The True Son (John 10:31-42)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:07.349 Going to read two passages today on first from John Chapter One and then continuing 2 00:00:07.589 --> 00:00:17.910 on in John Ten. John Chapter One, Verse Twenty Nine, speaking of 3 00:00:18.030 --> 00:00:24.019 John The Baptist, the Gospel writer says writes this. The next day he 4 00:00:24.179 --> 00:00:29.539 saw Jesus coming toward him and said, behold the lamb of God, who 5 00:00:29.579 --> 00:00:34.380 takes away the sin of the world. This is he of whom, I 6 00:00:34.579 --> 00:00:39.490 said, after me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was 7 00:00:40.329 --> 00:00:45.329 before me. I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I 8 00:00:45.649 --> 00:00:51.560 came baptizing with water that he might be revealed to Israel, and John bore 9 00:00:51.640 --> 00:00:57.200 witness. I saw the spirit descend from heaven like a dove and it remained 10 00:00:57.320 --> 00:01:02.000 on him. I myself did not know him, but he sent me to 11 00:01:02.200 --> 00:01:06.430 baptize with water. Or but sorry, but he who sent me to baptize 12 00:01:06.469 --> 00:01:11.109 with water said to me he on whom you see the spirit descend and remain. 13 00:01:11.829 --> 00:01:17.189 This is he who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I have seen 14 00:01:17.430 --> 00:01:23.819 and have borne witness that this is the son of God. And now John 15 00:01:23.859 --> 00:01:30.980 Chapter Ten. I'll begin reading at Verse Twenty Two I and I'll read the 16 00:01:30.019 --> 00:01:34.890 end of the chapter. The focus of the sermon this morning is on verses 17 00:01:34.010 --> 00:01:38.849 thirty one to the end, but for now let's hear God's word from John 18 00:01:38.010 --> 00:01:45.090 Ten, verse twenty two. At that time, the Feast of the dedication 19 00:01:45.250 --> 00:01:51.239 took place at Jerusalem. It was winter and Jesus was walking in the temple, 20 00:01:51.400 --> 00:01:55.599 in the colonnade of Solomon. So the Jews gathered around him and said 21 00:01:55.640 --> 00:02:00.079 to him, how long will you keep us in suspense if you are the 22 00:02:00.159 --> 00:02:04.909 Christ? Tell US plainly. Jesus answered them. I told you, and 23 00:02:05.069 --> 00:02:08.789 you do not believe. The works that I do in my father's name bear 24 00:02:08.909 --> 00:02:13.909 witness about me, but you do not believe because you are not among my 25 00:02:14.150 --> 00:02:19.099 sheep. My sheep hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. 26 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:24.340 I give them eternal life and they will never perish and no one will 27 00:02:24.419 --> 00:02:29.699 snatch them out of my hand. My father, who has given them to 28 00:02:29.819 --> 00:02:32.289 me, is greater than all and no one is able to snatch them out 29 00:02:32.330 --> 00:02:40.689 of the father's hand. I and the father are one. The Jews picked 30 00:02:40.689 --> 00:02:49.360 up stones again to stone him. Jesus answered them. I have shown you 31 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:53.319 many good works from the father. for which of them are you going to 32 00:02:53.479 --> 00:02:59.310 stone me? The Jews answered him. It is not for a good work 33 00:02:59.469 --> 00:03:04.110 that we are going to stone you, but for blasphemy because you, being 34 00:03:04.270 --> 00:03:10.229 a man, make yourself God. Jesus answered them. Is it not written 35 00:03:10.270 --> 00:03:15.939 in your law? I said you are gods. If he called them gods 36 00:03:16.060 --> 00:03:22.180 to whom the word of God came in scripture, cannot be broken. Do 37 00:03:22.300 --> 00:03:27.409 you say of him whom the father consecrated and sent into the world, you 38 00:03:27.530 --> 00:03:32.210 are blaspheming because I said I am the son of God. If I am 39 00:03:32.289 --> 00:03:37.370 not doing the works of my father, then do not believe me. But 40 00:03:37.530 --> 00:03:40.800 if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the 41 00:03:40.919 --> 00:03:46.879 works that you may know and understand that the father is in me and I 42 00:03:46.159 --> 00:03:51.960 am in the father. Again, they sought to arrest him, but he 43 00:03:52.039 --> 00:03:55.909 escaped from their hands. He went away again, across the Jordan to the 44 00:03:55.990 --> 00:04:00.990 place where John had been baptizing at first, and there he remained, and 45 00:04:01.189 --> 00:04:06.189 many came to him and they said John did no sign, but everything that 46 00:04:06.229 --> 00:04:14.020 John said about this man was true and many believed in him. There you 47 00:04:14.139 --> 00:04:23.939 may be seated. So here in John Ten we have this very, very, 48 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:36.370 very clear expression and explanation, testimony that Jesus is God and man, 49 00:04:39.439 --> 00:04:47.720 both these things completely true. We read that in John Ten. At the 50 00:04:47.800 --> 00:04:51.639 end they're the people say John did no sign, but everything John said about 51 00:04:51.990 --> 00:05:01.509 this man was true. And what did John Say about this man? What 52 00:05:01.589 --> 00:05:05.870 do you say about this man from Nazareth, this man that was born of 53 00:05:05.990 --> 00:05:14.300 Mary, this man that had brothers and sisters? He said that he was 54 00:05:14.459 --> 00:05:19.980 the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, he said. 55 00:05:20.019 --> 00:05:26.769 John said that this one that comes after me in terms of ministry, 56 00:05:26.810 --> 00:05:32.410 also in terms of his birth. He though he was younger than John John 57 00:05:32.529 --> 00:05:39.480 says he was before me, both in terms of the priority of his ministry 58 00:05:40.480 --> 00:05:44.879 and in term of his age, if we could speak of it that way. 59 00:05:46.079 --> 00:05:51.310 Because before Jesus became man, he was and always has been, God 60 00:05:53.470 --> 00:06:00.629 of God, light of light, very, God of Very, God begotten, 61 00:06:01.389 --> 00:06:09.339 not made from his father. I am in the father and the father 62 00:06:09.540 --> 00:06:14.060 is in me. I am the father. Are One, two persons, 63 00:06:15.339 --> 00:06:23.290 three, including the Holy Spirit. One God. Jesus doesn't say he's a 64 00:06:23.569 --> 00:06:30.410 God and I'm a God. Jesus says I am the father. Are One, 65 00:06:30.529 --> 00:06:41.560 and the Jews picked up stones again to stone him. Have you ever 66 00:06:41.680 --> 00:06:48.149 been that angry? I know I have. So angry that you're just looking 67 00:06:48.189 --> 00:06:54.709 around for something to throw wherever I grow, you know you that that boiling 68 00:06:55.149 --> 00:07:00.310 heart, that tension in your body, that reaching for something to solve this 69 00:07:00.540 --> 00:07:06.699 problem, to fix this distress, something that's distressing you and frustrating you and 70 00:07:06.860 --> 00:07:14.660 making you so mad that it feels like the only way to solve that is 71 00:07:14.779 --> 00:07:28.050 with violence. This is not a intellectual, merely intellectual, theological debate, 72 00:07:29.810 --> 00:07:34.920 reasonable people sitting around a table discussing these points. Not that that would even 73 00:07:34.920 --> 00:07:44.240 be a good thing, but it's not that either. This is people that 74 00:07:44.470 --> 00:07:49.589 understand the consequent in a way, understand the consequences of what Jesus is saying, 75 00:07:49.990 --> 00:07:56.790 and it's making them very, very angry, so angry that they want 76 00:07:56.829 --> 00:08:03.220 to pick stones up off the ground and kill him to make the distress stop, 77 00:08:03.860 --> 00:08:11.819 to make the trouble stop. They are so in distress, so troubled, 78 00:08:11.939 --> 00:08:16.730 that rage seems like the only option. They say it's a theological thing, 79 00:08:16.889 --> 00:08:22.850 and truly it is a theological thing. Jesus is saying, points he's 80 00:08:22.970 --> 00:08:28.360 making are affirming things about the knowledge of God, what we know about God, 81 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:35.759 who he is, who he's not not denying that at all, but 82 00:08:35.879 --> 00:08:41.039 it's not mere this. This whole situation is not merely operating at that level, 83 00:08:41.990 --> 00:08:46.389 and that's important to remember, because it never operates on that level only 84 00:08:48.750 --> 00:08:56.259 the things that Jesus says has fall always has far reaching implications for all of 85 00:08:56.379 --> 00:09:01.179 life. What did John say? Jesus, the Lamb of God who came 86 00:09:01.220 --> 00:09:09.899 into the world to take the way the sin of the world. That's huge. 87 00:09:11.970 --> 00:09:20.289 Now, if you believe that this is worth dying for, if you 88 00:09:20.490 --> 00:09:24.879 believe that it's worth living for, if you believe that it's worth gathering and 89 00:09:26.080 --> 00:09:31.200 worshiping and celebrating and growing in that truth every day and every minute of your 90 00:09:31.279 --> 00:09:37.399 life. But if you don't believe that, if the you see this man 91 00:09:37.559 --> 00:09:43.149 who comes with this amazing power, the power to raise the dead, the 92 00:09:43.230 --> 00:09:48.070 power to calm storms, the power to give paralyzed people life, the power 93 00:09:48.230 --> 00:09:56.419 to give a blind people's sight, the power to totally undermine your way of 94 00:09:56.539 --> 00:10:01.620 life, to pull the rug out from your authority, and you can't catch 95 00:10:01.700 --> 00:10:05.860 him, you can't overtake him, you can't destroy him. The Jews we've 96 00:10:05.899 --> 00:10:11.929 been reading have been trying to arrest him, trying to stone him, and 97 00:10:13.210 --> 00:10:16.570 they can't manage to do it. And yet people keep coming to him and 98 00:10:16.730 --> 00:10:20.600 coming to him and coming to him. They feel their power, their authority, 99 00:10:20.759 --> 00:10:26.200 their livelihood, all the things that are most important to them slipping away, 100 00:10:26.240 --> 00:10:33.600 as the people go out, away from Jerusalem, away from the temple, 101 00:10:35.519 --> 00:10:43.629 to follow Jesus. If they followed John and now they're following him even 102 00:10:43.669 --> 00:10:52.820 more. They loved themselves more than anything, which is what all of us 103 00:10:52.860 --> 00:11:00.860 do, apart from God, and when that's threatened, it makes us angry. 104 00:11:01.419 --> 00:11:09.490 It made them angry, and so they picked up stones to stone him, 105 00:11:09.610 --> 00:11:18.799 to hit his body again and again and again until he died. Well, 106 00:11:18.840 --> 00:11:22.639 we have here is a moment of anger on but also kind of a 107 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:30.080 court room seen as well. They are about to execute him by stoning, 108 00:11:31.080 --> 00:11:39.669 where you pick up stones and you and you strike someone. Jesus slows down 109 00:11:39.750 --> 00:11:45.669 the process a little bit and asks for evidence right before we get to the 110 00:11:45.750 --> 00:11:50.259 execution. How about a trial? And he says in Verse Thirty Two, 111 00:11:50.299 --> 00:11:58.100 I have shown you many good works from the father. for which of them 112 00:11:58.500 --> 00:12:03.049 are you going to stone me? Now? The Jews answer this way, 113 00:12:03.090 --> 00:12:07.370 verse thirty two. It is not for a good work that we are going 114 00:12:07.529 --> 00:12:13.649 to stone you, but for blasphemy because you are a man making yourself God. 115 00:12:18.759 --> 00:12:24.120 So how does Jesus respond to this? It's a little bit complicated. 116 00:12:24.840 --> 00:12:30.110 I want you to try very hard to to follow me and I'll do my 117 00:12:30.230 --> 00:12:37.629 best. I'm to explain it. Jesus is basic point is you're not consistent. 118 00:12:39.629 --> 00:12:43.899 You're not consistent in the way that you are judging things. You judge 119 00:12:45.299 --> 00:12:50.220 this thing on this standard, but then in a similar case you switch the 120 00:12:50.299 --> 00:12:56.700 principle and you don't judge it fairly. You need to take a better look 121 00:12:56.700 --> 00:13:03.529 at the evidence. Let's look at how he does that. He does that 122 00:13:03.850 --> 00:13:09.730 based on a passage of scripture from Psalm Eighty two. Let me read it 123 00:13:09.809 --> 00:13:11.769 to you here in John and then we'll go and look at all eighty two 124 00:13:11.850 --> 00:13:18.639 in particular and read that passage. You will follow me so far, looking 125 00:13:18.720 --> 00:13:24.639 for eyes and nods. Okay, good, all right. So Jesus says, 126 00:13:28.389 --> 00:13:33.750 is it not written in your law? Quote. I said you are 127 00:13:33.990 --> 00:13:39.149 God's. So he's quoting scripture here. So first of all, isn't it 128 00:13:39.230 --> 00:13:41.860 true that scripture says that it's written in your law the word of God? 129 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:48.299 I said you are God's and then he makes this point. If I called 130 00:13:48.740 --> 00:13:52.539 them God's or sorry, if he called them gods, to whom the word 131 00:13:52.580 --> 00:13:58.409 of God came, and scripture cannot be broken. Do you say of him 132 00:13:58.570 --> 00:14:05.570 whom the father consecrated and sent into the world? You are blaspheming because I 133 00:14:05.769 --> 00:14:13.519 said I am the son of God. This is a point about the word 134 00:14:13.799 --> 00:14:20.279 of God, and that's central to what John is telling us in this Gospel 135 00:14:20.279 --> 00:14:22.600 about Jesus. You remember how the book begins. In the beginning was the 136 00:14:22.759 --> 00:14:28.309 word, and the word was with God and the word was God. So 137 00:14:28.509 --> 00:14:31.789 this is what the point Jesus is making is a point about the word. 138 00:14:31.950 --> 00:14:37.549 So let's turn now in bookmark John Ten and turning your bibles, or simply 139 00:14:37.629 --> 00:14:50.019 turn your attention to psalm eight two, will read that Psalm Eighty two is 140 00:14:50.059 --> 00:15:01.490 an amazing song in which God shows his supreme, awesome power over everything by 141 00:15:01.730 --> 00:15:09.679 condemning a group of Gods who are under his authority. So listen, salmyy 142 00:15:09.759 --> 00:15:18.639 two. God has taken his place in the Divine Council, in the midst 143 00:15:18.639 --> 00:15:26.470 of the Gods. He holds judgment. How long will you judge unjustly and 144 00:15:26.710 --> 00:15:33.190 show partiality to the wicked? Give justice to the weak and the fatherless, 145 00:15:33.309 --> 00:15:39.139 maintain the right of the afflicted and the destitute, rescue the weak and the 146 00:15:39.299 --> 00:15:45.899 needy, deliver them from the hand of the wicked. They have neither knowledge 147 00:15:46.019 --> 00:15:50.929 nor understanding. They walk about in darkness. All the foundations of the earth 148 00:15:50.970 --> 00:15:58.809 are shaken. I said, you are God's sons of the most high, 149 00:16:00.409 --> 00:16:07.879 all of you. Nevertheless, like men, you shall die and fall like 150 00:16:07.039 --> 00:16:14.720 any prince. Arise, Oh God, judge the earth, for you shall 151 00:16:14.799 --> 00:16:22.190 inherit the nation's so we're going to come back to John Ten, but let's 152 00:16:22.230 --> 00:16:29.269 focus on psalm eighty two for a moment. So in Psalm Eighty two, 153 00:16:29.350 --> 00:16:36.179 God shows his awesome power by condemning these gods who are under his authority. 154 00:16:37.539 --> 00:16:41.860 How do we know they are under his authority? Verse One, he takes 155 00:16:41.940 --> 00:16:45.460 his place in the Divine Council, he holds judgment and he speaks to them, 156 00:16:47.330 --> 00:16:52.850 and he speaks to these gods and he judges them. And in verse 157 00:16:52.970 --> 00:16:57.129 two, how Long Will you judge unjustly? They are doing a bad job, 158 00:16:57.169 --> 00:17:03.440 a really bad job. Instead of protecting the weak, instead of protecting 159 00:17:03.519 --> 00:17:10.920 the fatherless, the destitute, rescuing the needy, they are showing partiality to 160 00:17:11.039 --> 00:17:15.950 the wicked. This is exist perfect definition of a bad judge. This is 161 00:17:15.069 --> 00:17:21.829 what it means to be corrupt, and that's what they're doing. He describes 162 00:17:21.910 --> 00:17:25.670 them in verse five. They, these judges, these gods, have no 163 00:17:25.910 --> 00:17:30.299 knowledge nor understanding. They walk about in darkness. What's the consequence of that? 164 00:17:30.420 --> 00:17:37.539 The foundations of the earth are shaken, another words, because of their 165 00:17:37.940 --> 00:17:44.259 bad judgment, because of their corruption and their wickedness, the very foundations of 166 00:17:44.450 --> 00:17:49.170 the earth are shaken, we might say the principles of our lives are unsteady. 167 00:17:52.410 --> 00:17:56.329 We also know that they are underneath him, because they are called his 168 00:17:56.529 --> 00:18:02.039 sons, and he condemns them to death. Nevertheless, like men, you 169 00:18:02.160 --> 00:18:06.759 shall die and fall like any prince. And then the psalmist cries to the 170 00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:11.119 Supreme God in Verse Eight. Arise, Oh God, judge the Earth, 171 00:18:11.200 --> 00:18:15.869 in other words, do the thing that these gods are failing to do, 172 00:18:15.910 --> 00:18:25.549 for you shall inherit the earth, the nation's. These gods were supposed to 173 00:18:25.589 --> 00:18:29.660 be just, but they weren't, and for that they were going at themselves, 174 00:18:29.779 --> 00:18:37.259 going to come under judgment. So the question, one of the questions 175 00:18:37.380 --> 00:18:41.410 to answer here, is, well, who are these gods? Right and 176 00:18:41.529 --> 00:18:45.329 different answers have been given for this, and I'm going to go through them 177 00:18:45.369 --> 00:18:52.049 very briefly. One is that the idea is that this is God among sort 178 00:18:52.089 --> 00:18:59.279 of the false gods great pantheon. God is viewed as sort of a judge 179 00:18:59.359 --> 00:19:06.279 among all the pagan idols of this world and it's a reminder that God is 180 00:19:06.599 --> 00:19:11.710 supreme over overall we would we know from the rest of scripture that these gods 181 00:19:11.750 --> 00:19:15.390 would that in this case, not be true God's but sort of as they 182 00:19:15.430 --> 00:19:22.390 are perceived by humans. A second and very different explanation from this is that 183 00:19:22.509 --> 00:19:27.819 these are angels, that God, in his divine counsel, is speaking to 184 00:19:29.019 --> 00:19:34.099 rulers and authorities in the heavens. Among these, perhaps I'm Satan and his 185 00:19:34.339 --> 00:19:41.730 fallen ones, who would be judged like men. A third possibility is that 186 00:19:42.049 --> 00:19:51.569 this these gods, are men, I'm who have received this divine title as 187 00:19:51.769 --> 00:19:59.920 God's agents, but, despite their powers and the task which God has given 188 00:19:59.960 --> 00:20:03.680 them and equipped them to judge, it's gone to their head and they are 189 00:20:03.720 --> 00:20:11.470 not doing their job. However we take this, I'm inclined to number three. 190 00:20:14.150 --> 00:20:19.789 Psalm Eighty two is a jewel to every person whoever is had their world 191 00:20:19.869 --> 00:20:26.019 rocked. The foundations of the earth shaken underneath them because of bad justice, 192 00:20:30.180 --> 00:20:34.769 by seeing that the very the simplest things that are supposed to happen in this 193 00:20:34.970 --> 00:20:41.849 world, that good is rewarded and evil is punished. When that falls apart, 194 00:20:41.250 --> 00:20:48.569 life gets very hard very fast. The foundations of our lives shake and 195 00:20:48.730 --> 00:20:53.720 psalm eighty two reminds us that God sees it and he knows it and he's 196 00:20:53.799 --> 00:20:59.440 supreme overall, and those who are in charge of judgment, those who are 197 00:20:59.480 --> 00:21:07.509 in charge of acting, and fail in that, will be a condemned. 198 00:21:08.910 --> 00:21:15.430 This was CAIN's worry right when Kane was condemned for the murder of his brother 199 00:21:15.589 --> 00:21:18.740 back in Genesis. He says, what am I going to do if people 200 00:21:18.859 --> 00:21:22.579 try to kill me? And God says I will execute seven full judgment, 201 00:21:23.019 --> 00:21:27.099 divine judgment. In other words, this world is not going to be this 202 00:21:27.619 --> 00:21:33.690 lawless place forever, even though you were king. I am going to reign 203 00:21:33.930 --> 00:21:40.890 supreme, I am going to maintain law in order, at least to a 204 00:21:41.009 --> 00:21:45.769 degree. And finally, all things will be consummated on the last day when 205 00:21:45.890 --> 00:21:52.839 God will judge, and judge perfectly and fairly and set all things right. 206 00:21:52.960 --> 00:22:00.640 Arise, Oh God, judge the nation's to those who rightly fall all under 207 00:22:00.640 --> 00:22:03.309 God's judgment and condemnation, this is, of course, terrifying, but to 208 00:22:03.430 --> 00:22:07.789 those who seek his mercy and who find grace in him, this is our 209 00:22:07.869 --> 00:22:12.710 great hope. It allows us to walk steady in a world that is very 210 00:22:12.910 --> 00:22:30.170 shaken. So now back to John. Jesus is talking. That's a very 211 00:22:30.250 --> 00:22:36.130 weak word, I guess, Jesus, I'll just keep using it for now. 212 00:22:36.130 --> 00:22:41.970 I guess I talking with the Jews, who themselves were supposed to be 213 00:22:42.130 --> 00:22:49.400 God's leaders, God's rulers, who Jesus is just very recently defined as hired 214 00:22:49.559 --> 00:22:55.160 hands, as people who are not protecting the sheep, as people who are 215 00:22:55.440 --> 00:23:00.750 devouring the sheep, as people who were not executing justice and leading in the 216 00:23:00.789 --> 00:23:03.670 ways of the Lord, but instead, as we know from this and chapter 217 00:23:03.829 --> 00:23:10.509 ten and other places, were all about themselves. They were doing in many 218 00:23:10.549 --> 00:23:17.460 ways the things that are described in psalm eighty two. So it's very ironic 219 00:23:17.900 --> 00:23:25.859 and evil. But they are condemning Jesus here and picking up stones to stone 220 00:23:25.900 --> 00:23:30.049 him, that they are judging him, when they are the ones who are 221 00:23:30.089 --> 00:23:34.890 not giving life to the people. They are the ones who are not exercising 222 00:23:34.970 --> 00:23:41.079 God's authority in Godly ways. It's Jesus who is giving life, it's Jesus 223 00:23:41.119 --> 00:23:48.000 who is giving healing, it's Jesus who is teaching with authority. It's not 224 00:23:48.200 --> 00:23:55.279 him who has the problem. And he points us out in a way by 225 00:23:55.359 --> 00:24:00.630 using PSALMATY two. And here's how he does it. He says you're not 226 00:24:02.190 --> 00:24:10.740 being consistent. You're willing to accept that God rightly called in Salmaty two men 227 00:24:10.980 --> 00:24:15.140 gods. You're willing to accept that. You're willing to accept that the word 228 00:24:15.220 --> 00:24:19.619 of God, the Scripture that cannot be broken, called these men God. 229 00:24:21.940 --> 00:24:29.809 But yet you say I'm blaspheming, and you're saying it to the word of 230 00:24:29.970 --> 00:24:34.529 God, which cannot be broken. In other words, you accept God's word 231 00:24:34.690 --> 00:24:38.480 here in this place, when it says you are gods, but you don't 232 00:24:38.519 --> 00:24:45.960 accept God's word here when it says, when I say I am God, 233 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:53.150 scripture cannot be broken. God's word came in Psalm Eighty two and spoke these 234 00:24:53.710 --> 00:25:00.190 words, and I have come as the word. What does he say? 235 00:25:00.230 --> 00:25:07.259 He says I am consecrated. Do you say of him whom the father consecrated 236 00:25:07.500 --> 00:25:12.940 and sent into the world? You are blasphemy. How can the word of 237 00:25:14.099 --> 00:25:25.170 God blaspheme? How can God blaspheme himself? This is Jesus's argument. You're 238 00:25:25.210 --> 00:25:29.410 not being consistent. You're willing to accept the word of God, which cannot 239 00:25:29.450 --> 00:25:33.289 be broken here, but you're not willing to accept it here now. Of 240 00:25:33.369 --> 00:25:37.160 course, the counter argument to that is, well, who said you're the 241 00:25:37.240 --> 00:25:45.519 word of God? Right? And that's what Jesus answers the way he answers. 242 00:25:45.559 --> 00:25:49.069 He says, well, what does he say? If I'm not doing 243 00:25:49.190 --> 00:25:53.390 the works of the father, then don't believe me. If I am not 244 00:25:53.750 --> 00:25:59.109 the word that has been spoken, if I am not the light that is 245 00:25:59.509 --> 00:26:03.619 shining in the darkness, then of course don't believe me. That would be 246 00:26:03.940 --> 00:26:12.140 blasphemy to attribute to a man things that are of God. But if I 247 00:26:12.460 --> 00:26:17.460 am the light that is shining in the darkness, if I am the lamb 248 00:26:17.579 --> 00:26:21.730 that has come into the world, if I am doing the works that the 249 00:26:21.849 --> 00:26:29.250 father has given me, then you must believe. And of course you must, 250 00:26:30.569 --> 00:26:36.680 because this is exactly what Jesus has been doing. Remember, they have 251 00:26:36.799 --> 00:26:45.400 already told him we don't condemn you because of your works. They've already granted 252 00:26:45.640 --> 00:26:48.869 that point and so you see what he's saying. He says if you grant 253 00:26:49.190 --> 00:26:55.910 that, if you grant the fact that I roll a cause this permanently paralyzed 254 00:26:56.029 --> 00:27:02.579 man to walk again, if I caused this person who is blind from birth, 255 00:27:02.700 --> 00:27:07.980 to have sight, if I speak with authority and people are following me 256 00:27:08.019 --> 00:27:15.890 and you grant these things, then you have no right to say that I 257 00:27:15.970 --> 00:27:26.930 am blasphemy. What was their reaction? Again? They sought to arrest him. 258 00:27:29.170 --> 00:27:33.160 You remember what we read earlier about how the one in the flesh cannot 259 00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:41.240 please God. It's like they're blind, isn't it? It's like they're parawized, 260 00:27:41.319 --> 00:27:48.829 they're they're simply incapable of seeing who he is, of recognizing what he's 261 00:27:48.950 --> 00:27:52.829 done and what he's doing. And that is, of course, the point. 262 00:27:53.309 --> 00:27:59.099 This is what God is revealing to the whole world through these events, 263 00:28:00.619 --> 00:28:07.259 that we cannot come to know him until he calls us. But when he 264 00:28:07.579 --> 00:28:14.650 calls US and when he makes his grace known and when he says get up 265 00:28:14.690 --> 00:28:26.130 and walk or let your eyes of sight, everything changes. The sheep here 266 00:28:26.289 --> 00:28:32.599 his voice and they follow him, and the same hands which go about throughout 267 00:28:32.640 --> 00:28:40.000 the world touching people, healing people, become the hands that are crucified to 268 00:28:40.079 --> 00:28:45.910 a cross and the hands that hold us forever in his hand, in him 269 00:28:48.109 --> 00:28:52.230 tightly, carefully, such that none can take us out of his and his 270 00:28:52.470 --> 00:29:03.019 father's grasp. This is Jesus's argument, this is Jesus Point. Look at 271 00:29:03.099 --> 00:29:08.619 the evidence, consider the signs. This is the word of God, these 272 00:29:08.660 --> 00:29:14.369 are the works of God. I am the word of God, I am 273 00:29:14.609 --> 00:29:25.519 the works of God. See them and leave. I once had a pastor 274 00:29:26.000 --> 00:29:33.720 who told me in marital pre marital counseling that he would sometimes, on his 275 00:29:33.880 --> 00:29:41.549 way home, just in his mind, try to think of things that he 276 00:29:41.269 --> 00:29:47.430 really appreciated about his wife, just driving home, and he would say, 277 00:29:47.710 --> 00:29:49.990 just sort of challenge himself, what do you think of five or ten things 278 00:29:51.230 --> 00:29:53.700 that I that she's done or is doing for me that I really love? 279 00:29:55.140 --> 00:29:59.539 And he said guaranteed by the time I get home I'm singing a tune and 280 00:29:59.619 --> 00:30:06.259 I'm walking in Oh hi honey. By reflecting on the love of his wife, 281 00:30:07.569 --> 00:30:15.170 it positioned or put his heart into a certain disposition toward her. Jesus 282 00:30:15.210 --> 00:30:19.250 is saying something similar here, and we have similar things throughout the psalms and 283 00:30:19.329 --> 00:30:26.119 other persons of scripture, consider the steadfast love of the Lord, consider his 284 00:30:26.480 --> 00:30:34.279 mighty works that are being done right now through Jesus. When we consider the 285 00:30:34.319 --> 00:30:42.069 use we we come to understand what Matthew Henry says, the works that he 286 00:30:42.150 --> 00:30:48.349 did. Among them we're not only miracles but mercies, not only works of 287 00:30:48.430 --> 00:30:55.099 wonder to amaze, but works of love and kindness to do them good and 288 00:30:56.220 --> 00:31:07.490 so make them good. So this is what John, this is what the 289 00:31:07.569 --> 00:31:14.849 Holy Spirit, speaking through John even me to day, is calling all of 290 00:31:14.930 --> 00:31:22.160 us to to consider Jesus's works as they are testified, to hear us by 291 00:31:22.279 --> 00:31:27.640 the Holy Spirit, to pay attention to them, to recognize that they culminate 292 00:31:27.920 --> 00:31:34.109 with him on the Cross, taking away our sin so that we might have 293 00:31:34.470 --> 00:31:40.470 no condemnation with God, so that we might be adopted into his family, 294 00:31:41.269 --> 00:31:45.630 so that we might no longer be at war with God, picking up stones 295 00:31:45.789 --> 00:31:52.660 to throw against him to protect our little worlds, our little kingdoms are our 296 00:31:52.819 --> 00:31:59.779 loves, but so that we might have life instead of war with God, 297 00:32:00.740 --> 00:32:10.730 peace with God. Let's reflect on the works of God in Christ and trust 298 00:32:10.809 --> 00:32:15.759 him with everything. Let's pray