Matthew C. Mitchell's Blog, page 11

Advent Candle #3: "To All Who Received Him"

LEFC Family Advent Readings: “We Have Seen His Glory”John 1:1-18 :: December 17, 2023Week #3: “To All Who Received Him”
“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.
During this year’s Advent Season, our readings focus on the glory of the One and Only Son of God Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. There is no one else like Him. 
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]
Our first candle proclaimed the incredible truth that Jesus is the eternal Word of God. When God wanted to tell us about Himself, He sent His Son as the message.
[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE AGAIN.]
Our second candle taught us that Jesus is the true light of humanity. When Jesus came, the darkness lost.
[LIGHT THIRD CANDLE.]
But not everyone was happy that God sent His One and Only Son. Our third candle radiates the truth that Jesus must be received.
[READ JOHN 1:10-13.] The Word appeared, but the World rejected Him. 
Yet those who do receive Him in faith become God’s beloved children through a new birth. 
As the carol sings:
“Joy to the world! The Lord is come;Let earth receive her King;Let every heart prepare Him room,And heav’n and nature sing.”
What lavish joy is ours forever when we receive Jesus with open arms and open hearts!

“Why Did Jesus Get Baptized?” [Matt's Messages]

“Why Did Jesus Get Baptized?”Worship in Christian BaptismLanse Evangelical Free ChurchDecember 10, 2023 :: Matthew 3:13-17 
Today before Simon and Darren step forward to be baptized, I want us to do a little Bible study in Matthew chapter 3 and try to answer the question together, “Why did Jesus get baptized?”
Because there is probably some overlap and also some gap between why Jesus got baptized and why Darren and Simon are getting baptized this morning.
We often say that someone like Simon or Darren is “following the Lord in water baptism” or “following the Lord’s example in water baptism.” 
Jesus got baptized, and so should we. But His baptism (because He’s Jesus!) is bound to be at least a little bit different than ours. Why did Jesus get baptized?

Everybody who has taken our church’s baptism class knows that there is a quiz in the middle of it which has trick questions. I always say, “There is no test, but there might be a quiz.” And I’ve taught the class, and now Abe has the taught the class, and both of us have given this quiz that is True or False and everybody who takes it, passes. 
But there are some trick questions on it. Let me show you three of the questions:
This one shouldn’t be tricky for this church:
True or False? “Baptism gets you into heaven.”
That one’s false [very false!], and it has never tricked anyone in our classes. Water baptism does not save anyone. Jesus saves people, and we receive that salvation by His grace through our faith. And not by works (like baptism!) so that we cannot boast.
Baptism is a visible picture of the invisible reality of our salvation. If you had to get baptized to go to heaven, then the Thief on the Cross was out of luck because he never was baptized. And Jesus was wrong to say to him, “Today, you will be with me in Paradise.”
That one’s false. How about this one?
True or False? “Our church practices baptism by immersion because it is fun to see people get dunked in the water.”
That’s a trickier one. We do baptism by immersion, and it is fun to see people get dunked in the water. Here goes Simon and Darren!
But that’s not the main reason why we do it. The main reason we immerse is because every baptism described in the New Testament seems to be by immersion, including Jesus here in Matthew 3. John the Baptist (Notorious JTB) didn’t just sprinkle a little water on Jesus’ head or splash some on Him up on the beach; they got down into the Jordan river together. Remember chapter 3 of John’s Gospel said that JTB was baptizing at “Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water.”
And even more importantly, we do immersion because of how it pictures death and resurrection. When Simon is laid back into the water, it will remind us of Jesus going down into the grave, and when Darren is brought up out of the water, it will picture Jesus coming back out of the grave alive! That’s the main reason why we do it this way though we love and respect Christians who  do it differently.
But here’s probably the trickiest question that we ask on the quiz. So if you haven’t taken the baptism class yet, you’ll be ahead.
True or False? “Jesus didn’t need to be baptized since He didn’t sin.”
That’s a tricky one. I think it depends on what part of the question you put the most emphasis.
Why did Jesus get baptized? Did He need to?
I think that even John the Baptist had that question. Let’s look more closely at Matthew chapter 3.
Matthew chapter 3 begins with telling us all about the ministry of John the Baptist. We don’t have time this morning to go back over all of that. It could make a good Bible study for you this afternoon.
It’s a lot of the same things we learned about JTB as we’ve been going through the Gospel of John, especially in chapters 1, 3, and 5. John is the Voice from Isaiah 40 calling, “Prepare the way for the Lord.”
John’s trying to get God’s people ready for the Messiah. John is not the Christ, but He’s pointing people to the Christ. John says that he baptizes “with water for repentance” (v.11) (to symbolize repentance), but there is One coming after John who is more powerful and more wonderful and much greater than John. And that One to come will baptize them not just externally with water but internally with the Holy Spirit and with fire. The fire of judgment and purification.
John said that he wasn’t worthy to untie that One’s shoes. He wasn’t worthy to even be his servant. John wanted to decrease and see the Messiah increase. John was a voice (and as we saw last week) a lamp that burned and gave light to highlight the True Light who was coming into the world.
And then...Jesus came to John to be baptized.
Isn’t that strange?! Look at verse 13.
“Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to be baptized by John.”
The One that John has been preaching about shows up on the scene! And John, somehow, knows that. We don’t know all of what he knew when, but he’s obviously gotten memo by this point because, John says, “I’m not sure about this.”
Jesus shows up and says, “Okay. I’m here to be baptized.”
And John is like, “Uhh. Are you sure? I think we might be getting this backwards.” 
Imagine meeting the Messiah and the first thing you do is tell Him that He’s probably wrong! V.14
“But John tried to deter him, saying, ‘I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?’”
“Are you sure about this? Because I think it’s the other way around. I’m not worthy to tie your shoes. I’m certainly not worthy to baptize you. And I don’t think you need repentance.”
See, I think that JTB would answer our trick question as “TRUE.” Jesus didn’t need to be baptized since He didn’t sin.
All these other people coming to John needed to be baptized to symbolize their repentance. Some of them, the Pharisees and the Sadducees, wouldn’t admit it, but they needed it as much or more than most. But not Jesus. 
John need the baptism of the Spirit and of fire that Jesus would bring. Jesus didn’t need to be baptized for repentance. You and I need to be baptized to symbolize our repentance. Simon and Darren are saying today that they repent of their sins. But Jesus didn’t need to be baptized for repentance.
However, Jesus did need to be baptized.
Notice that Jesus doesn’t say, “Oh yeah, you’re right. What was I thinking?  I don’t need to be baptized. That’s for you guys.” And He also doesn’t say, “Oh, yes, I must repent. I am a sinner just like you.”
No, what does He say? Look at verse 15.
“Jesus replied, ‘Let it be so now; it is proper for us to do this to fulfill all righteousness.’”
So, I think that Jesus might answer our trick question as “False.” He did need to be baptized (even though) He didn’t ever sin. Jesus says, in effect, “Yes, let’s do it. I do need to be baptized. It’s the right thing for us to do to ‘fulfill all righteousness.’”
Jesus doesn’t need to be baptized for repentance, but He does need to be baptized for righteousness.
What does that mean?
Well, it probably means a whole bunch of things. We could probably meditate on it all day long. It means at least that it was “right thing” to do. His baptism fulfilled all righteousness because it was righteous for John and Jesus to do it.
But I’m sure it means a lot more than that. You might remember from our study of Matthew a few ago that “fulfill” was one of Matthew’s favorite words. It means “to fill up,” “to bring to fullness,” “to actualize.” He often used it to describe what Jesus was doing to the Old Testament Scriptures. He was filling them up.
Here, Jesus is saying that His baptism will bring righteousness to fullness. Doesn’t that sound wonderful?!
And here’s where the principle of identification takes front and center. Baptism is, at heart, an identification with something or someone else. The one being baptized is getting immersed into something that stands for something. They are being included, absorbed, connected, identified in baptism.
As Simon and Darren get baptized today, they are identifying with Jesus. They are identifying themselves as sinners who need washing. And they are identifying with Jesus's death and resurrection. Buried with Jesus in death, raised with Jesus to new life.
Now, with what or whom do you think Jesus was identifying when He got baptized?
With us, right? Jesus was identifying with us and with our sin.
Why did Jesus get baptized?
#1. TO IDENTITY WITH US.
When He went down into the water with John, Jesus was proclaiming His solidarity with us sinful humans whom He had come to save.
That’s the whole point of Christmas, isn’t it? That the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. That He became like us as humans. And even more than that, He became like sinners.
That’s what the Old Testament was teaching, too. That’s what Jesus was “fulfilling.” Listen to this from Isaiah 53, verses 11 and 12. 
"...by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, and he will bear their iniquities. Therefore I will give him a portion among the great, and he will divide the spoils with the strong, because he poured out his life unto death, and was numbered with the transgressors. For he bore the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."
I think that's what it means for Jesus to fulfill all righteousness! Jesus was baptized to be numbered with us, to bear our sin as our substitute, to go to the Cross, and to give us His righteousness!
What a great exchange!! Jesus took our sin and gave us His righteousness.
That’s a big part of the picture of what Jesus was doing that day. So that when Darren and Simon get baptized, they are picturing the flipside of that. They are going to down to symbolize their sin being put to death with Jesus and coming back out with Jesus’ righteousness resting on them.
Jesus had to do it. Jesu had to get baptized to picture what He had to do on the Cross. To fulfill all righteousness.
And then when He did...all heaven broke loose! Look at verse 16 again.
“Then John consented [so Jesus was dunked]. As soon as Jesus was baptized, he went up out of the water. At that moment heaven was opened, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting on him. And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.’”
Wow! Just wow! I can’t imagine what that was like. It was like nothing else. The heavens broke open. It was cataclysmic and apocalyptic.
And the Holy Spirit of God descended on Jesus and came to rest on Him. The Spirit looked like a dove. I’m not 100% sure why. Perhaps like how the He hovered over the waters of creation in the beginning.
But remember what John the Baptist said about Jesus in John chapter 3? He said that God gave Jesus the Spirit “without limit” (Jn. 3:34, see also Isaiah 11). That’s the picture here.
And the whole Trinity is here working together with “inseparable operations.” One God in Three Persons. Not just the Son who is being baptized, not just the Spirit like a dove, but also God the Father speaking from heaven. And listen to what He says!
“This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
Why did Jesus get baptized?
Not just to identify with us, but...
#2. TO BE IDENTIFIED AS GOD’S BELOVED SON.
By God the Father Himself. Which is just exactly what we’ve been learning the last three weeks in John chapter 5, right? John chapter 5, verse 20. “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.” (See also John 3:34!).
You just hear that Fatherly delight in His divine voice. “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.” “It was right for Him to get baptized. It fulfills all righteousness. Everything He does makes me happy! I sure love Him!”
“This One is My Son.”
He’s My “ monogenays .” He’s My “One and Only.”  My “only begotten full of grace and truth.”
Isn’t that amazing?! 
So that we are all the more amazed when He tells us that He so loved us that He is going TO GIVE this beloved Son so that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life (see John 3:16).
And that’s why Jesus got baptized and why Simon and Darren are getting baptized today.
They are saying to the world that they believe in Jesus and have received His free gift of eternal life.
Here are four points of application from this Scripture: Repent. Receive. Rejoice. Retell.
Jesus did not need to repent, but you and I do. We need to turn from our sins and trust in the Savior. If you have not yet, don’t delay. Make this the day that you repent.
And receive the Lord Jesus as your Savior. He took on your sin and took your sin to the Cross. He died for your sin so receive Him as your Savior today. To “all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God” (Jn. 1:12 NIVO).
And then rejoice that you will not perish but have eternal life. You have “crossed over from death to life” (John 5:24). You have every reason to celebrate every day of your life and forever. “Repeat the sounding joy!”
And tell and retell of your salvation to everyone who will listen. Recount your story. Restate your testimony. Retell of your salvation to the world.
And that’s what Simon and Darren are now going to do.
Would you men come forward to tell us your stories?

Advent Candle #2: "The True Light"

LEFC Family Advent Readings: “We Have Seen His Glory” John 1:1-18 :: December 10, 2023Week #2: “The True Light”
“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.
During this year’s Advent Season, our readings concentrate on the glory of the One and Only Son of God Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. There is no one else like Him.
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE AGAIN.]
Our first reading proclaimed that “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” Jesus is the eternal God speaking to us through His eternal Son.
[LIGHT SECOND CANDLE.]
Our second candle names Jesus as the light of humanity.
[READ JOHN 1:4-5.]
Jesus Himself is like a candle–shining into the shadows of our world, exposing what is wrong with us, and leading His people into bright truth and goodness.
He said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life.”
As the carol sings:
"O come, Thou Dayspring, come and cheerOur spirits by Thine advent here;Disperse the gloomy clouds of night,And death's dark shadows put to flight."
At that first Advent, “The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.”
When Jesus came, the darkness lost.

“Testimony About Me” [Matt's Messages]

“Testimony About Me”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchDecember 3, 2023 :: John 5:31-47 
“Do you solemnly swear that the evidence you shall give to the court in this matter shall be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?”
“Yes, I do so swear.”
Have you ever had to do that?  Have you ever had to give testimony in court? I’ve done it a couple of different times as a witness in a couple different kinds of court cases. So far, I have not been the defendant. Just a witness.
This passage (John 5:31-47) is all about testimony. “Testify, testimony, witness, testifies, accuser, testified.” Testimony is a major theme in the Gospel of John which is concentrated in this short passage.
It’s like there is a big cosmic court case going on and various witnesses are being called to give testimony. And the testimony is being weighed, and sifted, and judged–as valid or invalid, as true or false.
And here’s the question that these expert witnesses are being asked to testify about, “Who is Jesus?” “Is Jesus Who He has claimed to be?”

Jesus has made some pretty big claims, has He not?!
Remember what we heard just last week? Remember those mind-blowing, brain-bending claims that Jesus made about Himself? This is the same chapter. This is the same story. Jesus is still talking at the same time to the same people.
Jesus has healed a man who had been lame for 38 years. With just a word. “Get up. Take up your mat and walk.” And that’s exactly what happened.
But it was a Sabbath, so the Jewish Religious Authorities got mad at Jesus for work done on the Sabbath. And Jesus said, “Yeah, I’m working on the Sabbath. Get used to it. God does that.”  He said it this way: “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working” (Jn. 5:17 NIVO).  Remember this?
And they understand what He was saying. He was claiming to be equal with God. So they “tried all the harder to kill Him” (v.18). 
They wanted to kill Jesus.  They heard what He said about Himself, and they rejected it with all their hearts. They rejected Him. And they tried to kill Him.
But Jesus wasn’t done. He had more to say about Who He is. He said that not only is He equal with God, but He is in an unique way, the Son of God. He is God the Son. And He is perfectly in harmony with God the Father. “The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does.” Remember that? That’s verse 20. Profound!
There is only one God but that one God is Son and that one God is Father (and is Spirit, too, we will learn before long). And because God is Son and God is Father, they do everything together perfectly. 
So that Jesus can do what only God can do. Like give life! He has life-in-Himself so He can give it to whom He pleases. And He has authority to judge. He is the Son of Man. And one day, Jesus says that He will speak and that “all who are in their graves will come out.” And He will judge everyone. Every single soul. And He will do it perfectly to the perfect satisfaction of His perfect Father who sent Him. 
Isn’t that mind-blowing? Isn’t that totally amazing?!
What do you think about all of that? It’s either true or it’s false, but either way it’s a big deal. Those are big things to say. Imagine if anyone else said that they are God the Son. With God for all eternity, was God for all eternity, from God from all eternity. Life in Himself and will judge every single soul after raising every single dead person there ever was–with a word.
That’s what He was saying about Himself that day. That was His own testimony about Himself.
And the Jews rejected it. “He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him” (Jn. 1:11 NIVO).
And so in the rest of the chapter Jesus shows them where they went wrong.
I said a couple of weeks ago that this chapter is like a case study in how NOT to respond to Jesus. And right here Jesus gives the master class lesson on that.
He shows them step by step by step where they have gone wrong in judging the evidence about His case by calling forth multiple further corroborating expert witnesses. And when He’s done, Jesus says that one day His unbelieving hearers will stand trial themselves and will have to deal with the fact they have misjudged Jesus. 
You and I can learn from this. We can listen to what Jesus says about them and do the exact opposite ourselves. Let’s make that our goal as we listen again to these witnesses that Jesus calls to the stand to give testimony about Him. By my count, there are five of them. 
The first one is Jesus Himself. Look at verse 31. “Court is now in session.”
“‘If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that his testimony about me is valid” (vv.31-32).
Now, what is Jesus saying there? I don’t think He’s saying, “You cannot trust my testimony. I might be lying to you. I may not have told you the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.” I don’t think that’s what Jesus is saying when He says, “If I testify about myself, my testimony is not valid.”
I think He means that you don’t have to just take His word for it. “You don’t have to believe what I’m saying if I’m the only one saying it.”
Here’s why. First off, in their judicial system, you had to have at least two witnesses to establish a fact in their courts of law. It didn’t make it false if you only had one witness, but the second witness was required for establishing something, like a conviction. 
So Jesus is saying, “Yes, I’m saying some big things, but I’m not alone in saying it. I can call at least one other witness who will testify to the same things.”
And Who do you think is? You might guess John the Baptist from what He’s going to say in verse 32, but I think it’s a much greater witness than that by what He says in verse 37. 
It’s God the Father! And that’s the second reason why it’s important that it’s not just Jesus’ testimony alone but the Father’s, as well, because that’s exactly what He has just claimed, isn’t it? That the Son and the Father do everything inseparably in perfect harmony because they are one.
If Jesus’ testimony was different from the Father’s, then it should be rejected! But Jesus says, “There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know that His testimony about me [there’s our title for today] is valid.”
He’s going to say more about that in just a few verses. But for now, we enter His testimony into the record. He solemnly swears that He is the Son of Man and the Son of God and God the Son. And salvation is found only Him. 
As He said in verse 24, “I tell you the truth [the whole truth and nothing but the truth], whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life” (Jn. 5:24 NIVO). Do you believe this testimony about Him?
We call the next witness. His name is John. Verse 33.
‘You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth. Not that I accept human testimony; but I mention it that you may be saved. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light.”
Jesus is talking about what we read about in chapter 1. John’s Testimony about Jesus. 
Remember they sent a delegation to ask John who he thought he was? And he said that he was not the Messiah but he had come to point people to the Messiah. He was the Voice!
Jesus says that John’s testimony was true. Now, when Jesus says that he doesn’t accept human testimony, I think He means that He doesn’t rest His case on human testimony. If John got it right, great. If John got it wrong, no big deal.
Now if Jesus got it wrong, we’re in big trouble. If the Father got it wrong, we’re big trouble. Jesus’ whole case rests on divine testimony. But John got it right. He was the Voice. And if these people listened to John, they would be saved. 
And they did listen to John...for a time. They got all excited about John for a little bit. When John was preaching against the authorities and sticking it ot the man, the crowd was eating it up. But when John pointed at Jesus and said, “Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world,” then they didn’t want to hear any more.
By the way, I would love it if this were said of me when I die, “He was lamp that burned and gave light.” That’s what I want to do. I want to be aflame for Jesus and shine His light. Even if that means I get snuffed out by those who hate the Light.
So that’s John. His testimony about Jesus corroborates Jesus’ testimony  about Himself, but there is much weightier testimony to come. Verse 36.
“‘I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.”
Jesus calls witness number three: His own works.
Jesus says, “Even if you don’t believe because of what I say, look at what I do!” 
Look at the water turned to wine.Look at the nobleman’s son healed from afar.Look at this man walking around carrying his mat after 38 years of lying flat.
“Watch me.” Jesus is saying, “Watch me. Watch what I do, and that will testimony about me.”
He’s going to do many more miracles as the chapters of John roll on. And they are all signs. 
And John the Evangelist says that Jesus “did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:30-21:1 NIVO).
Look at those signs and ask yourself, “Is Jesus Who He claimed to be?” Because they are corroborating testimony, too. If Jesus can do heal like this, then maybe He can bring back the dead. And if He can bring back the dead (Yes, I’m looking at you, Lazarus), then maybe He can bring Himself back from the dead. He lay down His life only to take it up again. And if He can do that, then maybe He can die for our sins and come back to life to give us life and then bring back everyone from the dead to be judged.
“[T]he very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me” (v.36).
But that’s not all! Here’s another witness. Witness number four. Jesus calls God the Father to the witness stand! Look at verse 37.
“And the Father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you, for you do not believe the one he sent” (vv.37-38).
Now, there a lot of different ways to think about how the Father has testified concerning the Son.
One of the chief was through the Scriptures which is where Jesus goes next.
But I tend to think that He’s talking in verse 37 about His baptism. Lord-willing we’re going to go Matthew chapter 3 next Sunday and look at Jesus’ baptism when we do a couple of baptisms here ourselves.
Remember what God the Father said at Jesus’ baptism? John the Baptist was doing the dunking, “And a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased’” (Matt. 3:17 NIVO). That’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Now, Jesus says here that they have not heard the Father’s voice, but I think He means that they haven’t been listening. They have their ears blocked. They have also not seen his form...[look at verse 38]...nor does [the Father’s] word dwell in you, FOR you do not believe the one he sent.”
“The Father has been saying, ‘This is my Son,’ but you refuse to listen.”
“This is my Son!”“This is my Son!”
“Whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”
And they are saying, “Let’s kill Him.”
Their problem is not that they don’t have enough evidence or testimony to consider. Their problem is that they don’t want to know the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.
Which is crazy because they spend their lives studying and studying and studying the Word of God. Look at verse 39.
“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life. These are the Scriptures that testify about me yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (vv.39-40).
These guys knew their Bibles. They were always at Bible study.
Bible Bible Bible Bible Bible.
Some of them had the entire Old Testament memorized. They were looking in the right place, but they were going about it all wrong. They were trying to get eternal life from Bible study. "You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.”
Eternal life does not come by diligent Bible study. The Bible exists to show us Jesus. The Bible exists to lead us to Jesus. The whole Old Testament exists to lead us to Jesus.
Holly told me last week that they studied the entire story of the Bible at the Advent Waffle Party last Sunday because the entire story of the Bible is about Jesus.
How could they miss Jesus?! Answer: They wanted to miss Jesus. He says, “These are the Scriptures that testify about me yet you refuse to come to me to have life” (vv.38-40).
Notice that this is calling trustworthy witness number five. The Scriptures. They testify about Jesus.
And also notice that the problem is not the Scriptures. It’s the heart of the people studying the Scriptures. They refuse to come to Jesus to have life.
I have four quick points this morning of application, each of them the opposite of what these people were doing wrong, and here’s the first one.
#1. COME TO JESUS TO HAVE LIFE.
That’s the whole point of this whole gospel. We can have life in Jesus’ name. Or we can refuse to have life in Jesus’ name. That’s our choice. But that’s the only choice. There is no eternal life outside of Jesus. 
Even in the Scriptures. You can study the Bible until you are blue in the face, but if you aren’t studying it to come to Jesus, if you aren’t willing to receive Jesus, then you won’t get what the Bible is saying.
And you won’t get what the Bible is offering, either. 
Come to Jesus to have life.
#2. LOVE GOD FROM YOUR HEART.
Jesus says that they have not been doing that. Look at verse 41. 
“‘I do not accept praise from men, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.”
How could they go so wrong as to want to kill the Son of God? Well, they didn’t love God, why wouldn’t they want to kill His Son? 
Again, Jesus says that doesn’t “accept” praise or recognition from men. That doesn’t mean that He doesn’t receive our worship. It means that He doesn’t live off of it. He doesn’t need it. He doesn’t live for our opinions of Him. Just like in verse 34, Jesus doesn’t build His case from humanity’s take on Him.
If we get it wrong, He is still the Son of God and God the Son. He doesn’t need humans, but He does know them. As we saw in chapter 2, verse 25, He knows what’s in us. John said, “He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man” (Jn. 2:25 NIVO). And in this case, He knew that was in them was hate. “You do not have the love of God in your hearts.” Which could be either love for God or God’s love in their hearts. It probably means both. If you know the love of God for you (which always comes first), then you will love God back. But if you don’t know God’s love then you won’t love God back.
And they certainly did not. And it was clear from how they rejected God’s Son who came under the authority of God the Father. Look at verse 43.
“I have come in my Father's name, and you do not accept me; but if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.”
Jesus says that these guys want to be deceived and are ripe for being deceived and will soon be deceived. They will accept fakes and snakes and false teachers and even false messiahs.
But they won’t accept Him. They won’t love Him, the Genuine Article.
Beloved, you see how this bothers Jesus? How sad and angry it makes Him? It’s because God is so loving. God so loved the world that He sent His One and Only Son, and the world said, “No thanks.” “We don’t love you.”
We need to be different. We need to cultivate a love for God from our own hearts. And the best way to do that is to dwell on the love of God that came to us first.
Let’s say our memory verse together. Just think about this. Don’t let it get old and stale. John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
How else could we respond to that than to love Him back from our hearts?! 
And seek His approval. Look at verse 44.
“How can you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God?” Jesus says these people were so focused on what other people thought of them that they forgot to think about what God thinks of them above all.
Let’s make that point number three.
#3. STRIVE FOR GOD TO PRAISE YOU.
Or as Jesus says, “make an effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only God.” 
Now, of course, we can’t do that on our own. We can’t do that in our own power. We can’t do that by mustering up good works that come from our fallen nature. And yet, we can trust God and obey Him and seek to please Him so that one day He says, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Not “Perfectly done, O perfect servant.” But “Well done, good and faithful servant.” That comes from living a life of faith. Of keeping our gaze on God. Of wanting to please God above all else.
These people were not focused on pleasing God even though they were very religious! They were very religious in large part to try to impress their neighbors. They were people pleasers and not God-pleasers.
You know how you know? What happens when God wants you to do something unpopular with people? That’s when you know if you are striving to please God or just to please other people.
For example, when God shows up as Jesus and says, “Follow me.” And the crowd says, “Crucify Him.” Which side are you on? Whose opinion do you really care about?
My mentor in pastoral counseling wrote a really great book called, When People Are Big and God Is Small.  That’s when we have our priorities upside-down, isn’t it?
Where are the places in your life where you care much more about doing what other people want you to than what God does? We all have them. I have them.
Strive for God to praise you. Care about what God cares about most of all. God be BIG and people be SMALL. It’s easier said than done, but it’s very freeing and joyful in the end. And it’s the opposite of what these people were doing. They were rejecting Jesus because most everyone around them was, too. He didn’t look like what they expected or wanted. He didn’t fulfill the picture that they thought Moses had painted of the Messiah to come, but they were all wrong. He was exactly what Moses had promised. Look at verse 45.
“But do not think I will accuse you before the Father. Your accuser is Moses, on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?” (vv.45-47).
That’s that fifth witness again, the Scriptures. The Jews were in love with the Scriptures, especially the Law of Moses. The Torah. But they were missing the whole point of the Torah. Jesus says that the Torah was about Him. All of what it said about a Messiah to come? About the Advent of the Messiah? That was Jesus all along. “But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say?" 
They aren’t. They can’t. They won’t. And they will be lost. Because Jesus is saying that there is another trial coming. And this time, the question before the court will not be, “Who is Jesus?”
It will be, “Who has rejected Jesus?” And Jesus says, He will recall the previous witness for the defense to be a witness for the new prosecution. The Scriptures written by Moses will be called to give testimony, and those who ignored what they said and rejected Jesus will themselves be rejected. How scary.
Beloved, let’s do the opposite.
#4. BELIEVE THE TESTIMONY ABOUT JESUS.
Believe what Jesus says about Himself.Believe what John the Baptist said about Jesus.Believe what the Miraculous Works of Jesus say about Jesus.Believe what God the Father says about His One and Only Son.And believe what the Scriptures say about Jesus.
And you will not perish but have eternal life. 
And that’s the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help us God.

***
Messages in this Series

01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18
14. "To Your Amazement" - John 5:19-30

Advent Candle #1: "The Word"

LEFC Family Advent Readings: “We Have Seen His Glory”John 1:1-18 :: December 3, 2023 Week #1: “The Word”
“Advent” means “coming.” Christmas is coming. Jesus has come and is coming again.
During this year’s Advent Season, our readings will contemplate the glory of the One and Only Son of God Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. There is no one else like Him.
[LIGHT FIRST CANDLE.]
The Gospel of John begins with these incredibly profound words:
[READ JOHN 1:1-3.]
John begins before the beginning. He says that, before the creation of the world, there was Someone called “The Word.” 
And John teaches that the “The Word was with God.” The Word existed in perfect intimate fellowship with God the Father for all eternity.
And furthermore, “The Word was God.” This Person called “The Word” was, is, and always will be God Himself. He is fully God in every way.
He is called “The Word” because He Himself is God’s message to us. He is God’s self-expression. God’s communication. He is God speaking to us.
When God speaks, we should always listen. And the way to truly listen to God is to look to the Son of God because He is the eternal Word of God.
God shares Himself through His Word.
As the carol sings:
“Yea, Lord, we greet Thee, born this happy morningJesus, to Thee be all glory giv’n;Word of the Father, now in flesh appearing!O come, let us adore Him.”

“To Your Amazement” [Matt's Messages]

“To Your Amazement”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchNovember 26, 2023 :: John 5:19-30 
I would tell you to put on your thinking-caps, but they will probably get blown off by this passage today!
This is one of the most mind-blowing sections of all of holy Scripture. This is the “deep end of the pool.”
In fact, there’s a word that we will probably be using a lot this morning that we should just get out there. It’s the word, “Wow.” You might want to practice saying it, “Wow!” Some of you will want to elongate it to two syllables, “Wowza!” Go ahead and say that. “Wow!”
Because one of the most important applications of this passage for our lives today is simply to be amazed.
I took the title for this sermon from verse 20 where our Lord Jesus tells His hearers that what He is teaching them is going to be “To Your Amazement.”
The King James Version has, “that ye may marvel.”The New Living Translation says, “you will be truly astonished.”The Christian Standard Bible has, “you will be amazed.”
So what Jesus is teaching us here is supposed to hit us like a ton of bricks. It is supposed to tax our capacities. It is supposed to bend our brains and blow our minds. And at the same time, we are supposed to receive it.
So, let’s do that. Let’s receive it by faith and let it blow our minds. Let’s take the plunge into the deep end of the pool and swim in our amazement.

I have four points of amazing application this morning, and here’s the first one:
#1. MARVEL HOW GOD IS SON AND FATHER.
Be amazed to see how God is Son and God is Father.
To really get into this, we have to back up and remind ourselves what we read last Sunday. Verse 18 told us that the leaders of the Jews were trying to kill Jesus. To kill Him!
Do you remember why? It’s because He said two words: “My Father.” To refer to God. He called God, in a way nobody else can, “My Father.” And that made the Jewish leaders want to put Jesus to death.
Can I say it? Wow! 
Do you remember the story? Jesus was walking through the crowd at the pool of Bethesda, and He saw a man lying there who had been unable to walk for 38 years. And Jesus healed that man with a word. He simply said, “Get up! Take up your mat and walk.”
And the guy was immediately healed and took up his bedding and walked away. Probably danced away. Wow!
But this healing happened on a Sabbath day, and that made the Jews mad because this man was now carrying something on the day of rest, and that broke their rules. And so they came after Jesus for healing him and persecuted Jesus, probably with verbal assaults. Fighting words.
But Jesus did not apologize or back down. Instead, Jesus said (verse 17), “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too, am working.” And that’s why they wanted to kill Him. Look at verse 18. “For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God” (Jn. 5:18 NIVO).
Do you see the logic?
Think about this from their perspective, because they have a point. How many gods are there? What has been engraved into the Jewish mind since the beginning of their nation?
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is [how many?] ONE” (Deut. 6:4 NIVO). “Yawheh our God, Yahweh is ONE.” 
There is only one God, so if anyone else comes along and says that they are God, then that would make two gods, right? And the Jews have learned over and over again (often the hard way) to reject all other gods. Anyone who sets up another god should be rejected, and, under their law, put to death.
So this guy, Jesus, comes along and says, “My Father is working...” even on the Sabbath, and these guys are no dummies. They know that He’s talking about God. God is the only One Who works on the Sabbath without breaking the Sabbath.
God rested from creating on the Sabbath, but He didn’t stop all of His working, did He? If God stopped working on the Sabbath, we would all be in trouble! And Jesus says that He Himself is working on the Sabbath, as well, because He is God’s One and Only Son. 
Jesus is saying that He stands in an unique Son-Father relationship with God. They think it’s blasphemy, and it would be...if it were not true! Verse 18 again, “He was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”
If God has a Son, what does that make the Son? God, too. Right? If a human man fathers a son from his own nature, then the son is human, too. If God has a Son that comes from His own nature, then that Son is God, as well.
But here’s the thing–there are NOT two Gods.
See, the Jews were concerned that Jesus was setting Himself up as a second God, independent from Yahweh. A second God that would inevitably compete with Yahweh. The Son versus the Father. But Jesus says that it’s not like that at all.
There is only One God. Only One Supreme Being and that One God is Son and is Father.
{And we’ll learn later on in this book that God is Spirit, as well. But we’ll just deal with one mind-blowing idea for today!}
The Son and the Father are not independent of one another. They are in perfect unity. They are in fact One.
Now, you know this already because you have memorized John 1:1. Remember that?
“In the beginning was the Word...” Remember the “The Word” is another name for God the Son. He was in the beginning before creation. He is eternal.
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was WITH GOD.” That shows distinction and intimacy, right? WITH GOD. Back in July we called it, “With-ness.” They are perfectly together.
And then how does the verse end? “The Word was with God...and the Word WAS God.” Always. For all eternity.
With-ness and Was-ness. Is-ness. God the Son is with God the Father and the Son is God just like the Father is. And they are not two Gods. But they are Son and Father.
Which gets us into our passage for today. [Yes, that was all by way of introduction.] Look now and marvel at how God is Son and Father. Verse 19. The Jews want to kill Him, so...
“Jesus gave them this answer: ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these” (vv.19-20).
Wow! Just try to wrap your mind around this. It’s okay if it doesn’t go all the way around. It’s meant stretch us. Be amazed.
Jesus says that He tells us the truth. Literally, that’s “Amen and amen.” “Yes and Yes” “Truly and truly.” This is how it is. Listen up! “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
See how close they are? They are not in competition. They are, in fact, in perfect harmony, like a perfect Father and Son. In fact, fathers and sons are actually like what They are! They are the prototype of Son and Father!
In the ancient world, most sons grew up to do what they saw their father doing. So Jesus, for example, grew up in the home of His adoptive father Joseph. And Joseph was a construction worker. A “tekton.” Sometimes translated “carpenter,” so Jesus would have learned by watching His adoptive dad doing his trade and would have also done that trade himself.
“See. Here’s how you make a chair. You make one now.”
In these ways, sonship was, most often, apprenticeship. And Jesus says that God is something like that. God the Father works. He does all kinds of God-things. Like healing on the Sabbath.
And, guess what? God the Son does all kinds of God-things, too! In fact, all the same things. He doesn’t do anything on His own. He does everything with and like His Father.
Theologians call this “the doctrine of inseparable operations.” You can impress Greg Strand with that one next time you see him at Stay Sharp. “I was thinking recently about the doctrine of inseparable operations.” 
Verse 19. “Whatever the Father does the Son also does.” Which shows that they are both God and one God. With-ness and was-ness. They share their very being, and they share all of their actions.
And they share all of their affections. Verse 20. “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.” Wow! You can marvel at that one forever and a day. The Father delights in the Son. He loves Him. They are not in competition. They are in perfect harmony. The Father doesn’t hold anything back from the Son. 
And then Jesus kicks it up a notch! He says, “Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these.”
What “greater things” is Jesus talking about?
I think it’s “greater things” that simply healing someone on the Sabbath with a word. It’s greater than all the miraculous things we’ve seen Jesus do so far–knowing things about Nathaniel and the woman at the well. Turning water into wine. Healing the nobleman’s son. Healing this man who has been lame for 38 years. 
Greater things than healing. What could be greater than healing? How about raising the dead?! Look at verse 21. “For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.”
Wow! Only God can raise the dead, right?  Only God can give someone new life. Jesus says that just as the Father does that, even so He can do it, too. And does. He gives life to whom He is pleased to give it.
Jesus is going to have more to say about that in just a few verses. This pattern gets repeated several times here. 
The Father does something, and so therefore, the Son does, too.The Father does something, and so therefore, the Son does, too.
But in verse 22, Jesus says that the Father has delegated something to the Son to do that, in some way, even the Father won’t do! Look at verse 22.
“Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son...”
Wow. How’s that for amazing?! “To your amazement” is right! 
God the Father can judge (and I’m sure that because of inseparable operations, He still does judge in some way as verse 30 will make clear), but He has entrusted the Son to be the executor of judgment in a way that no one else is.
So now you know Who your ultimate judge is going to be. You know the name of your judge. It is “Jesus.”
And here’s why the Father has given judgment to the Son. Verse 23.
“...that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.” 
#2. HONOR THE SON AS YOU DO THE FATHER.
That’s why the Father has given Jesus the job of judgment, so we should make every effort to honor Him. Honor God the Son as we honor God the Father.
You see the logic here? Imagine going to a master craftsman’s shop and finding a father master craftsman and a son master craftsman working together in perfect master craftsman unity.
And you want their best craft item their list. And the father craftsman says, “We will make you one of those. In fact, my son will make it for you. He can do everything I do just as well as I do. So I’m going to give this project to him.”
Do you see how that honors the Son? It says that He has everything the Father has. It says that He is everything the Father is. He is the father’s equal in everything. Including in eternal judgment. 
Now, the analogy breaks down, of course, because in the master craftsman’s shop, the father and the son are different beings, not just different persons. And the craftsman son had to learn his craft. He isn’t eternally a perfect craftsman, too.
God the Son and God the Father are one eternal being. 
But the truth shines through. God the Father has honored God the Son with the job of judgment to show that He is equal with the Father. He is God.
He is God the “ monogenays .” He is God the One and Only! 
And we should honor Him. Because if you don’t honor Jesus, you are not honoring God the Father.  Do you see that?
There a lot of ways to dishonor Jesus. You can treat Him as lesser than the Father. Many heretics have done that over the centuries. You can treat Him like just a good teacher or a moral example. Or even just a prophet. Many of today’s world religions say that Jesus is a great prophet. 
But if you don’t honor Jesus as God the Son, you are not honoring God the Father.
A bunch of people got together over some waffles this morning down that hallway to talk about how to honor Jesus this Advent Season. I was so encouraged to hear about that.
How are you honoring Jesus right now?
Some people want to make Jesus out to be just a nice person. But that will not do. Because of what He said here, right? I mean if someone says this about Himself, he’s either a colossal liar or a crazy lunatic or the Lord Himself. Right?
Have you heard that “tri-lemma” before? C.S. Lewis, who died 60 years ago this last week, made that argument really strongly in his books. Jesus is either a liar, a lunatic, or the Lord. Those are the only options for Someone who talks like this.
Isn’t this amazing how Jesus talks about Himself? This is shocking stuff. For a human to run around saying that all people should honor Him or they are not honoring God the way they should, is just breath-taking! No wonder they wanted to kill Him.
You see how close He says He was to God? He was saying that He was WITH God and He WAS God!
And if you don’t honor Him, you aren’t honoring God!
And He says something even more amazing. Look at verse 24. This is incredibly important. What a crucial truth from the lips of Jesus! Verse 24.
“‘I tell you the truth [amen amen], whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
That’s our next verse to memorize as a church. Everybody should have this one embedded in your mind and heart. Because your eternal destiny rides on it. 
#3. HEAR THE SON AND BELIEVE THE FATHER.
Again, see how they are in perfect unity. Listen to verse 24. “‘I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”
What a precious truth. Just think about it. “...he has crossed over from death to life." A person in that state has gone from heading to hell to heading to heaven. A person has crossed over being spiritually dead to being spiritually alive. 
And that person will not be condemned. They are forgiven. They are free. They are redeemed. They are not under eternal judgment. Instead, they have eternal life! Do you see how this is life and death? This is eternal life and eternal death.
You and are born headed towards eternal death. We deserve condemnation because of our sins. We deserve to persish. But Jesus has come and died in our place for our sins. He has been sent. He he has been given.
In the words of John 3:16, “God so loved the world that He GAVE His One and Only SON that whoever BELIEVES in Him will not perish but have eternal life.”
That’s the same truth here. Whoever hears the word of the Son (the word of the Word!) and believes him who sent the Son [that’s the Father!] has eternal life [right now!] and will not be condemned [ever!]; he has crossed over from death to life.
Have you crossed over?
Everybody has to do it or they are still on the side of death. If you don’t know if you have crossed over, it is quite possible that you have not. And some who think they have not because they haven’t listened to word of the Son calling them to repent and believe in what He has done and what He has done alone for eternal life.
Have you crossed over?
Some aren’t sure exactly when they crossed over. That’s okay. I can’t remember when I was born, but I know was because I’m alive. What’s important is to have made the cross over to life.
Hear the Word of the Son and believe the Father Who sent Him to die in your place and you will have eternal life (right now) and will not be condemned (for eternity).
That’s the gospel! That’s the good news of Jesus Christ, and it’s the best news in all of the world.
And it’s what Jesus is to up to right now. Look at verse 25.
“I tell you the truth [again, amen and amen], a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.”
The timing there is really important. Notice that it’s about a time that is coming and has now come because Jesus has come and is coming again. 
The dead here are, I think, spiritually dead. They are dead in their trespasses and sins. They haven’t crossed over yet. But the Son of God has now come and called for their faith, and those who hear His call and respond in faith will live. They will have life in Jesus’ name.
Have you heard His voice calling to you? And have you responded by believing the One Who sent Him? If so, then you have life.
How is it that the Son can give us this life?
If you thought this couldn’t get any more amazing, you have another think coming. Because in verse 26, Jesus kicks it up another astonishing notch. Verse 26.
“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.”
Wow!
So the Son can give life because He has life in himself. And He gets that life in Himself in some way from the Father. Notice that it does not say that the Son gets His life from the Father. It’s more complicated than that. 
The Son is not like every other living thing in creation that gets its life from the Father. The Son is like the Father. He has life in Himself.
This is only true of God. God is self-existent. He is uncreated. No one created God the Father. That’s part of what it means for Him to be Yahweh which is related to the word for “Is” or “Be.” When God says, “I am.” God is self-existent. He has life in Himself.
Now, Who created the Son? No one! The Son has eternally existed as the Son. As the Son of the Father. And the Father has eternally granted to the Son to be self-existent. To have life in Himself.
They both have the same Godness. The same uncreated self-existence. And Father has given it to the Son by virtual their eternal relationship of Father and Son.
The big theological word for that is “eternal generation.” Eternal Father and Sonship. 
And the preposition is “from.” So the Son is not just with God and was God but is always also FROM God. He has eternal with-ness and was-ness and from-ness. And you see why I call this the deep end of the pool! Wow.
And this is why the Eternal Son has Eternal Life to give to you and me.
Because He has unlimited, self-generated, self-replenishing life in Himself to dispense as He pleases.
And He also has authority to judge. Verse 27.
“And he [the Father] has given him [the Son] authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.”
Jesus is the One predicted in the Old Testament Who would come to be the judge of all humankind and the Savior of His people (cf. Daniel 7:13).
As we saw in verse 22, the Father has entrusted to the Son the authority to judge. The authority to decide forever where someone spends their eternity. Jesus says that that authority belongs to Him. 
And then He says this. Verse 28.
“Do not be amazed at this...”
I can’t help but laugh when I read that because everything He has said here has been amazing. 
I don’t think he actually means to not be astonished. I think he means, don’t let yourself be so shocked that you can’t receive what I’m saying. That you say, “Oh, that can’t be true.” Because...you ain’t seen nothing yet! V.28
“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out–those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me” (vv.28-30).
Jesus says, “Hold onto your hats, because there is a time coming (and unlike verse 25 it’s not yet come) when I am going to say the word and people won’t just be healed, people are going to come out of their graves.
In fact, ALL WHO ARE IN THEIR GRAVES will come out!
At the voice of Jesus.
In chapter 11, we’ll see a foretaste of this when Jesus says to a dead man, “Lazarus, come out” and Lazarus walks out of his tomb alive. If He had not specified Lazarus, every grave would have opened. Wow.
“[T]hose who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” And Jesus will decide.
What will He use to decide? Jesus will look at our lives and see if they have evidence of faith in Him. That’s what He means in verse 29, “Those who have done good.” He doesn’t mean those who have live clean moral lives and done more good than bad. He means those whose lives have been changed because they have put their faith in Him. 
He just said in verse 24 that those who will not be condemned are those who heard the word of the Son and believed the Father. That’s the same people as verse 29, “Those who have done good.” And “those who have done evil” in verse 29 are those who have never crossed over from unbelief to faith, from death to life. We are judged by our works to see if they show we have faith.
We are, of course, not saved by works but by faith in Jesus and Jesus alone.
And Jesus will know. And He will judge justly. He will judge in perfect harmony with His Father.
He is not some independent rival god that threatens the Father. He is God the Son eternally begotten of the Father, from the Father and with the Father, seeking to please the Father in everything. He echoes verse 19 in verse 30.
“By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me" (vv.28-30).
#4. PREPARE TO BE JUDGED BY THE SON TO PLEASE THE FATHER.
Are you ready for that?
There’s no fooling Him. You and I will not get off on a technicality. The judge will not make any mistakes. He will see if we have faith in Him or not. He is bent on pleasing His Father, and there is no injustice in His Father.
And the day is coming soon. Either the day of our death or the day of His return.
To our amazement.

***
Messages in this Series

01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42
12. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54
13. "Pick Up Your Mat and Walk" - John 5:1-18

“Pick Up Your Mat and Walk” [Matt's Messages]

“Pick Up Your Mat and Walk”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchNovember 19, 2023 :: John 5:1-18 
In many ways, this is a story about how NOT to respond to Jesus.
One of the reasons why God gave us this story in His scriptures is to show us how some people responded poorly to Jesus so that we can learn from what they did wrong.
That actually happens a lot in the gospels, especially in these middle parts of the story when Jesus begins to have more and more conflict with the Jewish religious authorities. That conflict started already in chapter 2 when Jesus cleared out the temple, but it continues here to grow and grow and grow.
In our passage for today, it grows to the point where they are already starting to try to kill Him. How not to respond to Jesus!
But I’m getting ahead of the story. The story starts with a miracle.
Let’s go back to verse 1 of chapter 5.
“Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for a feast of the Jews. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie–the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.” 
Do you get the picture in your mind’s eye?
Jesus has returned to the South at some point for a feast of the Jews in Jerusalem. We’re not sure which one. It doesn’t matter for this story. What matters is that Jesus is there. And He’s not just in Jerusalem. He’s visiting the pool of Bethesda (which probably means “The Home of Mercy”) which is a great name for this particular place.
Because there is a lot of suffering there. A lot of need for mercy. There was this pool near the Sheep Gate, and it had five covered walkways (colonnades, which are a row of columns that have a ceiling across them to provide shade for those walking or laying under them). 
Many scholars believe this is the same place as the two pools near St. Anne’s church in modern day Jerusalem. If so, the pool was about as large as a football field and as much as twenty feet deep.
And there were hundreds of disabled people lying around it. “A great number,” John says. Some were blind. Most could not move on their own. They were paralyzed or too weak to walk.
This must have been a very sad place. This was not a hospital. This was a place where people went after they had gone to the hospital and there was nothing more the doctors could do. They couldn’t work. They weren’t getting better. They were just there.
And I’m not surprised to find Jesus there. Jesus always waded into places of suffering.  You and I might avoid a place like this, but I’m not surprised to see Jesus there.
Now, apparently, one of the reasons why these people hung out there was that they believed there was “power in the pool.” Some of you have an extra verse in your Bible that was probably added later (not by John) that says something like these people were “waiting for the moving of the waters; for an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool, and stirred up the water; whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted” (Jn. 5:3-4 NAS).
Those words are not in the earliest and best manuscripts, so they were probably not written by John, but put in there later by a scribe who wanted to help readers understand why those folks were gathered around the pool.
It’s likely that the pool was fed with an underground spring, so from time to time the waters did bubble, and it would be easy for people to latch onto that and hope that it meant an angel would heal the first person in. Power in the pool! People will latch on to all kinds of things when they have very little hope.
Well, Jesus was there and saw all of this, and he specifically saw one man who had been lying there for 38 years. Almost four decades of lying there, weak and powerless and paralyzed and unable to get around on his own. Look at verse 5.
“One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, ‘Do you want to get well?’” (vv.5-6).
Isn’t that an interesting thing for Jesus to ask? You might think it might be obvious. And maybe it was. Maybe that was a no-brainer. Of course he wanted to be well, to be whole, to be healed. Who wouldn’t?! But Jesus doesn’t tend to ask no-brainers, does He? No, Jesus often asks questions to get to our hearts. “Do you want to get well?”
If this man was healed, his whole life would change. For one thing, he’d have to go to work. He has been “on disability” for 38 years. He’s had to live on the charity of others for four decades. We don’t know how old he was. Maybe that’s all of his life. His identity would change. He would no longer be defined by his disability which sounds great, but who would be now? Does he even want to find out?
He has not sought out Jesus. Jesus has picked out him. And so Jesus asks, “Do you want to get well?”
And you and I know that all of Jesus’ healings are just a foretaste, a picture of the greatest healing ever–healing from our sins–salvation.
So, I think this is a great question for us to hear Jesus asking us too, “Do you want to get well? Do you want to be saved? Do you want ultimate healing? Do you really want your life to really change?” Do you?
This man does want to be healed. He says that’s why he’s there. Verse 7.
“Sir,’ the invalid replied, ‘I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me.’”
He obviously doesn’t know Whom he’s talking to. He is fixated on how he can’t get to the power in the pool. He doesn’t realize the power of the Person right in front of him.
But he clearly does want to be healed. So Jesus...just heals him!
He doesn’t ask him to believe in him.He doesn’t get him over to the pool.
Just like last week, Jesus just says the word and it happens. The Word gives the word, and it comes to pass.  Verse 8. Our sermon title for today.
“Then Jesus said to him, ‘Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.’ At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked.”
Can you imagine?!!! Just think about that. For 38 years, his legs did not work. And Jesus just said, “Get up!” and he could get up. Jesus said, “Walk” and he could walk!
He knew it immediately. “At once.” BAM! Just like that. He could stand up and walk. Can you imagine what that must have felt like? I cannot. But this man was living it.
And everyone around Him praised God and began to trust in Jesus.
Uh, no. That’s NOT what happened.
Remember, this is a story about how not to respond to Jesus. Verse 10 says that this man quickly encountered people who got angry that he was healed. Because of the day when Jesus did the healing. Look at the end of verse 9.
“The day on which this took place was a Sabbath [uh oh], and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, ‘It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.’”
Yes, you heard that right. The Jewish Religious Leaders find this guy taking a stroll on the Sabbath, and they get in his face about it. “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
That’s your takeaway?! That’s what you are focused on?
I’ve got three points of application I want to make this morning about how to not respond poorly to Jesus, and here’s the first one:
#1. DON’T MISS JESUS’ POWER.
Don’t miss the power of Jesus. These guys are totally blind to what Jesus has just done. They don’t even see it.  All they see is a guy carrying his straw mat on a Saturday morning.
The guy tries to tell them. Verse 11.
“But he replied, ‘The man who made me well said to me, 'Pick up your mat and walk.'”
“I was just healed. From 38 years of paralysis! This man made me whole again. And he said to me, ‘Pick up your mat and walk.’ So I did”
And what part of that did they hear? All they heard was that some guy told him to break their rules. That’s all they hear. V.12
“So they asked him, ‘Who is this fellow who told you to pick it up and walk?’ The man who was healed had no idea who it was, for Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there” (vv.12-13). Now, just for the record, it was not against the Law to carry a mat on the Sabbath. The Law forbid work on the Sabbath, so if you were a professional mover, you probably shouldn’t have been carrying beds around. You need to take that day to rest. That’s a day of rest.
But the Jews had made all kinds of rules about the Law to make sure that no one ever got anywhere close to breaking the Law (though they had plenty of loopholes for themselves when it suited them, too). And one of their rules was to not take possessions from one place to another on the Sabbath.
And this guy was taking his bed somewhere. His straw mat. Oooooh.
They were missing the point of the Sabbath, but they were missing the power of Jesus altogether!
“Who does He think He is? Telling you to carry something on the Sabbath?”
I don’t know? Maybe the guy who just worked an amazing miracle with nothing but a simple sentence? “Pick up your mat and walk.” And look at me walk!
There are a lot of ways that we can miss the power of Jesus. The man who was healed might have missed the power of Jesus if he had said he didn’t want to be healed after all. The Jews missed the power of Jesus because they were focused on their rules. 
You and I might miss the power of Jesus because we just don’t slow down enough to see it. One of the great things about the Thanksgiving holiday is that we are given an opportunity to slow down and think about all of the amazing wonderful things that Jesus has done for us. So easy to take them for granted.
It strikes me that this man never thanks Jesus in this story. At this point in the story, he hasn’t even learned His name!
But it’s nothing like how hard-hearted these leaders were. They heard about this healing, and all they could think about was how their rules were being broken.
They should be praising God and seeking out and following Jesus. But instead they are locked in bitterness and focused on themselves.
Don’t miss Jesus’ power.
#2. DON’T MISS JESUS’ POINT.
The point of the Sabbath, or the point of His healing.
Jesus runs into this man once again, later on. We don’t know how much time has passed. But the man is still healed. And Jesus finds him and has a warning for him. Look at verse 14.
“Later Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, ‘See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.’”
Wow. Those are ominous words, aren’t they? They are supposed to be. The last time these two people met, Jesus said, “Do you want to get well?” And this time, Jesus says, “See, you are well...” So He reminds this man of what Jesus did for him. But Jesus says, that’s nothing compared to what is coming if you do not repent.
“Your suffering of being paralyzed was nothing compared to what that suffering represents–judgment. Something much worse.”
Jesus is not saying that if this man continues in his sins that he will be paralyzed again. That’s possible, of course, especially if his sins are dangerous ones! 
But he's saying that just like the healing was a foretaste of something glorious to come, his past suffering was a foretaste of something dreadful that is coming for all who remain in their sins.
That’s the point. And Jesus says, don’t miss the point. Repent!
Remember, Jesus is after our hearts. He’s not just after our bodies. He cares about our bodies. He wants us to be well.
But just like we saw last week, Jesus has something much more important in mind than our physical health and life. He is aimed at our spiritual health and life!
“Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” Something like Hell.
Now, of course, we can’t just “stop sinning” like turning off a faucet or switching off the lights. But we can repent of our sins and trust in Jesus for salvation and sanctification. We can turn away from whatever sins have had us in their grip and take an off-ramp through faith in Jesus and what He did on the Cross and at the Empty Tomb.
What sins do you need to stop? What changes do you need to make in your life?
You can’t just do it yourself any more than this guy could have gotten himself into the pool. But Jesus is here to heal, and not just our bodies. But our souls. He can give us power to say NO to temptation. And, by faith, to live holy lives that please Him. That’s the point. That’s the point of all of the good gifts that He has given you. 
It would be easy to go into Thanksgiving this week and praise Jesus for all of His gifts, and then turn around and use all of those gifts for selfish sinful purposes.
Jesus gives us His gifts to enjoy and to show love with, to be holy with. Don’t miss the point. “See, you are well again. Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.”  You don’t want to go to Hell. Stop.
I don’t know if this guy did that. I don’t know what he did with the healing Jesus gave him. I don’t know what he did with the warning that Jesus gave him either. He’s not a great example. Even here, it doesn’t say that he was grateful. In fact, it looks like he turns tattletale on Jesus. V.15
“The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.”
At least he now gave Jesus the credit. It have been the blame! But there was no mistaking Who it was Who had healed this man. It was Jesus. Number three and last.
#3. DON’T MISS JESUS’ PERSON.
Don’t miss Who Jesus really is. This man has identified his healer as Jesus. And that healing took place on a Sabbath, so that puts Jesus directly in the crosshairs of the Jewish Religious Authorities. Verse 16.
“So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him.”
Apparently it would have been okay if an angel had healed in the man in the pool on a Saturday, but it wasn’t any good for Jesus to do it with a Word on a Sabbath, especially if he was telling people to walk around with their mat in their hands on the Sabbath. Oh no, not that.
So the Jews press in. We don’t know exactly what the persecution looked like. It was harassment at least at this point. And how do you think Jesus will take that?
Do you think that Jesus will apologize? “I’m sorry. I was just trying to help.”
Do you think that Jesus will defend Himself?  “Let me try to explain how my actions actually fit within your rules.”
Or do you think that Jesus will go on the offensive?
Look at verses 17 and 18. “Jesus said to [to those persecuting Him], ‘My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working.’ For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” Don’t miss the Person of Jesus. 
We’re going to get into this more next week and the following week, Lord-willing. It’s some great stuff!
But here’s the basic logic: God rested on the Sabbath day, right? Right! But He also has to work on the Sabbath day or we’re all in a world of trouble. If God stops His work, then everything goes to pot, right? So God can’t break the Sabbath right? He’s Lord of the Sabbath.
And Jesus says, “Yep, and He’s my Dad.” “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too, am working.” 
You see, the Jews are not wrong about Who Jesus is claiming to be. They get it right in verse 18. He keeps calling God His Father in a way that you and I can’t. In a way that only the One and Only Son can call Him Father. They are just wrong in believing that Jesus is wrong!
Jesus does not deny working on the Sabbath. He just says that’s what God the Son should be doing.
“So, yes, you’ve got it right. I’m saying that I am God the Son.”
And that makes Him equal with God. Don’t miss that! Don’t miss that Jesus is not just some healer. He’s not just the Messiah. He isn’t just the Son of God. He’s God the Son!
That’s why they want to kill Him. Because they think He’s blaspheming. Because this is Who He says He is. Which leads us to answer the question for ourselves.
Who do you believe Jesus is?
So this is how NOT to respond to Jesus. Don’t miss His power. Don’t miss His point. Don’t miss His person. Because the power is not in the pool. 
The power is in the Person of Jesus of Jesus Christ. Let’s worship Him!

***
Messages in this Series

01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-4212. "Your Son Will Live" - John 4:43-54

“Your Son Will Live” [Matt's Messages]

“Your Son Will Live”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchNovember 12, 2023 :: John 4:43-54 
Why do you believe in Jesus?
It’s good, from time to time, to take a look again at why you put your faith in Jesus Christ in the first place. If you believe in Jesus, and I assume that most of us here do, why do you?
What led you to put your faith in Jesus Christ?What reasons do you have for trusting in Him?
There doesn’t have to be just one reason. In fact, there are probably many for most of us. But it’s good to take stock from time to time and ask our hearts why they believe.
Because there are some really good reasons out there and there are also some bad reasons to believe. Reasons that are built on false assumptions or faulty foundations. And if those reasons were found to be weak, then our faith might be shaken or even fall away.
In today’s story, Jesus warns the people He’s talking to about how they might be building their faith [in Him!] on the wrong foundation. And I think that we can really learn from it for our lives today. Let’s take a closer look. Starting in verse 43.

“After the two days he left for Galilee.”
This story picks up right where we left off two weeks ago. Jesus had met the woman at the well in Samaria and had that life-changing conversation about spiritual thirst and living water.
And she had believed in Him. And more than that, she had told her neighbors, her fellow Samaritan villagers about Him, and they had believed in Him! And they had invited Jesus to stay with them for two days, and He did!
What a miracle! Jews and Samaritans living together in harmony with the Messiah among them. They had come to believe for themselves (v.42) that Jesus “is the Savior of the world!” Not just for Jews. But for half-breed Samaritans, as well. And more than that, even for the Gentiles.
So those two days are over now and Jesus continues on His journey. Remember in this Gospel the story started up in Galilee in the region where Jesus had grown up. And then He had gone down south and visited Jerusalem and cleaned out the temple and met with Nicodemus. Now He’s headed up north again. He had to go through Samaria. But now He’s headed back towards his home town.
And He does not expect it to go all that well. V.44
“(Now Jesus himself had pointed out that a prophet has no honor in his own country.)”
Jesus knows how this works. Local boys are often not taken seriously, especially if they have a negative evaluation of their hometown. It’s one thing to come back home and praise your town, but if you act like a prophet upon your return and tell your hometown everything that they need to change, it’s easy to get discounted right away. Jesus said on multiple occasions that a prophet has no honor in his own country. And, yet, He still goes there.
But what’s really strange is what it says in verse 45. 
“When he arrived in Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him. They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.”
Isn’t it interesting to read verse 44 and then verse 45? You might have expected from what Jesus said in verse 44 that they were going to kick Jesus out not “welcome him!”
But John thinks that verse 45 fits perfectly with verse 44, and I’m sure he’s right. Because, look at how they welcomed Him by why they welcomed Him. “They had seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, for they also had been there.”
They had their eyes on the power of Jesus. Word was getting around that Jesus could do things. These Galileans had seen it for themselves. Jesus was powerful, and they welcomed Him.
They believed. They had faith, of a sort, because of what they saw.
And that’s kind of dangerous. We’ve seen a faith like this already in the Gospel of John. Remember the end of chapter 2? Verse 23.
“...while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Feast, many people saw the miraculous signs he was doing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all men. He did not need man's testimony about man, for he knew what was in a man” (Jn. 2:23-25 NIVO). Remember that?
There is a kind of superficial “faith” in Jesus that is not always lasting faith because it’s built on the wrong things. And Jesus always knows. He knows that this “welcome” is not necessarily a good thing. Because they aren’t really trusting in Him, they are just eyeing His power. And thinking about what that power could do for them.
That’s what’s on Jesus’ mind when this royal official shows up on the scene. Look at verse 46.
“Once more he visited Cana in Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. And there was a certain royal official whose son lay sick at Capernaum.  When this man heard that Jesus had arrived in Galilee from Judea, he went to him and begged him to come and heal his son, who was close to death.”
Got the story in your mind?
Where is Jesus? He’s in Cana in Galilee. That’s the same place where He did that first quiet miracle we read about in chapter 2. Jesus turned the water into wine and saved the wedding and brought them all joy. And His disciples saw it and believed. It was a sign. Remember that it was sign? Like a signpost? Like my sign with the Welsh Dragon that says, “I {Heart} Wales” on it? 
That miracle was a sign, for the limited group who saw it, that Jesus is the Messiah.
So Jesus is back at that location, and He gets a visitor from a town about 20 miles away, Capernaum. And this visitor is a royal official. We don’t know his name. He was probably a Gentile and a member of the household of Herod Antipas who ruled that area. He was probably rich and powerful.
He could have bought anything he wanted, but all of his money could not buy the life of his son.
His son was sick.His son was dying.His son was, in fact, almost dead.
Can you imagine how he felt?
Some of you don’t have to imagine. You have had your children be very sick. Some of you have had your children die. Heather and I had a daughter who died in utero. We never got to dedicate her on a Sunday morning. We’ve rushed children to the hospital. Some of you were children who were very sick. Some of you may have been very close to death. It’s not hard to imagine this man’s desperation.
He’s not just a royal official. He is a dad. A scared dad. And he’s come to Jesus because he’s heard that Jesus is powerful. 
So that makes what Jesus says in verse 48 feel so harsh. This is what He says:
“‘Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders,’ Jesus told him, ‘you will never believe.’”
That’s a rebuke. That’s a clapback. This man comes begging Jesus for help, and Jesus responds with these strong words, “Unless you people see miraculous signs and wonders, you will never believe.”
For Jesus to talk this way, there must be something more important to Jesus than saving the life of this child. And that is calling these people to genuine saving faith in Him. 
Notice that this rebuke is not just for this man. The “you” in verse 48 is plural. That’s why the NIV has “you people.” He’s rebuking all of the folks in the crowd who are just there for the miracles. They are just there for healings. They are just there for the power. They have their focus in the wrong place. 
They are focused only on what they can “see.” 
I’ve got two points this morning summarize the truth of this story, and here’s the first one:
#1. SEEING IS NOT BELIEVING.
We normally saying, “Seeing is believing.” Or, “I’ll believe it when I see it.”
Jesus rebukes these people from having to see miracles to believe in Him. He says that they won’t believe unless they see. And He’s intimating that that approach is faulty. It’s going to lead them astray.  They are focused on the wrong thing. They are seeing Jesus as some kind of a magician or like a vending machine. If you do the right thing, then the power will come out.
They are focused on the spectacle. They are focused on the miracle. They are demanding that that see first and then they will believe.
But Jesus knows that seeing is not necessarily believing. 
You can see these miracles and not put your faith and trust in Him. We’re going to see that again and again the Gospel of John. People are going to be healed by Jesus and instead of believing in Jesus, some people are going to hate Him more. 
When Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead[!], the Jewish religious leaders are going to start scheming up how to kill Lazarus again and to kill Jesus, too. And they do! Seeing does not always lead to believing.
Sometimes it does, and there is nothing wrong with seeing.
These miracles are signs. They are signposts. You are supposed to see them and believe. But you don’t put all of your focus on the sign. You don’t keep staring at the sign, but at what the sign is pointing to.
If the sign says, “Bridge Out Ahead,” you don’t keep saying, “What a beautiful sign” as you drive on by focusing on the sign. “I really like how PennDOT designs those signs!” No, you put on the brakes!!!
And you also don’t say, “Unless the sign says the bridge is out, then I will just drive wherever I want. No matter if the bridge is gone. I demand a sign or I will just drive!” That’s what Jesus is saying. These folks are demanding a sign or they will not believe. And Jesus says that they are too focused on what they have seen and what they can see. They are too focused on the power of Jesus and are missing the Person of Jesus. And that’s more important than even our life and health.
So I ask you again: Why Do You Believe In Jesus? What are the reasons you put your faith in Him?
I think a lot of people “believe” in Jesus because of what He can do for them.
Jesus can cure my cancer.Jesus can put my family back together.Jesus can get me a better job.Jesus can lift my depression.Jesus can save my business.Jesus can heal my child.
Yes, Jesus can.
But what if Jesus doesn’t? Some people have taught that Jesus will do all of those things if you just believe. And if they don’t happen, then you must not have had enough faith. That’s called the “Prosperity Gospel,” and it is poison.
I have seen a lot of people walk away from Christianity because bad things happened to them or to their family, and they are “mad at God” or “disappointed in God.”
Their cancer came back.Their parents got divorced.They lost their job and got a worse one.Their depression did not go away.Their business went under.Their child died.
And they hit the road. The lost their faith. Because their faith was built on the wrong foundation. They had been focused on the power of Jesus instead of the Person of Jesus.
He didn’t keep promises He had never made and so they walked away.
Seeing is not believing. “We walk by faith not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). Don’t focus on what Jesus can do for you. Focus on Who Jesus is. 
Jesus is not being callous to this man or to the crowd. He is raising their gaze to something higher than even health and life. “I am not a magician or a miracle-dispensing vending machine. I don’t give out miracles on demand. And if you build your faith on seeing my miracles, you are going to be disappointed, and your faith will fail you. I won’t fail you, but your faith will fail.”
When people walk away from God because they are mad at Him for not doing the thing they wanted Him to do, I feel bad for them. I keep praying for them. But I am not surprised and I am disappointed in them because they have clearly put their faith in the wrong thing. They have put the focus of their faith on the blessings of God instead of the God of the blessings. The gifts instead of the giver.
Are the gifts bad? Are miracles and signs and wonders bad? Are blessings bad? 
Of course not! This is the season when we most give thanks for all of God’s blessings. But we give thanks on mountains high and in valley low. We give thanks wherever we go.
Have you been praying for something recently? Maybe something big. And have you told the Lord that unless He does what you are asking for, then you will no longer believe? Maybe you haven’t said it in so many words, but it’s in your head.
“Seeing is believing, Lord. We’ll see if you come through. And then I’ll believe.”
That’s the kind of dangerous faith that Jesus is rebuking here.
What if God says, “No” to the thing you are praying for most fervently now? And you can’t imagine why He might say, “No.”
Determine right now to keep on trusting Him even if you can’t see it. Even if you don’t see it. Seeing is not believe. Believe, even if you cannot see.
That doesn’t mean stop asking. It doesn’t mean stop praying desperately. It just means stop demanding that your will be done or you won’t believe.
This man takes the rebuke. He doesn’t offer an excuse or try to defend his shaky faith. Very wisely, he just keeps asking the One Who has the power to save his boy. Verse 49.
“The royal official said, ‘Sir, come down before my child dies.’”
What a beautiful prayer! He asks Jesus to travel 20-25 miles to Capernaum to wield His healing power and save his son. And Jesus...does not come. But He does heal! Jesus does care. Jesus does the miracle. After that rebuke, you might have thought that He was going to say, “No,” but He doesn’t.
He has used the moment of everyone’s attention to focus on what was even more important, but in His grace He speaks the word to the heal the child.  Verse 50.
“Jesus replied, ‘You may go. Your son will live.’”
There’s our sermon title for today. It’s shows up again in verse 53.
“Your son will live.” It’s literally in the present tense in the Greek, “Your son lives.” And not just that he’s not dead yet, but he’s healed. He’s going to be alive tomorrow. “Your son lives.” “You son will live.”
And here’s the most amazing thing, verse 50. 
“The man took Jesus at his word and departed.”
He turned around and left. He didn’t beg Jesus any more. He didn’t beg Him to come with Him.He just believed what Jesus said and headed home.
Here’s how much he believed. Look at verse 51.
“While he was still on the way, his servants met him with the news that his boy was living. [What good news!] When he inquired as to the time when his son got better, they said to him, ‘The fever left him yesterday at the seventh hour.’
Then the father realized that this was the exact time at which Jesus had said to him, ‘Your son will live.’ So he and all his household believed. This was the second miraculous sign that Jesus performed, having come from Judea to Galilee.”
Now, did you catch it? Did you see how much He believed?
We’re amazed (and rightly so) that the boy was healed at the exact time that Jesus said, “Your son will live.”
But when did this man learn of this? It was the next day, right? The servants said, “Yesterday, at the seventh hour.” That’s 1:00 in the afternoon.
How fast do you walk? I walk about 4 miles an hour. I try to walk about 4 miles every morning before breakfast, and it takes me about an hour. So if it’s 25 miles from Cana to Capernaum, and it’s downhill most of the way, it seems like he could have gotten home the day before. Especially if he thought he was never going to see his son alive again. It seems like he could have been home before bedtime.
Of course, we don’t know why he took so long to get home. Maybe he was exhausted from the uphill journey to get there. Maybe he couldn’t travel at night because of treacherous conditions. We don’t know. But we do know that it was the next day he go there, and I can’t help but think that he took his time because he believed the word of Jesus.
Verse 50 said, “The man took Jesus at his word...”
Here’s point number two and last:
#2. BELIEVING IS SEEING.
When we put our trust in Jesus and what Jesus has promised, then it gives us a kind of spiritual sight. We see Who Jesus is and trust that He will do exactly what He says He will do. We see it! With the eyes of faith. 
And then, one day, we see it with our own physical eyes. There are many things that God has promised that we do not yet see. Heaven is one of them. Our full salvation in the New Heavens and the New Earth. We are told about them, and we have a taste of it, but it’s still our hope. Paul says, “But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Rom. 8:24 NIVO).
But one day our faith will be made sight. If we believe, then we will see. Believing is seeing.
This man believed in Jesus with the eyes of faith. And He believed what Jesus said. He believed Jesus’ promise. He believed the word of the Word. And He saw what Jesus had promised come true.
And so did his whole family. So they all believed. Including, I’ll bet, his boy. Who lived!
Which was a sign. Verse 54 says that it was another sign that pointed to Jesus being the Messiah. Jesus did it long distance. From far away. But Jesus did it. Verse 54 says, “Jesus performed” this sign. And it was another signpost for those with eyes of faith to see that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God. And you know what happens to people who believe--they have life in Jesus’ name.
Do you believe in Jesus? Why do you believe in Jesus?
Is it just because He is powerful? Because He can do something for you? Or do you simply believe just because of Who He is? Believing is seeing.

***
Messages in this Series

01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26
11. "Ripe for the Harvest" - John 4:27-42

“Ripe for the Harvest” [Matt's Messages]

“Ripe for the Harvest”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchOctober 29, 2023 :: John 4:27-42 
Today, we’re all going to go to school to be better farmers.
I’ll bet you didn’t expect to hear that.
I grew up on a farm. Did you know that? We had about seventy acres, and we rented those seventy acres to a full-time farmer. So we didn’t actually farm it ourselves, though we did help get the fields ready by picking out the rocks each Spring.
And I was pretty clueless about how farming worked when I was a kid–not paying attention–so I won’t be teaching you anything from my personal store of knowledge. 
I’m going to be sharing with you what Jesus said about farming in John chapter 4. And the kind of farming Jesus was talking about was reaching people with the good news about Himself. Our evangelistic mission.
Jesus just used farming as an inroads illustration for His disciples to understand what He was trying to teach them about evangelism.
I love that this story landed on this Sunday. It’s a perfect story to consider for a Sunday right at the end of harvest season, right before Winter starts knocking at our doors. Next Sunday will be in November, and we’ll start singing about the harvest coming in. Well, Jesus has a lot to say about the harvest. In fact, our title for today comes right out of verse 35 where Jesus uses the phrase, “Ripe for Harvest.”
And He’s not talking about soybeans or corn. He’s talking about people. So this is also a perfect story to consider for a Sunday when we have a quarterly meal and meeting where we gather together to remind each other about the main thing around here.
We have a saying at Lanse Free Church that we got from others but have made our own, “The main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. And the main thing is the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
Just as a farmer will always be focused on the harvest to come, we who are followers of Jesus Christ should keep our eyes on the harvest that He has promised for His kingdom.
But I’m getting ahead of the story. Let’s back up to verse 27 and start there.

This is right where we left off last week. We stopped in the middle of the story of Jesus’ noon-time conversation with a Samaritan woman next to Jacob’s Well in Sychar.  
If you remember, Jesus has been full of surprises. He has plopped down to rest in the heat of the day next to Jacob’s Well while His disciples have gone into town to buy some food. Jesus is fully human and pretty tired and very thirsty.  And when a Samaritan women came up to the well to draw some water, Jesus, surprisingly, struck up a conversation with her. Remember this?
Jews and Samaritans don’t mix. Most Jews would have never even been there much less made friends. Especially across gender lines. A Jewish man is talking to a Samaritan woman?!
And you remember how the conversation went? Jesus asked her for water and then used that request for water to offer her Living Water–the eternal refreshment that comes from believing in Him. Living Water! 
And we saw how her understanding of Jesus changed over the course of their conversation. Jesus went from being, in her eyes, just a thirsty Jewish guy, to a bold and gentle Jewish guy who was willing to talk to her and to even touch something she had touched, and then to a miraculous prophet. Because Jesus somehow knew all about her life. He knew all about her choices, her spiritual thirst. And He knew all about what had been done to her, too. He knew her shame–she had five broken marriages, and she was currently living in sin with another man.
And Jesus kept on talking to her, pursuing her, loving her even though He knew all about her. And even when she tried to change the subject and talk about worship instead, He still stayed focused on reaching her heart. And then when she brought up the Messiah, He actually revealed to her that He was the Messiah! 
Jesus hasn’t been this straightforward with anyone so far in the whole Gospel of John, but He said to this woman (verse 26), “I who speak to you am he” (Jn. 4:26 NIVO).
That’s where we had to stop last week. And this week (v.27) picks up from that moment. Now we get the rest of the story. Verse 27. 
“Just then his disciples returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one asked, ‘What do you want?’ or ‘Why are you talking with her?’”
Jesus’ disciples come back from Weis or Wegmans with some plastic bags in their hands. (Or however it worked in those days). And they are shocked to find their Rabbi, their Teacher talking with a woman. And a Samaritan woman at that!
They are so shocked that they can’t even get the questions they are thinking out of their mouths. “What do you want?” “Why are you talking with her?”
We know the answers. We know that she wanted water. And, even deeper, she wanted what that water pointed to–fully-forgiven, shame-free eternal life.
And we know what Jesus wanted too. He wanted her heart. Jesus wanted her her spiritual thirst to be quenched through faith in Him. That’s why they are talking to each other. Jesus is not sexist or racist. Jesus is not misogynist nor xenophobic. Jesus is on the hunt for her heart.
Or to speak in farmer terms, Jesus wants her to be harvested. In a good way! He wants her to be a part of the crop of the kingdom, the crop for eternal life.
And I think that, here, He gets what He wants. Look at what she does. Verse 28.
“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?’ They came out of the town and made their way toward him” (vv.28-30).
I think that her life is changed from this moment on. And you know why I say that? 
Because she left her water jar! The very thing that had brought her out there in the first place. She left it behind. And she went after her neighbors. 
I love how this woman does evangelism, don’t you? 
You can do this. She goes to her neighbors, some of whom probably hate her. Many of whom probably scorn her. Some may have been her friends. It doesn’t matter. She goes back to them and talks to them about Jesus. “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Christ?”
Notice that she doesn’t have all of the answers. She doesn’t have everything figured out. She is not a perfect theologian. But she has met Jesus, and she wants others to meet Him, too.
You and I can do this, too. We don’t have to have to have a perfect presentation all prepared or to have answers to every question that someone may ask. We just have to be bold enough to invite our neighbors to “come and see.”
Just like Jesus invited those first disciples to check Him out in chapter 1. This woman invites her neighbors to give Jesus some consideration. 
“Have you ever considered the claims of Christ?” You and I can say that to someone else. That’s not hard. “Have you ever thought about Who Jesus is?” You could say that. “I am a believer in Jesus Christ. What do you think of Him?” Or you and I could invite someone to read the Gospel of John together.
This woman says, “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did” which is an exaggeration, but He certainly knew some of the darkest parts of her life. And yet He still cared about her.
“He says that He is the Messiah. Could this be true? He’s a Jew. He has against Him. I wish the Messiah was a Samaritan. But I think He just might be the Messiah. Come and see.”
And they do! John says that they “made their way toward him” (v.30).
Now, keep that in your mind as we read the next part. See those villagers walking back towards Jesus and His disciples as they have this conversation and Jesus begins to take them to Farmer’s School. Verse 31.
“Meanwhile his disciples urged him, ‘Rabbi, eat something.’” Remember He’s really tired. He’s been really thirsty. It’s the middle of the day. He’s probably ravenous, too. They have traveled many miles. They want Jesus to eat something, but He’s looking over at the town back where the woman went, and I think He’s got a great big smile on His face.
And then He looks at His disciples, and says, “Oh yeah, this is a great time to take these guys through some Farmer School.” Look at verse 32. “But he said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you know nothing about.’ Then his disciples said to each other, ‘Could someone have brought him food?’”
There’s that misunderstanding thing again, right? Jesus, enigmatically, says that He is not really hungry because He has unknown food. And they assume that He’s talking about physical food. Just like Nicodemus thought He meant physical birth and the woman at the well thought He meant fresh well-water. But, of course, He doesn’t. This kind of “food” is something much deeper, much more important, and much more satisfying. Verse 34.
“‘My food,’ said Jesus, ‘is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
Farmer School lesson number one (of three):
#1. EAT THE BEST FOOD.
Farming is hard work, and farmers need to keep their strength up so they need to eat some of the best, most nourishing meals that there are out there.
But what Jesus says is the best food for Him is different from what anyone might expect. Jesus says that His food is the food of obedience. “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.” “That’s what I find the most satisfying.”
Jesus is not saying that He’s never going to eat again. Or even that He’s not going to eat soon. This is a Guy who just asked a woman for a drink of water. He has physical needs that will need to be met.But Jesus is saying that all of those things take a back seat to doing what God has sent Him to do!
“Eating the best food” means prioritizing the mission.
Put the Kingdom first.Do the will of God.Finish the work that He has for you.
That is the best food.
Where are your priorities? Where are mine? Because we are tempted to chase every other thing in life like it is ultimate. Like “that’s the stuff!”
Just like we run after all kinds of other things to quench our spiritual thirst (like we said last week), we are tempted to put anything and everything ahead of sharing Jesus with those around us.
So often, we act like something else is the main thing. But obedience to the Great Commission is the main thing! And the main thing is to keep the main thing the main thing. 
And it’s not just the main thing. It’s the the most satisfying! Jesus doesn’t just grit His teeth here and fast from food. He says that this is His food! He finds obedience to be satisfying. “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
And He did, didn’t He? Jesus was obedient even death, death on the Cross where He said, “It is finished.” And even in that He was finding satisfaction. Obedience was His food.
Have you found that to be true in your life, as well? Sometimes I’m the happiest when I have been able to get past myself and what I consider to be my “needs” and just be obedient in the mission that God has for me. I call it, “Doing the thing.” I’m not just spinning my wheels or playing pastor, but I’m doing the thing that God put me here to do, “Doing the thing.”
And I love it when I see this church “doing the thing.” I loved it that at two events in the community this week, we had our people handing out Scripture and showing up to show the love of Jesus to folks. Keeping the main thing the main thing. That’s the stuff! That’s the best food!
And, amazingly, people will often respond favorably. 
That’s lesson number two of Farmer School:
#2. SEE THE RIPE FIELDS. 
Look at verse 35. “Do you not say, 'Four months more and then the harvest'? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the reaper draws his wages, even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together” (vv.35-36). 
Now, a farmer always knows that he or she has to be good at waiting. Apparently, they had a saying back then and there, “Four month s more and then the harvest.” They probably said it when they did the planting. “I put the seed in and then I have to be patient. Four months more. Four months more.” So the farmer has to see the ripe fields in his or her mind. They are still future.
But Jesus says that because He is now here, the fields are ripe.  Even now, He says. You see that in verse 36? “Even now...even now...” Something big has happened so that the disciples needed to see that the harvest had begun. 
See the ripe fields. Or literally, the “white” fields. A field of grain is ready to be harvested when the heads are white. 
Now think about this, what do Jesus and the disciples see right then? What is in their field of vision? Remember verse 30? The townspeople making their way towards Jesus.
Many commentators have wondered if the townspeople are wearing traditional Samaritan white robes as they flow out of the town and walk towards Jesus. I don’t know, but it sound good!
Either way, Jesus could see the potential harvest to come. And He wanted His disciples to see it, too. “Open your eyes...look at the fields.” With spiritual eyes, with the eyes of faith.
It’s not always going to seem like it, but the harvest has begun. It’s here. It’s coming. People are ripe to come to Christ. I know that it doesn’t always seem like it. I often feel like nobody is interested in coming to Christ. Especially the younger generations. But what they really aren’t interested in is fake Christianity and the lies that they have been shown and sold about what Christianity is and isn’t. Many of them are hungry for the truth and when they found out Who Jesus really is, they will want Him, too.
I’ve read some encouraging reports of spiritual awakening among Generation Z, the young people who are young adults right now. They see the world differently than older generations, but they are hungry  for something, and many of them are going to find that Jesus is the answer to what they are seeking.  We need to assume that and go out and share Jesus with them in boldness and love. And assume that He will save many and not few.
We need to see the ripe fields. Even now. Verse 36.
“Even now the reaper draws his wages [the job is done], even now he harvests the crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying 'One sows and another reaps' is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.’”
This is Farmer School Lesson number three (and last):
#3. SOW, REAP, AND REJOICE!
Sow, reap, and rejoice. 
Nobody reaps if nobody sows. Right? 
You don’t have to be the one who sows to reap. That’s the point that Jesus is making in verse 38. He says that others have done the hard work of sowing and the disciples are now reaping the benefit of their labor.
I think that’s people like John the Baptist and all of the prophets in the Old Testament. They’ve been sowing, planting seeds about the Messiah for a long time.
And now, these disciples get to reap the benefits of their hard work. And that’s okay! In fact, Jesus says, it’s great. The sower and the repear are glad together (v.36). “Glad together.”
But if no one ever sows, then there will be no reaping. So, there’s really a call here to sow.  To plant those seeds. To consider it “your food” to get out there and introduce people to Jesus. To say, “Come and see...could this be the Christ?”
“Could this One be the One you are looking for?” 
Who might you need to talk to this week? Where might you sow seeds of the gospel? You never know where you might reap then! You never know who you might to talk and find out that someone else has been talking to them and the ready to jump into the boat. They are ready to get picked off of the stalk.
Sow, reap...and rejoice!
What a joy it is when people finally come to know Jesus as their Savior. Jesus says there are parties in heaven when one sinner repents. And there are parties here on Earth, too. And nobody begrudges anyone else for their part in it. Sometimes we sow. Sometimes we reap. And whenever there is reaping, we rejoice. Together.
Especially when there are many! When the harvest is huge. And that’s what happened in this story. Look at verse 39.
“Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.”
There’s two miracles for you, right there! 
First, that many of these Samaritans BELIEVED because of this woman’s testimony. This woman. This Samaritan woman who had been loaded down with shame. She points them to Jesus and they believe.
And you know what happens when you believe in Jesus, right? You get life in His name (John 20:31).
And here’s the second miracle. These Samaritan townspeople asked this Jewish Rabbi to stay with them for two days! The wall of hostility had been knocked down. Ethnicity and race and culture and gender wars were no longer the factors that kept them apart. Jesus had brought them together. Jesus had sown and now was reaping. And everyone was rejoicing. V.41
“And because of his words many more became believers. They said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.’”
“God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (Jn. 3:16 NIVO). And this man, Jesus is the Savior of the world.
These folks came to believe that for themselves. I love that “for ourselves” in verse 42. They aren’t content to let someone else believe for them. They have trusted Jesus for themselves. 
Have you trusted Jesus yourself? Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world?
It’s interesting that they say, “of the world,” right? He’s not just the Savior of Israel. But also the savior for the half-breed Samaritans. And also for the Gentiles. We’ll see that next week, Lord-willing. Gentiles like you and me. Have you trusted Jesus yourself? Do you believe that Jesus is the Savior of the world? And do you know Him as your own savior?
If so, we all rejoice!  If not, we all invite you to do so now. Check out Jesus and finding out what He did on the Cross and at the Empty Tomb, come to know Him as your own Savior from your own sins and for eternal life. On that day, many believed. “Many more” it says. What a day of rejoicing that must have been.
Let me ask this question for us as we close:
What if Jesus had not bothered? What if Jesus had not bothered to speak to this woman at this well? What if Jesus had allowed her to change the conversation, and He just stopped pursuing her. He just stopped sowing. He just stopped planting. What if He had just gotten a drink and something to eat and been satisfied with that? What if the Farmer never went out to sow? What if obedience was not Jesus’ food? When then?
Let me ask it this way for all of us potential farmers:
What is your food? Not what did you bring to share at the meal today, but what is the most important life priority for you so that you would call it your sustenance and satisfaction? What is your food?
Next question: Can you see the fields? Do you see the potential reaping that could be done here in our area and around the world as we engage in God’s redemptive mission? Can you see the fields of the people around you? Are they white? Are they ripe? The harvest has begun. 
Last question: Are you sowing? Because if nobody sows, nobody reaps. But if we keep sowing–if we keep the main thing the main thing–then we will reap, and together we will rejoice. Because we know that this man Jesus really is the Savior of the world.

***

Messages in this Series

01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-21
09. "Above All" - John 3:22-36
10. "Living Water" - John 4:1-26

“Living Water” [Matt's Messages]

“Living Water”Life in Jesus’ Name - The Gospel of JohnLanse Evangelical Free ChurchOctober 22, 2023 :: John 4:1-26
Have you ever been really thirsty?
What’s it feel like? 
Your mouth gets kind of dry. Maybe your throat gets scratchy. I start to get a headache when I’m really thirsty and heading towards dehydration.
It’s something you feel through your whole body, isn’t it? Not just your mouth. It’s your whole body, all of your tissues, calling out for hydration.
Are you feeling thirsty all of a sudden?
Just hearing the word “thirsty” makes me feel thirsty! How about you?
There’s nothing like a tall glass of cool sweet water when you are thirsty. And how it replenishes your whole body.
In John chapter 4, Jesus is thirsty, and He uses the idea of thirst as an inroads illustration for the answer to our spiritual thirst which is what He calls in verse 10, “Living Water.”
Let me show you what I mean. Let’s start in verse 1 to set the stage. Verse 1.
“The Pharisees heard that Jesus was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John,  although in fact it was not Jesus who baptized, but his disciples. When the Lord learned of this, he left Judea and went back once more to Galilee.”

If you remember from a couple of weeks ago, Jesus had been, through His disciples, baptizing new believers in Him–so much so that John the Baptist’s disciples had become a little jealous. But John had not. John was just the “friend of the bridegroom.” Jesus was the bridegroom. John wanted to decrease and wanted to see Jesus increase above all.
And that was happening. And the Pharisees, who had been investigating John, now got to investigating Jesus. And Jesus knew it wasn’t yet time to get into a tussle with them right then, so he left the southern part of Israel called Judah (where He had been born about 30 years before) and headed back north towards his home (where He had grown up) in the region called Galilee. Verse 4.
“Now he had to go through Samaria.” 
Stop there for a second. I want to say something about this. John says that Jesus HAD TO GO through Samaria. That doesn’t mean that there was no other way to get to Galilee. In fact, a lot Jews headed from the South to the North took the by-pass. You might want to look on a map, in the back of your Bible for this. A lot of Jews crossed the Jordan when they got to the border of Samaria and traveled north on the East of the Jordan so that they didn’t have to go through the middle area, the in-between region, called Samaria.
If you aren’t aware, there was all of kinds tension between the Samaritans and the Jews. The Jews thought of the Samaritans as half-breed traitors. They were the result of inter-marrying between those who were left in the North after the Assyrian exile in the Old Testament with a bunch of squatter foreigners. And they had developed their own worship system and version of the Bible–mainly just the first five books of the Bible and rejecting the rest.
The Jews did not like the Samaritans and vice-versa. They despised each other. So the Jews often took the by-pass. 
But John says Jesus HAD TO go through Samaria. Why?
Because He had to have this conversation.
Because Jesus was on a mission to seek and to save that which was lost.Because Jesus was not racist. Because Jesus was finding His people.Because God so loved the world that He sent His One and Only Son on a rescue mission (John 3:16).
Jesus HAD TO go through Samaria because God wanted Him there.
I think we can all learn something from that. God also is directing our steps and putting us in various places to reach people for Him. Even people incredibly different from us. Maybe people we don’t like that much. Maybe people we have even been trained to hate. Who might that be for you? V.4.
“Now he had to go through Samaria. So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob's well was there, and Jesus, tired as he was from the journey, sat down by the well. It was about the sixth hour.”
Read Genesis 48 and Joshua 24 for the backstory here. John puts this story on the map. There was a well there which Jacob had gifted to Joseph. And there still is a well there which is over 100 feet deep.
And Jesus plops down by the well. And He’s tired.
Do you ever think about Jesus being tired? Jesus is fully human. Like fully. He got tired. He got so tired. One time He was so tired, He fell asleep in a boat and slept through a storm at sea! That’s not because He was super-human. It was because He was fully human!
And these guys have been traveling. And Jesus is just whipped. And He’s thirsty.
You see what time it is? John says it was about the sixth hour. That’s the sixth hour from sunrise, so it’s about noon. Noon in the Middle East, and He’s been traveling. He’s hot and tired. And thirsty.
And He’s right next to a well! It’s really deep, and He could see down it, and He can see the water. He can probably smell the water. But He doesn’t have a bucket.
Jesus, in His humanity, is needy. One day, when He’s hanging on the Cross, He will say, “I am thirsty” (John 19:2). Right now, it’s obvious.
Now, one more thing I want to point out is that often in the Bible people meet other people at wells. It’s a popular meeting place. A place for hospitality to occur. And even a place for a man to find himself a bride (for example: Isaac, Jacob, Moses).
And we’ve just been told in chapter 3 that Jesus is a bridegroom. And if you are reading your Bible carefully, you might guess that the hero may be meeting a potential wife at this next moment. 
And, in sense, He is. But not like that.
But I think it’s supposed to be in our heads. The Bridegroom is on the lookout for His bride. And as we saw last time, WE ARE HIS BRIDE! All His believers are together His Bride. All of His Church is together His Bride. And so, potentially, is this woman who comes walking up to Him. V.7
“When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, ‘Will you give me a drink?’ (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)” (vv.7-8).
Now, you know, Jesus is full of surprises.
For one, that He’s all alone. His disciples have gone into town to pick up supplies.
And Jesus has stayed back all by Himself to rest.
And He doesn’t run away when He sees this woman approach. He isn’t scared to be in her presence. Or have her in His.
But He also doesn’t take advantage of her. I know it’s impossible for us to think of Jesus doing that, but it probably crossed her mind.
There she is at noonday trying to draw some water. A lot of people have pointed out that that’s not the normal time for a woman in that culture to go get water. Normally women went in groups early in the morning or later in the evening when it’s cooler outside. They didn’t go on their own at the hottest time of the day. We don’t know why she did that. Perhaps it was because she didn’t have any friends. (Though we will see next time that her neighbors did listen to her words when she had something to tell them.) Maybe they had just run out of water, and she had to go get it right then. We don’t know. Perhaps she wanted to be alone. 
But she wasn’t alone. Here she comes up to the well, and there’s this guy sitting right by it. And, from the way He’s dressed and His accent, it’s clear that He’s a Jew. Not a Samaritan like she is.
Is He a threat?
He is not. (And, men, let’s be like Jesus in this way, too. Even when we’re tired. Even when we’re thirsty. Even when we’re alone. Let’s be no threat to women.)
But He’s not just non-threatening. He does not retreat from her either. He talks to her like she’s a human being worthy of respect! That’s so surprising that it makes her talk to Him! Verse 9.
“The Samaritan woman said to him, ‘You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?’ (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans.)” And, John, that’s putting it mildly!
A Samaritan?! Some of the Jews taught that Samaritan women were ceremonially unclean perpetually, all of the time. That meant that a good Jewish man would not even touch something that a Samaritan woman had touched or he would have to consider himself unclean and go through a purification. We can’t wrap our minds around how culturally strange it was that Jesus would talk to her much less that He would ask her to give Him something that He would touch Himself. Like a cup of water from Jacob’s Well.
Now, I want you to see the progression in this woman’s perception of Who Jesus is, as this story unfolds. Both this week and next.
He starts out, in her eyes, as just a tired thirsty man who may be a potential threat. Then she sees that He is a Jewish man. But not just any Jewish man. A Jewish man Who is willing to talk to her and relate to her as a person. Even to make a request and cross the cultural boundary of touching something she had touched.
This is shocking to her. “How can you ask me for a drink?” What is going on here? 
But imagine her surprise when He comes back like this? Verse 10.
“Jesus answered her, ‘If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.’” There’s our sermon title for today.
Jesus says that this woman (and we never learn her name which I think helps every woman to see herself in her shoes, that this woman) is really the needy one.
Yes, Jesus needs a drink. But she needs what that drink really stands for. She needs living water.
Now, on the face of it, that phrase can just mean running water. Spring water. Fresh water. Water that flows in such a way that it remains sweet. Water that has air added to it and hasn’t gotten stale, dead, or full of bacteria. 
But, obviously, Jesus means a lot more than that. He says that if she just knew Who He is, she’d be asking Him for living water. 
And it would be the “gift of God.” It would be FREE. That makes me think about our memory verse, right? John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that HE GAVE His One and Only Son...”
“If you only knew the gift of God...He would have given you living water.”
Now, this woman is really intrigued. Perhaps she’s reaching for her purse to make sure she has mace. This guy isn’t acting like anyone else. She’s so surprised at what He’s saying that she has to come back. V.11
“‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?’”
“I don’t get the logistics here. How is this going to work?”
She’s kind of like Nicodemus, right? How can I get back into my mommy’s tummy? How can you give me water without a bucket? What are you talking about?
"Are you greater than our father Jacob?" She assumes that the answer will be, “No.” Right? "We (Jews and Samaritans) are all descendants of Jacob, so he’s greater than we are, right?" 
But Jesus’ answer is, “Yes, I am greater than Jacob.” Look at what He says in verse 13.
“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”
Jesus is talking about something much greater than well water. He’s talking about a thirst that is greater than just physical thirst. He’s talking about spiritual thirst, and the answer for spiritual thirst is living water.
The water that Jesus gives that is unendingly satisfying. “Will never thirst!”
Surprise! 
Jesus is offering to this woman eternal life. He’s offering up Himself. 
Living water is a perfect way of describing how faith in Jesus leads to unendingly satisfying life.
How long can a human live without water? Google says about three days. And then you need it again. And then you need it again. 
But Jesus says that if you have Him, then you have inside of yourself what you need to live eternally.
“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’”
I have two points of application I want to make today, and here’s the first one:
#1. DRINK THE LIVING WATER.
Which is another way of saying put your faith and trust in Jesus Christ. Believe in Him. Believe that Jesus is Who He says He is. And put all of your faith and trust in Him.
That’s the whole point of this book, right? And it’s the whole point of this series. If you “believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God...by believing you may have life in his name” (Jn. 20:31 NIVO). Eternal life!
Jesus says that this life is not just like a little drink of water, but like a drink of water that becomes a spring inside of you. Like “Spring up, O well!” (Numbers 21:17). The “welling up” in verse 14 is the same word for the guy who couldn’t walk in Acts chapter 3 and then was healed and was walking and leaping and praising God.
That’s what happens inside of you when you become a follower of Jesus. You don’t necessarily feel it all of the time, but that’s your ultimate reality.
In chapter 7, Jesus is going to proclaim, “If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him” (Jn. 7:37-38 NIVO). Drink the living water. It’s free! It’s the “gift of God.” 
Have you come to drink the living water, so that you have a spiritual artesian well inside of you? That’s what Jesus was offering her, and what He is offering to you and me and our neighbors today.
Now, the woman is intrigued, but she still does not understand. Perhaps, like Nicodemus, that misunderstanding is somewhat intentional–feigning ignorance so that she doesn’t have to make up her mind right away.
There are a lot of similarities between Nicodemus and the Samaritan woman. They couldn’t have been more different culturally. Man and woman. Jew and Samaritan. High position and low position. And Nick was at night, and she was at noon.
But they both needed the same thing. They both needed Jesus. V.15
“The woman said to him, ‘Sir, give me this water so that I won't get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.’ He told her, ‘Go, call your husband and come back.’ 
[And now He gets personal. Jesus keeps pursuing her. He is undaunted. And she ashamed. V.17.] 
‘I have no husband,’ she replied. 
Jesus said to her, ‘You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.’” (vv.16-18).
Like I said, Jesus is full of surprises. He knows all about this woman’s life. He knows all about her choices. And He knows all about what has been done to her. He points out that she is telling the truth, but she leaves out the whole truth. Yes, she has no husband. But that does not mean that she is unattached. She has had five husbands. And it’s possible that they have all died, but that’s unlikely from the way that it’s talked about here. It’s much more likely that she’s had five divorces. And that right now she’s living with a man who is not her husband.
Notice that this is rightfully seen as sinful. Living together as if you were married if you are not married is wrong. It’s against God’s design, against God’s command, and against God’s holiness. “Living in sin” is sin.
It amazes me that even many professing Christians don’t recognize that these days. So many people who should know better! Living together as if you were married if you are not married is sinful.
And note also that being married means more than just living together as if you are married. To be truly married there must also be a covenant between the husband and the wife, and that life-long covenant should be entered into publicly so that it is recognized by the community. In our culture that also normally involves the government, marriage licenses and so forth.
But this woman does not have that with the man she is currently with. And Jesus knows it. But note, also, that Jesus knows it all...and keeps talking to her! He keeps loving her. 
Jesus knows that she is a woman, a Samaritan, and is living in sin following a string of broken marriages. But that doesn’t cause Him to love her any less. If anything, it causes Him to move towards her with even more compassion, even more love. Truth-telling love.
Jesus is full of surprises.
Now, I’ve always thought that Jesus knows all of this about her and thinks that she has been trying to fill her spiritual thirst with men. Perhaps for sexual pleasure, but more likely for security, significance, and satisfaction.
She’s got to have a man to be happy, and she is ready to ditch them if they don’t please her. She’s a loose woman, as shameful as a happy prostitute. And Jesus loves her anyway.
And that might be the way it was.
But as I’ve come to think more deeply about the culture that she was living in at that time, I have come to realize that it’s much more likely that this woman was used and abused (like so many sex workers are throughout the world). Women in that day and age did not have a lot of rights. They didn’t just get divorced whenever they felt like it. Some men did but few women were able to. Certainly, they couldn’t just do it 5 times!
It’s much more likely that this woman was basically being handed from man to man. She was abandoned. She was the one ditched. And then ditched. And then ditched.  And then ditched. And then ditched once more.
And then this guy doesn’t even feel the necessity of going through the motions to get truly married to get what he wants out of her.
She’s living in sin, yes, and has some responsibility for that, but she’s been sinned against again and again and again and again and again. If there’s a deep spiritual thirst this woman has, it’s not just forgiveness for her guilt but a removal, a washing away, of the shame that others have placed upon her.
Known, loved, and valued no mater what had been done to her.
Ladies, can you relate? By the way, if all of this brings up feelings of shame in you that you don’t know what to do with, come talk to me and Heather about it, or find someone else you trust to begin that healing process, or if you're like me and you need to start by processing it on your own, I can recommend a great book to read, “ Shame Interrupted: How God Lifts the Pain of Worthlessness and Rejection ” by my mentor Ed Welch. I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Jesus knows all of that about her, and He still moves toward her. Of course He does! He loves her. He doesn’t want her to remain in her sin and shame, but He loves her just as she is right then and there. He knows all of that and He offers to her this living water.
Drink the living water. Jesus is what you are really thirsty for.
And He has come for you. He had to come this way. It was His mission. He was at this well for this woman that day. And He’s come for you.
Yes, you.
No matter what you’ve done or what has been done to you. Jesus has come for you.
Jesus HAD to go through to Samaria.And then Jesus HAD to go to the Cross.Because He was coming for His bride.
Not just one Samaritan woman, but for all of us who will put our faith and trust in Him and drink His living water.
I’m sure that this woman did not know what to do with Jesus now. He has gone from being just some thirsty guy who shouldn’t even be talking to her, to someone offering something that sounds too good to be true, to someone who knows all of her story and her baggage. What would you say next? She tries to change the subject. Verse 19.
“‘Sir,’ the woman said, ‘I can see that you are a prophet. [So let’s talk theology, huh? Anything but what you just brought up.] Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.’”
She’s talking about Mount Gerizim. Abraham, Jacob, and Moses all worshiped there at one point. That’s the fathers she’s talking about. They are all in the first five books that both the Jews and the Samaritans agreed upon. But the Jews knew that the LORD set up His capitol and wanted a temple built in Jerusalem.
So there’s a point of contention here. A few hundred years before this, the Samaritans had actually built a temple on Mount Gerizim, and then a few hundred years later the Jews had knocked it down. She wants to know which of them is right. And she wants to talk about anything but her spiritual thirst.
So Jesus stops and leaves her alone.
No, He doesn’t.
He lets her change the topic, but He keeps on driving towards her heart. He says, “You want to talk about worship? That’s what I want to talk about.” Because worship and spiritual thirst are basically the same thing. “You ask, ‘Do we have to worship on Gerizim or in Jerusalem?’ And the answer is neither.” Verse 21.
“Jesus declared, ‘Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.”
No anti-semitism here! [By the way, “woman” here is the same thing that He called His mom back at the wedding in Cana. He’s not being rude. It’s like “Ma’am.”]
A time is coming when it’s not here nor there. It’s actually going to be everywhere. You Samaritans are ignorant because you aren’t reading your whole Bible. And your whole Bible will tell you that the Messiah is coming, and He’s going to be Jew. So of the two, the Jews are more right than the Samaritans.
But the right answer for where to worship is not just Jerusalem. It’s wherever God’s true people gather to worship in spirit and in truth. Verse 23.
“Yet a time is coming and has now come[!] when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth’” (vv.23-24).
There is so much there! Jesus says that the key question to ask about worship is not WHERE. It’s HOW, and even more importantly, it’s WHO. Here’s point number two and last:
#2. BE A TRUE WORSHIPER.
That’s the kind that God is seeking. Did you catch that in verse 24? “[True worshipers] are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. He’s hunting for them. He’s on the lookout for these kind of worshipers. The ones who worship in spirit and in truth.
“In spirit” because God is Spirit. He’s not bound by location. He’s not contained or confined to one city. He is in all of the cities and all of the country, and deserves to be worshiped in all of the places. Even in this place. As the true Church, the Bride of Christ, gathers right here together to call on His name.
And “in spirit” because it’s not good enough to just be here in the building, our hearts must be truly engaged. We can’t just go through the motions. We can’t just worship on the outside. We must worship from our hearts, from the inside, in our spirits, by our spirits. Our worship must be spiritual.
And it must be truthful. We have to worship God as He is, not just as we would like Him to be. I think we all want to make God in our image instead of living out His image in us.
But God is how He is, and we must worship Him how He is, in truth. So our worship must be real and must be about Reality.
We shouldn’t worship what is false and what is not God. Which could be a whole lot of things. All of those things we might chase to assuage our spiritual thirst. What are you tempted to drink instead of Jesus? Money? Sex? Security? Fame? Popularity?
Remember what God said in Jeremiah chapter 2? “My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water” (Jer. 2:13 NIVO).
What are your broken cisterns? Only Jesus is the the real thirst quencher. Only the true Messiah is worthy of that kind of true worship. And this woman knew that. Look at verse 25.
“The woman said, ‘I know that Messiah’ (called Christ) ‘is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.’ [He will sort all of this out.] Then Jesus declared, ‘I who speak to you am he.’”
He just comes out and says it, and invites her to believe in Him. And believe that Jesus is the Messiah (called Christ) and by believing to have life in His name. A spring of living water welling up to eternal life.
Do you know what happens next? Lord-willing, we will study it together next Sunday.
It may surprise you. Jesus is full of surprises.
And because of Him we can be full of living water.

***
Messages in this Series

01. "That You May Believe" - John 20:30-31
02. "In The Beginning Was the Word" - John 1:1-18
03. "John's Testimony" - John 1:19-34
04. "Come and See" - John 1:35-51
05. "The First of His Miraculous Signs" - John 2:1-11
06. "This Temple" - John 2:12-25
07. "You Must Be Born Again" - John 3:1-15
08. "God So Loved The World" - John 3:16-2109. "Above All" - John 3:22-36