Signs (John 5:8-47)

Sermon for Milledgeville and Whitestown UMC 

Signs (John 5:8-47)

 

The deeds that the Father has assigned me to complete—
the deeds I am now doing—testify about me that the Father has sent me.
John 5:36 

In heaven, there were two huge signs. The first read, Men Who Did What Their Wives Told Them to Do.... The line of men under this sign stretched as far as the eye could see.

The second sign stated, Men Who Did What They Wanted to Do. Only one man stood under that sign.

Intrigued, St. Peter said to the lone man, “Tell me about yourself."

The man shrugged and said, “My wife told me to stand here.”

 

Jesus performed a sign by healing a paralyzed man on the Sabbath day. At Jesus’ command, the man got up, took his mat, and walked. By carrying his mat, he broke a sabbath rule.

 

Rabbinical law states,

On Sabbath one may not carry or transfer objects between a private, enclosed domain, such as the house, and a public domain, such as the street. Neither may one carry an object in a home for more than six feet. Examples of this prohibition include: carrying in one's pocket; carrying anything in the hand; wheeling a baby carriage or shopping cart, going outside with gum or food in the mouth.

 

It seems silly to us. But for Jews, the 7^th day of rest is a crucial practice. The fourth commandment says, “Remember the Sabbath and keep it holy by doing no work.” It is a special day set apart from all other days of the week. Rabbi Abraham Heschel wrote, “The Sabbath has done more to keep the Jews, than the Jews have kept the Sabbath.” After they lost Jerusalem to the Babylonians, keeping sabbath helped displaced Jews maintain their identity as God’s chosen. They lost their temple and their homeland. They had not lost their God.

 

As they suffered in exile in Babylon, the rabbis determined to lead the people in holiness. Though Torah law may seem peculiar to outsiders, that’s kind of the point. The covenant set Israel apart from other nations. The rabbis wrote extra laws to assure that Israel will observe all the words of the covenant and thereby avoid God’s wrath.

 

Their intentions were good. But their legalism became an obstruction to the heart of the law, mercy and justice. The paralyzed man walked again by the power of God. Rather than celebrate this joyous miracle, the religious leaders chose to focus on a Sabbath violation. No wonder Jesus fumed at such men. “Blind guides” he called them.

 

When they discovered that Jesus was responsible for healing the man, the religious leaders persecuted Jesus. Jesus responded to them saying, “My Father is working, and I too am working.”

 

The rabbis acknowledge, in their writings, that God works on the Sabbath. For if God were not sustaining creation at every moment in time, all life would cease. By God’s work, life flourishes or diminishes. As Job said, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed Be the Name of the Lord.” They couldn’t argue against God working on the Sabbath, but because Jesus implied that he is equal to God, they wanted to kill him. In their zeal for the law, they find Jesus to be a terrible threat to the nation. They think it best to eliminate him.

 

Jesus explains, “I do nothing on my own. I do what I see the Father doing. Just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so the Son gives life to whomever he chooses.”

 

In Star Wars Episode 9, the Rise of Skywalker, Rey heals a humongous sand serpent. She told her droid friend BB-8 that she just “transferred a bit of life, force energy from me to him.” Jesus gave the paralyzed man a bit of life and healed him.

 

What is the nature of this life? It is the creative power of God who raises the dead. Jesus hints that even greater work is coming that will amaze them. I think Jesus means the raising of Lazarus and his own Easter morning resurrection. This life, that Jesus has to give, is resurrection power.

 

God gave Jesus the authority to begin the new creation through deeds of power. Jesus gives life to whomever he wishes. These deeds serve as signs to the identity of Jesus.

 

John’s gospel presents Jesus as the Son of God come down from heaven and the Son of Man, the promised messiah. By believing in the Son, you have life. You have resurrection power to live anew.

 

Jesus is one with the Father. What the Father does, Jesus does. The Father is the creator God who called Israel as His own possession and redeemed them from slavery in Egypt. Yet, John tells us that in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was God, and all things were created through the Word. The Word, Jesus Christ, was made flesh and walked among us. Whenever you are dealing with Jesus, you are dealing with The Father. When praying to God, you are praying to Jesus as well. The Father and Son are united in such intimacy that they, with The Holy Spirit, are one.

 

Jesus shifts to talking about judgment. When I was a kid I heard preachers and evangelists talk about the Day of Judgment, when everyone who ever lived would stand before God and be judged for what we had done or failed to do in life. Those whose names were not written in God’s Book of Life were thrown into the lake of fire, to suffer for all eternity. It was meant to scare us straight.

 

The Bible gives ammunition for such tactics in preaching. But the scriptures also contain messages about God’s mercy for all.

 

“For God so loved the world that whosoever believes in him will not perish, but have eternal life.” (Jn 3:16) “The one who hears my message and believes the one who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned, but has crossed over from death to life.” (Jn 5:24)

 

The Father has given Jesus authority to judge humankind. God gave Jesus Christ authority to judge so that all will honor Jesus. If you don’t honor Jesus, you don’t honor God. At the resurrection, the dead will hear the voice of Christ and rise into judgment.

 

“…The ones who have done what is good to the resurrection resulting in life, and the ones who have done what is evil to the resurrection resulting in condemnation.” (Jn 5:29)

 

But wait! Jesus said in verse 24, if we hear his message and believe we will not be condemned. We have already passed from death to life. So judgement must be for those who have not heard the message or believed. They are judged on merit, not by faith. But then again, the apostle Paul maintains that people of faith will face judgment.

 

we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may be paid back according to what he has done while in the body, whether good or evil. (2Co 5:10)

 

Later in the same chapter he writes,

 

…in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting people’s trespasses against them… (2Co 5:19)

 

And in Romans, Paul says,

 

There is… no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death. (Romans 8:1-2)

 

The gospel of Jesus Christ is good news. It is good because He canceled our sin with his own blood. We are free to live empowered by His life. As new creations, we are free from the guilt of sin, and the power of the grave, to live godly lives.

 

We don’t go on rebelliously sinning. Instead, we live a transformed life. Just as the Son does what He sees the Father doing, we do as Jesus does.

 

Remember the WWJD bracelet craze of the early 2000s? What Would Jesus Do? That question informs our daily choices. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith. Do as He does.

 

Jesus tells the religious leaders that Moses testified about him, the Prophet to come. And God testifies about him by the deeds of power Jesus performs. Nicodemus was certain God was with Jesus, for how else might He change water into wine and heal paralytics.

 

Jesus said, “The deeds I am now doing—testify about me that the Father has sent me. (Jn 5:36)

 

The deeds of power testify that Jesus is the Christ, Son of God and Son of Man. But the religious leaders remain blind. They see the signs, but they do not see that God is visiting them. Instead, they see a man who breaks their sabbath laws and encourages others to do the same. Rather than be convinced of Jesus’ identity, they are convinced Jesus must die.

 

Jesus confronted them.

 

You people have never heard The Father’s voice nor seen his form at any time, ³⁸ nor do you have his word residing in you, because you do not believe the one whom he sent. ³⁹ You study the scriptures thoroughly because you think in them you possess eternal life, and it is these same scriptures that testify about me, ⁴⁰ but you are not willing to come to me so that you may have life.

They are missing the signs that point to Christ. One crucial sign God has given to the world is His word. God gave us the Bible so that we might discover Jesus, come to Him, and receive life.

The religious leaders cannot see the forest for the trees. Blinded by the minute details of every single stroke of the law, they miss the purpose of scripture. The scriptures point to Christ like a flashing sign. Yet these religious leaders fail to come to Jesus and stand condemned.

In the arithmetic of John, the equation for salvation is very simple.

Belief in Jesus = Life

Rejection of Jesus = Condemnation

Jesus told Nicodemus, “The one who believes in the Son has eternal life. The one who rejects the Son will not see life, but God’s wrath remains on him.” (Jn 3:36)

You + Jesus = Life

You – Jesus = God’s Wrath

 

Jesus reveled the basis for divine judgment. “Light has come into the world and people loved the darkness rather than the light…” (Jn 3:19)

Jesus is the light of the world, a sign pointing the way to life. Leave behind the deeds of darkness. Step into the light. Step into life lived in Christ and receive life everlasting.