November 16, 2003 John 5:25-29
25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
“I tell you the truth”. Jesus said this more than once in Scriptures. What he literally said was, “amen, amen.” “Amen” is one of the only words in the history of language that has retained the same sound and meaning throughout the ages. It has meant and sounded the same in Hebrew, Greek, Latin and English. It is almost identical -- to the Hebrew word for “believe”, or “faithful”. Thus, it came to mean “sure” or “truly”, an expression of absolute trust and confidence. So when Jesus started this section of God’s Word with “amen,” Jesus was calling our attention to a universal and lasting truth - something you can bank on and trust in - an “amen.”
Indirectly Jesus was making a contrast between HIS words and those of the world. The older I get, the more cynical I have become of people’s words - the words of the world. I don’t know how many times people have looked me in the eye and say, “I’ll be in church this Sunday,” and then never show up. I had one guy come to church and also call me and ask for money, telling me how he had three children in Topeka and needing money. Instead, I offered him food - got it out and by the door, and he never showed up. Several months later, I saw the same guy in a parking lot, and this time he told me he was from Lawrence and stranded needing gas money to get home. How a guy like that can look someone in the face and lie makes me sick. Words like these end up meaning nothing to me because they’re cheap. They come a dime a dozen, and they have no legs.
Really, my words aren’t much better. When I tell myself that I need to go and visit someone who has been neglecting the Word of God, or have devotions with my wife and children EVERY day, but then opt to find other things to do, I realize that for me also, “words are cheap.” What we say we’ll do and what we do are two different things. Think about how disgusted God must be with us for so often going back on our word. If you say you’re going to do something - if you make a commitment - you should hold to it. There’s a consolation to our legless words. In contrast to what we so often do,
The Words of Christ Have Legs
I. They give spiritual life now
As Jesus was walking along the Sea of Galilee, a synagogue ruler by the name of Jairus fell at Jesus’ feet and begged him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” Shortly thereafter, however, some men came from Jairus household and told Jairus his daughter had died. Jesus ignored what they said and told the ruler, “don’t be afraid, just believe.” Would his words hold true? When Jesus arrived, everyone was crying and carrying on, as would be expected at the death of a little girl. But Jesus said, “what are you crying for, the child is just asleep.” “Ha,” the people thought and laughed. “These are the words of a madman - he doesn’t know what he’s talking about.” In their minds, Jesus was just speaking words without legs. They had seen that the girl was clearly dead, so Jesus didn’t know what he was talking about. Jesus walked into the room with the parents and Peter, James, and John. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means, “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and walked around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. Jesus was not just speaking lifeless words - His words - “Talitha koum” - were able to raise this girl from the dead. It had nothing to do with how well the girl could hear - she was dead and deaf. No, the power came from the WORDS Jesus spoke. His words had legs. His words became so powerful in fact, that when Jesus offered to go to the centurion’s house to heal his servant he said, just say the word, and my servant will be healed. He had come to trust in Jesus’ words and commands - he knew they were powerful - that they had legs.
Jesus knew He had this power and he said as much. In today’s text he said, I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. With His voice Jesus had created the world. With his voice Jesus had defeated demons and fought off Satan’s temptations. With his voice He had healed the sick and the deaf and brought the dead back to life. But in context the specific power that Jesus was claiming for Himself in this verse was to bring people to SPIRITUAL life. Being alive spiritually means to think and do things with a motivation that goes beyond this world. Everything in this world is ultimately bound to die and to burn. It is in and of itself dead. When I save up and work for a new TV, that new TV will get old and eventually be thrown out. In the end, it’s dead. That’s the way everything we live and work for is in this world. But the voice of Jesus tells us that there is life beyond the grave. He tells us that God intervened in our lives - became one of us and experienced our temporalness - to give us an eternal life. Jesus tells us that eternity is ours because He lived and died and rose from the dead. Only in Jesus Christ do I find out that there’s more to life than an endless circle of making money and paying bills. Only in Jesus do I realize that there is life beyond death - and that there is forgiveness and salvation. Only in the words of Christ do I find out that I’m not just here to survive - but I’m here to serve my Savior. Life in the spiritual sense is means being able to do things with real hope - real happiness - and real purpose in life. It means that I believe I will live forever - that there are eternal consequences. You won’t find that in the Fortune 500. You only find it in the Word.
That’s why the Psalmist said in Psalm 119, I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word. That’s why we insist that our members come to worship on a regular basis. That’s why our services always have Scripture readings. That’s why our Bible classes are always using Bible verses and Bible stories. That’s why our songs are always containing Scriptural truths. That’s why some of our members get upset if they feel a sermon or a Bible class doesn’t use what they feel is enough Scripture. We believe the same as what Paul said - I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes. The words of Christ are where our spiritual life is found and fed. This is what we confess. This is what we believe.
But here’s the strange thing. If we really believe that Jesus’ words are life giving, how come we only have about one quarter of our membership in a regular Bible study? How come we only have about half of our members attending worship every Sunday? How come we aren’t having regular devotions and Bible reading at home? How come some of us actually say that studying God’s Word is boring? If we really believe it’s life giving, is it legitimate to avoid coming because we say “it doesn’t apply to me” or because we are “busy”?
I believe it comes back to the same issue - that our words don’t have legs - we say that we BELIEVE it’s life giving - but we don’t live that way. When a man prays but doubts that he will receive anything from God, James said that “he should not think he will receive anything from the Lord.” When we approach the Bible with the same “faith”, what is the difference? If you come to Bible class expecting to be bored, how can you expect any less? If you start devotions expecting to get nothing out of it, do you think you’ll get anything out of it? If we really believe that Jesus’ words are life giving, how come we don’t turn to it more often? When Jesus approached that dead girl, do you think she was eagerly waiting on Jesus’ every word? Of course not. She was dead. Yet Jesus spoke anyway. He said to her, “talitha koum.” He said to the widow’s son, “young man, I say to you, get up.” He told King Herod that He was the Christ. Even though people laughed at him, Jesus wasn’t afraid of speaking to dead people. He wasn’t intimidated by people who don’t want to listen. Why? Because He knew that His words were more powerful than death - they were life. Here’s an even neater thing. Even though they didn’t believe they were life giving, they still gave life ANYWAY. When Jesus spoke to dead people, they came to life. Instead of giving up, He just kept on speaking the Word. Isn’t that why we’re still here today? In spite of our lack of faith in the Word of God - in spite of our lack of interest, God’s Word still works often times in spite of us. It was His Word that motivated you to get out of bed and come to worship this morning. It was His promise of salvation that motivated you to sing praises to Him. It was His promise of forgiveness that overcame your depression and lack of faith so that you could still have some joy. His words are still working through death today - in this very service. This shouldn’t surprise us, for Jesus SAID that His words had the power to bring the dead to life. His words have legs.
II. They give physical life on Judgment Day
His words aren’t done running - they still aren’t done giving life. As Peter said, “the word of the Lord stands forever!” It is going to continue to show this power into eternity. Jesus said, “a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out. Think about what an amazing scene this will be! It sort of reminds me of a story in 1 Samuel about Saul and the witch of Endor. God had stopped talking with Saul after he basically had fallen from faith. But Saul desperately wanted to find out if he would win a battle against his rival Philistines who had come to fight him. So Saul went to a witch to try and conjure up Samuel from the dead, so he could find out whether he would win a battle or not. Somehow it appears that God allowed her to actually bring Samuel’s spirit up from the dead and talk with Saul. But how did he react? Samuel said to Saul, “Why have you disturbed me by bringing me up?” He was not happy about being brought temporarily back to the earth - but nonetheless he used the time there to reconfirm to Saul that he was under God’s condemnation.
Imagine then the reaction of all of those people who rejected God’s Word - who died in this world thinking that they would never walk, never talk, and never see their bodies again. Millions of people have spent their lives running away from Jesus’ voice. They’ve called for the removal of the Bible from their schools and the Ten Commandments from their court houses. The atheists of this world have cried for freedom from religion. Many have even had their bodies burned and their ashes scattered with the thought that they’d never walk the earth again. Because of their evil rejection of God, those same people are now suffering in hell now without their bodies. Imagine how terrifying it will be for them to hear the voice of the Lord, and realize that the same bodies they had burned or thought would never walk are now alive again - only to be physically thrown into an eternal torment - where they will burn in hell forever. Samuel was upset for being brought back to earth to just talk to Saul and condemn him. Think about how angry the evil people of this world will be to now face the truth that they are going to have to face eternity physically suffering under God’s wrath. Even though their ears have been burned and decayed, and even though they spent their lives running from his voice, the trumpet and the voice of the Lord will still wake them up. Like waking up from a terrible hangover, this “alarm clock” will tell them, “GET UP and GET YOUR EVIL BONES out of the grave and now burn forever!” Then these evil people will have no choice but to hear the terrible judgment of the voice of Christ - “depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels.”
But there is good news too. Jesus said that the good will rise to live. Like waking up after a good night’s sleep, the good will be raised to live eternally in heaven - without tears, pain, back pains or sorrow, and ready to face a new day. We don’t believe God’s Word is powerful. We don’t study God’s Word as much as we should. We don’t give our children God’s Word as much as we should. But, hey, we’re still at least “good”, aren’t we? That’s what the world likes to think. Parents see their children get drunk and have sex, but they still say, “he’s a good kid though.” Hmmm. What did Paul say about this “good” idea? Didn’t he say - “I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. For I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out”? (Romans 7:18) Didn’t Isaiah say that all of our righteous acts are only like filthy rags in and of themselves? (Isaiah 64:6) Didn’t Jesus also say, “There is only One who is good.” (Matthew 19:17) So if we understand good in the way Paul describes it or Jesus does, then only God will end up in heaven.
The whole key to understanding Jesus’ idea of “good” is to look in context. In last week’s text Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” Goodness, within context, is not based on what I do or how I act, but on listening to God’s Word and believing in Jesus as your Savior. In order to be a “good boy,” I have to admit I’m a bad boy, and that I can’t be saved by what I do. In order to be good in God’s eyes, I need to have the Word of God show me what really is good in God’s sight. Since Jesus said that there is only One who is good - then I need to be like God. So if I want to be good - like God - in God’s sight, I have to be covered with God. That’s why Jesus came. 2 Corinthians 5:21 says, God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. The whole concept of goodness in God’s eyes is not based on what WE do, but on what Christ did. That’s why Paul called the believers in Ephesus “saints”, because they were IN CHRIST JESUS. (Ephesians 1:7) Paul realized that his own works were sinful. Yet in Acts 23:1, Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day. How could Paul say that? How could he have a good conscience when he knew he was sinful? Because he had held to God’s Word and trusted God’s Word that declared him righteous in Christ.
Do you understand this concept of what is really good? Imagine that there were two ditch diggers who were commanded by their boss to dig ditches with the shovels he gave them. The first man went to work, but he had a bad back. So he shoveled on and off throughout the day, but had to take frequent breaks. He wanted to work hard for the boss, but his body just wasn’t cooperating - so his ditch was only five feet long. The second man also had a bad back, so he thought to himself, I’ll just go rent a back hauler. Throughout the day he worked hard, running the machine with breakneck speed, digging two hundred feet of ditches, and just using the shovel to measure his progress. The other workers all stood in awe of what he was doing. They thought he was much smarter and better than the other man who used the shovel to dig. But when the boss got back, he was angry with the back hauler. Why? Because his back hauler had ruined the yard and dug in places that the boss didn’t want because he was trying to show off to everyone. He didn’t use what the boss had told him to the way he was supposed to. Because of this he was fired, even though he had good intentions. But the other man who did less work was commended for his work, even though it wasn’t great in the eyes of the world.
God’s Word says in Ephesians 2:8-10 that it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. Many people ridicule our way of salvation. They say that we don’t do as much work or as hard of work as their religions do. They accuse Christians of being lazy. We admit, we often are. We don’t do as much as others. We don’t do as much as we should. But we are still using the equipment that God has told us to use - the righteousness of Christ. We are listening to His Word. We are relying on Christ - not ourselves - for our salvation. This is what God ultimately considers “good.” Because of this, God will graciously say to us, “well done, good and faithful servant, ” even though we haven’t really been “good” at all. This is what we look forward to hearing.
History has had it’s share of what the world would consider “loud mouths” - people who love to tell people what they think or believe. Sometimes people love them and shout “amen”, and sometimes they hate them. Martin Luther’s voice was hated by the Catholic Church - they wanted him silenced, but he was loved by many others. Just recently Rush Limbaugh turned himself into a drug clinic because of an addiction to pain killers. I would imagine that those who can’t stand him were delighted to hear that his voice would be off of the airwaves for a month, while others miss him. What some people especially love is when these “loud mouths” are proved wrong. They love to quote their false predictions and hypocritical lifestyles and prove them to be liars. Even though vocal people might have a lot of good to say - one wrong thing word - one unfulfilled promise - one hypocritical move - can ruin their trustworthiness forever.
Jesus’ words have been proclaimed throughout the ages. He has never been proven wrong or hypocritical. In spite of this, there are many who are tuning Jesus Christ out of their lives. Not only are they doing this, they are actively trying to shut down all of his “radio stations.” Why? Because His words condemn those who don’t believe in him. His Law sends them to hell and makes them guilty - and they hate it. But His Word also shows them God’s love and salvation - offers them life and peace. But they hate that as well, for they want to establish their own righteousness - their own goodness. Nevertheless, His Word has had legs and it still gives life. This Word is what brought us here and showed us we are forgiven and holy through Jesus’ blood and righteousness. As Jesus’ saints, we can trust Jesus words will be true when He says there will be a resurrection of the dead. We can believe Him when He says we are good through faith in Him. Why? Because His words have legs. They have always proven true, and they always will. Do I hear an “Amen”? Amen.
