March 16, 2008 P.M. Service
The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole.
And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. (John 5:15-18)
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son:
That all [men] should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. (John 5:22-23)
This chapter covers one of three Sabbath Day controversies where Jesus got in trouble for helping people on the Sabbath. These words were spoken by Jesus to a group of Jews - very religious people. He is speaking to them about His right to heal and work miracles any time He pleases. The occasion was that Jesus had healed a man (who had been sick for 38 years) but He did it on the Sabbath Day and Jewish tradition forbade any healing on the Sabbath because the Rabbi's said healing was working, and to work on the Sabbath was to break the Law. Jesus is being confronted by this angry group who considered Him to be a lawbreaker, early on during His earthly ministry.
By this time, Jesus has already come to the attention of His fellow Jews and the Pharisees, who were the religious leaders of the day. He's already turned water into wine, talked with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well, and healed the nobleman's son of a deadly fever. He had already begun to preach His own particular message which was different from what the Jews were used to hearing, but they still recognized (according to Nicodemus the Pharisee in John 3) that Jesus was a teacher of truth.
We can say here that Jesus has been tolerated and even admired up to this point, but now with His healing of a man on the Sabbath Day, He was putting His own teachings into practice, and claiming it was His divine right and duty to do so. He had been recognized and tolerated at first, but now when He starts to practice what He preaches and His true identity comes out, He was in trouble. The Jews were angry with Him. They even wanted to kill Him.
John has shown us a pattern in the religious world toward Christ: tolerance, admiration, and then extreme intolerance when the truth of Christ is proclaimed. At first Jesus was okay and He was a man of God because of His miracles. Nicodemus said, "We know that you are a teacher come from God." But then when Jesus began to do things His own way or rather I should say God's way, there was a problem. As long as He didn't contradict religious tradition, He was fine. When He did, He was a monster.
This pattern seems universally true. Christ and the people who claim His name and religion are tolerated. Christ and His people are even admired. It's very common to find other religions recognizing Jesus as a great and godly teacher, even a prophet. It's no secret that it is Christ and His people who are primarily responsible for the concept of such things as hospitals and practically every charitable organization in existence. Almost any religion will recognize that and point to it as a good thing which Christ has accomplished.
We find ourselves and Christ tolerated and even admired up to a certain point. But then comes a problem: when we actually practice what Christ preached and we proclaim His identity as God, we're not tolerated anymore.
In the Lord's day, they wanted to kill Him for practicing what He preached. In our day you might get killed in some places, but much of the world claims to be enlightened and civilized. They don't outright kill you, but instead they appeal to your sense of tolerance and your desire for peace and brotherhood. No longer are you threatened with death. Now you're led astray by an intelligent but very simple heart to heart conversation that starts something like this: "Why can't we all just get along? I have the right to my own religion just like you do, and who are you, really, to tell me I'm wrong? We both serve a higher power. We both serve God. Why can't we all just get along and live a good life together? The world would be such a better place if we got along with people. There wouldn't be any religious conflict."
Dear Christian, you tell me, why can't we just get along with people? The Bible even says in Romans 12:18 to live peaceably with all men. I've had church members say, "Well, if [insert name here] is happy in their religion, who am I to judge them?" Why can't we join hands with the world and all worship God together whether it be Jehovah, Zeus, or Thor? Shouldn't we just be quiet about our own religion and accept everything else? We really have no right to judge them, do we? Why can't we just along with them?
These verses in the book of John straigthen us out with reference to this kind of thinking. There are three reasons why you can't fall into the trap of thinking we all ought to get along.
Reason #1
For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: (John 5:22).
A. Here's a crash course on religious beliefs in the world:
B. There are many other smaller religions in the world, and believe it or not there are still many gods and goddesses still in the world. Most of these religions share the common belief that man's fate rests in the hands of some deity, or that the soul is reborn again to live another life.
C. The big umbrella known as Christianity ought to be simple to explain. I'd like to say that all these groups known as Christians are the same, but they're not. There are hundreds of varieties of organizations that are loosely described as Christianity. They all pay lip service to God, Christ, and the Bible, but many of them are unlike anything we know.
D. Most of these religions (with a few exceptions, perhaps) are somewhat tolerant toward other religions. Even some of the more "radical" religions exercise some degree of acceptance.
E. In this world, these religions remain tolerant toward other religions. Many of them have teachings that say other religions are just different pathways to the same afterlife. And understand that we're not talking about what we'd call bad people. We're not talking about a bunch of devil worshippers wearing black robes or some cult chanting around some terrible idol. We're talking about decent people: our neighbors and co-workers; people we know from the grocery store; store clerks, and people in government. They all believe we're working to get to the same place, and they genuinely want to get along with us and they want us to get along with them.
F. These are people we'd like to get along with and accept. These are folks we might like to fellowship with and even worship together. It's tempting to remain silent about Christ and His teachings and just get along, especially when everyone says that's what we ought to do. But I want you to know that if these people are really our friends, or if we really care about people, we're not going to able to be silent and accept them the way they are. We can't get along with them.
G. You see, when these good people leave this life, they're not going to unite with their God. They're not even going to appear before God the Father.
Why can't we all get along?
That all [men] should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him. (John 5:23)
A. This verse is stated as the reason for which God has committed all judgment to the Son. He's given the Son judgment because He wants all men to honor the Son just like they honor the Father. When we find that the Son is the one in authority, that fact gets our attention for either good or bad. To the ones who reject Christ, it gets their attention in a bad way.
Illustration
After having been invited to speak at a memorial service for a young teenaged girl who was killed in the Columbine school shootings, Franklin Graham challenged his listeners to be prepared for the afterlife. He preached Jesus just like any saved preacher would. He pointed out that the young deceased girl knew Jesus as her Savior. He asked the crowd if they were prepared for eternity like she was. You would not believe the outrage his preaching inspired. One man accosted him after the devotional and said he was very offended. Another so-called Christian wrote that he felt like Graham was terrorizing people into heaven rather than loving them into heaven. It made headline news.
B. That's why we can't just get along with people. We'll never get along with people like these, for the simple fact that we acknowledge and teach that Jesus is the judge and the source of salvation and this is offensive to them. They might claim to love God, but do not honor the Son in the same way and they are offended when confronted with the truth. But we can't change that teaching or be silent about it, because the purpose of making Jesus the judge was so that men would honor Him even as (or in the same way that) they honor the Father.
C. It would be great to get along with everyone, but to do so would make it impossible to proclaim Jesus as the Judge to whom we'll all answer.
Why can't we all just get along?
A. God judges no man but has committed all judgment to the Son. He's done this so that the Son will be in authority and therefore honored in the same way that God Himself is. Those who do not honor the Son in this are, in reality, guilty of not honoring the Father.
B. When all the good people of the world argue that we all ought to get along because we all serve the same God, but they want you be quiet about God the Son, or they want us to get together in spite of our differences, what does this text tell you?
C. People who do not honor the Son do not really honor God.
God never said that everyone ought to get along, to the exclusion of the truth. If you're a believer in Christ, there will never be a time (this side of eternity) when you'll get along with everyone, for the simple reasons Jesus put forth in this text:
To accept the truth of those statements is deny oneself the luxury of getting along with every other religion. It practically ensures that you wear the title of intolerance, but I want you to know that I can't find any place in the Bible that says, "Thou shalt tolerate everyone in spite of their differences."
I can find where God says that everyone should repent and believe the Gospel. And the Gospel revolves around the finished work of God the Son, Christ, on the cross of Calvary. (1 Cor. 15)
Shall we forget all that to get along with the world? The answer is clear.