doing except this? He is calling his disciples to renew their minds and to see the world as he sees it.

As the disciples looked at this woman they saw a Samaritan; a woman; a sinner – one to be avoided. As Jesus looked at this woman he saw a Samaritan, a woman, a sinner – one who needed to hear the gospel – one who the Father was seeking.

It’s good for the Christian to be aware of the fact that we too have been impacted by our society. Each of us sees the world through lenses which have been colored by our culture and our life experiences. We view the world in a particular way, and we assume that the way we view the world is the right way to view it! We view the world in a particular way, and we assume that everyone else sees what we see!

But the Christian ought to live life aware of the possibility that some things that we hold to be true might in fact be wrong. The Christian should seek to know God’s thoughts concerning the world. The Christian should seek to lay ahold of God’s mind and to know God’s ways, as he has revealed them in his Holy Word. The Christian ought to ask the question, is the way I view the world correct according to God? Everyone has a worldview – a way of interpreting and understanding the world around them. The question that the Christian must ask is, do I have a correct worldview? A biblical one? A distinctly Christian one? The question is, do I have the mind of Christ – the eyes of Christ – the heart of Christ?

When we consider the disciples and their journey with Christ over the period of 3 years or so, what we see is a slow and steady transformation. Their minds are progressively renewed – they come to understand more and more – they are moved progressively to see the world as God sees it as they walk with Christ and encounter his teachings and witness his ways. You and I are on the same journey. We do not have the Word of God incarnate walking before us, but we do have the Word written, and we would do well to live in humble submission to it.

This was a lesson learned by the disciples as they walked up and witnesses their Rabi conversing with the woman of Samaria in this way. They didn’t realize it, but school was in session! And what was the lesson? It was this: One, God is concerned to save the world – yes, even the Samaritans. Two, God is concerned to redeem women – they are no less valued by God; men and woman are unique, but equal in God’s sight. Three, God is concerned to call sinners to himself. The disciples needed adjust their way of seeing the world to coincide with the way that God sees it, as revealed through Christ, the eternal Son of God.

The Woman Left Her Water Jar

The woman would soon leave to go back to her to town to tell of her encounter with Jesus. But notice the detail that John provides. He is concerned to tell us in verse 28 that “the woman left her water jar” as she went away. What is the significance of this detail? Why does John give it?

Consider three things;

One, this detail supports the claim that John, the author, was indeed an eye witness to these things. We can picture him being among the twelve, taking note of the fact that the woman, as she hurried away, left her water pot behind – he decided to include this detail in his narrative.

Two, this signifies that the woman planned to return. She ran off, not because she rejected Christ’s claim, but because she was thrilled to hear his claims, and planned to return. Wonderful things had been revealed to her by Jesus, but she was not finished. Far to many people are content with only an initial and superficial encounter with Jesus – this women believed that Jesus was the Christ, but she intended to sit as his feet even more.

Three – and I will admit that this is the most speculative of the three observations – but I can’t help but wonder if John is not symbolizing something here as he makes note of this little detail.

The woman left her water jar. Why would John take the time to tell us?

Consider this: The woman came originally to draw physical water to quench her physical thirst – Jesus offered her living water, spiritual water that would satisfy eternally. We learned that this woman’s entire life had been marked by seeking satisfaction in worldly things. She had been married to five men, the one she was currently with was not her husband. Jesus was calling her to repent of that. He was calling her to leave the worldly things behind and to seek the things that are above – things that satisfy deeply and truly and eternally. I can’t help but think that John gives us this little detail – the woman left her water jar – to symbolize this reality – that the woman went away no longer concerned with earthly water, but desiring the water that only Christ could give. There was a change of heart that took place within this woman, and perhaps the living behind of the water jar symbolized that reality.

Coming to Christ is like that. We spend our lives drinking from the cisterns of this world. We expect them to satisfy; we expect that they will quench our thirst, but they do not. And then Christ calls us to himself. Christ offers living water. And as we begin to drink of him we find that he is far better than anything this world has to offer – far more satisfying.

To walk with Christ, to worship God in spirit and truth, to live in obedience to God’s word, it not a dreary thing – it is blessed thing, a happy thing!

So many live life chasing after satisfaction and contentment, peace and pleasure in the things of this world – but it alludes them. They drink, and drink, and drink, but their thirst is never quenched. They find themselves perpetually parched, forever dry. And they wonder why that is?

God would say, you’re drinking from the wrong cistern; you’re drinking from the wrong jar – from the wrong well

All of this reminds me of the words spoken by God to his rebellious people through Jeremiah the prophet, saying,  “for my people have committed two evils: [the first one is this,] they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and [the second is that they have] hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.” (Jeremiah 2:13, ESV)

This is the essence of sin. Sin is our love misdirected. Sin is our worship misdirected. Sin is when you and I drink from the wrong cistern, seeing this or that thing as being worthy of honor and able to satisfy our souls, when in fact only God is worthy; only God is able. We are to drink of Christ.

The woman left her water jar behind. She was more concerned to drink of Christ! She was done with seeking satisfaction in the waters of this world. I think that is the symbolism here.

Come and See!

Notice that the woman immediately ran to her home town and, in verse 29, “said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?’”

Notice that this woman wasted no time in serving as a witness to the Christ.

Notice the pattern in John’s gospel. In 1:38 Andrew and John approach Jesus for the first time and ask, “‘Rabbi… where are you staying?’ [And Jesus] said to them, ‘Come and you will see’…” In 1:46 Nathaniel responds to Philip’s announcement that he had found the Messiah by saying, “‘Can anything good come out of Nazareth?’ Philip said to him, ‘Come and see.’” And here the woman, being thrilled about what had been revealed to her runs to her home town and pleads with those she loves saying, come and see.

It seems to me that John is communicating two things by the repetition:

One, he is urging those not yet in Christ to come and see – to investigate the clams of Christ that they might also see him as the Christ, the eternal Son of God, the Savior of the World, as communicated within the scriptures generally, and to believe in his name. Come and see. A brief and superficial consideration will not do. Come and see.

Two, John is establishing a clear pattern for Christians. The pattern is this: to believe in Christ – to see him as the Christ and to follow him – naturally involves urging others to do the same. That is the pattern! Those who follow Christ in John’s gospel immediately think of those they love and they proceed to witness or testify concerning Jesus as the Christ, the Savior of the World.

Come and see, come and see, come and see, is the pattern established in John’s gospel.

Scene 2 – 4:31-38

Let’s consider scene two together. In verse 31 the camera transitions from the woman witnessing to her fellow Samaritans back to Jesus at the well with his disciples.

”Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples said to one another, ‘Has anyone brought him something to eat?’Jesus said to them, ‘My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work. Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.’” (John 4:31-38, ESV)

I’d like for you to notice the similarity between Jesus’ conversation with the woman at the well and Jesus’ conversation with his disciples at the well. It’s as if Jesus had set up a classroom there. At first, class was in session for the woman; now class is in session for the twelve.

He had moved the woman’s eyes from a fixation upon the earthly to a fixation upon the heavenly – now he is doing the same with his disciples. The woman came to draw water, the disciples came bringing food. To the woman Jesus said,“If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” (John 4:10, ESV) When the disciples urge Jesus to eat he responds to them saying, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” (John 4:32, ESV) The woman misunderstood, saying,“Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water?” (John 4:11, ESV) The disciples also misunderstood saying, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” (John 4:33, ESV)

School was indeed in session, wasn’t it? And the lesson for the woman and for the disciples shared this in common: Christ was urging them both to look beyond the things of this world so that they might see the heavenly and spiritual reality in Christ Jesus. The woman was looking to the wrong things for satisfaction and for salvation; the disciples were looking to the wrong things for strength and purpose.

When Jesus said that he had food to eat that they did not know about, he was not talking about physical food anymore than he was offering physical living water to the woman at the well. He clarified, saying, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.” (John 4:34, ESV)

Perhaps it was that the disciples were, at this point, still preoccupied with the things of this world. Jesus pointed their attention heavenward. It’s as if Jesus was saying, you’re concerned about bread – you look to bread to move you along – I’m looking to the Father. It is the Fathers will that moves me along. Live, not for the things of this world, but to accomplished the Fathers will. Look, not only to the bread of this world, but to the bread from above for strength and nourishment. This similar to what Jesus says in Matthew 4:4: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.’” (Matthew 4:4, ESV) 

Jesus was more concerned to accomplish the will of the Father than to satisfy his fleshly appetite. If only we would maintain this priority! Our priorities are often situated in exactly the opposite way. How quick we are to abandon any thought of living for the will of God when the flesh cries out.

Christ knew how to control the appetites of the flesh. Life was not to be lived for food, but food was for life. Life is not to be driven by the appetites of the flesh, but by the will of God. Christ was decidedly devoted to accomplishing the will of the Father. The will of God for him involved bringing in a great harvest from every tongue, tribe, people and nation.

Listen to his words to his disciples. Verse 35:

“Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor’.” (John 4:35–38, ESV)

Notice the language in the middle of verse 35: “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see”; “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see”; “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see”! Christ is here doing with his disciples the very thing that he was doing with the woman at the well – he was trying to elevate their minds, to open their eyes to see beyond the stuff of this earth that they might perceive the heavenly realities that lay beyond and behind it all.

The disciples were preoccupied with bread – bread that when you eat of it you grow hungry again – bread that would mold and rot with the passing of time. Christ was concerned to bring in a harvest and to gather fruit of an eternal kind. 

“There are yet four months, then comes the harvest”, was probably a common saying amongst farmers. A farmer plants seed and then waits a few months before he sees a harvest. That is the natural way of things. Jesus is pointing out to his disciples the uniqueness of their situation. They had only been walking with him for a short time and yet the time to gather in a harvest was upon them. Verse 35: “…lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.” Many Samaritans are about to enter the kingdom.

 Jesus goes on, saying,

“Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.” (John 4:36–38, ESV)

These words of Jesus seem to be alluding to Old Testament promises concerning a coming age when God would bring in a great and bountiful harvest. Amos 9:13-14 comes to mind:

“‘Behold, the days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when the plowman shall overtake the reaper and the treader of grapes him who sows the seed; the mountains shall drip sweet wine, and all the hills shall flow with it. I will restore the fortunes of my people Israel, and they shall rebuild the ruined cities and inhabit them; they shall plant vineyards and drink their wine, and they shall make gardens and eat their fruit.’” (Amos 9:13–14, ESV)

Jesus is announcing to his disciples that the time for harvest is upon them. This is a time where sower and reaper will work together simultaneously. The disciples of Christ, and those who come after them, will bring in a great harvest, though it was others who sowed the seed.

The question to be asked is, who are the others that Jesus refers to in verse 38 – “Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor”?

Jesus is referring to all those who have gone before – to those who prepared the way. In the most immediate context, Jesus himself had labored as he taught the woman at the well. Now a great harvest was to be gathered because of his labors – he sowed, the disciples would reap. We could also mention the ministry of John the Baptist – his was a ministry of preparation – a ministry involving sowing, if you will. And behind him we have the Prophets of old, and the Patriarchs who labored in faith, who longed to see what these disciples were seeing, and did not see it, and to hear what they were hearing, and did not hear it (see Matthew 13:17).

Jesus is teaching his disciples. He is adjusting their worldview. They are fixated upon physical bread – Jesus is training them to set their hearts to the task of sowing and reaping a spiritual and eternal harvest.

Oh, that we would also maintain a perspective such as this! We indeed are concerned with bread and water, clothing and shelter – these are valid concerns that go along with living in this world. But the Christian is to see that life has a greater purpose than eating and drinking – we are to feast on God and give ourselves to the accomplishment of his will and his purpose.

Therefore we pray daily in this way:

“Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. [For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever, amen.]” (Matthew 6:9–13, ESV)

Scene 3 – 4:39-42

Let’s look briefly now at the third scene. Verses 39 tells us that,

“Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.’” (John 4:39-42, ESV)

I see in this text the seventh and final theme, already introduced in John, but picked up here and shown to be true in real life in the story of the woman of Samaria (I have presented the other 6 in the last three sermons). Jesus did indeed come for this purpose, to gather in a great harvest of souls from all the peoples of the earth.

This really is incredible. So far only a few Jews have believed – but here many Samaritans respond to Jesus in faith. This must have been a most unexpected development.

Notice that they come to Christ because of the testimony of the woman. I’m typically leery of encouraging people to share their testimonies. The reason is because I have seen this done so poorly. People like to make much of themselves when they share their testimony. But there is a difference between a personal testimony which focus upon self, and testifying to the glory of God in Christ Jesus. The former is unacceptable, the later a most powerful thing.

Notice that the woman shared what she knew and then brought the people to Jesus.

May I suggest that you are to do the same.

Many Christians hesitate to witness because of the fear that they do not know enough. Two things needed be said. One, perhaps it is time for you to grow in your understanding of Christ? Two, notice that you do not need to know much to testify concerning Christ and to say, as the woman did, come and see.

The question is, where are you to bring people to hear from themselves? The woman took them to Jesus who was still sitting at the well. The people asked Jesus to stay with them, and he remained two days, teaching from the scriptures concerning himself. But where are you take people when you say, come and see?

You are to take them to the body of Christ which is present on earth today – to the church. If you do not have the gift of teaching or evangelism, you are to take them to those who do. Bring them to service on the Lord’s Day where the Word is preached. Bring the to class where the Word is taught. If you are unable to show them Christ in the scriptures, say come and see, and bring them to the body of Christ which is made up of many members, each uniquely equipped with spiritual gifts, so that together the church might fulfill her mission to “go and make disciples of all nations.”

The woman’s testimony was wonderful – “He told me all that I ever did” – but it was only after seeing Christ for themselves that they were wiling to confess, “this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Conclusion

Prayer