This week we’ll finish up our in-depth look at Jesus’ conversation with the Jews as they persecute Him for healing the man that was lame for 38 years on the Sabbath. • Jesus is being very clear on > o Who He is o What He has come to do > show us the Father • 14 times, Jesus uses the phrase My Father referring to Yaweh… Verse 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. The office of mediator, the position of Savior, Jesus is so very qualified because He lived among us, He understands us not only completely as our Creator, but also empirically. Turn over to Hebrews Chapter 4. Look with me at verses 14 through 16. Jesus, the Lord, knows. He sees. He has walked in the place where you may be at this morning. He has felt the pain of loneliness, the sting of sorrow…the bible says here that we have a God that is able to sympathize with His creation…How comforting is it when you are going through something and someone comes alongside you that has been through the same thing? That is the God we serve… Therefore, come boldly to the throne of grace, in faith, you have direct access through Jesus who completely understands you, and find grace and find help…being comforted by One who is most able to comfort you and to uphold you. Jesus said in Matthew 11, “Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. Rest! Leads to Restoration and restoration leads to Restraint. Our flesh says retail therapy. Our flesh says stay up late, veg and then sleep in late…you need some rest…so backwards! This world says naw its just normal…no its not…Jesus did not come to give us restless life but alive life! Life that is a joy! Yet we judge ourselves unworthy because we are ruled by our flesh, like a moth to the flame. Verse 28, “Do not marvel at this, (the look on their faces… telling) for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth…those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. Jesus is speaking of the coming day of final judgment…in which all will obey the command of the Lord and come forth…many may choose to disobey the call of the Lord now but it is to their demise because one day they will not have that luxury and all will come forth… Those that are saved will approach the throne seat of grace for their works done in the Lord to be tried by fire…and those that remain, rewarded…those that are not saved will approach the throne seat of justice, or the White Throne Judgment Seat (Rev 20), and receive the sentence of eternal condemnation…which they have secured for themselves… Verse 30, Jesus now returns to His teaching on His relationship with the Father, I can of Myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. You’ve probably heard many times, especially from the world, “hey look man, doesn’t the bible say judge not lest ye be judged first?” (funny how the world speaks in the KJV)…you’ve even probably had a fellow Christian offer this verse up (which by the way is Matthew 7:1) in defense of either themselves or someone else…or the T-shirt… But Jesus sets the record straight here and I want you to be very clear on this topic of judging others…we are most certainly to use our judgment in serving and loving others…however be very clear that the judgment the bible directs us to carry out must be a) righteous and b) carried out by one who is, as Jesus says here, not seeking his own will. Ok so what is righteous judgment? Great question. Important question. Jesus here in John 5:30 gives us a partial definition when He says My judgment is righteous because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me. Therefore, righteous judgment seeks the will of the Father, not the will of the follower… Now, turn over to John 7:24, here Jesus will complete the definition of righteous judgment as he states, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge (see that, Jesus commands us to judge) with righteous judgment.” And so righteous judgment is not according to appearance which appeals to your senses, your sensual self, your flesh, but listen, judge based on the Word of God and then go and prayerfully confront a brother or sister or whomever seeking the will of the Father alone…that is to set free! And that is the only way to judge consistently…the Word of God doesn’t change..I do. Righteous judgment is the application of the wisdom of God…and the wisdom of God is (as James put it in James 3:17) is pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. If your judgment is peppered with strife, frustration, anger, heat, or hardness…then search your heart, question your motives…it may very well be because your judgment, that correction you’re offering…is not righteous > which means there is a bit of your will being sought…dangerous, destructive…not what you intend at all but oh the flesh is a cunning foe and the enemy a formidable opponent! Think of it as Paul did in his judgment that he offered to the Corinthian church in 1 Cor 7:25. Paul says I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy…Are you trustworthy of the Lord in your judgment? If not, you’re giving bondage > not wisdom. And so we are to judge…we are commanded to judge…we are called to judge…but the judgment is to be righteous and the judgment is to be applied to serve and to love others… Truly we should be concerned not so much about the right (or what you deem to be right) decision but rather about the righteousness of the person. We get into this fleshly funk that says “I know what is most right and so do it my way, it has to be my way, and if not then I’m not gonna do it…or I’m gonna do it but I’m gonna grumble about it and you’re gonna know that I’m not happy. That is so ugly! Do it this way Jesus and everyone in Bethesda will be healed…why only heal the one man, this is the better way…irrelevant to the will of God. When we are young and immature in the faith so often our primary concern is the right way. Yet the primary concern of God is for you to be the right person…how do you do that? Humility. You submit to the decision that you don’t think is perfect. Humility is precious to God. Arrogance is so ugly. Humility is so winsome! Arrogance is so harmful. And Jesus is our model. He is a reflection of the Father. He is dependent on the Father. He is in absolute harmony with the Father…and, notice, Jesus says here that He does not seek His own will, but the will of the Father, and so in other words, He is submitted to the Father…And maybe you’ve picked up on this already, but these are not only aspects of Jesus’ relationship with the Father, but they are also essential conditions for our own spiritual growth…our own sanctification…the process by which we are conformed into the image of Christ! That is the only way to live! The only way to live is to grow in the things of God…and then naturally your life produces true praise in Spirit and in truth…such as the Father is seeking… True praise isn’t you know, “okay, God, give me now.” But true praise is, “God, You have given so much. How can I even thank You? Lord, You’re so good to me.” And it is that which arises spontaneously from the recognition of what God has done for me. That’s true praise. So we need to know, not what we can do for God, but what God has done for us. And then the love of Christ compels me and I’m responding to that love. I’m responding to that goodness. I’m responding to those blessings. And my life is so rich, my life is so blessed, my life is so full just trying to respond to God as I’m learning more and more the grace and goodness and the love of God that He’s just poured out upon my life! And that takes me completely out of this world, freed from the finiteness of this temporary tent and powerfully effective as a witness to the Truth…a witness to His love and Grace! Jesus continues in verse 31, “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true. Remember that they are there confronting Jesus because of the miracle He had performed by healing this man that had been lame for 38 years. And so Jesus reminds them, look all that I am saying is true and if you find it hard to accept or believe, then consider the witness of the miracle itself. Jesus would say later, in John Chapter 10, “I am the Son of God…if I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that We are One.” And Jesus says there in verse 32, “And there is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true.” Jesus is saying to the Jews, I am the Meshiach, the Messaiah…the works bear witness to that, and so does another witness, My Father...I’ll show you…Jesus is going to reveal to them how He fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah 40. Turn over to Isaiah Chapter 40…look at verses 1 – 6. Verse 33, “You have sent to John and he has borne witness to the truth. Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. He was the burning and shining lamp and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light. But I have a greater witness than John’s for the works which the Father has given Me to finish – the very works that I do – bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me. And the Father Himself who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time (they must not have been at Jesus’ baptism) nor seen His form. But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. So Jesus has called as it were as His witnesses three distinct persons. First, He has His own testimony…the testimony of the Son. Second He says the Father testifies of Him…and now He will envoke the scriptures which of course speak of the Holy Spirit. 2 Timothy 3:16 says that all scripture is given by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit…and so, the trinity. He continues in verse 39, “You search the scriptures for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. The word for “search” there in the greek is “eraunao” (ar-a-na-o) which literally translated is “track the secret” and Jesus says here that the secret of scripture, the secret of everlasting life, is made plain! It’s Him! And as you search the scriptures prayerfully desiring to learn of God, you will find also, the Christ, Jesus…on every page! This word is also used in Revelation 2:23 where Jesus says I am He who searches the minds and the hearts and I will give to each one of you according to your works. So understand this awesome truth, that as you search the scriptures, they search you! The word has a cleansing affect on your mind and heart and life! And so Jesus says, the scriptures, they testify of Me and He continues in verse 40…but you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life. – zoe. True life. And why is it that we squander exuberant life? We are not willing. Verse 41, “I do not receive honor from men.” Why, because He doesn’t seek it…the honor of man is fickle…He has not called man to the stand as it were to testify for Him…and neither should we… And listen, affirmation from man is fleeting and it will never satisfy the deep need in our souls to be accepted, loved and secure. Wives, your husband’s affirmation will not meet the need that you have deep within your souls…even if he was constantly affirming you, you would still retain that deep insecurity…same goes for you husbands, for you sons, for you mothers…for you employees, for you girlfriends…seek validity from God…because that is the only place where it can actually be found. Ladies and gentlemen, it’s not about what others say about me or how they feel about me today, it’s about me laying my life down for you…that is the secret place of fellowship with the God of the universe, the God that created you, that formed you from the dust of the ground, that caused all existence to exist…and then offered all of Himself because of love. Jesus continues, “but I know you, that you do not have the love of God in you. Jesus is fully man, and fully God…He knows them…”I have come in My Father’s name, and you do not receive Me; if another comes in his own name, him you will receive.” Israel’s rejection of the truth, the true Messaiah has prepared the way for them to accept the false Messaiah or the Anti-Christ…just as Eve’s rejection of the truth of God left her succeptable to the devil’s lie…and the Anit-Christ is coming, if not already here just not yet revealed, and he will come in his own name, doing his own pleasure, and seeking glory from men. And the world will flock to him, and bow to him, and fall to him…and with him! Verse 44, “How can you believe, who receive honor from one another, and do not seek the honor that comes from the only God?” Pride blinds Jesus says. “Do not think that I shall accuse you to the Father; there is one who accuses you – Moses (gasp) in who you trust.” (this is a reference to the law as the Jews cling to the law to justify them in the eyes of God but the bible says in Galatians 3:11 that no one is justified before God by the law. Romans 3:20 says that no man will be declared righteous by the law because that was not the intention of the law. The intention of the law was to reveal to man the knowledge of sin…that no man can keep the law and therefore the only hope, is the Savior. Galatians 2:16 – Know that man is not justified by the law but by faith in Jesus Christ! Jesus is saying, you Jews, you who seek to be found worthy based on your own righteousness, you’re sunk in the sight of a perfect God and the law, that which you tout in pride, will indeed be your condemnation! Jesus finishes his conversation here by saying, verse 46, For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for He wrote about Me. Moses wrote in Deut 18:15 that God would raise up a Prophet from among the Jews and that it is He all of the world should listen to…Jesus concludes, “but if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?” That is the plea of Jesus! Believe My Word! Trust Me! And find true life!