[uplifting music]
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[uplifting music]
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>>Eric Flickinger:
Welcome to "Sabbath School,"
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brought to you by It Is Written.
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We're glad that you are
joining us again this week
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for lesson number 2 in our study
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in the themes of
the book of John.
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We're going to be looking today
at signs of Jesus' divinity.
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Let's begin with prayer.
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Father, we wanna thank You
for bringing us together today.
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We ask that You will bless
us and help us to understand
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more clearly the
themes in the book of John
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and the wonderful lessons
that You have for us to learn.
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We thank You, in
Jesus' name, amen.
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>>Thomas Shepherd: Amen.
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>>Eric: Well, we're grateful
to have with us once again
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one of the authors of
this quarter's lesson,
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and that is Dr. Tom Shepherd.
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He's the senior research
professor of New Testament
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at the Theological
Seminary, Andrews University.
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Tom, thanks for
joining us again.
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>>Tom: Good to be with you.
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>>Eric: So last week, we
took a look at some of the signs
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that kind of pointed
the way of Jesus' ministry.
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We went through
three of them last week.
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And we're going to
look at some of the signs
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of His divinity this week.
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Let's jump to John,
chapter 6, if we can.
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In John, chapter 6 we
find that Jesus tests Philip,
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and we see how
Andrew responds to this.
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What lessons are we learning
here in John, chapter 6?
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>>Tom: All right, so
let's turn to John 6,
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and we want to
read verses 4 through 9.
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>>Eric: "Now the Passover,
a feast of the Jews, was near.
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"Then Jesus lifted up His eyes,
and seeing a great multitude
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"coming toward
Him, He said to Philip,
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"'Where shall we buy
bread, that these may eat?'
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"But this He said to test him,
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"for He Himself
knew what He would do.
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"Philip answered Him,
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"'Two hundred
denarii worth of bread
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"'is not sufficient for
them, that every one of them
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"may have a little.'
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"One of His disciples,
Andrew, Simon Peter's brother,
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"said to Him, 'There is a lad
here who has five barley loaves
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and two small fish, but
what are they among so many?'"
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>>Tom: [laughing] Well,
it's an interesting story.
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First of all, we
notice that this is--
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there's a reference
here to the Passover feast.
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This story is
going to be the story
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of the feeding of the 5,000.
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Actually, it's
one of the few stories
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that appears in
all four gospels.
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And John has mostly
other stories of Jesus
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that the other
gospels don't have.
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But this is one of
the stories that he has
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that all the other
gospels have as well.
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It's near the Passover feast
of the Jews, which, of course,
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was the great memorial of their
coming out of the land of Egypt
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and being saved
from Egyptian bondage.
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So He lifts up His eyes,
He sees this large crowd,
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and He asks Philip,
"Where are we going to buy bread
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so that all
these people can eat?"
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Now, you can just
imagine-- I can imagine somebody
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being at a potluck at a church,
and the pastor comes down,
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the people are preparing
the meal down in the kitchen
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or something, and he says,
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"My friends, we've just had
a hundred people, extra people,
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"come from, you know, an
academy, these young people,
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"who can eat a lot of food,
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and we need to prepare
food for them as well."
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I can imagine some of the people
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would be tearing out
their hair--"Where are we going
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to get food for all of
these young people to eat?"
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So Jesus' question
is interesting because
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it puts Philip to the test.
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What will he say?
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What will be his response?
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How will he
deal with the problem
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that Jesus has set before him?
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Will he turn back
to Jesus the problem,
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or will he look for
a different solution?
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Well, Philip kind of fails
the test here at this point.
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He thinks of, you
know, their resources.
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He's like, "Two
hundred denarii"--
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well, maybe that's
how much money they had
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in their little
bag bank, you know.
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"Two hundred denarii worth
of bread would not be enough"
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for each of them to
just get a little bit, right?
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So this is a lot of people.
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There's 5,000 men and
then women and children,
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you know, there's gonna
be 10,000 or more people.
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And so it was a lot of people.
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Now, Andrew,
Simon Peter's brother,
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one of the first disciples,
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pipes up and says to Him,
"There's a boy here who has
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five barley loaves and two fish,
but what are they for so many?"
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What indeed. [laughs]
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But Andrew's expression is
a little bit more, you know,
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"Well, Jesus, what will
You do with that," you know?
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It's kind of like the
lesson, "Well, bring your loaves
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to Jesus and let
Him use what you have."
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You know, it's actually,
I think, a great lesson
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for our churches, is
bring to Jesus what you have.
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If you've got a small
church, and I'm a pastor,
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one of my
churches is a small church,
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and you can
say, what do we have?
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What can we...? You
know, you have something.
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Bring what you have to
Jesus, ask Him to bless it,
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use it to bless and
encourage other people,
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and watch what God will do.
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And of course, that's
what happens in this story.
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>>Eric: Yeah. So in this story,
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what were the people
in this story looking for?
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What were they hoping for?
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And was Jesus' response
or what Jesus did, was that--
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did it match what they
were hoping for or expecting?
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>>Tom: Yeah, well,
this miracle of the feeding
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of the 5,000 really
impressed a lot of people.
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And, you know, they had
thousands of people there,
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and they were
ready to make Him king.
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In fact, John tells
us that, that they're--
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if you look down
at verse 15, it says,
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"Perceiving then that
they were about to come
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"and take Him by
force to make Him king,
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Jesus withdrew again to
the mountain by Himself."
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So he sends the disciples away.
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He sends the people away.
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And He goes up on the
mountain all by Himself.
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Now, we find out
what they're looking for.
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The next day, He's
going to walk on the water
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to reach His disciples,
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but the people come
looking for Him at Capernaum.
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And if we read verses 26 and 27,
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we'll see what
their expectation was.
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>>Eric: "Jesus answered
them and said, 'Most assuredly,
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"'I say to you, you seek me,
not because you saw the signs,
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"'but because you ate of
the loaves and were filled.
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"'Do not labor for the food
which perishes, but for the food
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"'which endures to everlasting
life, which the Son of Man will
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give you, because God the Father
has set His seal on Him.'"
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>>Tom: So He says,
"The reason you came
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looking for me is
because you got a nice meal."
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It's sometimes what
you call "rice Christians,"
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where you give them food
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and they become Christians
because you gave them something,
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you know, you gave
them material resources.
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Now, this is not to say that
when you become a Christian,
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there's no benefits for being
a Christian. Of course there is.
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There's a
fellowship of believers,
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and there's the peace of
your heart, in your heart,
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the forgiveness of your
sins, and the opportunity
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to be part of
something bigger than yourself.
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And yes, many friends and,
you know, great experiences
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and great
preaching and a stable life.
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There's a whole lot of good
things in the Christian life.
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But if all you're in it
for is the material benefits,
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you're going to be disappointed.
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And that's what
basically Jesus says to them.
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He says, "Don't seek that.
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"Seek the bread that
endures to eternal life,
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which the Son of
Man will give to you."
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We'll see more of this
as He unpacks this idea
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of the bread of life
and who He is in John 6.
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But John 6 is one of
the important passages
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about His signs of
doing this wonderful miracle.
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And it's actually
one of the turning points
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in the Gospel of John.
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>>Eric: Let's
jump now to John 9.
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In John, chapter 9 there's
another interesting story here.
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Connect for us sin and sickness.
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How do these concepts,
these ideas go together?
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How should they go
together in our understanding?
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>>Tom: Sure, let's read
John 9, verses 1 through 7.
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>>Eric: "Now as Jesus passed by,
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"He saw a man who
was blind from birth.
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"And His disciples asked
Him, saying, 'Rabbi, who sinned,
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"this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?'
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"Jesus answered, 'Neither
this man nor his parents sinned,
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"'but that the works of
God should be revealed in him.
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"'I must work the works of
Him who sent me while it is day;
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"'the night is
coming when no one can work.
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"As long as I am in the world,
I am the light of the world.'
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"When He had said these things,
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"He spat on the ground and
made clay with [His] saliva;
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"and He anointed the eyes
of the blind man with the clay.
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"And He said to him, 'Go,
wash in the pool of Siloam'
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"(which is translated, Sent).
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So he went and
washed, and came back seeing."
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>>Tom: That's the expression
of the miracle, right?
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That Jesus heals this
man so that he can see.
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The whole rest of the chapter
is all the reaction of people
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to this amazing miracle.
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Jesus says, "As long
as I am in the world,
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I am the light of the world."
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And then He makes this mud
and anoints the guy's eyes.
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We're like, "Oh, and
He put mud on his eyes."
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But one commentator said that
the man didn't have--you know,
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when God originally made
human beings, He made them
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from the dust of the ground,
breathed into the nostril
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"the breath of life, and
he became a living person,"
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or "a living soul."
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Here's what was missing.
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Now Jesus takes and makes
some mud and gives him his eyes
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so that he can see. So
it's really quite a story.
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But it starts with the
disciples asking a question:
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"Who sinned, this
man or his parents,
00:10:01.33\00:10:05.43
that he was born
blind?" Now, you kind of wonder
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how it could be him
if he was born blind.
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He hadn't done anything
wrong before he was born.
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But that's the question
they ask, and Jesus says
00:10:13.64\00:10:17.05
it was not that this
man sinned or his parents
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"but that the works of
God" might be displayed in him.
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Now, some people when a person
gets sick, there will be people,
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they seem to come out of the
woodwork, who will say to them,
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"Well, you must have
been doing something wrong,
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"and that's why you got sick.
00:10:37.13\00:10:38.60
"You weren't eating the right
diet, you know, or you did this,
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"you know, or something
else that you were not following
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the right kind of principles,
and that's why you're sick."
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Thank you very
much, Job's friends.
00:10:48.98\00:10:51.98
But Jesus here indicates
that when you get sick,
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it's not always because
you've done something wrong.
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That's an important point.
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Sickness is part of living
in a world of sin, and sometimes
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sickness comes upon us
not for anything we did wrong,
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but just from the weight of
sin of 6,000 years of our world.
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Now, if you turn back to John--
we looked at this before--
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John, chapter 5,
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we turn back to
John, chapter 5, verse 14.
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This is the words of Jesus to
the man who had been paralyzed
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for all those years at the pool
of Bethesda, 38 years paralyzed.
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So, read John 5:14.
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>>Eric: "Afterward
Jesus found him in the temple,
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"and said to him, 'See,
you have been made well.
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Sin no more, lest a
worse thing come upon you.'"
00:11:38.49\00:11:41.76
>>Tom: All right, so it seems
that that guy got paralyzed
00:11:41.80\00:11:46.20
because he did something wrong.
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He did some sinful
behavior and became paralyzed.
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So Jesus does not
disconnect sin and suffering,
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but He says it's not
always your own suffering
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that's involved here
that brings on the sickness.
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And that's an
important issue to remember.
00:12:03.35\00:12:05.92
>>Eric: We want to come
back in a moment and dig just
00:12:05.95\00:12:09.26
a little bit more deeply into
this story, but before we do,
00:12:09.29\00:12:11.96
we're going to
take a quick break.
00:12:11.99\00:12:14.40
If somebody wants
to dig into this more,
00:12:14.46\00:12:17.10
we have a companion
book to this quarter's study.
00:12:17.13\00:12:20.00
Share a little bit about that.
00:12:20.04\00:12:21.34
>>Tom: That's
right. So each quarter,
00:12:21.37\00:12:23.57
a companion--some author,
sometimes it's the author
00:12:23.61\00:12:26.27
of the lesson,
sometimes it's somebody else,
00:12:26.31\00:12:28.21
is asked to
write a companion book
00:12:28.24\00:12:30.28
that gives you
additional information.
00:12:30.31\00:12:32.61
So it's helpful for people who
are in the Sabbath school class,
00:12:32.65\00:12:35.22
it's helpful for
teachers and pastors,
00:12:35.25\00:12:37.49
to know more about the
topic that's being studied,
00:12:37.52\00:12:40.16
and we have each of those.
00:12:40.19\00:12:41.29
Each quarter, we
have one of those,
00:12:41.32\00:12:42.79
and there will be one for this--
also for this, there is one
00:12:42.82\00:12:45.79
of those quarterly--one of those
books for this quarter as well.
00:12:45.83\00:12:48.60
>>Eric: That's right. And
if you'd like to pick that up,
00:12:48.63\00:12:50.93
you can do so at
itiswritten.shop.
00:12:50.97\00:12:54.04
Again, that's itiswritten.shop.
00:12:54.07\00:12:56.20
You're looking for
the companion book to
00:12:56.24\00:12:58.44
this quarter's "Sabbath School"
lesson, "Themes in John."
00:12:58.47\00:13:02.44
We're going to come back
as we continue taking a look
00:13:02.48\00:13:04.65
at some of these
signs of Jesus' divinity
00:13:04.68\00:13:08.12
here in lesson number
2. We'll be right back.
00:13:08.15\00:13:11.09
[uplifting music]
00:13:11.12\00:13:14.12
>>John Bradshaw:
Miracles, events that can only
00:13:15.32\00:13:17.66
be explained as the
actions of an all-powerful God.
00:13:17.69\00:13:21.70
If you look at the Bible, you'll
find it's full of miracles:
00:13:21.73\00:13:26.67
parting the Red
Sea, healing the blind,
00:13:26.70\00:13:30.34
walking on
water, raising the dead.
00:13:30.37\00:13:34.31
Many have claimed
these events never happened.
00:13:34.34\00:13:37.55
But did they?
00:13:37.58\00:13:39.41
Is it important for Christians
to believe in miracles?
00:13:39.45\00:13:43.08
And do they still happen today?
00:13:43.12\00:13:45.52
Join me for "Do You
Believe in Miracles?"
00:13:45.55\00:13:48.16
We'll meet some
remarkable people
00:13:48.19\00:13:50.16
and hear some
incredible stories.
00:13:50.19\00:13:51.93
We'll learn what miracles
are and what they're not,
00:13:51.96\00:13:55.86
and we'll discuss the
greatest miracle of all time,
00:13:55.90\00:13:59.50
one that has significance
for every human being on earth
00:13:59.53\00:14:03.44
and the potential to
change your life entirely.
00:14:03.47\00:14:06.74
"Do You Believe in Miracles?"
00:14:06.78\00:14:09.28
Brought to you
by It Is Written TV.
00:14:09.31\00:14:12.18
>>Male announcer:
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00:14:23.53\00:14:28.90
Send me across the
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00:14:28.93\00:14:32.97
Work in me to impact
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00:14:33.00\00:14:37.47
And if I can't go
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00:14:59.49\00:15:03.83
To learn more,
visit HisLegacy.com.
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That's HisLegacy.com.
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>>John: More and more people
are watching It Is Written TV.
00:15:16.24\00:15:20.02
They're watching their favorite
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and at itiswritten.tv.
00:15:43.44\00:15:45.47
[uplifting music]
00:15:46.94\00:15:50.61
>>Eric: Welcome
back to "Sabbath School,"
00:15:50.65\00:15:52.11
brought to you by It Is Written.
00:15:52.15\00:15:53.95
We're taking a look
at the book of John,
00:15:53.98\00:15:56.58
delving into the great
themes in the book of John.
00:15:56.62\00:15:59.42
And right now, we are taking
a look at some of the signs
00:15:59.45\00:16:01.76
of Jesus' divinity.
00:16:01.79\00:16:03.43
We're in John, chapter 9 right
now, and we were just looking
00:16:03.46\00:16:06.90
a moment ago at the man
whose blindness was healed.
00:16:06.93\00:16:10.67
I want to stay in
John 9 for just a moment.
00:16:10.70\00:16:12.80
The blind man had a--
or the formerly blind man--
00:16:12.83\00:16:16.71
had an interaction with
some of the religious leaders.
00:16:16.74\00:16:20.04
What did that look like?
00:16:20.08\00:16:21.84
>>Tom: It's one of the
funniest stories in the book.
00:16:21.88\00:16:25.11
This blind man,
who was a beggar,
00:16:25.15\00:16:26.92
and, you know, not probably--
00:16:26.95\00:16:30.39
well, not very, you know,
well educated or anything--
00:16:30.42\00:16:34.06
it doesn't say he's a
beggar maybe, but he's blind,
00:16:34.09\00:16:36.52
probably a beggar. And he is
00:16:36.56\00:16:39.96
healed on the
Sabbath, and so they bring him
00:16:40.00\00:16:42.93
to the Pharisees, and
there's a whole back and forth
00:16:42.96\00:16:46.90
where they don't--they
question what happened to him.
00:16:46.94\00:16:50.54
And he keeps on telling
what it was that occurred.
00:16:50.57\00:16:56.21
So they said to him,
you know, "What is it?"
00:16:56.24\00:16:59.25
If you look at
verse 16 of chapter 9:
00:16:59.28\00:17:01.62
"Some of the
Pharisees said, 'This man'"--
00:17:01.65\00:17:03.45
talking about Jesus--
"'This man is not from God,
00:17:03.49\00:17:05.45
"for He does not
keep the Sabbath.'
00:17:05.49\00:17:07.19
But others said, 'How can a man
who is a sinner do such signs?'"
00:17:07.22\00:17:10.26
There's that word "signs" again.
00:17:10.29\00:17:12.26
"And there was a
division among them.
00:17:12.29\00:17:14.60
"So they [again
said] to the blind man,
00:17:14.63\00:17:17.00
"'What do you say about Him,
since He has opened your eyes?'
00:17:17.03\00:17:18.93
He said, 'He is a prophet.'"
00:17:18.97\00:17:20.57
Then they say they don't
think that he was born blind.
00:17:20.60\00:17:23.71
So they call his parents,
and they bring his parents,
00:17:23.74\00:17:27.71
and they say,
"[This is] your son,
00:17:27.74\00:17:30.05
[whom] you say was born
blind? How...does he now see?"
00:17:30.08\00:17:33.31
And, you know, they're
trying to deny the miracle
00:17:33.35\00:17:35.52
of what Jesus has done.
00:17:35.55\00:17:37.39
His parents say in verse 20,
"We know that this is our son
00:17:37.42\00:17:40.96
and that he was born blind."
00:17:40.99\00:17:42.62
So, you know, they're
talking about the facts.
00:17:42.66\00:17:45.46
"But how he now
sees we do not know,
00:17:45.49\00:17:48.76
"nor do we know
who opened his eyes.
00:17:48.80\00:17:51.20
"Ask him; he is of age.
00:17:51.23\00:17:52.87
He will speak for himself."
00:17:52.90\00:17:54.34
Because they were
afraid they were going to be
00:17:54.37\00:17:55.67
thrown out of the synagogue.
00:17:55.70\00:17:57.84
So there's this interesting
thing as the story progresses,
00:17:57.87\00:18:01.48
the man who was formerly blind
knows more and more and more,
00:18:01.51\00:18:06.25
and the Pharisees seem to know
less and less and less and less.
00:18:06.28\00:18:10.12
So there's kind of a crossover
that happens as this goes on.
00:18:10.15\00:18:14.69
And so, "The second time,"
verse 24, they call this man,
00:18:14.72\00:18:19.56
the blind man; they
say, "Give glory to God.
00:18:19.59\00:18:22.36
We know that
this Man is a sinner."
00:18:22.40\00:18:24.37
Now, when they said, "Give glory
to God," it's a judicial oath.
00:18:24.40\00:18:30.17
The same thing happens in
the story of Joshua with Achan,
00:18:30.21\00:18:33.27
Joshua 7, verse 19.
00:18:33.31\00:18:36.31
When Achan is finally
brought before Joshua,
00:18:36.34\00:18:38.45
Joshua says to him,
"My son, give glory to God.
00:18:38.48\00:18:41.58
Tell me what you've done."
00:18:41.62\00:18:43.45
So it's like, "Put
your hand on the Bible.
00:18:43.49\00:18:45.25
"Do you swear to tell
the truth, the whole truth,
00:18:45.29\00:18:46.82
and nothing but the
truth, so help you God?"
00:18:46.86\00:18:48.69
Give glory to God.
00:18:48.72\00:18:50.29
So they're saying, "Stop telling
lies; start telling the truth."
00:18:50.33\00:18:53.56
And then they say, "We
know that this Man is a sinner."
00:18:53.60\00:18:59.60
So "He answered, 'Whether
He is a sinner I do not know.
00:18:59.63\00:19:03.20
One thing I do know, that
though I was blind, now I see.'"
00:19:03.24\00:19:06.61
[laughs] So he's not
gonna-- he's not gonna give in.
00:19:06.64\00:19:09.94
"They said to him,
'What did He do to you?
00:19:09.98\00:19:11.71
"How did He open your eyes?'
00:19:11.75\00:19:13.11
"He answered them,
'[I've] told you already,
00:19:13.15\00:19:14.85
"'and you would not listen.
00:19:14.88\00:19:16.18
"'[Would] you
want to hear it again?
00:19:16.22\00:19:17.95
Do you also want to
become His disciples?'"
00:19:17.99\00:19:19.95
So this guy has a certain
amount of "chutzpah," you know,
00:19:19.99\00:19:23.12
that he's not going to
be, you know, bandied about.
00:19:23.16\00:19:27.96
He's not going to be overwhelmed
by these religious leaders.
00:19:27.96\00:19:31.43
And, you know, he
so much says, you know,
00:19:31.47\00:19:34.90
"Well, I'm becoming His
disciple. How about you?"
00:19:34.94\00:19:38.31
And they're like, pffft!,
"We're disciples of Moses,
00:19:38.34\00:19:41.41
but we don't even know
where this guy came from."
00:19:41.44\00:19:44.75
And then he says,
"Well, now that's amazing."
00:19:44.78\00:19:47.12
It's never--
this is in verse 30:
00:19:47.15\00:19:49.62
"Why, this is an amazing thing!
00:19:49.65\00:19:51.55
"You do not know where He comes
from, and yet He opened my eyes.
00:19:51.59\00:19:55.32
"We know that God does not
listen to sinners, but if anyone
00:19:55.36\00:19:58.39
"is a worshiper of God and does
His will, God listens to him.
00:19:58.43\00:20:01.10
"Never since the world
began has it...heard [of] anyone
00:20:01.13\00:20:04.40
"opened the eyes
of a man born blind.
00:20:04.43\00:20:06.00
If this Man were not from
God, He could do nothing."
00:20:06.03\00:20:09.54
And I can just see the
jaws of these doctors of the law
00:20:09.57\00:20:14.58
just drop as this guy's
impeccable, you know, argument
00:20:14.61\00:20:18.98
and logic just
cuts right through
00:20:19.01\00:20:21.42
all of the phony baloney
that's being put out there
00:20:21.45\00:20:24.69
and, you know, indicates
that Jesus had to be from God.
00:20:24.72\00:20:28.42
And they so much as--
00:20:28.46\00:20:32.03
you can see them
kind of taking their robes
00:20:32.06\00:20:34.10
and wrapping them around
them, and they say in verse 34,
00:20:34.13\00:20:37.40
"'You were born in utter
sin, and would you teach us?'
00:20:37.43\00:20:39.93
And they cast him out."
00:20:39.97\00:20:41.60
At the very beginning of
this story it said, "Who sinned,
00:20:41.64\00:20:46.94
this man or his parents,
that he was born blind?"
00:20:46.98\00:20:49.18
Jesus said, neither one.
00:20:49.21\00:20:51.11
At the end of
the story, they say,
00:20:51.15\00:20:54.42
"'You were born in utter
sin, and would you teach us?'
00:20:54.45\00:20:58.12
And they cast him out."
00:20:58.15\00:20:59.45
They won't listen to him because
of their prejudice of that,
00:20:59.49\00:21:04.16
you know, they think he's
a sinner, he's born in sin;
00:21:04.19\00:21:07.00
they don't have
to listen to him.
00:21:07.03\00:21:08.80
That's a dangerous thing.
00:21:08.83\00:21:10.13
It's dangerous to say, "I don't
need to listen to that person"
00:21:10.17\00:21:13.00
because of such and
such and such and such.
00:21:13.03\00:21:16.34
Sometimes, the people
who have the hardest things
00:21:16.37\00:21:20.18
to say to us are exactly
the things that we need to hear.
00:21:20.21\00:21:24.45
So he confounds
these religious leaders,
00:21:24.48\00:21:26.51
and he's just a
blind beggar, you know.
00:21:26.55\00:21:30.19
So it's really a funny story,
and I appreciate it a lot.
00:21:30.22\00:21:33.92
Well, we'll probably come
back to the story again because
00:21:33.96\00:21:35.79
it has some more themes about it
that later come into our study.
00:21:35.82\00:21:39.56
>>Eric: So looking at
the signs of Jesus' divinity,
00:21:39.59\00:21:41.76
we've seen how He fed the 5,000.
00:21:41.80\00:21:44.17
We saw Him heal this
man who was born blind.
00:21:44.20\00:21:47.70
We come over to John 11,
00:21:47.74\00:21:49.57
and in John 11 we find
the raising of Lazarus.
00:21:49.60\00:21:53.61
When Jesus is
called to go to Bethany,
00:21:53.64\00:21:59.45
He doesn't go
immediately. >>Tom: No.
00:21:59.48\00:22:01.58
>>Eric: Why
doesn't He go immediately?
00:22:01.62\00:22:03.22
>>Tom: That's a good question.
00:22:03.25\00:22:04.55
That's what the
sisters asked. [chuckles]
00:22:04.59\00:22:06.82
So if you read John
11 and verse 5, it says,
00:22:06.86\00:22:12.83
"Now Jesus loved Martha
and her sister and Lazarus.
00:22:12.86\00:22:17.07
"So, when He heard
that Lazarus was ill,
00:22:17.10\00:22:19.67
He stayed two days longer
in the place where He was."
00:22:19.70\00:22:23.34
That's so inexplicable.
00:22:23.37\00:22:25.94
Why would He stay away?
00:22:25.97\00:22:29.61
And the answer to that
is to see the glory of God
00:22:29.64\00:22:33.75
because He's going to
raise him from the dead.
00:22:33.78\00:22:36.02
But, of course, the
sisters didn't know that.
00:22:36.05\00:22:39.35
You know, they didn't see that.
00:22:39.39\00:22:42.06
And he had actually said in
verse 4, "When Jesus heard" that
00:22:42.09\00:22:45.46
he was sick, "He said, 'This
illness does not lead to death.
00:22:45.49\00:22:49.20
"'It is for the glory of God,
00:22:49.23\00:22:51.10
so that the Son of God
may be glorified through it.'"
00:22:51.13\00:22:53.94
This is really, like,
one of the greatest signs,
00:22:53.97\00:22:56.57
if not the greatest sign, that
Jesus does in the book of John
00:22:56.60\00:22:59.51
is the raising of
Lazarus from the dead.
00:22:59.54\00:23:02.34
And you think about
that, I mean, a little later,
00:23:02.38\00:23:04.65
Jesus is going to be
at a feast, and Lazarus,
00:23:04.68\00:23:07.72
the man He raises from the
dead, is at the feast with Him.
00:23:07.75\00:23:10.89
You know, like, this guy
was in the grave, and now
00:23:10.92\00:23:14.29
here he is sitting,
eating a meal with us, you know?
00:23:14.32\00:23:16.93
It's just--it's
just an amazing story.
00:23:16.96\00:23:19.23
But when He comes to where
they are, you read it in verse--
00:23:19.26\00:23:26.40
starting in verse 17.
00:23:26.43\00:23:28.17
Let's read verses 17 through 21.
00:23:28.20\00:23:34.44
>>Eric: "So when
Jesus came, He found that
00:23:34.48\00:23:36.61
"he had already been
in the tomb four days.
00:23:36.64\00:23:39.11
"Now Bethany was near
Jerusalem, about two miles away.
00:23:39.15\00:23:42.25
"And many of the Jews had
joined the women around Martha
00:23:42.28\00:23:45.32
"and Mary, to comfort
them concerning their brother.
00:23:45.35\00:23:48.06
"Then Martha, as soon as
she heard that Jesus was coming,
00:23:48.09\00:23:51.53
"went and met Him, but
Mary was sitting in the house.
00:23:51.56\00:23:54.56
"Now Martha said to Jesus,
'Lord, if You had been here,
00:23:54.56\00:23:57.53
my brother
would not have died.'"
00:23:57.57\00:23:59.87
>>Tom: Yeah, now when
Mary comes to see Him,
00:23:59.90\00:24:02.60
she says almost
exactly the same words:
00:24:02.64\00:24:05.24
"Lord, if You had been here,
my brother would not have died."
00:24:05.27\00:24:08.24
That's what they both say.
00:24:08.28\00:24:09.84
You know, probably they'd been
saying this over and over again
00:24:09.88\00:24:14.65
when He hadn't arrived.
00:24:14.68\00:24:18.92
So when you go down to
verse 33, after He meets Mary--
00:24:18.95\00:24:22.56
she actually, in verse 32,
it says, "When Mary came to
00:24:22.59\00:24:26.56
"where Jesus was and saw
Him, she fell at His feet,
00:24:26.59\00:24:29.70
"saying to Him, 'Lord,
00:24:29.73\00:24:31.47
"if You had been here, my
brother would not have died.'"
00:24:31.50\00:24:33.64
It's very touching, you know.
00:24:33.67\00:24:35.77
Verse 33: "When
Jesus saw her weeping,
00:24:35.80\00:24:38.47
"and the Jews who had
come with her also weeping,
00:24:38.51\00:24:41.24
"He was deeply moved in His
spirit and greatly troubled.
00:24:41.28\00:24:44.58
"And He said,
'Where have you laid him?'
00:24:44.61\00:24:46.75
"They said to Him,
'Lord, come and see.'
00:24:46.78\00:24:48.92
"Jesus wept. So the Jews
said, 'See how He loved him!'
00:24:48.95\00:24:53.96
"But some of them said,
'Could not He who opened
00:24:53.99\00:24:56.29
the eyes of the blind men also
have kept this man from dying?'"
00:24:56.32\00:24:59.96
[chuckles] You
know, it references back
00:25:00.06\00:25:02.60
to the blind man's story, right?
00:25:02.63\00:25:04.63
That He loved them so much--
00:25:04.67\00:25:07.94
so Jesus weeping,
why would Jesus weep?
00:25:07.97\00:25:11.11
He was about to raise
Lazarus from the dead.
00:25:11.14\00:25:14.44
Ellen White explains this, and
she says that Jesus was weeping
00:25:14.48\00:25:18.91
because for the people who
wouldn't believe because He knew
00:25:18.95\00:25:22.78
what He was about to
do, but He's crying that
00:25:22.82\00:25:25.49
there are hard hearts
that would not listen,
00:25:25.52\00:25:29.12
would not turn to Him,
00:25:29.16\00:25:31.13
and so He's gonna
go to where they are.
00:25:31.16\00:25:36.43
"Lord, come and see." All right,
00:25:36.46\00:25:38.37
and so He's gonna do that.
00:25:38.40\00:25:40.14
Now, when He goes to
the place, of course,
00:25:40.17\00:25:43.61
He tells them to
remove the stone.
00:25:43.64\00:25:45.34
And Martha objects.
00:25:45.37\00:25:47.64
And Jesus responds to
her, "Did I not tell you"--
00:25:47.68\00:25:50.81
this is verse 40--"'Did I not
tell you that if you believed
00:25:50.85\00:25:53.65
"you would see
the glory of God?'
00:25:53.68\00:25:55.68
So they [take] away the stone."
00:25:55.72\00:25:57.32
And He prays
this amazing prayer:
00:25:57.35\00:25:59.92
"Father, I thank You
that You have heard me."
00:25:59.95\00:26:02.82
Lazarus is still in the tomb,
00:26:02.86\00:26:04.83
you know, still dead,
still stinking, and He says,
00:26:04.86\00:26:07.50
"Father, I thank You
that You have heard me."
00:26:07.56\00:26:09.66
And then He cries out
00:26:09.70\00:26:11.40
at the end of His
prayer, "Lazarus, come out."
00:26:11.43\00:26:13.50
And the man comes
out bound, hand and foot.
00:26:13.54\00:26:17.07
He says, "Let him go."
00:26:17.11\00:26:19.54
And then we read in verses--
00:26:19.57\00:26:22.41
we should read
verses 45 through 53.
00:26:22.44\00:26:26.08
This is an
important point in the book.
00:26:26.11\00:26:28.02
We've got to do this quick.
00:26:28.05\00:26:30.09
>>Eric: "Then many of the
Jews who had come to Mary,
00:26:30.12\00:26:32.89
"and had seen the things
Jesus did, believed in Him.
00:26:32.92\00:26:35.42
"But some of them
went away to the Pharisees
00:26:35.46\00:26:37.76
"and told them
the things Jesus did.
00:26:37.79\00:26:39.93
"Then the chief priests and
the Pharisees gathered a council
00:26:39.96\00:26:42.50
"and said, 'What shall we do?
00:26:42.53\00:26:44.10
"'For this Man works many signs.
00:26:44.13\00:26:45.93
"'If we let Him alone like this,
everyone will believe in Him,
00:26:45.97\00:26:48.70
"'and the Romans
will come and take away
00:26:48.74\00:26:50.51
"both our place and nation.'
00:26:50.54\00:26:52.31
"And one of them, Caiaphas,
being high priest that year,
00:26:52.34\00:26:54.98
"said to them, 'You know nothing
at all, nor do you consider
00:26:55.01\00:26:57.98
"'that it is expedient
for us that one man should die
00:26:58.01\00:27:01.25
"for the people, and not that
the whole nation should perish.'
00:27:01.28\00:27:03.99
"Now this he did not
say on his own authority,
00:27:04.02\00:27:06.29
"but being high priest that year
00:27:06.32\00:27:07.96
"he prophesied that
Jesus would die for the nation,
00:27:07.99\00:27:10.73
"and not for that nation only,
but also that He would gather
00:27:10.76\00:27:13.56
"together in one the children of
God who were scattered abroad.
00:27:13.60\00:27:16.36
Then, from that day on, they
plotted to put Him to death."
00:27:16.40\00:27:20.34
>>Tom: All
right, so here they are.
00:27:20.37\00:27:22.34
They see the amazing signs,
00:27:22.37\00:27:24.74
and yet they plan
to put Him to death.
00:27:24.77\00:27:27.08
We'll have to study some
more of this in further lessons.
00:27:27.11\00:27:29.28
>>Eric: Just incredible
stories, incredible themes
00:27:29.31\00:27:31.78
that we are delving
into in the book of John.
00:27:31.81\00:27:34.78
And we are glad
that you are joining us.
00:27:34.82\00:27:36.62
We're going to pick
this up again next week as
00:27:36.65\00:27:39.05
we delve into lesson number 3,
"The Backstory: The Prologue."
00:27:39.09\00:27:44.49
We look forward to
seeing you again next time
00:27:44.53\00:27:46.49
on "Sabbath School,"
00:27:46.53\00:27:47.93
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