Participants: Deyvy Rodriguez & Jon Paulien
Series Code: JBOTB
Program Code: JBOTB00011A
|
00:20 Hello, welcome to this program called, "Books of the Book".
00:23 We're so glad that you are taking this time 00:26 to join us in this-- a Bible study. 00:28 We are studying the gospel of John. 00:30 And today we are reading parts of chapter 5. 00:34 So open your Bibles and join us. 00:37 And let me introduce to you Dr. Jon Paulien. 00:40 He is with us, he is the dean of religion 00:42 at Loma Linda University in Loma Linda, California. 00:46 And it's been a pleasure for me to study the Gospel of John. 00:50 He is very talented, very brilliant. 00:52 He's written several books in particular 00:55 three books on the Book of John. 00:59 Dr. Paulien, welcome again. It's always good to be with you. 01:04 Let me ask you a question, 01:05 what is your favorite book of the Bible? 01:09 As I mentioned you've written three books 01:12 on the Gospel of John. 01:13 You've written several books just in general. 01:16 I'm going to assume that the Gospel of John 01:18 is your favorite it seems. Well, I do. 01:21 I am pretty partial to the Book of Romans. 01:24 I think there is some very important things 01:26 that go on there. 01:28 It's a very challenging book 01:29 but as in a great blessing to me. 01:32 Obviously, Book of Revelation has a lot of interest to me. 01:37 I've studied it but, yeah, you're probably right. 01:39 I think John is probably my favorite. 01:41 It's got my favorite text anyway. 01:42 You remember chapter 3 verse 8, though? 01:45 Which says? 01:46 Which basically says, "The wind blows wherever it will 01:50 no one knows where it's coming from or where it's going, 01:53 so is everyone who is born of the Spirit." 01:56 You know and that means, you know, 01:57 people who are just a little bit different, 02:01 people who are creative and surprise people and so on. 02:05 That's kind of the thing the Holy Spirit does. 02:06 Who allow the Holy Spirit to lead them in different ways? 02:10 But when you do that then you often get led in a way 02:14 that most people wouldn't think was the right way, 02:16 because the Holy Spirit doesn't go by human paths, 02:20 but leads us on a divine path of creativity. 02:24 Well, today we are picking up in chapter 5. 02:28 What exactly are we going to be talking about today? 02:31 John Chapter 5 and beginning with verse 16 02:35 is probably right up there with the prologue of John, 02:39 one of the most important, densest passages in the book. 02:43 And we're going to spend some time in these verses 02:46 and try to go into a little bit of detail. 02:48 Okay, and what verses are we reading in chapter 5? 02:51 I would start probably with 02:53 the verses 16 through 18 of chapter 5. 02:56 Shall we read them? I think we should, yeah. 03:00 "The man departed, and told the Jews 03:01 that it was Jesus, who had made him well. 03:05 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus 03:07 and sought to kill him 03:09 because he had done these things on the Sabbath. 03:12 But Jesus answered them, 03:14 "My Father has been working until now, 03:16 and I have been working. 03:19 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, 03:21 because he not only broke the Sabbath, 03:24 but also said that God was His Father, 03:26 making himself equal with God." 03:31 Okay, so this is really the first active hostility 03:35 to Jesus in the Gospel of John. 03:37 Up until now, you know, 03:39 the Pharisees have been out there. 03:41 I mean, Nicodemus wasn't hostile really. 03:43 And they challenged him a little bit 03:45 but right here you see serious activists all at hospitality. 03:49 The police have kind of dragged Him in 03:52 and they're questioning Him 03:53 and trying to figure out what to do with Him. 03:55 And Jesus makes kind of a striking statement. 04:00 He says the Father is working until now and I too I'm working. 04:05 In other words, My Father works on the Sabbath, 04:09 so it's appropriate for Me to work on the Sabbath. 04:12 Now the Rabbis actually believed that God works on the Sabbath. 04:17 So Jesus is really saying something that's very compatible 04:20 with what the Rabbis would believe. 04:23 The Rabbis believe that babies are born, people die, 04:29 the sun shines, the rain falls, 04:32 you see, all of that is God's work. 04:34 So its evidence to them that God actually works on the Sabbath. 04:38 So Jesus is saying, hey, God's works on the Sabbath, 04:40 why shouldn't I? 04:43 And they didn't like the analogy 04:47 because of course they didn't understand Jesus to be God. 04:52 So again for the reader this makes sense 04:56 if you're coming from the prologue 04:57 and you know who Jesus is? 04:59 That He was with God from eternity 05:01 that qualitatively He is what God is, 05:04 that He is worthy of worship, 05:06 that He is the Creator of the universe 05:08 and the Ruler of the universe. 05:10 If all of that is true, 05:12 then Jesus has to work on the Sabbath. 05:15 You see, because the universe needs to be sustained, 05:19 the earth needs to be sustained, etcetera. 05:21 So Jesus is defending that, 05:24 hey, the Sabbath is a day to do healing. 05:28 The Sabbath is a day to help people, 05:30 the Sabbath is a day to do the kinds of things 05:33 that God would do on that day. 05:36 The reason that the commandment says, 05:38 don't work on the Sabbath is the kind of work 05:40 we do would be distracting from Sabbath work. 05:44 You see, Sabbath work is focused on God, 05:47 Sabbath work is focused on healing. 05:49 It's doing the things that God would do, 05:52 but when we are busy with the normal activities of everyday, 05:56 that's distracting away from that. 05:58 So God is inviting people to take a day 06:00 in which they do things a little bit differently 06:03 than they would the rest of the week. 06:04 And that's the reason why they wanted to kill Him 06:10 because not only He broke the Sabbath 06:12 but then He also claimed God as His Father. 06:17 Well, you see, that's the thing. 06:18 If He is truly God then He has the right to do 06:22 what God does on the Sabbath. 06:23 If He's not, then He's committing 06:26 blasphemy in claiming so. 06:28 You see, He is doing something only God is allowed to do 06:30 that means He's making Himself God. 06:33 Now these are issues that come back 06:35 again and again in chapter 7, 06:38 they remember this incident about the Sabbath 06:40 in the pool of the Bethesda, and that becomes an issue there. 06:43 In chapter 9, a blind man is healed on the Sabbath. 06:46 So that issue recurs, then in chapter 10, 06:50 the issue of calling Himself God, 06:52 you know, I and the father are One 06:54 that comes up again in chapter 10. 06:56 So right here in these three verses 06:59 it introduces a couple of themes that occur over and over again. 07:04 But the part that we want to look at in this program 07:07 is that Jesus' statement in verse 17 07:10 becomes the foundation of everything 07:12 that is said in verses 19 to 30. 07:15 So let's look at it again, 07:17 in chapter 5: 17, Jesus said to them, 07:22 "My Father is always at work to this very day, 07:26 and I too am working." 07:29 So what's God doing on the Sabbath? 07:32 He's giving life. He is judging. 07:35 You know, people are born people die. 07:37 You know, people think of that in terms of judgment. 07:40 And He is doing the work of salvation, 07:45 you know, saving us. 07:46 And that's exactly what verses 19 to 30 are about. 07:50 In verses 19 to 30, Jesus is elaborating on His statement. 07:55 Here is what I mean, when I say that I work on the Sabbath. 07:59 I give life, I give salvation, I pass judgment as needed. 08:05 These are activities that God needs to be doing everyday. 08:08 But they're particularly according to Jesus 08:11 appropriate on the Sabbath. 08:13 So I think what we should do now 08:15 is get into verses 19 through 30, 08:18 it might be helpful to start for you 08:20 to read that whole section through. 08:22 I would hope that our viewers 08:24 would also have your Bibles in hand 08:26 and that you would read these same passages with us 08:28 and then I want to note a few things 08:32 as we go through there. 08:34 Okay, so chapter 5:19-30, 08:38 you have a bible read along with me. 08:41 Then Jesus answered and said to them, 08:43 "Most assuredly, I say it to you, 08:46 the Son can do nothing of Himself, 08:47 but what He sees the Father do, for whatever He does, 08:51 the Son also does in like manner. 08:53 For the Father loves the Son, 08:55 and shows Him all things that He Himself does 08:58 and He will show Him greater works than these 09:01 that you may marvel. 09:02 For as the Father raises the dead 09:05 and gives life to them 09:07 even so the Son gives life to whom He will. 09:10 For the Father judges no one, 09:12 but has committed all judgment to the Son 09:15 that all should honor the Son 09:16 just as they honor the Father. 09:18 He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, 09:22 who sent Him. 09:23 Most assuredly I say to you, 09:25 he who hears my word and believes in Him 09:28 who sent Me has everlasting life 09:30 and shall not come into judgment 09:32 but has passed from death into life. 09:34 Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming and now is, 09:38 when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God 09:41 and those who hear will live 09:43 for as the Father has life in himself, 09:46 so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself 09:50 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also 09:54 because He is the Son of Man. 09:56 Do not marvel at this for the hour is coming 09:59 in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice 10:02 and come forth those who have done good 10:06 to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil 10:09 to the resurrection of condemnation. 10:12 I can of myself doing nothing as I hear I judge 10:16 and my judgment is righteous 10:18 because I did not seek my own will 10:21 but the will of the Father who sent Me." 10:24 Okay, let me say some general things about this text 10:28 and then we'll dig a little bit deeper in the second segment. 10:31 The first and the last verses are kind of in common, 10:34 it shows how Jesus and His Father are, 10:38 you know, in a dependent relationship on each other. 10:40 And Jesus does nothing without His father's permission. 10:44 That He is truly, you know, if you've seen Me, 10:45 you've seen the Father. 10:47 He's representing the Father on this earth. 10:49 So verses 19 through 30, 10:51 this whole passage is united together 10:55 and then very interesting there is a couple of places 10:58 verse 21 it says, "For just as the Father 11:02 raises the dead and gives them life, 11:05 so the Son gives life to whomever He pleases." 11:08 Then verse 26, "For as the Father has life in Himself, 11:12 so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself." 11:15 You see the parallel there? 11:17 And it's open with the same Greek phrase is Hosperger 11:21 which basically means just as the Father does this, so I. 11:25 So verse 21 and verse 26 are parallel, 11:28 they're introducing something similar, 11:31 but here's the interesting thing. 11:34 In verse 25, He says, 11:37 "I tell you the truth, the time is coming and has now come." 11:44 And compare that with verse 28, 11:48 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming," 11:52 what's missing? It has come. 11:55 It has come is missing, all right? 11:57 In verse 25, He says, 11:58 "A time is coming and has already come." 12:02 Then in verse 28, "A time is coming." 12:05 You see, one thing you have to understand 12:08 in the Old Testament eschatology end time stuff 12:12 is often introduced by a time is coming, 12:15 or after those days or, you know, at the end and so on. 12:19 There's different ways of phrasing it, 12:21 but a time is coming is an introduction of eschatology. 12:26 You know, it's how the world is going to end, 12:28 what the future is all about, prophecy, if you will. 12:33 But in verse 25 He shifts it just a little bit, He says, 12:36 "A time is coming and already is now." 12:42 Let me show you what is coming. 12:44 Verse 25, "A time is coming and has now come 12:48 when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God 12:52 and those who hear will live." 12:54 Sounds like a resurrection, right? 12:57 But notice verse 28, 12:59 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming 13:01 when all who are in their graves 13:05 will hear His voice and come out." 13:08 You know, there just no mention of graves. 13:10 In verse 25, but there is here 13:13 and so scholars have come to understand 13:15 that there's two types of death 13:18 and two types of resurrection going on in this passage. 13:23 In verses 21 to 26, He's talking about spiritual death, 13:29 the death that comes through addictions, 13:31 through chasing after sins, or being enslaved to Satan. 13:36 It's being as good as dead. It's a miserable life. 13:40 Okay, that is treated like death, 13:42 it's spiritually dead. 13:44 He can bring life to those who are depressed, 13:47 those who are down spiritually, 13:48 those who are messed up. 13:51 Then in verse 28, an hour is coming 13:53 when that those who are in the graves 13:56 will hear His voice and come out, 13:58 that's physical resurrection. 14:00 So you have two eschatologies here. 14:03 There is a present eschatology. 14:05 Jesus is opening up the possibilities 14:08 that can happen right now. 14:10 And then in verse 28 in honesty end time eschatology 14:14 the resurrection of the physical dead 14:16 when Jesus returns. 14:19 And thus, it's very significant in verse 24, 14:23 He says, "I tell you the truth," 14:24 this is the part the spiritually dead, 14:27 "whoever hears my words," present tense, 14:30 "and believes him who sent me," present tense, 14:34 "has", present tense, 14:36 "eternal life," present tense, 14:41 eternal life and will not be condemned 14:44 those in the end time judgment. 14:47 "He has", present tense, 14:49 "crossed over from death to life." 14:52 So there's a real resurrection that takes place 14:55 in the Gospel of John in the stories of Jesus. 14:58 This man the pool of Bethesda is an acted parable 15:05 not only of the resurrection at the end, 15:07 but he's particularly an acted parable the resurrection now. 15:11 He was raised from a paralyzed miserable life, 15:15 to a life of physical vigor and relationship with Jesus. 15:19 His whole life has turned around. 15:21 It's as if he was dead and has now come to life again. 15:26 So for John the greatest eschatology of all 15:31 is what happens right now in Jesus. 15:34 He has eternal life now. 15:36 He has passed over from death to life. 15:40 It's a present tense. 15:41 The spiritually dead can come alive in Jesus Christ now. 15:46 That's the special contribution 15:48 of the Gospel of John to eschatology. 15:51 And we're gonna continue 15:53 on this message of eschatology in the Book of John. 15:55 Because we need to compare 15:57 that with all the other types of eschatology 16:00 that come before it in the Bible. 16:02 Right, well, friends, stay with us. 16:04 After this break, we're gonna continue on the Gospel of John. |
Revised 2014-12-17