From John chapter 5 starting at the verse 15, I come here to The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath But he answered them my father is working until now and I myself I'm working For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because he not only was breaking this habit But also was calling God his own father Making himself equal with God therefore Jesus Answered and was saying to them Truly truly I say to you the son can do nothing of himself unless it is something he sees the father doing for whatever The father does these things the son also does in like manner For the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself is doing and the father will show him greater works than these So that you will marvel for just as the father raises the dead and gives them life Even so the son also gives life to whom he wishes for not even the father judges anyone But he has given all judgment to the son so that all will honor the son even as they honor the father He who does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him Truly I say to you he who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and does not come into judgment But has passed out of life and death into life. Let me pray Jesus I pray now as I do each week that you would simply come by your spirits and open the eyes of the blind and the ears of the death For those of us who are slothed or sleepy in our faith. Please I pray wake us up I pray for myself that you would be in my head and in my thinking and in my heart and in my understanding and in my mouth and in my speaking Your name I pray all things. Amen. Amen As I said at the beginning of the service, I think I said that I'm That act now forever. I think I hope It's always nice though when you come back because when you come back from being away, especially on a Sunday At least a few people say they missed you I tell me we missed you where you were gone and it's I have to return that I missed you as well. You see It's not only hearing a sermon It's not only the preacher that makes the sermon, but it's the people who hear it who make the sermon and this past week I was in Canada about a thousand miles north of here After five I had to we drove for five days and spoke I just speak six times in two days To elderly Canadians who'd never seen a movie and Definitely had never seen Buffy the vampire slayer So I was sure what to do there with them And I thought ma'am I can't wait till I get back Because my congregation is the every movie and they've definitely seen Buffy the vampire slayer You see today's text is right For a movie opening Especially there's a movie many of you. I fear haven't seen because you're too young and I watched it in junior high You see there's movie came out in the early eighties. Maybe the late seventies called tron Maybe you have seen it if you remember this movie tron It's sort of like reverse matrix in a way because what you had was you had this computer System that had been taken over by an evil virus. Let's call it. It was really another evil program This evil program had taken over the rest of the programs and had basically enslaved them and this game programmer the programmer Couldn't fix it from the outside of the system if you remember It just wouldn't work. He couldn't get in the system wouldn't boot He was unable to entry couldn't find the passwords and so he had the only option for the programmer to actually Keep the other programs from being enslaved was actually to become a program himself Where he sat in front of the electric beam that sort of Transmogrified him and and put him into the computer as a program You know the most beautiful part if you got it that I am the programmer and people laughed at him So you can't be the programmer the program is out there Knowing can see the face of the programmer and he would do miracles if you will he'd bend light and he would make things happen And eventually a few people did believe he was the programmer until towards the end when he died You see because the the one who said I am the programmer become a program actually died to release the rest of the programs from the curse of the evil program And then he rose again and he ascended to outside of the program again to become take his place at his original throne as a programmer a swivel chair And as I thought of that movie and I looked back on the internet at older reviews one of the first reviews of that movie Said that this was one of the most original and distinctive plots ever thought up and we laughed because you know that's not an original plot It's a plot that is eternal It is the eternal plot you see if you understand what's going on in tron you will definitely understand the nature of Christianity Because you see what happened to our God He creates the system and sets the programs in place that would be us and the programs are virus free until one evil one Comes and and tempts the other ones to fall and they fall and a virus infects all of the programs And the programmer tries to try to heal the the virus in certain ways ready since prophets He sends the law all these things nothing worked the only thing that will happen is that the programmer himself becomes a program Jesus And what did Jesus say he came saying I am the programmer and people laughed and healed people and they still didn't believe him and if you did Until he died 15 if he's dead three days later he rose again and and after that 40 days later He ascended to take his place on his throne if you understand tron you understand Christianity and Yet the problem with Christianity is that very thing You see many people if not most people believe in God of some sort of another and most people at least in the West believe at least If there was a guy named Jesus But when you start running into trouble is when you start looking at this guy named Jesus and really realized that he was God it changes everything Because he makes incredible drastic claims and the claims in fact are so drastic that you are less with only two options You either embrace him or you reject him You either love him or hate him and Jesus says of himself for God's sake don't like me You either love me or hate me and that's what's happening today in this text If you remember Jesus has just healed a very un-thankful ungrateful lame man It was lame for 38 years and remember Jesus came and said do you want to get well? And you would think he'd say of course I do instead he went, you know every time I think about going down in that pool I don't have anyone to carry me I've been here for 38 years and a Jesus sort of interrupt and says get up Take your math and walk And immediately the religious leaders come in and what did I do? They accuse him of breaking the law and the Sabbath you're carrying your math They know he was healed no one even throws a bone to say oh that's pretty cool. You can walk now, but you shouldn't be taking the math And he eventually rats out Jesus instead of saying you know the one who healed me told me to walk That's what I'm gonna do instead. He says he's right over there Don't blame it on me blame it on him and that's what they do That's what verse 15 says that's the context it says and the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus Who made him well So see the context is Jesus has just healed this lame man on the Sabbath the Pharisees have come and said who made you well and he said it's that guy right over there And three things that says Jesus could easily have avoided these guys He could have easily have rationalized with them He could have easily slipped into the crowd and not talked to him, but instead this morning he picks a fight Jesus only picks with kind of fights that are going to be fruitful and this morning apparently was one of them and he's gonna talk about three things this morning First this is divinity the second is his authority and the third is his offer that he makes to us Let's look first at his divinity I'm not gonna read the whole thing for 16 and 17 for Jesus as we look at his divinity It says for this reason healing the man the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath But he answered them my father is working until now and I myself am working for this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because he not only was breaking the Sabbath But also was calling God his own father making himself equal with God See in verse 6 if there was he was these things that That's off to the people it's actually happened that often relative to the rest of them But apparently Jesus had this nasty habit of healing people on the Sabbath And it says Jews were persecuting him because of these things he was doing these things on the Sabbath he was healing people You see in the problem with the healing of the people is twofold really on one hand He's breaking the law in their opinion by working the other thing Is it really makes them look bad because they are not they're driven by the law and the law has no power They can't make people walk in fact Jesus has broken all their categories if you remember from last week You know, they have laws that said you couldn't carry your palate But they didn't have a law about being healed and carrying your palate They never thought that you one might be healed So Jesus comes and he starts doing these things on the Sabbath and their categories are beginning to break and they begin To struggle for control so they begin persecuting him and the first thing Jesus could have done If he could have just explained the Sabbath to them from their own law You see they accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath but Jesus is not breaking the Sabbath He's in according to their own law according to their commentary on the law maybe but not according to the law You see the the fourth commandment you shall do no work on the Sabbath And in Genesis 2 it says that God created everything in six days and on the seventh day what he rested But there's a qualifier. It says he rested from his work of creation That was the only thing he rested from In other words got rested from his work of creation, but he did not rest from his work of upholding the universe He did not rest from his work of what theologians called Lately shower in a storm so that everything comes to us what not by chance but by his fatherly hand. He does not cease to do that And since he does not cease to do that We don't cease to do that either You see the Pharisees didn't understand the Sabbath most Christians don't understand the Sabbath either you see when God rested He rested from his work of creation, but he did not work rest from his work of compassion And you see the purpose of the Sabbath for us if that we rest from our worldly employment and we rest from our recreations sorry The purpose of the Sabbath is not idleness. It's not the recreation the purpose of the Sabbath is twofold It's to worship God and it's to do acts of mercy and compassion What could be more compassionate than healing the lame? You see Jesus could have explained all of that made him look like idiots in front of their friends But he didn't Instead he decided to take it a notch higher or a notch lower And he ready dug in Instead of saying all of this stuff about the Sabbath he said something even more offensive to them. He said you know what? My father is working until now. They wouldn't have disagreed with that the rabbis taught what I just told you That God is always working in providence and when he said my father is working until now They wouldn't have disagreed with that But then he had to tack on the end of it and I am working even now And there were two things if he was trying to ingratiate himself that he actually blew there the first was he made he made God sound very In second, he actually claimed equality with God You see the average Jew Might have referred to God as our father Our father why because on one hand that maintains that he's generally benevolent and beneficent on the other hand It keeps him at a safe distance because because he's my father that means I've got to deal with him And Jesus on the other hand made no bones about thing my father works until now. He claimed this intense familiarity with God and the only person who would do that Would be a lunatic or blasphemer Or someone who really was God's son And the first two things being a lunatic, maybe that's forgivable, but being a blasphemer isn't Being a blasphemer is unforgivable Him being God's son would be unthinkable So the first problem was familiarity the second was equality Notice he says God is working until now my father and I am working until now He did he says because God works on Sundays. I get to work on Sundays doing acts of compassion He says my father is working and I am working in other words everything that I do is equally important to that which God does That takes a lot of hope That takes a lot of hope to say you know what whatever God does everything that I do is just as important Now most of us walk around every day thinking that Jesus it was true You see now they didn't know they probably didn't understand what he was getting at They probably thought he was doing the same thing that they did Which what they did would say that everything we do is is just as important is what God does in fact What we do is actually witness to what God does? And so Jesus was not setting himself up as a competitor with them with God probably but as a competitor with them You see because they would say what we do is important is what God does in fact It's just it's just his work and Jesus says I am working God's working So if you're not doing what I'm doing and I'm doing what God's are doing something wrong So what did they do? They sought to persecute him because he claimed equality with God Now they although they didn't think they probably didn't think he was claiming divinity They probably thought he was either setting himself up in competition with them or with God Jesus clarifies Listen to what he says in verse 19 He says therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them truly truly I say to you the sun can do nothing of himself unless it is something. He sees the Father doing Whatever the Father does these things the Sun also doesn't like manner for the Father loves the Sun and shows them all things That he himself is doing and the Father will show him greater works than these so that you will marvel You see there one thing is familiar with the Father but also that what he does is is important as the Father is if he is in Competition with him or he works in distinction from the Father and Jesus clarifies and I don't work independently from the Father But I work in complete and utter union with the Father and this is a Jewish sort of a princess ship mode of metaphor like a father would a princess a son in a trade and Jesus says the Sun sees what the Father is doing Everything I see him doing I do I'm a perfect apprentice. He does it. I do it. He does it. I do it The apprentice does exactly what the master does and what the master tells him the flip side to that It's the master. He loves his apprentice shows the apprentice everything that he needs to do so one hand He says I do it. The other father my father loves the Sun and shows him all things You see I do what he wants me to do. I'm in complete submission to him on one hand on the other hand He gives me everything and he shows me everything He has shown me great things and he's going to show me greater things But the beauty of this is is the great things that he's going to show me are going to make you marvel Now what in the world could he show Jesus that would make the Pharisees or even us marvel What he could show Jesus was his authority God granted to perform self impact only God to connect suicide and if you want to marvel if you want to know something That is more marvelous than seeing a man who's been lame for 38 years being healed Look at Jesus and see him receiving all glory and all power from the Father It's almost too much to bear if your life Especially revolves around religion as the Pharisees and so Jesus takes them next to his authority listen to what he says He says in 20 he says the father will show him greater works in these that you will marvel What are they for just as the father raises the dead and gives them life even so the Sun also gives life to whom he wishes For not even the father judges anyone but he has given all judgment to the Sun so that all will honor the Sun Even as they honor the Father he did he who does not honor the Sun does not honor the Father's The two prerogatives that belong only to God the giving of life and the raising of the dead or one and the other is judgment And if the Jewish leaders had anything that they were counting on Was that if I please God? I'm going to be okay One and number two he'll give me life number two if I please God he will judge me Gently or beneficently or nicely and here comes Jesus the category breaker. He says let me tell you something guys Here's how you should marvel that just as the father raises the dead and gives life So the Sun gives life to whom ever he pleases in a way that should almost sound frightening Because most of us see us a little remember the the effect God and the doc that we put God in the doc In the sort of witness chair and question him and ask him things and see if he should be relied upon and the interesting thing is that God's on in the doc we are The Jesus doesn't have to defend himself. We do in Jesus says the Sun gives life to whom ever he pleases so on one hand You have Jesus saying I am the life. He says that later on in John 14 that I am the life If you want life you can only get it from me, but there's a catch you only get it from me if I was first wanting to do That we not only are dependent upon Jesus for our life But we're also dependent upon him to even initiate it and if he doesn't initiate it We remain blind in dead and our trespasses and sins the Bible says It's like that great scene in the matrix remember when Morpheus calls neo and neo walks in and he turns around Remember he's like he turned around his little glasses on hello neo and neo says I've been looking for you my whole life And Morpheus says very calmly you wouldn't have been looking for me if I weren't wasn't looking for you first They got that from the Bible That's what Jesus says you wouldn't be looking for me if I weren't looking for you first And so the question you have to ask yourself is do you feel Jesus looking for you? Do you do you feel him pushing you tugging your heart maybe even conferencing you with all of your badness? Because if he is you have great For you the reason you're looking for him if he's looking for you so that you have an it mim mim a Maybe will you you see because if you don't embrace him for life you've got another problem and that's the next part He says the father does not even judge Talk about blasphemy god the father doesn't judge. Well who judges then he's given all judgments to the son That's me So that whoever honors the father honors the son and if you don't honor the son who may sent you don't honor the father In other words, you know every every Jew at least in those days would have been thinking some day I'm gonna stand before the throne of God and have to give an account for all of my deeds So the better I am the better chance I have In Jesus breaks all of that in one fell swoop. He says you know what you're never gonna stand before God You're not and none of you are You're gonna stand for me What are you gonna do with me? You see the big question that we all will face some day is not we won't stand before God and him say What did you do with me and we won't stand before God and him say what do you do with Jesus and we won't stand before Jesus and Jesus say What did you do with God? We will stand before Jesus saying what did you do with me? The Jesus not only to be God, but Jesus initiates with you as God me What did you do with me remember ask you seven the most horrifying thing Jesus can say to somebody is not you're going to hell Although he talks a lot about that Remember Matthew seven people come up to him and he says that the last day and say Lord Lord did we not perform miracles in your name It did we not prophesy in your name and did we not do all these things in your name and he says what to them? Depart and go to hell Depart and go to where the worm never ceases depart. He doesn't say that he says depart from me You see the programmer has become a program to enable you to interact with him and you must interact with him while you have the time That would be today You see the question all religions are looking basically for two things Sometimes they focus on both of them sometimes they emphasize one or the other every religion is looking to how to give you a better life On one hand on the other hand They're all teaching you how to avoid judgment now some emphasize judgment more some emphasize life more But all of them are shooting for the same thing and all of them sort of point to the truth This is how you have a life. This is how you avoid judgment in Jesus comes instead of pointing to the truth he comes and says I am the truth I am life. I am judgment. I don't point to the truth I am those things and so to the extent that you deal with me You are going to be fine to the extent that you reject me You will not be fine and that's the offer he gives at the end here Even think about the offer Jesus gives even to the cold-hearted Mean-spirited legalistic self-righteous Pharisees He could have just stopped things right there and said you know the sun will judge someday You guys have treated me like hell and you're going to have to face me someday But instead he even offers the most self-righteous horrible sinners the same offer and what does he say? Verse 24 he says truly I say to you he who hears my word and believes him who sent me Has eternal life and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life He tells these guys whoever hears my word and obeys him who sent me That could be a bit confusing Jesus who are we to obey you or God and he says yes That's the point If you would trust me What are you trusting You're trusting that the one who gives life and the one who gives judgment has somehow figured out a way to do those both at the same time And that of course is through the blood of his cross That if the cross what happened was that the judge Jesus became the criminal you and me and He bore all of our sins and all of our crimes and on that cross He died for them and when he died with your sin your sin died and when he rose from the dead all things are being made new and That for you those who trust him means you have eternal life Notice he says in an impressive Christianity for some reason teaches that eternal life is just this thing we get At some point in the future if I got it out long enough here Hopefully I'll either die earlier I'll live a long prosperous life But when I die I'll have eternal life that means life that never ends And what Jesus says is almost just the opposite. He says I'm gonna whoever believes in me Has the life of the age to come that's what eternal life means that that life has it now That the life of the age to come is given to you now Now the problem with that is is it makes things in a way even harder You see it's one thing to be a to be a program with a virus living with a bunch of other programs with viruses And you just learn to cope but once you've been healed from the virus then all of a sudden you realize how bad things are around you Which makes you long someday to not have to live in this situation In the beauty of the gospel Jesus you not only have eternal life now, but you will not come into condemnation You see I'm giving you this life now and it's going to be hard for him however when there You will not be judged You will not be because it's done. It happened on my cross. And so the question is whether or not you embraced that? You see most of us trying to avoid the hardness of life now in hopes that someday it will get better But unless you understand that you have eternal life now You can't understand what it'll mean to not come into condemnation later because most of us spend our life condemning ourselves anyway Jesus has don't do that come unto me and be free You see most of us what we have to give up is not our badness It's our goodness The biggest problem that most of us have is our goodness and our self-righteousness And I don't mean just the legalistic self-righteousness that you don't drink or don't smoke I mean like your survival self-righteousness that God's not going to take care of you So you take care of yourself that God's not going to create an environment around you that's going to take care of you and help you So create your own environment around you And guess what that never works which the movie Chuck a lot The great movie Woman in Breonna she moves into a very uptight town in the middle of the length and opens a chocolate store And as people are walking by they're tempted some to go in and if you remember Breonna has has all of her chocolate a sort of magic You got problems with your marriage try some of these truffles remember that
And everyone is sort of healed by her by sort of dealing with her except one person who Compte Reno he's the mayor of the town and his family has been responsible for generation for keeping the rules And here she comes in the middle of length opening a chocolate store which not only is against the rules that people like it and God forbid people be happy And so he spends the whole movie sort of trying to buck her and trying to stop her and finally at the end He just decides that he is going to end it once and for all so at night He sneaks into her chocolate store and he just starts to pick up chairs and things and starts to destroy the whole chocolate shop And then he gets in the window of the chocolate shop and he's just stomping and destroying and stuff This is in on his lips and you see that some of the chocolate is better on his lips It begins to taste it He tastes the chocolate and he has overcome and overwhelmed and he just begins to gorge himself On this chocolate and in the morning when the town wakes up who did they find in the window of her chocolate shop gorge in a sleep with big smile on his face Compte Reno And he has a smile on his face for the rest of the movie You see his self-righteousness was exchanged for grace And to the extent that you're willing to exchange all your rule following on all your self-righteousness and all your survival notes for a taste of God's grace You know the beauty of it is you only get it by beating him By crucifying him and as you crucify me sort of tasted the spattered blood and realized it's for you And you turn to him and live Think about that Let me pray Father we thank you that you have seen fit To crush Jesus that he was crushed for our inequities and by his stripes We are healed that his he was so distinguished beyond Appearance that we would not even want to gaze upon him and yet gaze upon him We must And so I pray this morning you would come in great glory and power not only now but in the in the next moments and even during the sacrament as we Seek to come to you by faith and embrace you. So we thank you in your name. Amen