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John 5: Jesus Doer of Good on the Sabbath 

John 5 records Jesus interacting with an infirmed man and the Jews. While in Jerusalem for a feast, Jesus meets a man He may have seen many times before during His visits to Jerusalem. This man was a regular visitor at the pool called Bethesda, hoping for a miraculous healing of his infirmity.

Jesus spoke to the infirmed man first by asking him if he wanted to be healed. The man responded to Jesus by revealing his need for someone to lower him into the pool when it stirred. For if he could get in the water at that time, he believed that he could be healed. One can sense in this man’s voice a real plea for help. Jesus responded by healing the man completely.

This man showed no faith toward Jesus whatsoever, either before or after the healing. He never entered into dialogue with Jesus and he never thanked Him for being healed. Jesus later met him in the temple and brought up the sin issue and this man’s responsibility. But the man rejected Jesus’ spiritual-moral thrust by turning from Jesus to the Jews. Verse 15 says that the man departed from Jesus and told the Jews that Jesus was the one who made him well. He “tattled” to please the Jews.

The Jews responded negatively to this healing because Jesus did it on the Sabbath. I have a hunch that this incident would not have been received as badly by them had it been anyone but Jesus. Yes, they were legalistically wrapped up in their self-made traditions and missed the wonderment of God’s healing power, but the One who did the Sabbath “breaking” was the same one who overturned their money tables and exposed their profiteering at Gentile expense. If they felt threatened by the temple clearing, they surely felt more threatened by Jesus’ fight to take back the Sabbath from their cold, heartless traditions. They saw what Jesus did as a threat to their religious status. They made the rules that every “righteous” Jew was to fulfill on the Sabbath, and to have Jesus act openly against them was perceived as antagonistic. They hated Him so much they desired to kill Him. It can be clearly seen that Jesus’ first encounter with these men did not result in soul searching, but in resentment toward Jesus for His meddlesome behavior.

Jesus in verses 42-47 pinpoints why the Jews reacted to Him the way they did. When the purpose or goal is wrong or evil, good advice sounds bad. Or, when bad advice sounds good the purpose is wrong. Jesus exposes the Jew’s purpose as evil and selfish. He exposes their lack of love toward God (v. 42), their rejection of God’s ultimate Representative (v. 43), their arrogant pride (v. 44), their disobedience to the meaning of the law they professed (v. 45), and their settled unbelief in O. T. truth (which excluded them from receiving N. T. truth (v. 38, 46-47) spoken by Jesus). True unbelief is not only non-belief, but also adherence to wrong belief. These Jews believed in their own rules and traditions, their own importance, their own honor, their own interpretations of Scripture. Jesus represented a threat to all of these beliefs; either the beliefs had to go or Jesus did. Verses 16 and 18 reveal their choice; Jesus had to go!

Verses 19-41 are absolutely awesome. Many believers have read these verses throughout the church age and have been blessed as they are enlightened to see their Lord’s majesty. Jesus claims to be God’s Son. God’s literal Son! Jesus’ Sonship is special. His Sonship makes Him equal with God, His Father. The Pharisees understood what He was claiming. It shocked and infuriated them. But that was not all Jesus claimed. He also claimed to be the Doer of God’s perfect will, the Possessor of resurrection power, the Possessor and Dispenser of eternal life, and the Fulfillment of the Old Testament mentality and prophesies.

One must ask oneself, “Why did Jesus reveal such truth to unbelievers?” Why not His disciples? I think the answer, primarily, lies in what the Jews said in verse 18: “ also said God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” What Jesus said in verses 19-41 was said to clear all doubt from the Jews’ minds about whether or not Jesus really claimed equality with God. Jesus did claim such equality, and He wanted the Jews to know it. And once they knew they became obligated to yield their authority to a higher authority, Jesus Christ Himself. Faint belief would have been challenged toward further investigation of Jesus, but the Jews did not even have this belief. Their unbelief was educated unbelief, the most dangerous kind. They were sinking into total hardheartedness! It will not be long before they actually kill Jesus. 

John 11: Jesus the Resurrection and the Life 

We have seen in the first ten chapters of John that the Jews have rejected Jesus. They see Him as a blasphemer (10:33) on the basis of calling Himself God’s Son, “the son of God” (10:36). Jesus recognized the height of His claim and allowed for honest misunderstanding on the part of His hearers (10:34-38) but held them to honest appraisal of His works. For the works pointed to Who He was. Jesus’ teachings have reached awesome dimensions. He is not just an ordinary man who is blessed by God in a unique way, but Son of the Living God, equal with God! He has done many marvelous things to verify the truth of what He says about Himself, but in chapter 11 He is about to give the ultimate revelation of His power and person.

Matthew 9:2-6 describes a strategy Jesus often uses to reinforce something He said. He tells a man that his sins are forgiven and then proceeds to heal him of paralysis. In John 6, He feeds the 5,000, and then claims to be the Bread of Life. He connects a spiritual truth about Himself with a miraculous act that verifies the truthfulness of His words. In John 11:25-26, He claims the power to raise the dead. “I am the resurrection, and the life: He that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” The raising of Lazarus (v 43-44) verifies His words!

Some who previously had not believed, believed because of the raising of Lazarus. This deed of Jesus confirmed everything He claimed for Himself up to this point. Many could no longer say “no” to Jesus. “But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, ‘What shall we do? For this man works many signs, If we let him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.’” Even this great miracle does not change hardened unbelief.

Remember an important principle: rebellious unbelief will seek out and unite itself to foolish and even immoral ideas in order to continue to reject the truth. What would previously have seemed unthinkable becomes acceptable. The mind, however, needs to justify and live with itself. It therefore seeks self-justification, a rationale for continuing the present course of action. Caiaphas (v. 49-52) gives them the rationale they were seeking. “We can save our nation and our places in it if we eliminate Jesus. Killing him might be regrettable, but necessary for the health and safety of Israel.” Verse 53 records, “Then from that day forth they took counsel together to put him to death.” Armed with the self-justification they sought, their true desire could be realized. Eliminate Jesus, even if it meant killing him.

Jesus recognized the finality of the unbelief: “Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews….” Though these plotted against Jesus, the end would come on His terms and in His timing. These men were hardened in their unbelief. They had seen divine revelation and rejected it. Even the resurrection of a dead man could not turn them from their commitment to unbelief.

John 12: Jesus Worthy of Worship 

 
This chapter, as well as the last 10 verses of chapter 11, records the climax of unbelief. John records the opposition Jesus encountered from the very start of His public ministry—the cleansing of the temple. Those that had special interests to protect (especially the Pharisees) opposed Jesus from the start of His ministry to the finish. Nothing Jesus did changed their hearts or minds. Chapter 12 records the culmination of their unbelief. Hopeless unbelief exists in the presence of full revelation. Jesus during His earthly ministry did all He could do, while still respecting created capacities and rights to choose, to provoke faith. The ultimate sign was the raising of Lazarus and not only did it not provoke faith in them but it hardened their hearts instead.

The same sunshine, water, and soil that produce good plants also produce weeds, tares, and thistles. To put it in John’s language, the same signs that are meant to provoke and strengthen faith strengthen unbelief. The wrong beliefs that have served to bolster rebellious unbelief become more deep-seated. For example, Pharisaic unbelief moved from religious and economic exploitation, legalistic Sabbathism, and hyper-criticalism to bearing false witness and murder. Why? So that they could maintain their power and status within Israel. Unbelief becomes hardened when truth is rejected (v. 40)!

Verses 44-50 represent the final public teaching of Jesus. They touch on all the important aspects of Jesus’ life and mission, as well as reveal His heart’s disposition. Jesus’ whole life was centered on doing the will of the Father. Jesus was not an automaton. He chose to fulfill the father’s commands because they are life. Jesus valued life. His whole mission was to bring men and women to God for reconciliation. If they will not come, it will not be because they are not welcome it will be because they choose not to. Jesus provided the way. The Holy Spirit provides the strength. The choice is ours whether we take it!

There was a major faith contrast in this chapter between Mary and Judas. Mary, sister of Lazarus, showed gratitude and love for Jesus. She saw the love He had for her and Lazarus not only because of Lazarus’ raising but also as Jesus mourned with her grief at the loss of her brother. Mary loved Jesus for it. Jesus understood that. And when she poured expensive oil on His feet and wiped it off with her hair, He accepted it as an act of worshipful devotion and gratitude. Jesus also tells us that there was more to Mary’s act than just thankfulness. Mary somehow understood that Jesus’ mission included death. Mary showed her love and devotion to Jesus the kind Shepherd, not Jesus the military deliverer. Jesus may not be freeing her from Rome’s domination but she believed he would free her from her sin and was the Resurrection and Life to all who believed. And that was enough for Mary. Jesus tenderly accepted her worship, unlike the thousands He turned away because of their false motives and unbelief.

Judas Iscariat, however, did not see what Jesus saw. Judas could only see the value of the oil and considered it a wasteful act. Judas was a thief; he saw his profits dripping to the floor. His heart was hard to true spiritual issues. While God was praising, he was condemning! How ironic it is that the Righteous One finds it in His heart to accept the heartfelt offering of Mary, but a filthy sinner can only condemn her. Both Judas and the Pharisees were exposed to Jesus’ miracles. They had every opportunity to believe but their hidden agendas kept them away from Jesus. And as the Gospel of John progresses those hidden agendas are revealed, until it comes down to the choice of giving up the selfish purposes or giving up Jesus. Judas and the Pharisees chose to give up Jesus!

Copyright 2004 by James W. Skeen