Scripture Introduction
The events we are about to read occur after Jesus’ healing of a paralytic. An invalid for 38 years, this man’s only hope was the rumor of an angel coming down from heaven, dipping his wings into a pool, and creating a healing balm for the first person to enter the water. But, as he told Jesus in John 5.7: “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” So Jesus heals the man.
He does so for at least three reasons: to demonstrate his power, to prove his authority, and to point to himself as God’s Messiah (God’s chosen answer to the separation we experience as a result of sin). Unlike modern claims, this miracle is verifiable, dramatic, instantaneous, lasting, and done so as to prevent deniability of either the disease before or the cure afterwards.
We might anticipate a response at least of respect and possibly even reverence for such a work. But, instead, Jesus is rebuked for dishonoring the Sabbath. Today we hear his response, which is centered around this theme “You don’t know who I am; let me tell you so that you can understand.” If you have a Bible and would like to follow along, I will be reading John 5.16-29. [Pray.]
Introduction
The transition from spring to summer is a significant time for many people. Students graduating from High School are preparing for college and a completely different life. Others are beginning a career, and life will never be the same. In addition to these seasonal events, some of us are dealing with sickness in our families, death of a parent, daily difficulties which make us examine our lives. Plus this is Memorial Day weekend, and beside thoughts of expensive gasoline, many people do reflect on war and death and sacrifice and the purpose of life.
Is the bumper sticker correct? “He who dies with the most toys wins.” Is that why you learned to read, struggled with math, maybe continued your education, got a job and bought insurance? So you could purchase toys and then protect them from theft or damage? Is that the point?
This text actually does not ask that question, nor directly answer it. The passage is about Jesus – his person and his power. But in telling us those things, Jesus also teaches us that who he is and what he does is the key for answering all sorts of questions. In the context, he is criticized about the Sabbath; but rather than deal with the concern directly, he responds by stepping away from the details of their debate in order to give a broader and bigger picture.
Distance is often helpful to understanding. Some of you are history students. You know from your studies that while a person is in the midst of events unfolding, it can be impossible to know what is really happening. That is one reason soldiers are taught to follow orders – not because they cannot be trusted, but because others stand above the fog of war to determine the best course of action.
You know it from watching football. You see the safety blitz, but no matter how loudly you yell at the television, the result is a bone-jarring sack. The quarterback flawlessly executed a three-step drop and had an open receiver in his sight. But his perspective did not include the whole field.
We must work to overcome the error of focusing on the fine points so much that we miss the main event which gives the details meaning. This problem often troubles the church. We see it here with the Jewish leaders, but similar difficulties have hurt our denomination. Sometimes we agonize over one word in the confession or one detail of theology, and may lose track of the One we are writing about.
The most effective people, the leaders with the greatest influence, the women and men who help an organization advance while holding it together, are usually those who do both. They care about the details and work to solve specific problems; and they never lose sight of the big picture. They see how the gory details relate to the greater drama. Athanasius fought “against the world” over one letter. How did he know the detail was worth fighting over? Because he also kept in mind the big issue – the insistence of this text that all honor the Son as they do the Father.
The men who accuse Jesus missed the drama. They are so focused on what can and cannot be done on the Sabbath day, that they do not see the God who created the Sabbath when he performs fantastic miracles. So Jesus pulls them back, he gives a “wide angle” view. He teaches who he is and what authority he has – and expects this new perspective to redefine their Sabbath questions. That same perspective should guide our pursuit of purpose. There are three reasons we need help with a greater perspective. Notice, first…
1. We Must Be Given the Bigger Picture Because We Cannot See How to Live from Who We Are (John 5.19-21)
On Thursday I heard a radio interview of a young woman who was uploading blues songs to the web. To explain why she did this, she said that some people are cops and some collect things, and, well this is just what we do. Our family does this.
It is not as common as it used to be, but it was well understood in Jesus’ day that a son would learn the trade of his father and continue in it when he became a man. Daughters would learn homemaking and cooking and care of children and would be prepared to be a wife and mother when they grew up.
Jesus uses this common expectation to say that he is simply doing what his Father does. God never ceases to do the good work of holding the universe together and causing all things to work for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose. “So I am doing just that,” says Jesus. “It is no more a sin for me to heal on the Sabbath than for God to bring rain and cause the wheat to grow.”
In saying this, Jesus makes absolutely clear his claim to be equal in essence with God the Father: “What God does, I do. God the Father raises the dead; I raise the dead. God gives life to whom he will; I give lives to whom I will.” Verse 16 reminds us that the Jews persecuted Jesus for breaking the Sabbath; for this, they would seek to kill him.
Andreas Köstenberger (Professor of New Testament and Greek at Southeastern Baptist Seminary), p. 187: “According to Jesus, the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it, just as the Father raised the dead and gives them life. The Old Testament and Second Temple literature concur that raising the dead and giving life are the sole prerogatives of God. Jesus’ contemporaries therefore did not believe that the Messiah would be given authority to raise the dead. This renders Jesus’ claim all the more startling…, not merely to be God’s instrument in raising other people, but to give life himself to whom he is pleased to give it.”
Jesus’ claim to deity is clear enough in this text, but how does it relate to the purpose of life? Two ways.
First, notice (in verse 21) that “the Son gives life to whom he will.” Think carefully – if the Son gives life, then before he does so we are dead. Jesus tells these men that they cannot see the big picture because they cannot see – they must be given spiritual life to see spiritual realities. (Like Elisha and his servant who could not see the heavenly armies.) This is the same truth Jesus taught Nicodemus: “Unless one is born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of Heaven.” We cannot understand our purpose until the Son gives life.
We were at a Museum on Tuesday. On more than one occasion, some child would stand in front of another person, push someone aside, or cut in line to get where he wanted to go. Standing back, I observed that young kids have no idea that others are in the room. Because of who they are – five-year old children – they cannot see what is going on around them. To know and live with purpose, you must see the big picture, and that requires “new life” from Jesus.
Second, realize that purpose comes from doing what the Father does. We cannot compare ourselves to Jesus in obedience. Yet the Bible is clear – our purpose is to do the Father’s will.
A few years ago it was popular to wear WWJD bracelets. I’m not really a bracelet kind of guy, nor do I usually get excited by the latest craze. But there was a truth there, even if expressed tritely – part of determining what we are to do in a given situation is to ask, “What Would Jesus Do?” Or, as the Apostle Paul explained it, “Follow me as I follow Christ.”
We cannot expect those who have not received new life to want to imitate Jesus, just as we cannot expect a 5-year-old boy to walk around when someone is getting ready to snap a picture at the museum. It is not who they are. But for all who know him, who have a new, spiritual life, you can see that the purpose is to do the Father’s will.
2. We Must Be Given the Bigger Picture Because We Cannot See How to Live from What We Hear (John 5.22-24)
Many voices shout for our attention every day, seeking to dictate our purpose. They may not say it in words, but they are clear: “Live for yourself,” “Grab all the gusto you can,” “Earn enough money to retire in comfort,” “Look out for number one,” “Eat, drink, and be merry.”
A young woman, concerned about this issue, went to her pastor and asked for help resolving the question of her purpose, especially when it seemed that her desires contradicted the will of God. The pastor took out a slip of paper, wrote on it, folded it in half, handed it to her and asked her to go to the sanctuary, read the paper, ponder the words for at least ten minutes, then cross out one of the two words, and bring the paper back. When she opened the paper after sitting in the sanctuary, she saw the words were: “No” and “Lord.”
Which would you cross out? Will you hear the Lord and follow him, or the world and not? Jesus returns to the theme of his equal glory to God the Father, so that we will see that we must hear his voice over all others. Everyone knows that God will judge the wicked – here we find out that the actual judgment is given to the Son so that all may honor the Son just as they honor God the Father.
Again, two ways this helps determine the point of life.
First, it is our purpose to honor Jesus Christ. Second, we must hear his word in order to do so.
The point is not to get an education. The point is to hear the Word of Jesus and to honor him in the way we choose a school, the process of applying, the tone we use when we talk with our parents about college, the way we study and the way we test, and the classes we chose to take.
The point is not to get a job. The point is to hear the Word of Jesus and to honor him in the way we treat our employer, the attitude we have toward money, the honesty we exhibit in the little details, the respect we demonstrate toward fellow workers.
The point is not to get married. The point is to hear the Word of Jesus and to honor him in the way you look at young ladies, the words you say to their parents, the behavior you show to one another.
The point is to honor the Son and to hear his word. Maybe some of you are not thrilled by the thought of honoring Jesus in everything you do. The Jews certainly were not. Look carefully at verse 24: “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.”
It does not say that by hearing and believing you will have eternal life. Rather, hearing and believing (and in the context, honoring the Son) are proof that you already have eternal life. Life is not something we attain at the last day if we have been good here or if we prayed the prayer and walked the aisle. Life is something Jesus gives now, a power and joy in hearing and believing and honor the Son.
An Army veteran named John Crabtree had been receiving benefits because he was wounded in Vietnam. One day an official notification from the government arrived: they had confirmed his death. Needless to say, he was quite shocked! Mr. Crabtree wrote the government explaining that he was very much alive and needed to receive the benefits. That did no good. Neither did calling. He even contacted a local television station, showed them the letter and convinced them to run a human-interest story about his situation. During the interview, the reporter asked, “How do you feel about this ordeal?” The veteran chuckled and said, “Well, I’m a little frustrated; After all, have you ever tried to prove that you’re alive?”
Jesus is asking that question of the Jews, and of us. Does your life prove that you are alive? Unless you are, then you will not be able to hear what the point of life is.
3. We Must Be Given the Bigger Picture Because We Cannot See How to Live Unless We Die (John 5.25-29)
Andree Seu wrote a helpful article in last week’s World Magazine. She noted how hard it is to know what to do and how to live when we are in the middle of a mess. “But the end of a matter is what counts (Ecclesiastes 7:8). If the end is nice, the middle mess is not only bearable but takes on the endpoint’s sheen.” She then quotes C. S. Lewis, The Great Divorce: “Not only this valley but all this earthly past will have been Heaven to those who are saved…. This is what mortals misunderstand. They say of some temporal suffering, ‘No future bliss can make up for it,’ not knowing that Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.”
We all have felt, at times, that we could do the right thing and stand strong if we just knew the purpose for our struggles. Why is it happening? What is going on? God does not answer that, does he?
Instead, he says that in the end you who believe will receive the resurrection of life and what you now perceive dimly will all become clear.
A church in New York in 1963 closed down and someone stuck a sign on the outside of the front door: “Gone out of business. Didn’t know what our business was.”
Is your business honoring Jesus Christ? Is your business listening to his word? Is your business following him in every area of your life? If not, then, like these Jews, you need to pass from death to life. If you can hear and you long to know your purpose in life, it is this: to honor and please the Son by faith in the future blessings of doing so.
4. Conclusion
Ralph Barton was a cartoonist. He left this note before killing himself: “I have had few difficulties, many friends, great successes; I have gone from wife to wife, from house to house, visited great countries of the world, but I am fed up with inventing devices to fill up twenty-four hours of the day.”
Barton’s life lacked purpose. But God is gracious, and this text offers both a challenge and a promise to ensure that your life and labor will not end up in regret.
One of golf’s immortal moments came when a Scotchman sought to demonstrate the new game to President Ulysses Grant. Carefully placing the ball on the tee, he took a mighty swing. The club hit the turf and scattered dirt all over the President; the ball remained on the tee. Again he swung with all his might, and again he missed. The President quietly stated, “There seems to be a fair amount of exercise in the game, but I fail to see the purpose of the ball.”
Only one voice can give purpose to life. The voice of the One who is life, and has life in himself, and gives life to whom he will. You think about that.
