Hello, welcome to this program
called, "Books of the Book".
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We're so glad that
you are taking this time
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to join us in
this-- a Bible study.
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We are studying
the gospel of John.
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And today we are
reading parts of chapter 5.
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So open your Bibles and join us.
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And let me introduce
to you Dr. Jon Paulien.
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He is with us, he
is the dean of religion
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at Loma Linda University
in Loma Linda, California.
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And it's been a pleasure for
me to study the Gospel of John.
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He is very
talented, very brilliant.
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He's written
several books in particular
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three books on the Book of John.
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Dr. Paulien, welcome again.
It's always good to be with you.
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Let me ask you a question,
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what is your
favorite book of the Bible?
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As I mentioned
you've written three books
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on the Gospel of John.
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You've written
several books just in general.
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I'm going to assume
that the Gospel of John
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is your favorite
it seems. Well, I do.
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I am pretty partial
to the Book of Romans.
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I think there is
some very important things
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that go on there.
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It's a very challenging book
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but as in a
great blessing to me.
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Obviously, Book of Revelation
has a lot of interest to me.
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I've studied it but,
yeah, you're probably right.
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I think John is
probably my favorite.
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It's got my
favorite text anyway.
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You remember
chapter 3 verse 8, though?
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Which says?
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Which basically says, "The
wind blows wherever it will
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no one knows where it's
coming from or where it's going,
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so is everyone who
is born of the Spirit."
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You know and
that means, you know,
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people who are just
a little bit different,
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people who are creative
and surprise people and so on.
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That's kind of the
thing the Holy Spirit does.
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Who allow the Holy Spirit
to lead them in different ways?
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But when you do that then
you often get led in a way
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that most people wouldn't
think was the right way,
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because the Holy Spirit
doesn't go by human paths,
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but leads us on a
divine path of creativity.
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Well, today we are
picking up in chapter 5.
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What exactly are we going
to be talking about today?
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John Chapter 5 and
beginning with verse 16
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is probably right up
there with the prologue of John,
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one of the most important,
densest passages in the book.
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And we're going to spend
some time in these verses
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and try to go into a
little bit of detail.
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Okay, and what verses
are we reading in chapter 5?
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I would start probably with
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the verses 16
through 18 of chapter 5.
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Shall we read them? I
think we should, yeah.
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"The man
departed, and told the Jews
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that it was Jesus,
who had made him well.
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For this reason the
Jews persecuted Jesus
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and sought to kill him
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because he had done
these things on the Sabbath.
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But Jesus answered them,
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"My Father has
been working until now,
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and I have been working.
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Therefore the Jews
sought all the more to kill him,
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because he not
only broke the Sabbath,
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but also said that
God was His Father,
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making himself equal with God."
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Okay, so this is really
the first active hostility
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to Jesus in the Gospel of John.
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Up until now, you know,
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the Pharisees
have been out there.
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I mean, Nicodemus
wasn't hostile really.
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And they
challenged him a little bit
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but right here you see serious
activists all at hospitality.
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The police have
kind of dragged Him in
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and they're questioning Him
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and trying to figure
out what to do with Him.
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And Jesus makes kind
of a striking statement.
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He says the Father is working
until now and I too I'm working.
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In other words, My
Father works on the Sabbath,
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so it's appropriate for
Me to work on the Sabbath.
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Now the Rabbis actually believed
that God works on the Sabbath.
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So Jesus is really saying
something that's very compatible
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with what the
Rabbis would believe.
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The Rabbis believe that
babies are born, people die,
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the sun shines, the rain falls,
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you see, all of
that is God's work.
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So its evidence to them that God
actually works on the Sabbath.
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So Jesus is saying, hey,
God's works on the Sabbath,
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why shouldn't I?
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And they didn't like the analogy
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because of course they didn't
understand Jesus to be God.
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So again for the
reader this makes sense
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if you're coming
from the prologue
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and you know who Jesus is?
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That He was with
God from eternity
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that
qualitatively He is what God is,
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that He is worthy of worship,
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that He is the
Creator of the universe
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and the Ruler of the universe.
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If all of that is true,
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then Jesus has to
work on the Sabbath.
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You see, because the
universe needs to be sustained,
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the earth needs to
be sustained, etcetera.
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So Jesus is defending that,
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hey, the Sabbath is
a day to do healing.
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The Sabbath is a
day to help people,
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the Sabbath is a day
to do the kinds of things
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that God would do on that day.
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The reason that
the commandment says,
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don't work on the
Sabbath is the kind of work
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we do would be
distracting from Sabbath work.
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You see, Sabbath
work is focused on God,
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Sabbath work is
focused on healing.
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It's doing the
things that God would do,
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but when we are busy with the
normal activities of everyday,
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that's
distracting away from that.
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So God is inviting
people to take a day
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in which they do things
a little bit differently
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than they would
the rest of the week.
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And that's the reason
why they wanted to kill Him
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because not only
He broke the Sabbath
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but then He also
claimed God as His Father.
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Well, you see, that's the thing.
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If He is truly God
then He has the right to do
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what God does on the Sabbath.
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If He's not,
then He's committing
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blasphemy in claiming so.
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You see, He is doing something
only God is allowed to do
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that means He's
making Himself God.
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Now these are
issues that come back
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again and again in chapter 7,
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they remember this
incident about the Sabbath
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in the pool of the Bethesda,
and that becomes an issue there.
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In chapter 9, a blind
man is healed on the Sabbath.
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So that issue
recurs, then in chapter 10,
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the issue of
calling Himself God,
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you know, I and
the father are One
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that comes up
again in chapter 10.
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So right here in
these three verses
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it introduces a couple of themes
that occur over and over again.
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But the part that we want
to look at in this program
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is that Jesus'
statement in verse 17
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becomes the
foundation of everything
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that is said in verses 19 to 30.
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So let's look at it again,
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in chapter 5: 17,
Jesus said to them,
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"My Father is always
at work to this very day,
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and I too am working."
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So what's God
doing on the Sabbath?
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He's giving life. He is judging.
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You know, people
are born people die.
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You know, people think of
that in terms of judgment.
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And He is doing
the work of salvation,
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you know, saving us.
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And that's exactly what
verses 19 to 30 are about.
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In verses 19 to 30, Jesus is
elaborating on His statement.
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Here is what I mean, when I
say that I work on the Sabbath.
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I give life, I give salvation,
I pass judgment as needed.
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These are activities that
God needs to be doing everyday.
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But they're
particularly according to Jesus
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appropriate on the Sabbath.
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So I think what we should do now
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is get into
verses 19 through 30,
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it might be
helpful to start for you
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to read that
whole section through.
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I would hope that our viewers
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would also have
your Bibles in hand
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and that you would read
these same passages with us
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and then I want
to note a few things
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as we go through there.
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Okay, so chapter 5:19-30,
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you have a bible
read along with me.
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Then Jesus
answered and said to them,
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"Most
assuredly, I say it to you,
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the Son can do
nothing of Himself,
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but what He sees the
Father do, for whatever He does,
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the Son also
does in like manner.
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For the Father loves the Son,
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and shows Him all
things that He Himself does
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and He will show Him
greater works than these
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that you may marvel.
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For as the
Father raises the dead
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and gives life to them
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even so the Son
gives life to whom He will.
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For the Father judges no one,
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but has committed
all judgment to the Son
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that all should honor the Son
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just as they honor the Father.
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He who does not honor the
Son does not honor the Father,
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who sent Him.
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Most assuredly I say to you,
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he who hears my
word and believes in Him
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who sent Me has everlasting life
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and shall not come into judgment
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but has passed
from death into life.
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Most assuredly I say to you,
the hour is coming and now is,
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when the dead will hear
the voice of the Son of God
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and those who hear will live
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for as the Father
has life in himself,
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so He has granted the
Son to have life in Himself
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and has given Him authority
to execute judgment also
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because He is the Son of Man.
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Do not marvel at this
for the hour is coming
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in which all who are in
the graves will hear His voice
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and come forth
those who have done good
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to the resurrection of life
and those who have done evil
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to the
resurrection of condemnation.
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I can of myself doing
nothing as I hear I judge
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and my judgment is righteous
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because I did
not seek my own will
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but the will of the
Father who sent Me."
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Okay, let me say some
general things about this text
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and then we'll dig a little bit
deeper in the second segment.
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The first and the last
verses are kind of in common,
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it shows how Jesus
and His Father are,
00:10:34.86\00:10:38.08
you know, in a dependent
relationship on each other.
00:10:38.11\00:10:40.93
And Jesus does nothing
without His father's permission.
00:10:40.96\00:10:44.06
That He is truly, you
know, if you've seen Me,
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you've seen the Father.
00:10:45.90\00:10:47.27
He's representing
the Father on this earth.
00:10:47.30\00:10:49.21
So verses 19 through 30,
00:10:49.24\00:10:51.50
this whole
passage is united together
00:10:51.53\00:10:55.05
and then very interesting
there is a couple of places
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verse 21 it says,
"For just as the Father
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raises the dead
and gives them life,
00:11:02.84\00:11:05.13
so the Son gives life
to whomever He pleases."
00:11:05.16\00:11:08.57
Then verse 26, "For as the
Father has life in Himself,
00:11:08.60\00:11:12.43
so He has granted the
Son to have life in Himself."
00:11:12.46\00:11:15.86
You see the parallel there?
00:11:15.89\00:11:17.48
And it's open with the
same Greek phrase is Hosperger
00:11:17.51\00:11:21.14
which basically means just
as the Father does this, so I.
00:11:21.17\00:11:25.04
So verse 21 and
verse 26 are parallel,
00:11:25.07\00:11:28.63
they're
introducing something similar,
00:11:28.66\00:11:31.47
but here's the
interesting thing.
00:11:31.50\00:11:34.15
In verse 25, He says,
00:11:34.18\00:11:36.98
"I tell you the truth, the time
is coming and has now come."
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And compare that with verse 28,
00:11:44.65\00:11:48.07
"Do not be amazed at
this, for a time is coming,"
00:11:48.10\00:11:52.07
what's missing? It has come.
00:11:52.10\00:11:55.29
It has come is
missing, all right?
00:11:55.32\00:11:57.40
In verse 25, He says,
00:11:57.43\00:11:58.80
"A time is coming
and has already come."
00:11:58.83\00:12:02.44
Then in verse 28,
"A time is coming."
00:12:02.47\00:12:05.86
You see, one thing
you have to understand
00:12:05.89\00:12:07.99
in the Old Testament
eschatology end time stuff
00:12:08.02\00:12:12.10
is often introduced
by a time is coming,
00:12:12.13\00:12:15.05
or after those days or,
you know, at the end and so on.
00:12:15.08\00:12:19.14
There's different
ways of phrasing it,
00:12:19.17\00:12:21.08
but a time is coming is an
introduction of eschatology.
00:12:21.11\00:12:26.64
You know, it's how
the world is going to end,
00:12:26.67\00:12:28.88
what the future is all
about, prophecy, if you will.
00:12:28.91\00:12:33.00
But in verse 25 He shifts
it just a little bit, He says,
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"A time is coming
and already is now."
00:12:36.72\00:12:42.31
Let me show you what is coming.
00:12:42.34\00:12:44.57
Verse 25, "A time is
coming and has now come
00:12:44.60\00:12:48.65
when the dead will hear
the voice of the son of God
00:12:48.68\00:12:52.30
and those who hear will live."
00:12:52.33\00:12:54.94
Sounds like a
resurrection, right?
00:12:54.97\00:12:57.18
But notice verse 28,
00:12:57.21\00:12:59.18
"Do not be amazed at
this, for a time is coming
00:12:59.21\00:13:01.93
when all who are in their graves
00:13:01.96\00:13:05.46
will hear His
voice and come out."
00:13:05.49\00:13:08.07
You know, there just
no mention of graves.
00:13:08.10\00:13:10.60
In verse 25, but there is here
00:13:10.63\00:13:13.08
and so scholars
have come to understand
00:13:13.11\00:13:15.61
that there's two types of death
00:13:15.64\00:13:18.46
and two types of resurrection
going on in this passage.
00:13:18.49\00:13:23.18
In verses 21 to 26, He's
talking about spiritual death,
00:13:23.21\00:13:29.06
the death that
comes through addictions,
00:13:29.09\00:13:31.96
through chasing after sins,
or being enslaved to Satan.
00:13:31.99\00:13:36.49
It's being as good as
dead. It's a miserable life.
00:13:36.52\00:13:40.73
Okay, that is
treated like death,
00:13:40.76\00:13:42.53
it's spiritually dead.
00:13:42.56\00:13:44.05
He can bring life to
those who are depressed,
00:13:44.08\00:13:46.99
those who are down spiritually,
00:13:47.02\00:13:48.50
those who are messed up.
00:13:48.53\00:13:51.12
Then in verse
28, an hour is coming
00:13:51.15\00:13:53.60
when that those
who are in the graves
00:13:53.63\00:13:56.69
will hear His
voice and come out,
00:13:56.72\00:13:58.10
that's physical resurrection.
00:13:58.13\00:14:00.16
So you have two
eschatologies here.
00:14:00.19\00:14:03.24
There is a present eschatology.
00:14:03.27\00:14:05.27
Jesus is opening
up the possibilities
00:14:05.30\00:14:08.64
that can happen right now.
00:14:08.67\00:14:10.85
And then in verse 28 in
honesty end time eschatology
00:14:10.88\00:14:14.29
the resurrection
of the physical dead
00:14:14.32\00:14:16.96
when Jesus returns.
00:14:16.99\00:14:18.97
And thus, it's very
significant in verse 24,
00:14:19.00\00:14:23.09
He says, "I tell you the truth,"
00:14:23.12\00:14:24.59
this is the part
the spiritually dead,
00:14:24.62\00:14:27.22
"whoever hears my
words," present tense,
00:14:27.25\00:14:30.58
"and believes him who
sent me," present tense,
00:14:30.61\00:14:34.22
"has", present tense,
00:14:34.25\00:14:36.89
"eternal life," present tense,
00:14:36.92\00:14:41.10
eternal life and
will not be condemned
00:14:41.13\00:14:44.76
those in the end time judgment.
00:14:44.79\00:14:47.01
"He has", present tense,
00:14:47.04\00:14:49.21
"crossed over
from death to life."
00:14:49.24\00:14:52.15
So there's a real
resurrection that takes place
00:14:52.18\00:14:55.12
in the Gospel of John
in the stories of Jesus.
00:14:55.15\00:14:58.87
This man the pool of
Bethesda is an acted parable
00:14:58.90\00:15:05.27
not only of the
resurrection at the end,
00:15:05.30\00:15:07.62
but he's particularly an acted
parable the resurrection now.
00:15:07.65\00:15:11.40
He was raised from a
paralyzed miserable life,
00:15:11.43\00:15:15.81
to a life of physical vigor
and relationship with Jesus.
00:15:15.84\00:15:19.74
His whole life
has turned around.
00:15:19.77\00:15:21.36
It's as if he was dead and
has now come to life again.
00:15:21.39\00:15:26.64
So for John the
greatest eschatology of all
00:15:26.67\00:15:31.06
is what happens
right now in Jesus.
00:15:31.09\00:15:34.51
He has eternal life now.
00:15:34.54\00:15:36.60
He has passed over
from death to life.
00:15:36.63\00:15:40.06
It's a present tense.
00:15:40.09\00:15:41.60
The spiritually dead can
come alive in Jesus Christ now.
00:15:41.63\00:15:46.55
That's the special contribution
00:15:46.58\00:15:48.14
of the Gospel of
John to eschatology.
00:15:48.17\00:15:51.59
And we're gonna continue
00:15:51.62\00:15:52.99
on this message of
eschatology in the Book of John.
00:15:53.02\00:15:55.62
Because we need to compare
00:15:55.65\00:15:57.02
that with all the
other types of eschatology
00:15:57.05\00:16:00.21
that come
before it in the Bible.
00:16:00.24\00:16:02.80
Right, well,
friends, stay with us.
00:16:02.83\00:16:04.61
After this break, we're gonna
continue on the Gospel of John.
00:16:04.64\00:16:07.38