Four Witnesses
Jesus
had singled out; one that had suffered with an infirmity for thirty and eight
years and by a word healed the man, instantly. Because this miracle had been
performed on the Sabbath day, the Jews persecuted Jesus. In gracious
condescension, Jesus replied to their criticism by claiming His equality with
the Father. Most commentators agree the claims Jesus made would not be valid
unless they were supported by others. The law of God requires two or three
witnesses for the truth to be established. Jesus said, “If I alone bear witness
of Myself, My testimony is not true. There is another who bears witness of Me,
and I know that the testimony which He gives about Me is true” (John
These
verses reiterates in another form what Jesus said in verse 30, He cannot act
independently of the Father. If He speaks independently of the Father, in
such a case, His witness is not true, because the Son can no more bear witness
of Himself independently of the Father, than He can of Himself work
independently of the Father. The other witness is not John the Baptist, as some
have supposed, but the Father Himself. Jesus did not say, there is one that
bears witness of me and His witness is true, but there is another that bears witness
of Me. Jesus told His enemies, “You have sent to John, and he testified to the
truth” (John 5:33). Here Jesus reminds the Jews how, when they had sent the
priest to question John the Baptist (John
Jesus
then said, “The testimony which I have received is not from man, but I say
these things so that you may be saved” (John
John
the Baptist was a burning and a shining light: and the Jews were willing for a
season to rejoice in his light (John
Jesus
has a greater witness than that of John: for the works, which the Father has
given Him to finish, the same works bear witness that the Father has sent Him
(John
Our works, too, bear witness of us. If ours are dead works, wood, hay, and stubble, which shall be burned up in the coming Day, that proves we are walking after the flesh; and such a witness, will dishonor and grieve Him whose name we bear. But if our works are good works, this will show that we are walking after the Spirit, and men seeing our good works will glorify our Father that is in heaven.
In
John
Finally,
“You search the scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal
life; it is these that bear witness of Me” (John
First, there was the witness of His own works.
Second, there was the witness that the Father had borne to Him through the prophets.
Third, there was the testimony of the Scriptures, written by men moved by the Holy Spirit. Thus in these three witnesses there is a remarkable reference made to each of the three Persons in the Holy Trinity.
The last witness is Moses. If there was one thing the enemies of Jesus thought they believed, it was the writings of Moses. They contended earnestly for the law: they revered the name of Moses above almost all of their national heroes. They would have been ready to die for what Moses taught and here is Jesus declaring that they did not believe Moses, and furnishing proof by showing that if they had really believed Moses’ writings they would believe in Jesus of whom Moses wrote.
Then Jesus told them, “But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Jesus said, “You are unwilling to come to Me, so that you may have life.” It was not lack of evidence that kept these Jews from coming to Jesus. Jesus stands ready to receive all who come to Him; but by nature, men are unwilling to come to Him that they might have life. But why is this? It is because they fail to realize their awful peril: they do not know that they are standing on the brink of eternal damnation because they have no sense of their deep and desperate need. They do not see their awful condition, their wickedness, their depravity because the mind of sinful men is at war against God.
Jesus
has come in the Father’s name to His own and they did not receive Him but
another will come and they will receive him.
Jesus is not received with honors because He is from above and above all, and has eternal life to give. He is not like those who receive honor from one another and do not seek the glory that is from the one and only true living God.
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John 5:19-47
John chapter 5 is one of the most important Bible passages dealing with the Deity of Jesus; it confirms Jesus’ teaching concerning His divine Sonship. It is divided into two parts; the first part contains the sevenfold declaration of Jesus’ Deity. In the second part, beginning at verse 41, Jesus contains the different witnesses to His Deity.
The declaration of Jesus’ Deity
First, Jesus claims equality with the Father.
As
soon as the man Jesus healed at the pool near the sheep gate learned it was
Jesus who healed him he went and told the Jews that it was Jesus who healed
him. In John
All through the centuries, the Father has been meeting the wants and needs of His people on the Sabbath. If the Father has been working on the Sabbath meeting the needs and wants of His people then it must be right for the Son of God to engage in works of necessity and mercy on the Sabbath. Because Jesus claims equality with the Father, 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. Jesus had done what Abraham, Moses and David, never dreamed of doing. He had placed Himself on the same level with the Father. His persecutors were quick to recognize that He had made himself equal with God, and they were right.
Then Jesus said, “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.” This is one of the verses used by the enemies of Jesus in their denial of the Deity of Jesus. "The Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do." Does this mean that His ability was limited, or His power restricted? Jesus said He did the same things, not such things, but the same things the Father does, and He did them in the same manner and with the same authority, and liberty, and wisdom, the same energy and efficacy as the Father. Does the Father enact, repeal, and alter laws? Does he over-rule the course of nature? Does He know men's hearts? So does the Son. Instead of pointing to an imperfection, either in His ability or in His power, the phrase rightly understood reveals there is no limits to His ability to do what the Father does or in His power to do what the Father does.
Second, He is obedient to His Father’s will, so entirely obedient that He can do nothing of Himself, in the same sense as it is said, God cannot lie, or deny Himself, which expresses the perfection of His truth and no imperfection in His strength. Jesus was so entirely devoted to His Father's will that it was impossible for Him in any thing to act independently of the Father, because He is absolutely one with the Father. If the Son and the Father are not in perfect unity there would be two absolute Beings but conflicting wills, which means that there would be two Gods, the one opposing the other. It was because Jesus was the Son of God that His will was in fullest harmony with the will of the Father. Man can act independently of God because he is alienated from Him. However, the Son of God could not act independently of God because He was not only very Man but also very God. It was this nature in Jesus that distinguished Him from all other men. He never acted independently of the Father. He was always in perfect subjection to the Father’s will. There was no will in Him that had to be broken. From start to finish, He was in perfect agreement with the One who sent Him.
Third, He can and He will, do nothing but what He sees the Father do. No man can know the work of God, but the only-begotten Son, who lay in His bosom, sees what He does, is intimately acquainted with His purposes, and has the plan of them ever before Him.
The Son can do nothing of himself because the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing and greater works than these will He show Him. The enemies of Jesus who deny His Deity ask, “If Jesus is the Son of God why does He need to be shown all things that the Father is doing?” The opening word "For" intimates there is a close connection between this and the verse immediately preceding, as well as with the whole context of the passage. It tells us that Jesus is still submitting the proof that He was equal with God. The argument of this verse is the Father has no secrets from the Son. Because He is the Son of God, the Father loves Him; that is to say, because they are in common possession of the same infinite perfections, there is a perfect relationship between the Father and the Son. The Father showing the Son all things manifests the Father’s love. The Son’s obedience manifests the Son’s love.
The
phrase, “the Father loves the Son” reveal, the perfect relationship there is
between them, but the additional words “shows Him all things” reveals the
absolute knowledge that there is between the Father and the Son. Fallen man is
incapable of knowing God. The believer learns gradually and slowly, the things
pertaining to God and only then as the Holy Spirit teaches him. Even the
faithful angels know God’s mind but in part, there are things they desire to
look into (1 Peter
Fourth, Jesus proves His equality with the Father, by doing some of the work which He does that are the peculiar works of God. He does, and shall do, that which is the peculiar work of God's sovereign dominion and jurisdiction, judging and executing judgment. Therefore, He has power to quicken whom he will as the Father does, because He has life in Himself as the Father has life within Himself. Not only is Jesus self-existent He is a sovereign giver of life; all life is dependent on Him. He is to His creatures the fountain of life. The healing of the man at the pool near the sheep gate not only demonstrated His power, but it illustrated His absolute sovereignty.
Fifth, Jesus reveals equality with the Father by two resurrections performed by the power of His word. The first is a resurrection from the death of sin to the life of righteousness, by the power of His grace, making alive spiritually those who are dead in sins, the second resurrection yet to come by the power of His word, giving life to those in the grave. The resurrection Jesus refers to in verse 25 will certainly occur; it is coming, it is at the door. How far off this resurrection is no one knows except God. We know that it is coming because it is according to God’s plan for the redemption of man.
Who shall be raised, all those who are in the graves, all that have died from the beginning of time, and all that shall die to the end of time. How they shall be raised, first, they shall hear the voice of Jesus; He shall cause them to hear it, as Lazarus was made to hear His voice when Jesus commanded him to “come forth.” Second, a divine power shall go along with the voice, to put life into them, and enable them to obey it. When Christ rose, there was no voice heard, not a word spoken, because He rose by His own power; but at the resurrection of the children of men they shall hear three voices (1 Thessalonians 4:16). First, the Lord shall descend with a shout, the shout of a king, second, the voice of the archangel, the prince of the angels, third the trumpet of God.
To what shall they be raised, to a different state of happiness or misery, according to what they did in this life? The resurrection of the body will be a resurrection of life to all those, and those only, that have done that which is pleasing to God and profitable to others in this life. They shall be admitted into the presence of God. They that have done evil will be forever separated from the presence of God and His goodness. The Pharisees thought that the resurrection pertained only to the just, but Jesus rectifies that mistake. Evil doers will be treated in the Day of Judgment as evil men. The resurrection of evil doers who did not repent and turn from their evil ways will be a resurrection of damnation; condemned to everlasting punishment.
Two things are mentioned in John 5:24 that are evidences and results of having everlasting life. The hearing ear and the believing heart are the consequences of having eternal life and not the qualifications for obtaining eternal life. Then it is added, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. Another reason why the believer shall not come into judgment is that he has passed from death, into life.
Jesus said, “the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that hear shall live.” This continues the same thought as in the previous verse, though adding further details. The dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God. His voice alone can penetrate into the place of death, and because His voice is a life-giving voice, the dead hear it and live. The capacity to hear accompanies the power of the voice that speaks, and it is because that voice is a life-giving one that the dead hear and live.
John
This brings us to the sixth proof for the absolute Deity of Jesus; He is co-equal with the Father in judicial authority and power.
John
All
the ungodly dead will hear His voice, and obey it. They refused to hear His
voice when He spoke words of grace and truth, but then they shall be compelled
to hear Him as He utters the dread summons for them to appear before the great
white throne. They would not believe on Him as the Savior of sinners, but they
will have to own Him as “Lord of the dead” (Romans 14:9). Not a glimmer of hope
is held out for them. It is not a resurrection of probation as some modern
distorters of God’s truth teach but it is the resurrection unto damnation. Nothing
awaits them but impartial judgment, the formal and public pronouncement of
their sentence of doom, and after that, nothing but an eternity of torment
spent in the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. As they had sinned in
physical bodies so shall they suffer in a physical body. Instead of a glorified
body, they shall be raised in bodies marred by sin and made hideous by evil,
shame and everlasting contempt. Though capable of enduring tribulation and
anguish they shall not be annihilated by the flames, any more than were the
physical bodies of the three Hebrews in
Two additional thoughts in connection with the Deity of Jesus come out in these last verses. First, the fact that all that is in the graves shall hear the voice of Jesus and shall come forth, proves that He is far more than an exalted creature. Second, who but God is capable of acting as Judge in the heavenly courtroom, no one? He alone can read the heart, and He alone possesses the necessary wisdom for such a task as determining the sentence due to each one of that multitude which will stand before the great white throne. Thus, we see that from start to finish this wonderful passage sets forth the Godhood of the Savior. Let us then honor Him even as we honor the Father, and prostrate ourselves before Him in adoring worship.
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John 5:1-18
“Now
there is at
What
is interesting in Jesus coming to the pool near the sheep gate, the sacrificial
animals were brought to the temple through this gate. Here we are told the pool
that was called
Do you see the importance of noting carefully every little word in Scripture? There is nothing trivial in the Word of God. The smallest detail has a meaning and value. Note the number of porches. In Scripture, the number five is the symbol for grace or favor. It was with five loaves that Jesus fed the hungry multitude. The fifth clause in the Lord’s Prayer or the disciple’s prayer is, “Give us this day our daily bread.” The fifth Commandment was the only one with a promise attached to it. There are many more references in the Bible to the number five.
John
tells us, in these five porches lay a great multitude of those who were sick,
blind, lame and withered, a picture of the condition of the Jewish nation at
that time, a description of the spiritual state of Judaism, as it then existed
and a description of the condition and spiritual state of our nation.
We
must not limit this picture to
The
waters of this pool represent the Law that promised life to all who kept the
law. Who obtained life by meeting its demands, no one of Adam’s fallen race.
The law was weak through the flesh. A perfect man could keep it, but a sinner
could not. Why, then, was the law given; that the offense might be known, that
sin might be revealed, that the sinner might discover his sinfulness. His very
efforts to keep the law, and his repeated failures manifested his utter
helplessness. In like manner, when the angel troubled the water of
A
man was there who had had been thirty-eight years in his sickness. Why should
the Holy Spirit inspire Matthew to tell us the exact length of time this
particular sufferer had been afflicted? What is the meaning and message of
these thirty-eight years? Are we left to guess at the answer? No, Scripture is
its own interpreter if we will but take the trouble to patiently and diligently
search its pages and compare spiritual things with spiritual things.
Thirty-eight years was exactly the length of time that
In this account of the healing of the man at the pool near the sheep gate, we have an illustration of the sovereignty of God. It would have been no difficult thing for the great Physician, God Himself incarnate, infinite in power, with inexhaustible resources at His command to heal the multitude instead of a single individual. For some reason not revealed to us, He passed by the great multitude of sufferers, singled out one man, and healed him. There is nothing whatever in the narrative to indicate that this man was any different from the others. It is impossible to find any reason for Jesus singling him out for special favor. The only explanation is the mere sovereign of Jesus. This is proven beyond the shadow of doubt by His own declaration immediately afterwards, "For just as the Father raises up the dead, and gives them life; even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.”
This miracle of healing was a parable in action. It sets before us a vivid illustration of God’s work of grace in the spiritual realm. Just as the condition of that helpless multitude depicts the depravity of Adam’s fallen race.
Does it seem strange that Jesus would ask the man if he wanted to be healed? The very fact that he was lying there by the pool was an indication of what he wished. Why, then, ask him do you want to be healed? This was not a meaningless question as some might suppose. Is there something deeper in this question? Did Jesus ask the question to impress upon this man the utter helplessness of his condition? A man must be brought to recognize and realize he is unable to solve his problems with out the aid of another. It is not until we discover we are without strength that we will turn to the one that is able to give us the strength we need to turn and alter our lifestyle and live a life pleasing in the sight of the Lord.
Instead of answering the question the man said, “Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up.” In one sense, the man was telling Jesus he was willing to put himself into the hands of Jesus. He supposed he must get into the pool and Jesus would help him get into the pool when the water was stirred. This man had his eyes on the means, the pool, for his healing. His eyes were fixed on man and not God; he was looking for human kindness. How true to life this is, where do we look for help before turning to the Lord?
Jesus told the man, “Get up, pick up your pallet, and walk.”
In this command, there are four elements; first, there is human responsibility, we must respond to the word of the Lord. Jesus told the man to get up. He did not take hold of the man and lift him to his feet. There must be recognition of the authority of Jesus, and immediate response to His orders.
Second, pick up your pallet implies there must be no thought of failure. How many there are who take a few feeble steps, and then return to their beds. The last state of such is worse than the first. If there is faith in the person of Jesus, a submission to His authority, then the new life within will be revealed by an outward action.
“And immediately the man became well, and picked up his pallet and began to walk.” The cure was both instantaneous and complete. Jesus does not put the believing sinner into a savable state. He saves us with a perfect and eternal salvation the moment we believe.
“Now it was the Sabbath” when the man was healed, picked up his pallet, and walked and “the Jews were saying to him who was cured, ‘It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet.’”
How true of life, even today, the one who obeys the Lord must expect to encounter criticism. The one who regulates his life by the Word of God will be met by the opposition of man; even the religious world will oppose him, if he does abide by its creed and observe its rules of conduct. Unless we are prepared to be brought into bondage by the traditions of the elders we must be ready for their questioning.
Jesus was not ignorant of the current teaching about the Sabbath, and He knew what would be the consequences should this healed man carry his bed on the Sabbath. However, he had come here to set His people free from the shackles that religious zealots had bound the people. Never did He bow to the public opinion in His day; nor should we. There are thousands of religious zealots who need to be reminded of Galatians 5:1: "Stand fast therefore in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and be not entangled again with the yoke of bondage." If the child of God is living according to the Scriptures and knows that he is pleasing his Lord, it matters little or nothing what his fellowmen or his fellow-Christians may think or say about him, better far to displease them than to be entangled again in the yoke of bondage.
Note the man’s answer, “He that made me well was the one who said to me, pick up your pallet and walk.” This sets a fine example for us. How simply he met his critics. He did not enter into an argument about their perverted view of the Sabbath: he did not charge them with lack of sympathy for those who were suffering, though he might have done both. Instead, he hid behind Jesus. He fell back upon the Word of God.
This man did what most people do not do today. They request prayer when trouble and death is knocking on their door and God hears the prayers of the righteous and intercedes and they are delivered from their situation. Where do you find them following their deliverance? Do you find them in the worship service? You find them returning to the same situation that put them in the situation that threatened their lives.
The second meeting of the man and Jesus occurred in the temple, a place of public worship the same day Jesus healed the man.
There are several reasons why the man went to the temple, first, because of his infirmity he was not able to go to the temple prior to his healing by Jesus. Second, he went to the temple to thank God for his recovery. When God has at any time restored us our health we ought to make a public testimony of the goodness of God, not to bring praise to ourselves but to the One who has delivered us from evil. Third, because he had carried his pallet on the Sabbath and it was viewed as an act of contempt for the law his going to the temple revealed his obedience to the law. Works of necessity and mercy are allowed; but when they are over, we must go to the temple.
We must go to the temple because after healing us Jesus is not done with us, He applies Himself to the healing of our soul. Notice what Jesus did when He met the man in the temple. Jesus reminded him he has been healed. How soon we forget what Jesus has done for us. Than Jesus cautions him, “do not sin anymore.” This implies that his disease was the punishment of sin, whether some flagrant sin or only of sin in general, we do not know, however, we know that sin is the cause of sickness. Jesus warns that those who are made whole are in danger of returning to sin. Jesus warned the man to go and sin no more “so that nothing worse may befall you.”
Jesus, who knows all men's hearts, He knew that the man He healed was one of those that must be warned of the dangers of returning to a sinful life. Thirty-eight years of lameness, one would think, was a thing bad enough; yet there is something worse that will come to him if he returns into sin after God has given him deliverance. The place where the man lay on his pallet was a sad, depressing, mournful place, but hell is much more so: the doom of apostates is a worse thing than thirty-eight year’s lameness.
After meeting Jesus in the temple, the man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. He probably intended this to bring honor to Jesus and the benefit of the Jews, little thinking that He who had so much power and goodness could have any enemies. Here is evidence that the followers of Jesus must have the wisdom of the serpents and must not cast pearls before swine.
“For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.” See, how absurd and unreasonable their enmity to Jesus was, because He had made a poor sick man well, they persecuted Him, because He did good in Israel, they persecuted Him. See how bloody and cruel they were, nothing less than His blood, His life, would satisfy them. See how they covered up their evil, “Because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.”
In verse 17 we have Jesus’ defense against the charge of breaking the law, He answered them “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” What Jesus is telling us is, on the seventh day God rested only from the work He had done the six days before. Having finished His creative work God, is working every day, Sabbath days and week-days, upholding and governing all the creatures and the movement of nature, therefore, when we are commanded to rest on the Sabbath day, yet we are not restrained from doing that which has a direct tendency to bring glory to God, as the man carrying his bed did. Jesus tells His persecutors what they consider heresy, He compares His work with and part of the work God is now doing. This sets what He does above all exception; He that is doing the work of the Father is not under the authority of man or the powers of nature.
Jesus’ defense made matters worse because in the eyes of the Jews, Jesus was not only a lawbreaker He was making Himself equal with God. What was happening two thousand years ago is still happening those that will not be enlightened by the word of Jesus are enraged and provoked by it, and nothing disturbs or upsets the enemies of Jesus more than asserting His authority.
The enemies of Jesus pretended a zeal for the law and now they pretend a zeal for the honor of God and they charge Jesus with a crime worthy of death. He had said that He worked with His Father, by the same authority and power, and hereby He made Himself equal with God. However, it was unjust charge that he equaled himself with God, for He was and is God, equal with the Father and therefore Jesus in answering this charge, makes His claim and proves that He is equal with God in power and glory by the miracle He performed.
In verses 19-47 Jesus explains, and confirms, His commission, as Mediator in the peace treaty between God and man, as the honors He is entitled to and no man is fit to receive. Therefore, the work He is entrusted with is such as it is not possible for any man to perform and therefore He is equal with the Father.
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John 4:43-54
Although
Jesus was as welcome among the Samaritans as He could be anywhere, and had
better success there. After two days He left
When
Jesus came into
When
Jesus came into Galilee He went to Cana of Galilee. We do not know why Jesus
went to
Some
interpreters claim this nobleman is the centurion in Matthew 8:5-13 and Luke
7:1-10. However, there is a difference, in John’s account the nobleman asks
Jesus to heal his son. In Matthew and Luke’s account the centurion, an officer
in the Roman army asks Jesus to heal his servant. In John’s account, the
nobleman asks Jesus to come to
When
the nobleman heard Jesus was in
In this statement by Jesus, He shows this man his weak faith. Like many people today, this man and the Galileans must see or they will not believe. They are like Thomas who would not believe unless he saw Jesus. They would go no further in believing than signs and wonders drive them. The Word of God does not attract their attention only the phenomenal power of miracles. Those that admire signs and wonders only, and reject the teaching of the Word of God unite themselves with unbelievers.
In the nobleman’s response to Jesus’, rebuke is commendable: he took the rebuke patiently; he spoke to Jesus respectfully. He did not take the rebuke as an insult; he did not deny what Jesus said to him and the Galileans. What we hear in his response is a plea, a troubled soul pleading for mercy. “Come down before my child dies.” This man has come to the place where he has no one else to turn to, if Jesus does not heal his child, the child will die. In this plea, we also hear an appeal to the compassion of Jesus. This man with a dying child seems to take no notice of the rebuke by Jesus. He makes no confession or excuse, for he is wholly taken up with his concern about his child and nothing else matters.
We discover the weakness of his faith in,
First,
Jesus must come to
Second,
he did not believe Jesus could raise a dead child therefore; Jesus must come to
The
power of Jesus is revealed in verse 50; Jesus said go your son lives. Jesus’
words reveal that He not only could heal, but also could heal without going to
Though
Jesus did not do what the father of the child wanted Him to do he believed what
Jesus told him. How quickly and easily, is that which is lacking in our faith
is perfected by the word and power of Jesus, no signs and wonders, just the
words of Jesus and belief. The man believed not only the omniscience of
Jesus that he knew the child had recovered, but also the omnipotence of Jesus
that the cure was affected by His word. He left a dying child in
On his way home, his servants met him with the good news of the child's recovery. Probably they met him not far from his own house, He enquired what hour the child began to recover not as if he doubted the word of Jesus but that he might be able to satisfy any, to whom he should mention the miracle. It is good to furnish ourselves with all the corroborating proofs and evidences of the good works Jesus accomplishes in our lives it helps to strengthen our faith in the word of Jesus. The comparison of the works of Jesus with His word will also be of great use to us for the confirming of our faith.
Two things helped to confirm this man’s faith; first, the child's recovery was sudden and not gradual. The servants told the man the precise time to an hour, yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him. The word of Jesus did not work like medication that must have time to operate, and produce the cure. In men's works, distance and time delay the desired remedy of a situation but it is not so in the works of Jesus. The pardon, and peace, and comfort, and spiritual healing, which He speaks in heaven, are, if He pleases, at the same time effected and wrought in the souls of believers.
The good news that came out of this situation goes beyond the healing of the child. The whole household of the nobleman believed. The father believed the word of Jesus when Jesus told him his son lives, now he believed in Jesus. The experiencing of the power and efficacy of the word of Jesus introduced the authority of Jesus’ dominion in the soul of the nobleman and his household. Jesus has many ways of gaining the heart, and the granting of a temporal mercy leads to greater blessings.
The head of a family cannot force his family to believe in the word and power of Jesus, but he can be instrumental in bringing his family to the Lord. When great men receive the gospel, they may be instrumental to bring it to the places where they live.
The Apostle John informs us the second miracle, referring to the turning of water into wine, to let us know that this miracle was before the many miracles performed by Jesus in Galilee that are recorded in Matthew, Mark, and Luke’s gospels. These first two miracles show that John’s purpose for recording miracles is being fulfilled. People begin believing in Jesus. There is a movement from signs to the savior. They move from wonder to worship.
This second miracle is a sign of Jesus’ Messiahship, demonstrating His deity. The purpose of the miracle in its context was to bring faith. Faith is the result of trusting the words of God for the effects of God. The nobleman believed Jesus when He told him “your son lives.” This miracle stresses the importance of faith in Jesus. It is not necessary for Jesus to be physically present for people to believe His words and experience the effect. This is important to the disciples because Jesus is going to go away, distance is no barrier to the power of God.
Although we may not see it when it happens, afflictions are often a blessing in disguise. What brought the noble man to come to Jesus, sickness? What was the result, “he himself believed and his whole household?” God may use human tragedy to lead people to Himself as the only answer for both physical life and spiritual life.
In the first miracle, we see the Creator of life, in the second the restorer of life.
What can we learn from this miracle? First, faith in God’s word should be preferred over miracles. Miracles only occurred in special times in history, but God’s word is always present. Trusting in the word of God is the key that unlocks the mysteries of life. Throughout the ages, people have continually tried to stress the miracles and perform miracles thinking that people need to see the miracle in order to believe. However, this nobleman believed the Word of Jesus and witnessed the results of believing rather than seeing.
Second, the opportunity to see miracles is so limited that few will have a chance to see and believe. Most will have to just hear and believe.
Third, sometimes God works in the immaturity of our faith to bring us to a more complete faith. Many people fear God but they do not have saving faith in the person of Jesus. If they had saving faith in Jesus, they would not fear God.
Where is your faith? Is it in signs and wonders or is it in the Creator and Restorer of life?
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John 4:27-42
We have here the remainder of the story of what happened
when Jesus was in
It is probable that much more was said than is recorded; but
just when the discourse was brought to a head and Jesus had made Himself known
to the woman as the true Messiah, “His disciples came, and they were amazed
that He had been speaking with a woman, yet no one said, ‘What do You seek’ or
“Why do You speak with her?’” They wondered why Jesus was talking to this
woman, especially with a Samaritan woman, that was not of the lost sheep of the
house of
Therefore, because the disciples were coming to the well,
and broke up the discourse, and perhaps she observed they were not pleased with
it and went into the city. She may have gone into the city so that Jesus might
eat His dinner without any interruptions. She may have believed when Jesus had
eaten His dinner He would continue His journey to
This is an invitation to come and hear His wisdom as she did and they will be of the same mind. She did not use Jesus’ arguments to convince the men to come to where Jesus spoke to her but come and witness the power in His word. Those who can do little else towards the conviction and conversion of others may and should bring them to those means of grace that they themselves have found effectual. When opportunities of getting the knowledge of God are brought to our doors, we are inexcusable if we neglect them. We should take advantage of every opportunity we have to tell the lost what the prophets and kings desired to see. This woman appeals to the convictions of the men, “Is not this Christ?” She does not declare Jesus is the Messiah regardless of her opinion; they must make that decision for themselves. She will not impose her faith upon them, but only propose it to them. By such fair but forcible appeals as these men's judgments and consciences are sometimes taken hold of before they are aware.
The response to the invitation, “They went out of the city,
and were coming to Him” (v. 30). Though it might seem very improbable that a
woman of her character should have the honor of the first discovery of the
Messiah among the Samaritans, yet it pleased God to incline their hearts to
take notice of her report, and not to slight it as an idle tale. Time was when
lepers were the first that brought tidings to
Two things are observable in this discourse; first, Jesus
expresses the joy He had in His work. His work was to seek and save that which
was lost, to go about doing good. At the well in
The work Jesus had done at the well and the prospect He now had of doing good to many, this was meat and drink to Him; it was the greatest pleasure and satisfaction imaginable. The reason why His work was His meat and drink was because it was His Father's work and His Father's will. The will of the Father is the salvation of sinners. Jesus was sent into the world to do the will of the Father, to bring people to God. Jesus made this work His business and delight. When His body needed food, His mind was so taken up with this that He forgot both hunger and thirst, both meat and drink. Nothing could be more grateful to Him than doing the will of the Father. When He was invited to dinner He went, that He might do the will of the Father. Jesus, was not only ready upon all occasions to do the work of the Father, He was earnest in doing the work of His Father and finished His work in all the parts of it. He resolved never to quit it, nor lay it down, until He could say, “It is finished.” Many have the zeal to carry out the works of the Father at first, but not the zeal to carry them to the point they can say, “It is finished.”
Jesus having expressed His delight in doing His Father’s work and will He encourages His disciples in their work, they were workers with Him, and therefore should be workers like Him, and make their work their meat, as He did. The work they had to do was to preach the gospel and to establish the church. This work Jesus compares to harvesting a crop, the gathering in of the fruits of the earth. The gospel time is harvest time, and gospel work is harvest work. Harvest time is a busy time, all hands must be then at work: every one must work for himself that he may reap of the graces and comforts of the gospel: ministers must work for God to gather in souls to Him. Harvest time is an opportunity, a short and limited time, which will not last always; and harvest work is work that must be done then or not at all; so the time of the enjoyment of the gospel is a particular season, which must be improved for its proper purposes; for, once past, it cannot be recalled. The disciples were to gather in a harvest of souls for Jesus.
Jesus suggests three things to them, first, it is necessary work and the occasion for it is urgent and pressing (v. 35), and “the fields are already white.”
Jesus’ heart was, as much upon the fruits of His gospel as
the hearts of others were upon the fruits of the earth; and to this, He would
direct the thoughts of His disciples. Here in this place,
If the faithful reaper saves his own soul, that is fruit gathered to life eternal and if, over and above this, he is instrumental in the saving the souls of others that too is fruit gathered. Souls gathered to Jesus are fruit, good fruit, and the fruit that Jesus seeks.
Finally, the effect of Jesus’ visit made to the Samaritans had upon them, and the fruit that was gathered among them.
First, by the woman’s testimony concerning Jesus had a good influence upon many. One would have thought that His telling the woman of her secret sins would have made them afraid of coming to him, lest he should tell them also of their faults. However, many of the Samaritans of that city believed on Him because of the testimony of the woman. Here we see how God is sometimes pleased to use very weak and unlikely instruments for the beginning and carrying on of a good work, Jesus by instructing one poor woman, spread instruction to a whole town. This is a lesson that every minister, must learn. A minister must never be either careless in their preaching, or discouraged in it, because his congregation is few in number. He never knows what good those who have heard his message may convey to other. Philip preached the gospel to a single man in his chariot upon the road, and he not only received it himself, but also carried it into his country, and propagated it there.
Second, when the men from the city came to the well they asked Jesus to stay with them that they might receive instruction from Him. Those that are taught of God desire to learn more and to be better acquainted with Jesus. Many people will listen to some one that will tickle their ears but these men came from the city to the well to listen to One who would tell them their faults, tell them of their sin and duty. The Samaritans did not have the reputation of being a religious people as the Jews who saw Jesus’ miracles and drove Him from them. The Samaritans, who did not see Jesus’ miracles, invited Him to stay with them.
There were Samaritans that refused to let Jesus go through
their town (Luke
They believed Jesus was a prophet or some extraordinary messenger from heaven; but now that He has spoken to them, they believed that Jesus is the One that was promised to the fathers and expected by them, and that, being the Messiah; He is the Savior of the world. They believed Him to be the Savior not only of the Jews, but also of the world that they hoped included them even though they were Samaritans. These Samaritans, for the sake of the woman's testimony believed and came to hear for themselves the message of salvation. Faith and maturity comes by hearing the testimony of Jesus Himself, and this goes further, recommends His doctrine to our acceptance, and obliges us to believe it as undoubtedly certain. We were first convinced to explore the word of God by those who told us that in them they had found eternal life. However, when we have found it in them and experienced the enlightening, convincing, regenerating, sanctifying, comforting, power of the word, we now believe, because we have searched them and our faith does not stand in the wisdom of men but in the power of God.
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John 4:1-26
As
Jesus and his followers traveled through
When
Jesus knew that the Pharisees had heard He was making and baptizing more
disciples than John, although Jesus did not baptize them, but His disciples.
Jesus “left
The
Samaritans were the descendants of those colonies that the king of
Why
did Jesus go to
When Jesus “came to a city of Samaria called Sychar, near the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph; and Jacob’s well was there. So Jesus being wearied from His journey, was sitting thus by the well. It was about the sixth hour” (John 4:5-6). Sychar is probably the same city named Sichem or Shechem in the Old Testament. Abimelech was made king here; it was Jeroboam's royal seat. Here we are told is a well Jacob dug, or at least used, for himself and his family. We find no mention of this well in the Old Testament but the tradition was that it was Jacob's well.
Though
it was the sixth hour (
This woman's meeting with Jesus at the well may remind us of the stories of Rebekah, Rachel, and Jethro's daughter, who all met their husbands, Isaac, Jacob, and Moses, when they came to the wells for water.
The disciples of Jesus “had gone into the city to buy food” (John 4:8), this gave Jesus an opportunity, without interruptions, to discuss spiritual matters with the woman. Jesus often preached to multitudes yet here He has a congregation of one, a woman, a poor woman, a stranger, a Samaritan. He begins with a modest request for a drink of water. Jesus asked the woman for a drink of water not only because He needed it, and needed her help to get a drink of water, but because He would use the request to gain the attention of the woman.
The woman, though she does not deny Jesus’ request but asks why He is asking her for a drink of water. Two things this woman wonders at, first that Jesus should ask her for a drink of water. The pride of the Jews forbid them asking for any favor from a Samaritan, they would endure any hardship rather than be beholden to a Samaritan. Second, she wonders why Jesus would expect her to give Him a drink of water.
In Jesus’ response to the question, He does not refer to the feud between the Jews and Samaritans. In this life, some hurts are best healed by being slighted and by avoiding all occasions of entering into a discussion about them. Jesus will convert this woman by showing her need of a Savior. He shows her that she has an opportunity of gaining that, which would be an unspeakable advantage to her. She did not have the means that the Jews had to discern the signs of the times, and therefore Jesus tells her expressly that this is the day of her visitation.
First, Jesus hints to her what she should know but was ignorant of, first, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water’” (John 4:10).
This
woman saw Jesus as a Jew, a poor weary traveler; but He would have her know
something more concerning Him that did she did not see. First, He is the gift
of God, the revelation of God’s love (John
Second, it is an unspeakable privilege to have this gift of God proposed and offered to us; to have an opportunity of accepting it.
Third, this gift of God is now speaking to this woman and He is asking her for a drink, in order to offer her “living water,” all she needs to do is ask Him to give her this living water.
Fourth, Jesus assures her what He would have done for her if she had asked Him. He would have given her living water that is not like the water in the bottom of the well, for some of which He asked, but like living or running water, which was much more valuable. The living water Jesus would give to the woman is the Spirit of grace. The graces of the Spirit, and His comforts, satisfy the thirsting soul that knows its own nature and necessity. Jesus can and will give the Holy Spirit to them that ask Him.
The Samaritan woman objects to the gracious intimation that Christ gave her (vv. 11-12). What Jesus spoke figuratively, she took literally; Nicodemus did the same thing. Do you see in this situation and Nicodemus’ situation the confused ideas those who do not understand spiritual things have? Like Nicodemus, the woman expresses respect when she calls Jesus Sir or Lord, but little respect to what He said which she questions.
First, she does not think Jesus capable of furnishing her with any water as the well is too deep. The problem this woman and many people encounter when dealing with Jesus and spiritual things is the power of Jesus. Other people do not doubt the power of Jesus but do not believe His promise, unless the means of the performance of it is visible. This woman saw Jesus did not have a bucket to draw water from the well therefore, it was impossible for Him to give her a drink of water. She speaks, as one who believes Jesus has to do, whatever He does according to our methods. If Jesus was to draw water from the well, He had to use her bucket. Jesus did not need her bucket or our buckets to draw water from the well and give us a drink of living water. The springs of that living water which Jesus has for those that come to Him are secret and undiscovered. The fountain of life hid with Jesus and He has enough water to give to all who come to Him.
Second,
this woman did not think it was possible that Jesus could give her any better
water than this that she could draw from the well. It is possible the tradition
that Jacob, his children, and his cattle did drink water from this well is
true. We may also observe from this tradition the power and providence of God,
in the continuance of the fountains of water from generation to generation, by
the constant circulation of the rivers. Yet, allowing that this tradition is
true this, woman had no right to call Jacob her father. What authority had the
Samaritans to reckon themselves of the seed of Jacob? They were descended from
that mixed multitude which the king of
Third, this woman was way out of line in claiming as not worthy to be compared with Jacob.
Jesus’ response to the woman’s objection and question (vv. 13–14), first, Jesus tells her the water of Jacob's well yield a short-lived satisfaction and supply, “Everyone who drinks of this water will thirst again” (v. 13). It is no better than other water; it will quench the present thirst, but the thirst will return, and in a few hours a man will have as much need and desire for water as ever he had. This represents the infirmities of our bodies in this present state and the imperfections of all our comforts in this world; they are not lasting, nor our satisfaction in them lasting. Whatever waters of comfort we drink of, we shall thirst again. Yesterday's meat and drink will not do to-day's work.
Second, Jesus tells her, the living waters He gives yields a lasting satisfaction. Whoever partakes of the water Jesus gives “shall never thirst.” He that has only a bucket of water will not thirst as long as there is water in the bucket, but it will soon be exhausted and will thrist again. However, believers have in them a well of water, overflowing, ever flowing. It is springing up, constantly in motion, which speaks of the acts of grace strong and vigorous, springing up to “eternal life.”
The living water Jesus gives rises from heaven, and therefore rises toward heaven.
The woman, whether in jest or earnest it is hard to say, asks Jesus to give her some of this water (v. 15). Some interpreters of her request believe she speaks tauntingly and is ridiculing what Jesus has told her. She does not desire the water Jesus said He would give her but challenges Jesus to give her some of this water: Others believe her request was well meant but weak. She understood that Jesus was referring to something good and useful therefore asked Him to give her some of this water. Whatever, the woman’s request for the water is not that she might have eternal life. She wanted the water so that she would never thirst again and have to come to draw water from the well and carry it back to her dwelling place. Jesus knowing what the desire of the woman’s heart was tells her, “Go, call your husband and come here” (v. 16).
Jesus knew what He had said concerning His grace and eternal life did not impress her, because she had not been convinced of sin. Therefore, it is necessary He awakes her conscience, to open the wound of guilt, and then she would more easily understand the remedy for sin. This is the method of dealing with souls; they must first be made aware of the burden of sin they carry, and then brought to Jesus for rest.
Notice
how discreetly and decently Jesus begins to awaken the conscience of this
woman, “Go call your husband and come here.” Jesus does not tell the woman why
He wants her to go and bring her husband to the well. He knew what her response
would be; “I have no husband” (v. 17). Jesus told her, “You have well said, ‘I
have no husband;’ for you have had five husbands, and the one whom you now have
is not your husband; this you have said truly’” (vv. 17-18).
It is probable that Jesus said more to this woman than what is recorded in
these verses because when she returned to the city she told the men, “Come, see
a man who told me all the things that I have done” (v. 29). However, what John
has recorded in these verses concern her husbands. To the woman this is a
surprising narrative of her past. Her problem was not the burying of so many
husbands, but her sin, what we might call a meaningful relationship; in short,
she was committing adultery. Notice how mildly Jesus tells her of her present
situation. What she intended as a denial of the fact, that she had none with
whom she lived with as a husband, Jesus uses as a confession of sin.
Notice,
the woman does not deny the truth of what Jesus has charged her with, but by
her silence admits the charge is true. Her response to the charge is
surprising, she address Jesus as “Sir” and acknowledges Jesus to be a prophet.
The power of the word of Jesus in searching the heart, and convincing the
conscience of secret sins, is proof of its divine authority (1 Corinthians
It
was agreed between the Jews and the Samaritans that God is to be worshiped but
the question is where, in
In
His response, Jesus stresses other things, in the matter of worship, first, the
Samaritans were wrong, not merely because they worshiped in this mountain, but
because of the object of their worship. They worshiped the God of Israel, the
true God but worshiped Him as the God of that land (2 Kings
Second, Jesus describes the worship that God would accept and be well pleased with, it is essential that we worship Him “in spirit and truth” (vv. 23-24). It is not the place where we worship God that is important, but the state of mind in which we worship Him. The most effectual way to deal with differences in the minor matters of religion is to be more zealous in the greater. Those who daily worship in the spirit it does not matter where they worship God. While the place where the Jews worshiped God was the proper place, the temple in Jerusalem, there was a fault in their worship, the worship was ceremonial (Hebrews 9:1, 10). It is possible for us to be right, not only in the object of our worship, but not in the manner of our worship.
Jesus told the woman the time is coming when true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth. True believers shall not worship God by observing the Mosaic ceremonies but the way of worship that Christ has instituted. A way that is rational and intellectual, and refined from those external rites and ceremonies with which the Old Testament worship was both clouded and cumbered. The Mosaic ceremonies were figures of true worship (Hebrews 9:3, 24). The Apostle Paul said, those that returned to Judaism began in the spirit and ended in the flesh (Galatians 3:3).
It is required of all that worship God that they worship Him in spirit and in truth. We must depend upon God’s Spirit for strength and assistance, laying our souls under His influences and operations; we must devote our spirits to, and employ them in, the service of God (Romans 1:9), with all that is within us. We must worship God sincerely. God requires not only the inward part in our worship, but also truth in the inward part. We must mind the power more than the form, must aim at God's glory, and not to be seen of men. We must draw near to God with a true heart (Hebrews 10:22).
We must worship God in spirit and in truth because the gospel times require a spiritual way of worship, so that the professors of the gospel are not true in their profession, do not live up to gospel light and laws, if they do not worship God in spirit and truth. In these last days such worshipers are very rare, and seldom met with, because the gate of spiritual worshiping is strait. Spiritual worship is necessary, and what the God of heaven requires. On the Day of Judgment God will not ask who worshiped at Jerusalem, but who worshiped in spirit.
God requires we worship Him in spirit and in truth because He is spirit. God is a spirit because He is infinite, eternal, intelligent, immaterial, invisible, and incorruptible being. If God were not a spirit, He could not be perfect, infinite, eternal, independent, or the Father of spirits. The spirituality of the divine nature is a very good reason for the spirituality of divine worship. If we do not worship God, who is a spirit, in spirit, we neither give Him the glory due to His name, do not perform the act of worship, nor can we hope to obtain his favor and acceptance, and so we miss of the purpose of worship (Matthew 15: 8-9).
Finally, the woman has no other objection to what Jesus has told her and told Jesus, “I know that the Messiah is coming; when that One comes, He will declare all things to us” (v. 25). The Jews and Samaritans, though so much at variance, agreed in the expectation of the coming of the Messiah and His kingdom. What this woman expects from Him is He will tell her what she needs to know to rectify our mistakes, and put an end to all our disputes. He will tell us the mind of God fully and clearly, and keep back nothing. He will introduce peace by leading us into all truth. It seems, this was the comfort of good people in those dark times that light would arise; if they found themselves unable to understand the conditions of the time it was a satisfaction to them to say, “When Messiah comes, He will tell us all things.
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In verse 11, when Jesus speaks in the plural number He is including Himself and those engaged with Him in preaching the gospel. When Nicodemus said, "We know that you are” he was including himself and those with whom he acted. Jesus in reply said, we, who are engaged in spreading the new doctrines about which you have come to inquire, speak what we know. We do not deliver doctrines that we do not understand. This is a positive affirmation of Jesus, that He had a right to make known this doctrine of the new birth or regeneration. He knew its truth, and those who followed Him knew it. We learn here, that the Pharisees taught doctrines which they did not understand. Every minister of the gospel ought to be able to appeal to his own experience, and to say that he knows the truth that he is communicating to others. Every Sunday-school teacher should be able to say, "I know what I am communicating; I have experienced what is meant by the new birth, and the love of God, and the religion which I am teaching.
Jesus had seen by His omniscient eye all the operations of the Spirit on the hearts of men. His ministers have seen its effects as we see the effects of the wind, and, having seen men changed from sin to holiness, they are qualified to bear witness to the truth and reality of the change. Every successful minister of the gospel thus becomes a witness of the saving power of the gospel.
Even though Jesus spoke of He and His followers knew, and seen and the miracles Jesus performed was evidence of the truth of the new birth yet the doctrine was rejected. The rejection of the truth is not something new; men have and will continue to reject revelation though the strongest evidence attests it, and though it is constantly producing the most desirable changes in the hearts and lives of men. Jesus made it very clear to Nicodemus if he would not believe what He has told him about earthly things whose effects can be seen, he will not believe heavenly things that are not subjected to human sight. He will not understand the more profound and inscrutable things pertaining to the redemption of men.
The lesson taught here is; there are spiritual activities that men do not understand. The reason they do not understand the unseen activity of God even though they see the effects of the activity is the corruptions of their hearts.
There is before us a vast eternity, and there are profound wonders of God's activity in the world to be seen and admired forever and ever. There are events taking place in the world that is beyond the inquiries of human reason, and much more out of the reach of its discoveries. To acknowledge with thankfulness what God has revealed, pleases Him and He takes into consideration that we are of the earth and therefore speaks to us earthly things as a means of making heavenly things easier for us to understand. Jesus did this using miracles and parables. Through miracles and parables, Jesus revealed the corruption of the human nature. Through His miracles and parables, Jesus reveals the truth about earthly things so that we may see and appreciate what God has prepared for those who love and obey Him.
In verse 13, we are
told why we can put our confidence in what Jesus has revealed to us. He
alone was able to reveal to us the will of God for our salvation.
Nicodemus addressed Christ as a prophet; but he is speaking to one
greater than all the Old-Testament prophets, for none of them descended
from heaven. They spoke and wrote by divine inspiration, and not of
their own knowledge. Moses ascended into the mount, but not into
heaven. No man can reveal the knowledge of God and heavenly things as
Jesus has (Matthew
If the new birth or
regeneration of the soul of man is a great mystery, what then is the
incarnation of the Son of Man. These are divine and heavenly things
indeed. He that came down from heaven is certainly more than a mere
man; He is the Lord from heaven (1 Corinthians
Jesus in calling himself the Son of man reveals that He is the second Adam, for the first Adam was the father of man. Of all the Old Testament titles of the Messiah, Jesus chose to use this title because it was most expressive of His humility and most agreeable to His present state of humiliation.
Here is the good news, the Lord of heaven, the Son of God, came to seek and to save the children of men from death, and recover them to life. The children of man are, first, mortally wounded, or sick of an incurable disease, there as dead men so the Son of God came to save us, by healing us, as the Israelites that were stung with fiery serpents were cured and lived by looking up to the brazen serpent (Numbers 21:6-9), in this type of Christ we may observe;
First, the deadly and destructive nature of sin, the guilt of sin is like the pain of the biting of a fiery serpent; the power of corruption is like the venom flowing through the body. The devil is the old serpent, subtle at first but since fiery and his temptations fiery darts, his assaults terrifying, his victories destroy.
Second, the powerful remedy provided against this fatal condition. The condition sinners are in is deplorable; but is it desperate? Thanks be to God, it is not. The Son of Man is lifted up, as Moses lifted up the serpent of brass and the stung Israelites were healed. The serpent was a cursed creature; Jesus was made a curse. That which cured the Israelites reminded them of their plague; so in Christ sin is set before us most fiery and formidable. Jesus was lifted up between heaven and earth, as if he was unworthy of either and abandoned by both. In His exaltation, He was lifted up to the Father's right hand. He was lifted up to the cross, to be further lifted up to the crown.
Third, the way of applying the cure for a sinful nature is by believing that plainly alludes to the Israelite’s looking up to the brazen serpent, in order to be healed. If any stung Israelite lacked confidence in the word of Moses and did not to look up to the brazen serpent, he died of his wound; but every one that looked up lived (Numbers 21:9). If any lack confidence in the word of Jesus and do not believe Him their blood is upon their own head.
Fourth, it was for this end that he was lifted up, that His followers might be saved. The offer that is made of salvation by Him is to everyone who believes in Him, without exception. The salvation offered is complete. They shall not perish, shall not die of their wounds; though they may be pained and frightened, iniquity shall not be their ruin. However, that is not all. They shall have eternal life.
Here is the great gospel mystery revealed. The love of God the Father is the original of our regeneration by the Spirit and our reconciliation by the lifting up of the Son. This magnifies His love in giving Him for us, in giving Him to us. In order to redeem man, it pleased God to give His only begotten Son. He not only sent Him into the world with full and ample power to negotiate a peace between heaven and earth, but He gave Him up to suffer and die for us, as the great propitiation or expiatory sacrifice. It comes in here as a reason why He must be lifted up, it was determined and designed by the Father, who gave Him for this purpose, and prepared Him a body in order to accomplish the task He gave His Son. His enemies could not have nailed Him to a cross if His Father had not given Him.
Behold, and wonder, that God should love such a worthless world. That God should love such a wicked world. The Jews believed that the Messiah should be sent only in love to their nation, but Jesus tells them that He came in love to the whole world, Gentiles as well as Jews (1 John 2:2). Though many of humanity perish, yet God giving his only-begotten Son was an revealing of His love to the whole world, because through Him there is an offer of life and salvation made to all. It is love to the revolted rebellious, a proclamation of pardon and indemnity to all that will come in, plead it upon their knees, and return to their allegiance.
Jesus in the closing of this discourse addresses the deplorable condition of those who persist in unbelief and willful ignorance (vv. 18-21).
How great the sin of unbelievers is, they believe not in the name of the only begotten Son of God. God sent one to save us that was dearest to Him, should He not be dearest to us? Shall we not believe on the One whose name is above every name?
Those who do not believe Jesus is the Son of God are condemned already. The curse has already taken hold of them; they are under the wrath of God. They are condemned already, for their own hearts condemn them. Unbelief may truly be called the great damning sin, because it leaves us under the guilt of all our sins; it is a sin against the cure and appeal.
There are many people who know who Jesus is, but do not know Him and have no desire to know Him. The gospel is light, and, when the gospel came, light came into the world. Light is self-evidencing, so is the gospel; it proves its own divine origin. Light is discovering. It is a light shining in a dark place, and a dark place indeed the world would be without it. It is come into the entire world (Colossians 1:6) and is not confined to one corner of it, as the Old Testament light was. It is the unspeakable folly of the most of men that they loved darkness rather than light, rather than this light. The Jews loved the dark shadows of their law, and the instructions of their blind guides rather than the doctrine of Jesus. The Gentiles loved their superstitious services of an unknown god, whom they ignorantly worshiped. Sinners that were wedded to their lusts loved their ignorance and mistakes, which supported them in their sins, rather than the truths of Jesus, which would have parted them from their sins. Man's apostasy began in a desire for forbidden knowledge; he is kept in a state of apostasy by a love of forbidden ignorance. Sinful man is in love with his sickness, with his slavery and will not be made free, and will not be made whole.
The true reason why men love darkness rather than light is that their deeds are evil. They love darkness because they think it is an excuse for their evil deeds, and they hate the light because it robs them of their self-righteousness by revealing their sinfulness and misery. Their situation is sad; because willful ignorance is so far from excusing sin that it will at the great Day of Judgment, intensify their condemnation. On the Day of Judgment, all humanity will give an account not only for the knowledge they had and did not use, but also for the rejection of the light that came into the world.
It is not strange if those that do evil hate the light of the gospel; every one that does evil hates the light (v. 20). Evildoers seek concealment, out of a sense of shame and fear of punishment (Job 24:13). The gospel is a terror to the wicked world.
The light of the gospel came into the world to reprove the evil deed of sinners to reveal the transgressions of the sinful and show them the evil of their transgressions. It is for this reason that evildoers hate the light of the gospel. They hate the light because they do not want to be told of their faults. All the opposition that the gospel message has met with in the world comes from the wicked heart, influenced by the wicked one, Satan. The world hates Jesus because it loves sin. Those who do not come to the light reveal their hatred of the light. On the other hand, those who hate the evil deeds they do welcome the light. They do not dread the searching beams of the light that explores the dark recesses of the heart. The light that terrifies evildoers it comforts those that welcome the light.
Those who love the
light acts truly and sincerely in all he does. Though sometimes he
comes short of doing good, the good he would do, is the one who comes
to the light. He is ready to receive and put into practice divine
revelation is willing to know the truth about himself and have his
deeds made known. He desires to know the will of God and is willing to
do it even if it is contrary to his own will and interest. Here is the
character of a good work; it is fixed in God, in union with Him by a
covenanting faith, and in communion with Him by devout affections. Our
works are then good. They will bear the test, when the will of God is
the rule of them and the glory of God the end of them. They will bear
the test when they are done in His strength, and for His sake, to Him,
and not to men; then shall we have rejoicing (Galatians 6:4; 2
Corinthians
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John 3:1-21
Nicodemus was a member of the Sanhedrin, the highest and most powerful political body in the Jewish community and a Pharisee. It would probably be safe to say that the Pharisees were the religious conservatives of their day, while their counterparts, the Sadducees were the liberals. The Pharisees believed in the inspiration and authority of the Old Testament Scriptures, the supernatural, miracles, life after death, angels, and demons. They were separatists who made every effort to keep Judaism pure of Gentile influences. They were ritualistic and legalistic. They interpreted the Old Testament in accordance with oral traditions passed down and recorded in almost endless volumes.
The most tragic part of this account of conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus is he thought that his political position and his religion was what made him acceptable before God. Throughout history, the one thing that has kept many men and women from God’s saving grace is the very thing upon which they rely, their religion. Religious men and women will never make it to heaven and Jesus will tell us why.
Nicodemus came to Jesus and said to Him, “Rabbi, we know that You have come from God as a teacher; for no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him” (v. 2). Nicodemus was expecting the Messiah to appear and establish His kingdom. He was aware the day was at hand when the Messiah would appear because of the conditions existing in the world. He believed Jesus is either the Messiah or His prophet, and therefore he comes to Jesus to verify what he believes. Jesus knowing why Nicodemus has come to Him said to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly,” an expression of strong affirmation, denoting the certainty and importance of what He will tell Nicodemus, in other words, “pay very close attention to what I am going to say to you.”
The question might be asked,” why did Jesus speak to Nicodemus in this manner; but it should be remembered that Nicodemus acknowledged that Jesus was a teacher come from God; that he implied by his readiness and desire to receive instruction therefore, that Jesus should begin the instructions in this manner is not surprising. In this conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus, Jesus will not compromise the truth, He will declare to every man, high or low, rich or poor, the most humbling truths of the gospel. Jesus will not candy coat the truth for fear of offending men of wealth or power. He will declare an indispensable experience, as the first step to entering the kingdom of heaven, a change of heart and of life, “Unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of heaven.”
This is a universal requirement. It includes all humanity. It includes, therefore, men of every character and rank, and nation, moral and immoral, rich and poor, in office and out of office, old and young, bond and free, the slave and his master, Jew and Gentile. It is clear that Jesus intended to convey to Nicodemus the idea, it was not sufficient to be a Jew, or to acknowledge Jesus to be a teacher sent by God or the Messiah; it was necessary, in addition to this, to experience in his own soul that great change called the new birth or regeneration.
It is evident; however, that Nicodemus did not understand Jesus was not speaking of a physical birth but a spiritual birth. If he understood what Jesus was referring to he would not have asked, ‘How can a man be born when he is old? He cannot enter a second time into his mother’s womb, can he?”
Our natural birth is the commencement of life, the beginning of our existence; but it also introduces us to a world of sin. By nature, we are dead in trespasses and sins. To escape from sin, to be happy in the world to come, it is necessary that a change must occur that changes a person’s viewpoint of life and lifestyle. This change, or the beginning of this new life, is called the new birth or regeneration, because in many respects it has a striking similarity to the natural birth. It is the beginning of spiritual life. It introduces us to the light of the gospel, the moment when God reveals himself to us as our reconciled Father, and adopted into His family as His sons.
To show the necessity
of this change Jesus directs the attention of Nicodemus to the natural
condition of man, we are not fit to enter the
Confused by what Jesus said Nicodemus spoke of entering again into his mother's womb, and being born; but, if he could enter his mother’s womb a second time and been born again what would it accomplish? If he were born of his mother a hundred times that would not change anything because that which is born of the flesh is still flesh and a clean thing cannot be brought out of an unclean Job 14:4). He must be born of the Spirit, or he cannot become spiritual.
Though man consist of body, soul, and spirit, by indulging in the appetite of the flesh, in eating forbidden fruit he subjects his soul to the tyranny of sensual lust, and became no longer a living soul but flesh. The living soul became dead and inactive; thus the day he sinned, he surely died. In this degenerate state, he begat a son in his own likeness and transmitted the deadly disease sin to his descendants. To this day, corruption and sin are woven into our nature and that makes it necessary that the nature be changed. It is not enough to put on a new coat or a new face, but we must put on the new man, we must be new creatures.
Jesus makes it very clear the new birth or regeneration is necessary when He said, “Do not be amazed that I said to you, ‘You must be born again’” (v. 7). Jesus has said it, and He will never annul or abolish what He has said regardless of what man may say. He who is the great Lawgiver, whose will is a law, the great Mediator of the new covenant, and has full power to settle the terms of our reconciliation to God and happiness in Him, the great Physician of souls, has said, “You must be born again.” We are not to be amazed. When we consider the holiness of God and the depravity of our nature, we shall not think it strange that so much stress is laid upon this as the