 We have covered up to John chapter 5 verse 9 and now we will resume from John chapter 5 verse 10 onwards. If we could have one person read out verses 10 and 11 please. The Jew safer said to him who was cured it is the Sabbath that is not lawful for you to carry your bed. He answered them. He who made me was sent to me. Take up your bed and walk. And verse 12, they asked me who is the man who said to you take up your bed and walk. We see a very strange kind of response being made by these Jewish people. First of all they see him carrying his bedding and walking and according to the rules which had been introduced by the Pharisees you are not supposed to... yeah sorry. Yeah well I was saying that we are now resuming from John chapter 5 verses 10 to 11. Okay so that's basically where we are right now. So here you have the Jewish people imposing a law which was not given in the law of Moses. Okay all that Moses said was that the Israelites should observe the Sabbath respectfully and not do work which basically means you know you're not supposed to go to your fields or you know do any kind of merchandising and earn money and all of that. Moses never said you know don't carry an object which weighs so much. Don't walk one kilometer. He never said any of that. He never tried to restrict their movements as you know people doing their normal everyday functions. He never said that. All that God had told the Israelites was that they must focus on him not on money making. They must focus on him not on the other responsibilities of life. So he was just saying that the Sabbath is a day when a person would rest from work because God will take care of whatever they need and they should rest in him, focus on him, refresh themselves and get ready for another six days of work. That's all that God had asked for but the Pharisees who came along they wanted to add all kinds of clauses and sub clauses and so they came up with rules about exactly how many kilometers you should walk. They came up with rules of if you're carrying an object let us say from one tent to another tent then what should be the weight of that object and then I don't know is this one commentary which says that they were even told that they should not use the bathroom on the Sabbath and it just sounds very strange to me. So they came up with a whole bunch of rules on what should be done and what should not be done. They were adding burdens to the people which God had never wanted added. So they were adding additional unnecessary burdens which are not required. So over here this man who was carrying his bed roll, his sleeping mat or whatever, he is not breaking any law of Moses but these people say it is the Sabbath day and so it's not lawful for you to carry it and the man in a very simple manner he replies, he who made me well said to me take up your bed and walk. Now what would be the natural response to that? You became well, why what was your sickness? What happened? Who is the person who healed you? You know that would be the basic question which anyone would ask but then you have the Jews responding in a very different way. You see who is this man who told you to take the bed and walk? You see look at the way how their mind is functioning. They are not at all interested that here is a savior who is able to go around saving people and so they they're not excited that to find out who this person is who can make someone well, who can you know deliver a person from their sickness, they're not interested in those details at all. They want to know who is this culprit who has committed this crime of breaking the rule which we introduced? Who is this culprit so that we can punish him? That is their attitude. So it shows that they have no concern for the sick. They're not happy for this man who has been on a bed for 38 years and now he's walking again. They're not happy about that at all. They couldn't care less about his welfare. They are only interested in their rules which they have introduced you know their little bit of power which they have established and they want to hold on to that. So this is a very wrong attitude and Jesus in fact was always very much against this particular kind of attitude. We don't see that mentioned over here in our book of John and this particular passage but you know when we look at the other gospels we are reminded of the occasions where Jesus expresses his anger you know when they are more interested in their Sabbath rules, rules which they have made up rather than in the wellness of a person. Just to look at one example because I want to just highlight one particular phrase Mark chapter 3 versus 1 to 5 if you were to turn in your bibles to Mark chapter 3 versus 1 to 5 or there you have an event being recorded regarding a man who had a withered hand and he comes to the synagogue you know to worship God and it is the Sabbath day and everyone is carefully observing Jesus to see whether he will heal the man or not because according to them healing someone and delivering them was also work. Okay so it says in verse 5 so if we could you know have one person read out Mark chapter 3 verse 5 the words used over here it talks about how he looked at them with anger and it also says that he was grieved by the hardness of their hearts. So these were not people who cared about others they did not care for anyone's welfare all that mattered to them was you know retaining their power and influence over people and making them you know do whatever they wanted done. So that was their attitude and this attitude always angered God and not just angered him it also pained him it grieved him the word used over there is grieved in the Greek I think it's the word celeb or something where you feel pain regarding that so here was God who cared about the welfare of people and there you had the Jewish leaders who were supposed to be leaders you know shepherds of the people and they had no concern whatsoever for their flock and then we see another interesting contrast over here that would be verse 14 so if someone could just read out chapter 5 verse 14 please. Okay so Jesus has it says here later Jesus found him at the temple which means Jesus was looking for him Jesus was specifically looking for him and he found him at the temple and he approaches him and he speaks to him so Jesus didn't just simply you know do an act of healing and walk away from his life unconcerned about his future but Jesus cared enough to come you know after him pursue him and give him this important piece of advice again we see you know Jesus the physician Jesus the doctor the doctor just doesn't simply you know you know prescribe some medication and just walk away if he is a good doctor he also is very interested in the patient's follow-up in the long term you know this should not trouble them again in the long term what would be best for them so a true doctor one who is genuinely concerned you know for his patients he doesn't just simply do the basic required and walk away he watches out for the long-term welfare of his people and so here Jesus comes back to him and says you know it's good that now you're back on your feet but what about your future what about your eternity and so he says to him stop sinning or something worse may happen to you God you know Jesus gives him this word of warning because Jesus cares about this man's long-term welfare so just in the previous verse you had this bunch of people who were not even happy that the man got healed after 38 years they were not even curious about that complete hardening of the heart on the other hand here you have Jesus looking for him you know in all the crowds that he was coming across trying to find out where is this man because he has something important to convey to him and so in verse 14 Jesus finds him at the temple and immediately walks up to him and gives him this word of warning so that his future can be safe and secure so we see this contrast between Jesus' heart and the heart of the Jewish leaders and then verse 16 to 17 if we could have someone read out please I'll read yes 16 and 17 okay so they began to persecute Jesus because he had done this healing on a Sabbath Jesus answered them my father is always working and I too must work yes it's same is it okay yeah yeah yeah 17 and 17 thank you so much so sorry yeah so over here Jesus says you are saying that I must not work on the Sabbath but my father works on the Sabbath okay so because my father is always at work to this very day I too will continue to work just like he is working so here this an interesting point being made Jesus is saying my father is always at work in indirectly implying even on the Sabbath my father is at work so if he is at work working on behalf of people then I too will continue to work on behalf of people so just one small clarification because it says in Genesis that God rested from his work on the Sabbath so how can Jesus be saying that the father is always at work including on the Sabbath day so this is just a small technicality nothing you know major because over there in the Genesis account when it says that God rested from his work it obviously does not mean that God was so tired after the six days of creation and he needed to take a rest because God does not get tired so over there when it says he rested from his work it means that now he seized you know from CEASED he seized from his work he stopped from his work that word is used in that sense because what he had done in the six days was so perfect so complete that nothing more needs to be added there is nothing more to be added because whatever has been done by God he has created on those six days and he saw that it was good and it's perfect and it's complete and there's nothing more to be done and so he rests he ceases he stops from his work it's so in that sense and so he says to the Israelites because of what I have done the completion with which I have given you this planet and all that there is in this planet one day you know don't think about your work on that one day just rest in me trust me and know that I can take care of you I who created in six days and finished everything that needed to be done for the human race I can take care of you so you don't need to slog on the seventh day and you know go about running to your fields and running to the market to get your financial transactions done know on that one day remember who your actual provider is the who the actual creator is who has given you all of this and just rest in him that day focus on him rebuild your faith so that they know the next day onwards you can again face the challenges of life so in that sense they were supposed to celebrate the rest it was supposed to be a rest of trusting him to supposed to be a rest of just believing in him and enjoying him so all the Sabbath obviously God would have constantly been continuing to look look down upon the Israelites who are down below on the earth and he would have continued looking after their welfare so Jesus so God never rested rested from work in the sense he never stopped watching out for them on Sabbath day so even on Sabbath day they were protected on Sabbath day they were continued to be provided for they continue to be taken care of and so Jesus says the father who has always been working on behalf of his people he is my example and so in the same way that he has been working I too will continue working even on the Sabbath we have an Old Testament scripture Psalm 121 verses three to four where it talks about God who never sleeps or slumbers is always watching over his people so God does not rest he does not sleep he continues to watch over his people even on the Sabbath so we will now come into John chapter 5 19 onwards where it's where we have more doctrine you know being mentioned so we could maybe begin by reading out verses 19 and 20 please then Jesus answered and said to them most actually I say to you a son can do nothing of himself but what he sees a father do for whatever he does the son also does in right manner for the father loves his son and shows him all things that he himself does and he will show him great works that this that you know now in these two verses we we see how Jesus talks about how he has chosen to place himself under the father okay so he says I don't do anything on my own I only do whatever I see the father doing so he places himself under the will of the father but at the same time we see that this is not some kind of you know boss and you know inferior you know that it's not that kind of a relationship rather it says in verse 20 the father loves the son and shows him all he does so it's a relationship of love that is there between the father and the son it's not that of a boss and an inferior okay and then in verses 21 to 23 he talks about the other aspect of who he is if he could have someone read out 21 22 23 for as the father raises the dead and gives life to them even so the son gives life to whom he will but the father judges no one but has committed all judgment to the son that all should honor the son just as they honor the father he who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him so he talked about how he has chosen to place himself under the father's will and so he never does anything just like that on his own he does only what is in line with what the father wants but also at the same time he is in every way equal with the father because in the same way the father you know raises the dead and gives them life the son also has the capacity to do the very same thing so they both are equal and even though they are equal the son chooses to place himself under the father's will and so over here Jesus says therefore because of this you must honor me you know and if you are not honoring me then it would mean that you are not honoring the one who sent me and also there's another point that Jesus makes um yeah if we can look at verses 24 to 27 if if we could have one person read out please most actually I say to you he who hears my word and believes in him will send me has everlasting life and shall not come into judgment but has passed from death into life most actually I say to you the hour is coming and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those here okay so here we see very clearly that Jesus is not saying that I am the father he says that he is the son of God okay so later on like I said false doctrines started to come into the church and there were people who were saying that both the father and son are just one single person and in the ancient times this was a cult which was known as Sebelianism and today you have people who kind of still believe this this kind sort of doctrine and they are supposed to be the oneness Pentecostals who believe that the father and the son are just one single entity but that is not what we see over here here Jesus very clearly says that the father and the son of God are two separate people because he says in verse 26 as the father has life in himself so he has granted the son also to have life in himself so both of them are not persons or entities to whom someone gave life they always had life they always were so no one had to give them life and bring them into existence they always had life in themselves already so they are two separate you know persons in in that sense so again there are you know there was this ancient cult called Arianism and those people said that the father is God but Jesus is not fully God he's just partially God because the father made him okay so in that sense and even you know today in our modern day we have people who follow those kinds of doctrines one of them being the Jehovah witnesses who believe that it's only Jehovah Yahweh who is God and that Jesus is not fully God so these things are actually put to rest through this particular passage because in this passage Jesus talks about how he has chosen to place himself under the father even though in power he's equal with the father and he goes on to say in the same way the father always had life in himself the son also has always had life in himself and he has the authority to judge because he's the son of man who is talked about in Daniel chapter 7 so one day he's the one who will be judging and so they better submit to his word and they better you know accept him because he's the one who is going to be judging them so these are all points which are brought out in this particular passage and then if we can move on to 28 29 and 30 if we could have one person read out these three verses please don't be so surprised indeed the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will hear the voice of God's son and they will rise again those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life and those who have continued an evil will rise to experience judgment I can do nothing on my should I continue yes I can do nothing on my own I judge as God tells me therefore my judgment is just because I can carry out the will of the one who sent me not my own will yes so over here Jesus says I judge only as I hear and my judgment is just for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me now under the Jewish culture if any person is know coming there as a messenger of his master and he very correctly and in a very you know with with integrity delivers all of that all of the message which the master wanted conveyed and in no way is he trying to serve his own interests and he's being truthful towards his master such an agent you know who's conveying the message of his master would be considered most reliable and he would be regarded as a person with full authority they would accept the authority of the agent and speaking to them because why he's completely fulfilling whatever the master wanted him to convey so they would regard his words as having full authority now in the same way Jesus is saying you see I'm I'm a person who never said anything on my own I never preached doctrines which were my own I always have only spoken through the father so he says because I have been a faithful person in conveying what the father wants conveyed therefore he says you know I have never tried to please myself I have always tried to please him therefore he says you know you must accept what I am saying to you the people should be willing to accept the authority of Jesus in speaking these things and they must be willing to place their faith in these things and this is one small point mentioned over here it talks about how a time will come when Jesus will you know will call out and when he calls out people will come out from their graves and it says those who have done what is good will rise up to live you know they would have eternal life so they would live in the presence of God but those who have done what is evil they will rise up to be condemned and so you know we are aware right when we all rise up we would rise up in our resurrected bodies and the interesting point made over here and in fact even in revelation we see the same thing there are people who are resurrected to enter into eternal life and there are people who are resurrected to be thrown into the lake of fire so you know for you to suffer you would need a physical body to experience the suffering and so it's really very sad that there are people who will be resurrected not to enjoy the you know the wonders that God has in awaiting but rather they would rise up in a resurrected body to be condemned to be punished to suffer pain to be separated from God forever so it is such a terrible terrible thing because the resurrected body is something wonderful I mean a human who died of physical death and no longer you know inhabits the body and the body disintegrates or maybe is burnt or whatever and that is now being resurrected once again or every single particle of that body comes back together and it's given a new form so that it's no longer like a human body but it's rather a resurrected body and to have a body like that and learn that because of the choices you made in rejecting Jesus now or what are you rising up with for you're only rising up with this resurrected body for punishment it's such an amazing terrible terrible tragedy so it should make us want to share the word of God you know the gospel with people because it is so sad they are going to be resurrected one day just like us but they'll be resurrected for punishment they will be resurrected for a life of hopelessness there is just no hope left because they have been separated from God and that should create in us a burden to really share the gospel with everyone so that they can be resurrected with hope to look forward to something exciting and enjoyable rather than just be condemned you know forever and ever away from the presence of God moving one from there versus 31 and 32 yeah if we can just have verses 31 and 32 please yeah I mean now based on the Old Testament based on passages like Deuteronomy chapter 19 verse 15 it was generally considered that if someone wishes to say something and they wish to prove that it is true they should there should be at least two or three other witnesses who can establish that what this person is saying is the truth and so here Jesus uses that particular tradition and he says I can come up with three witnesses you know to confirm that what I am saying is true and the three witnesses that he uses are John the Baptist and then he talks about the works which he is doing so his works that the very miraculous works which he is doing they also testify to who he is and the third testimony he says comes from the father himself so these are the three testimony witnesses that Jesus uses to confirm that he is you know divine and that he is equal with the father so we know I mean what John the Baptist was preaching about Jesus he was pointing everyone towards Jesus and saying that he is the Messiah follow him and coming to the works of Jesus they too were testifying that this person is not ordinary he's doing things that only the father can do only the things which only God can do so these things should have proved to them that Jesus is indeed the Son of God like he was claiming to be but they did not choose this testimony they did not accept this testimony why it's because they had hoped that the Messiah would perform certain particular kind of works these were a hardened people who didn't care about the welfare of the people they were not really concerned with the people were getting healed and delivered and their lives were giving you know they were being given a second chance to start life all over again these things were not of interest to them they were hoping for a Messiah who will come and do political works who will know destroy the Romans and re-establish the kingdom of Israel that was the kind of works that they were looking for and so when Jesus came and began to do all this wonderful things of deliverance and compassion they couldn't care less they rejected this testimony even though this was such a powerful testimony so it is the common people in fact who are willing to accept what Jesus was saying the leaders on the other hand they had been hoping that their power would rise to a whole new level once you know the kingdom of Israel is re-established so they were very very disappointed they had been hoping for greater power but that was now denied to them on the other hand what were they seeing they were seeing that the flock which which had been placed under them you know because their leaders and they have a flock of Israelites under their care they were seeing that someone has come and he is now helping the flock delivering the flock healing the flock and that's never what they wanted they wanted to be able to rule over the flock suppress it burden it and you know maintain a firm hand over it so this was definitely not what they wanted so in chapters 4 and 5 the message comes across so clearly you know Jesus his heart and the Jewish leaders and their heart is a clear contrast between these two categories of people in in these two chapters all right we will maybe look at verses 39 to 44 and yeah we can in fact you know gain one or two learnings from this which would be good and useful for us oh yeah before that we talked about the testimony of Jesus works the third testimony he gives is that of his father and this probably is a reference to you know the baptism of Jesus where an audible voice comes out from heaven and says that this is indeed my son so and now I don't know whether everyone's standing over they could clearly hear that voice or not so but John the Baptist explains to him explains to them very clearly what the voice said he says that the voice clearly told that this is my son so they have received the testimony of the father as well okay so these are the three testimonies that Jesus gives to back up his claim that he is the divine son of God so now we come into verses 39 to 44 which just sounds like a lot of heavy words but there is there are you know truths that we can learn even from this so if one of us could just read out 39 to 44 please you search the scriptures for whom you think you had eternal life and this are they what which satisfy everything but you are not willing to come to me that you may have life but you do not receive honor from me that I know you that you do not have the love of God in you I have come in my father's name and you do not receive me if another comes in his own name him you will receive verse 44 how can you believe who receive honor from one another and do not seek the honor honor that comes from the only God all right so Jesus comes in a very simple and humble manner not what they had hoped for they wanted a conqueror they wanted a political force you know who could represent them but Jesus comes in comes in a very humble way in the sense he keeps pointing all the glory towards the father he says what the father wants that I am doing I can do nothing by myself except for the father you know the father enables me to do so he's humbling himself in his human capacity and because he presents himself in that manner the people are not very happy with him because Jesus is constantly pointing to the father and they are not very interested in the father first of all and that is why Jesus points out the truth to them very clearly he says verse 42 he says I know you I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts you see when we when we started off the book of John and we looked at those first disciples they were so excited they were so happy because they had been waiting longingly for this messiah that God would send and so they had a passion for the things of God they were excited about the things of God but here when Jesus is talking to these Jewish leaders and he's pointing out to them you know the truth about himself they are not interested because he's pointing them towards God and for them over the centuries God has just become something that must be followed has a ritual he is no longer someone who excites them and that is why Jesus says in verses 43 and 44 a very valid point he says I have come in my father's name and you do not accept me but if someone else comes in his own name you will accept him how can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God they had this desire for big personalities you know people who will stand there in the front and claim that they are somebody very knowledgeable and very powerful and influential and they would talk in a very impressive manner and everyone would be impressed by such people Jesus on the other hand was doing the exact opposite he instead of you know instead of puffing himself up and making himself appear big he was humbling himself you know staying in the background not getting into confrontations at this moment you know in the early days when he was avoiding a direct confrontation with the Pharisees all of this so they he did not look very impressive to them why because these are people who accept glory from one another for them in the eyes of the world they need to be something big in the eyes of the world they should be considered somebody influential and Jesus was very plainly says in verse 41 I do not accept glory from human beings in the sense I don't need you know the appreciation of people to establish who I am whether people appreciate me or not I am God so you know he he says I don't need human beings you know compliments to place me where I am I already am where I am so these people on the other hand were more impressed by big personalities by you know tall words rather than by someone who is coming in a very humble way and sharing with them the kingdom of God and talking to them pointing them towards the father that they were not impressed with that is not something that they wanted and so they say that some of the scholars they say that this phrase over here in verse 43 if someone else comes in his own name you will accept him they say that maybe Jesus was indirectly even referring to the Antichrist who would come in the end times and the Antichrist would come in his own name he's not trying to say that I am the Messiah because you know we have many many false messiahs right now people who are claiming that I am the promised Messiah but this man Antichrist when he comes he doesn't pretend to be the Messiah being sent you know being talked about in the Old Testament he would clearly establish himself as someone who is an alternative he would offer himself as a better alternative to the Messiah and so maybe Jesus is over here actually referring to the Antichrist when he says if someone else comes in his own name you will accept him and that would is something that would happen in the end times if Jesus is referring to that particular thing all right we are kind of coming into the last portion of John chapter five let's look at verses 45 46 47 if we could have one person read out please yeah it isn't I who accused you before the Father Moses will accuse you yes Moses in whom you put your hopes if you really believe Moses you would believe me because he wrote about me but since you don't believe what he wrote how will you believe how you will you believe what I say yes so it's Moses specifically talks about Jesus in Deuteronomy chapter 18 verse 15 where he says that the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from your midst and him you shall hear okay so very specifically over there Moses is talking about the Messiah who will come in the future and then in the other prophetic books of course there are many references to the Messiah now common people ordinary people who are not necessarily scholars or religious leaders they were able to understand what Moses had said and they were able to link this to Jesus you know the prophecy which was given by Moses they were able to connect it to Jesus but it looks like as if this learned leaders refuse to make the connection because in our first very first chapter of John where we you know we saw Philip talking to Nathaniel if we were to just go back you know in our Bibles right now to John chapter 1 verse 45 over there Philip is talking to Nathaniel and this is what he says he says we have found the one Moses wrote about in the law about whom the prophets also wrote so Philip is someone who has studied the law of Moses which is the first five books and he has also studied what the prophets have said and he is able to make the link very clearly and he is able to say see this is the one that Moses was talking about this is the one that the prophets were talking about and here you have very learned Jewish people you know the Pharisees and the scholars who seem to know everything and they are unable to make the connection between the prophecies given and so Jesus says ordinary people are beginning to understand what Moses talked about and they are reaching out to me and submitting themselves to me you on the other hands who are who consider yourselves authorities in the law of Moses who know your first five books by heart you are refusing to accept me and so he says I don't even have to accuse you before the father Moses himself will accuse you because you have considered yourselves you know complete authorities in everything that he has said and you seem to say that you know all and you have known and understood all that what Moses said but here you are refusing to believe what Moses wrote about me and so he says that Moses himself will condemn them for their disbelief in what he has taught and I think it is in Luke yeah Luke chapter 24 verses 25 to 27 where it talks about the you know the incident at on the road to Emmaus where Jesus explains from the scriptures how all of those scriptures were talking about him it says over there in Luke 24 verses 25 to 27 how slow to believe all that okay how foolish you are and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken and then it says in verse 27 beginning with Moses so what does it mean over there beginning with Moses Moses is just the title which is being used for the first five books of the law so that the law of Moses so beginning with the first five books and then all the prophetic books Jesus explains to them how those particular scriptures are talking about him okay so that's what is mentioned over here um yes I think that covers most of the important things anything else that came to your mind any questions that you have or anything that you would just like to you know share your thoughts on chapter four and chapter five if not you know we can just close with the word of prayer so anyone wants to say something or ask something no okay then maybe we can close with the word of prayer Lord we just thank you so much for today's class thank you a lot for the things that we could learn from chapters four and five we pray a lot that unlike the Jewish leaders we would have a heart for the people not a heart for power and position but a heart for the people I pray that we would imitate Jesus Christ in the way we approach people rather than imitate those leaders or Lord who are not interested in people at all we pray a lot that you would give us compassionate hearts that would also treat people with respect and dignity in the same way you treated that Samaritan woman with dignity also a lot we pray that you would cause us to submit to you fully in the same way that you always chose to submit to the father you being completely equal or Lord with the father you chose to submit yourself to him and so how much more is it important that we should be willing to submit to you give us hearts or Lord that will have that kind of a surrendered attitude thank you Lord and we pray that all these learnings which we have learned at the right time when we need these things I pray that you would bring these things back to our mind that you would remind us so that Lord we can walk in these truths which we are learning thank you so much a lot in Jesus name amen amen thank you so much for you know paying attention and I know for you for some of your questions and your thoughts and we'll meet again next week thank you pastor