Study Notes 6-24-12

~ pjwenzel ~ Leave a comment

Well – not to be lazy here, but instead of bullet pointing the entire note section of my lesson, I have just given you all my notes in full form here.  Of course this may mean that there’s extra bonus material that I didn’t have time to bring up in class!  Feel free to skim and enjoy!

5:31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.

I think there are two things He could be saying here.  At first, I thought of this purely as a legal qualification Jesus was pointing out to from Deuteronomy (Deut. 19:15).  Not only that, but we know it makes common sense as well, because if someone says something extraordinary about himself or herself and there is no witness to verify their claims, then we have to simply believe what they said or not believe it.  The veracity of their statement is wholly based on whether they can be trusted.  Jesus is not surrendering to the idea that He is not trustworthy (as MacArthur also points out), rather He is surrendering the right to be His own witness for the time being.  As Calvin puts it, “Now we know that what any man asserts about himself is not reckoned to be true and authentic, although in other respects he speak truth, because no man is a competent witness in his own cause. Though it would be unjust to reduce the Son of God to this rank, yet he prefers to surrender his right, that he may convince his enemies by the authority of God.”

But, there is also a secondary thing that I think Jesus is saying here, and I picked it up from something MacArthur seems to see in the text.  He seems to almost be saying sarcastically, “you don’t seem to want to believe my word, so if I bear witness about myself I doubt you’ll believe what I have to say.”  In light of that, He offers them several other witnesses that can verify His claims to deity.  

5:32-34 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. [34] Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.

Jesus is saying that they went and asked John what he thought of Jesus and John verified His claims and testified about who Jesus was/is.  Now, Jesus clarifies His statement by saying that John’s role was as a witness to Him (John 1:29-34), but it wasn’t as though Jesus needed any witness at all, but for the sake of the weakness of the flesh He is providing that in John the Baptist.  Obviously these men had already checked out John the Baptist, and many seemed to believe that he was a prophet from God, even if they didn’t like or listen to the essence of his message (John 1:19-27).

Because He spoke these words in the past tense about John, many commentators seem to think this indicated that John was either already in prison or had died.  Noting the honor that Christ bestows on His faithful servants, Ryle says of the Baptist, “…this murdered disciple was not forgotten by his Divine Master. If no one else remembered him, Jesus did.  He had honored Christ, and Christ honored him.”  I find this personally significant because it has always been my desire to leave a legacy for those around me that signaled my love of Christ.  I want so badly for those at my funeral to note how I was faithful to God, and what I did for Him and for others on His behalf.  However, Ryle’s points struck a chord with me because in death there will be only one voice whose words of commendation I will care about: those of Jesus Christ.  This being the case, shouldn’t I ought to act as though this were the case now?

Lastly, turning to the end of the verse we see that He nurtures our small seed of faith until we are strong in faith.  This is why He says it was “so that you may be saved.”  This mission statement matches John’s mission statement near the end of the gospel as well (John 20:31).

5:35-36 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.

I love the use of the light vs. dark here.  It is a common theme in Christ’s teachings, and one that John loves to highlight.  And in this verse there is a neat thing that MacArthur points out in a sermon on this passage.  He mentioned that John here is the lamp – not the light itself.  The word for lamp here is luchnos, which is a small portable oil lamp.  The word for light that is used to describe Christ and is used in at the end of verse 35 is phos, and is used to describe the essence of what John shown (Christ to the world).

Jesus rebukes them by speaking of their temporary and fading zeal (for a while).  John MacArthur uses some Aristotelian thought when he says he thinks of these people like “moths to a flame” and that flame was John the Baptist.  When the fire got too hot though, they faded away from the light and went on their way.  They didn’t want to repent and change their lives, after all.  All they wanted was to see something novel.

Jesus goes on to put together a logical argument of progression “if x then y” – if you rejoiced in the light of John, then you should rejoice all the more in the light that I am bringing into the world.

Jesus sets Himself apart from John by claiming superiority of  (1) works, and superiority of (2) testimony as well as a (3) better witness of His work (from the Father).  Those are the three ways in which I see Christ as being superior to John here.

5:36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.

Jesus is giving us the second witness – his works.  His works were greater than John’s works.  I can’t image anyone disputing that the man who calmed the seas and healed so many people, did not have a superior witness in this way!

Surely no one could have done the works that Jesus did if they weren’t from God.  Nicodemus said in John 3:2 that, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

I don’t think that anyone who was around Jesus could have denied the amazing nature of the works He was doing during His ministry.

Sproul has a great reminder to us about the nature of miracles in the witness of Christ:

Many people today look at the biblical miracles and say, “The miracles in the Bible prove the existence of God.” No, they don’t. The existence of God is established before a single miracle takes place. For a miracle to be recognized as a miracle presupposes the existence of God, because a miracle, technically and correctly defined, is a work that only God can do, such as bringing something out of nothing or bringing life our of death. For this reason, I please with you to fall into thinking that Satan can do actual miracles. He can perform tricks, but he can’t do what God can do.

5:37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen,

It is tempting to take 37 and 38 together, but I want to point out that 38 says some distinctly deep things separate from 37.  In 37 we see that Jesus is putting the finally cap on the fact that it is the Father that is His witness.  This is the third witness that Christ gives as proof that what He is saying is right.  It doesn’t matter that no one as ever “seen” the Father, or even “heard” the Father up until this point in history; for no man can see Him in His full radiant splendor and live (Ex. 33:11).  But for our sake, He provided times (recorded in the gospels) where He was heard audibly to witness about His beloved Son (Matt. 3:17, 17:5 – 2 Peter 1:17).

Then Jesus goes on to say something even more difficult…

5:38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.

Wow – so this is the judgment here.  They don’t have the word of God abiding in them, for they don’t love God.  We’ll see more of this reiterated in Jesus’ discourse with the Pharisees in the temple in chapter 8.  But we’ve already heard Christ talk about this in those crucial verses in 3:19-21.  This would have been such a stern rebuke that from here onward the conversation must have been highly uncomfortable for the listeners.

This is a good reminder that in our flesh we don’t love God, and we don’t receive the testimony of His son because we don’t have the ability to (we’re dead – Eph. 2:1), and because we’re dead we don’t have His word abiding in us prior to quickening.  We really don’t want to love Christ prior to what God does supernaturally in our hearts.  Christ is telling these people that they don’t get it.  They aren’t receiving Him because they are not from God (John 8) and don’t have His word abiding in them.  These are harsh, but important words; I’m sure they were swallowed with difficulty.

Incidentally, this is one way that we know Christians are Christians – they have the word of the Lord abiding in them and they show a love for Jesus Christ and for one another (1 John 3:10-11,17, 23-24, 4:8, 12, 15-16 etc.).

5:39-40 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, [40] yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.

This is very clearly the problem the Jews had then and many of them have now.  They look through Scriptures but don’t want to recognize that the entirety of the Bible in the OT points forward to Christ.  This is also the fourth witness Christ calls against them in this passage.  The Son of God, the fulfillment of all they had ever known or been taught was standing before them, yet they were too daft to realize this.  They were too dead to come forward and receive eternal life.

And what is probably most interesting for me in this passage is the words “you think” – Jesus is basically catching fools in their folly.  He’s saying “you’re zeal for knowledge has left you spiritually bankrupt.  You search for eternal life in vain unless you come to me.”  MacArthur notes, “The Bible cannot be properly understood apart from the Holy Spirit’s illumination or a transformed mind.”

Herein Christ demonstrates that they needed help, they needed to be saved by the power of God.  Despite their great learning, despite His presence, many still refused to “come to him” to have life.  This ought to refute the notion that some have that “if we had only been there to see Christ in person, we would believe.”  These people were students of the scriptures and they walked and talked with the Son of God and still didn’t come to believe!

5:41 I do not receive glory from people.

Christ never desired to receive praise or glory from humans during His ministry on earth. He only sought to glorify His Father.  We are to imitate Him in this and seek only to glorify God.  Too often we get caught up in worrying about pleasing people instead of pleasing God.  We think too much about what others might think about us.

5:42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you.

This is His most powerful statement yet.  Again, Christ is very straightforward about the condition of these people’s souls.  He is confrontational with them, and doesn’t let them off the hook easily.

The same is true today.  You may want to think that Jesus is all loving (and indeed He is), but He is more than that.  He doesn’t accept your idolatry, and won’t accept anyone who thinks they can reject Him and still somehow make it to heaven.  That simply isn’t the case.

The specific accusation here mirrors what He said in vs. 38 – I’m assuming that “love” and “word” are different but have the same end (the acceptance of Christ’s claims).  The love of God in our hearts is not something we can manufacture.  Christ isn’t saying here “you just haven’t tried hard at all.  You need to do better at having the love of God!”  No.  He’s pointing out that they have a deficiency.  They thought they had salvation squared away because they were Jews.  In America we have a similar problem.  Many Americans think they are Christians simply because they are Americans.  Jesus is abolishing that idea.  He’s saying that they have a deficiency of love, and that He is the only one who can give it to them.

Romans 5:5 says, “…hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.”  It is God who pours His love into us.  It isn’t self-manufactured.

5:43 I have come in my Father’s name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him.

This pointed accusation is connected to the fact that these people are not spiritual but are sons of disobedience (Eph. 2:1-2).  The reason they will reject Christ is because He is spiritual and they are dead spiritually, and the reason they will accept another (the implication is a false prophet) is because they are fleshly and that false prophet would be fleshly as well and would make his appeal to the flesh.  MacArthur and Morris both point out that, to their best historical reckoning, there have been some 64 false messianic claims since Christ came.

5:44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?

Now, as proof that they are not spiritual, Jesus says that their actions are fleshly in that they seek their own glory.  This is the antithesis of faith and of true spirituality.

John Piper says this; “Itching for glory from other people makes faith impossible. Why? Because faith is being satisfied with all that God is for you in Jesus; and if you are bent on getting the satisfaction of your itch from the scratch of others’ acclaim, you will turn away from Jesus.”

5:45-47 Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. [46] For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. [47] But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”

He goes brings the argument full circle now and says that not only are they not truly spiritual, not only are they not accepting Him, not only do they not have the love of God in their hearts, but they also do not truly understand what Moses said about Him (cf. 39).

MacArthur tries to show just how shocking this statement would have been: “The Lord stunned them by identifying that accuser as Moses – the very one in whom they had set their hope.  It is difficult to imagine how profoundly shocked and outraged the Jewish leaders must have been by Jesus’ statement. In their minds, it was utterly incomprehensible to think that Moses – whom they proudly affirmed as their leader and teacher (Matt. 23:3) – would one day accuse them before God.”

Christ points out that they have a misunderstanding of what/who Moses was pointing forward to.  They didn’t fully understand Deut. 18:15-18 which states:

The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen—just as you desired of the LORD your God at Horeb on the day of the assembly, when you said, ‘Let me not hear again the voice of the LORD my God or see this great fire any more, lest I die.’ And the LORD said to me, ‘They are right in what they have spoken. I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.

And this is just once prophecy.  Ryle is right to say, “every part of our Bibles is meant to teach us about Christ. Christ is not merely in the gospels and epistles. Christ is to be found directly and indirectly in the Law, the Psalms, and the prophets. In the promises to Adam, Abraham, Moses, and David, in the types and emblems of the ceremonial law, in the predictions of Isaiah and the other prophets, Jesus the messiah, is everywhere to be found in the Old Testament.”

The last thing that really came to my mind when studying this passage is the parallel to Luke 16 where Abraham says to the rich man in torment who has begged Abraham to send messengers to his family of what awaits them, “If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead.”  I want to take this seriously and remember the plight of those who are not saved, and who will one day deal forever with this torment and anguish.  I want to remember that just because someone claims to “know what Christianity is all about” doesn’t mean they are saved.  I need to keep the Gospel foremost on my lips so that God might use me – even if unwittingly – to save someone who hadn’t heard the truth and repented before the throne of Jesus Christ.

 

Study Notes 6-17-12

~ pjwenzel ~ Leave a comment

This section of Scripture focuses on the delegation of judgment to the second person of the trinity, as well as the two different kinds of resurrection (spiritual and physical).

5:24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.

  • Who is it that hears His word?  Does everyone hear?  Certainly many hear it outwardly.  But who has eternal life?  Those who believe the word.  Those who the Holy Spirit inwardly calls and gives faith to.
  • James Boice says this, “The first point of these verses, then, is that the possession of divine life begins with God’s action rather than man’s.  In other words, life is not a reward for believing. It is the other was around. Life comes first; a person believes afterward. He believe because God has first placed His life within him.”
  • We hear something similar from Jesus in His high priestly prayer.  Kate and I were reading this before bed the other night because it is so comforting to hear the Son of God praying for us, His sheep.  Here’s what He says, “…I have given them the words that you gave me, and they have received them and have come to know in truth that I came from you; and they have believed that you sent me” (John 17:8).
  • This is the good news – this is the gospel.  There is an opportunity for life and it is found in Christ’s actions toward us.  “We love Him because He first loved us” (1 John 4:19).
  • What a relief it is that as Christians we aren’t responsible to the quickening of other men’s souls.  We are simply called to preach the word (the gospel) and let the Holy Spirit do the amazing work of spiritual regeneration.  This frees our minds and hearts to share the gospel with everyone, from every tribe and tongue and nation, and let the increase of this work be in God’s hands to His glory – this is what He wants.  He doesn’t allow us to have control of the regenerating process.  He doesn’t allow us to know the secrets of the mystery of salvation because He knows that if it were up to us alone to save mankind, that we would certainly boast (Eph. 2:9).

5:25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

  • In this passage Jesus makes the differentiation between spiritual death and physical death, and here He touches on spiritual resurrection and physical resurrection. We know He is talking specifically about spiritual resurrection here because He says the hour of this “is now here.”  This is part of the tension of Christian eschatology as Carson points out, and is a really good point to remember.
  • Last Thursday night, I hit on the fact that David and Saul are Old Testament pictures of New Testament eschatology.  David’s anointing as king didn’t change the fact that Saul continued to reign.  He was promised and anointed, but the full consummation had not yet arrived.  In the negative, Saul had been “stripped” of the kingdom, but yet he had not fully lost the kingdom outwardly.  Likewise, here we see Christ talk about a spiritual resurrection (that’s the “already”) and a physical resurrection (the “not yet”).  Christ came to inaugurate the new age and usher in the Kingdom of God; though that kingdom has not yet been fully consummated and will not be so until Jesus Christ returns (vs. 28-29).
  • So how does Jesus say that He will raise people from spiritual death?  By what means?  By His voice – He says the dead will hear the “voice of the Son of God.”  As a side note, its worth thinking about how many times the voice of God is used in giving life (think Gen.1).  So this voice of the Son of God is what dead men’s souls respond to.  Now in theology we call this the “call” of God (Romans. 8:28-30).
  • But is Jesus calling merely outwardly for our ears to hear?  Or is this an inward call of the Holy Spirit to our souls?  It is both.  The preaching of the Gospel is what we call the “outward call” and the quickening of the Holy Spirit is what we term the “inward call.”  Christ’s voice rings out to the dead soul’s men in the power of the Holy Spirit and brings them alive from the dead (Eph. 2:1).
  • My favorite Old Testament example of this is in Ezekiel 37:1-6 when the Lord tells Ezekiel to preach to the dead dry bones of Israel.  The preaching brings them alive by the power of the Lord.
  • We ought to also note, as Carson does, that “the one who belongs to God hears what God says (John 8:47).  Hearing Jesus’ word is identical to hearing God’s word, since the Son speaks only what the Father given him to say. Hearing in this context, as often elsewhere, includes belief and obedience.”
  • Carson is citing John 8:47, which says, “Whoever is of God hears the words of God. The reason why you do not hear them is that you are not of God.”

5:26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

  • (See verse 21) As Ryle says, “Dead bodies and dead souls are both alike under His dominion. He has the keys of death and hell.  In Him is life. He is the life. (John 1:4; Rev. 1:18).   Having the keys of death and hell means having the keys of both physical death, and spiritual death (hell).
  • I also like what John says in his first epistle, “and this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God that you may know that you have eternal life” (1 John 5:11-13).

5:27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

  • (See verse 22) Note that in verse 22 Jesus is referring to His title of “Son” as in the Son of the Father (God).  Here He uses the title “Son of Man” to mean the equivalent.  That means that Jesus is giving a logical equation for us – namely, that the ‘Son of God’ and the ‘Son of Man’ are one in the same person (Jesus).
  • For many commentators there is a definite connection between Jesus’ being delegated judgment, and His humiliation on earth (see Philippians).  Here it seems to strengthen that argument by using the word “because” as a connector between His role as God in flesh, and His being given all judgment.

5:28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice [29] and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

  • This is a physical resurrection – compared to a spiritual resurrection mentioned earlier in verse 25.  I love the Daniel reference that the ESV gives as well.  In Daniel 12:2 it says, “And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.”
  • Paul says this in 1 Corinthians 15:20-28:   [20] But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. [21] For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. [24] Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. [25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death. [27] For “God has put all things in subjection under his feet.” But when it says, “all things are put in subjection,” it is plain that he is excepted who put all things in subjection under him. [28] When all things are subjected to him, then the Son himself will also be subjected to him who put all things in subjection under him, that God may be all in all.

 

How to Get a Wife…

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This is a humorous posting from Westminster Seminary.  Thought you all would enjoy!

1) Find an attractive prisoner of war, bring her home, shave her head, trim her nails, and give her new clothes. Then she’s yours. (Deut. 21:11-13)

2) “Lay hold on” a virgin who is not betrothed to another man, and “know” her, but afterwards pay her father a sum of money. Then she’s yours. (Deut. 22:28-29)

3) Find a prostitute and marry her. (Hosea 1:1-3)

4) Find a man with seven daughters, and impress him by watering his flock.–Moses (Ex. 2:16-21)

5) Purchase a piece of property, and get a woman as part of the deal.–Boaz (Ruth 4:5-10)

6) Go to a party and hide. When the women come out to dance, grab one and carry her off to be your wife.–Benjaminites (Judges 21:19-25)

7) Have God create a wife for you while you sleep. Note: this will cost you a rib.–Adam (Gen. 2:19-24)

8) Agree to work seven years in exchange for a woman’s hand in marriage. Get tricked into marrying the wrong woman. Then work another seven years for the woman you wanted to marry in the first place. That’s right. Fourteen years of toil for a wife.–Jacob (Gen. 29:15-30)

9) Cut 200 foreskins off of your future father-in-law’s enemies and get his daughter for a wife.–David (1 Sam. 18:27)

10) Even if no one is out there, just wander around a bit and you’ll definitely find someone.–Cain (Gen. 4:16-17)

11) Become the emperor of a huge nation and hold a beauty contest.–Xerxes or Ahasuerus (Esther 2:3-4)

12) When you see someone you like, go home and tell your parents, “I have seen a woman; now get her for me.” If your parents question your decision, simply say, “Get her for me. She’s the one for me.”–Samson (Judges 14:1-3)

13) Kill any husband and take HIS wife. (Prepare to lose four sons though.)–David (2 Sam. 11)

14) Wait for your brother to die. Take his widow. (It’s not just a good idea, it’s the law!)–Onan and Boaz (Deut. or Lev., example in Ruth)

15) Don’t be so picky. Make up for quality with quantity.–Solomon (1 Kings 11:1-3)

16) A wife?–Paul (1st Corinthians, chapter 7

Obviously, this list was written with humor in mind, and some of these “ways,” are not prescriptive but descriptive of the sinful ways that God’s people have conducted themselves in the past–they are in no way exemplary. But this does demonstrate an important point–people often want the Bible to say certain things, such as how to find a spouse and marry, but they ignore portions of Scripture that don’t fit their paradigm. The Bible has more to say about arranged marriages, for example, than it does “courtship” or dating. So then, how do we proceed?

We have to realize that the Bible does not speak to every issue we will face in life. Just ask Solomon, who had to use wisdom when the two prostitutes came to him claiming to both be the mother of one child. We must follow those things that God has given us. In all of our relationships we have the obligation to exercise the fruit of the Spirit and not mistreat anyone, that is especially true for a prospective spouse. We also have the clear biblical command that a Christian is free to marry whomever he or she chooses, so long as the prospective mate is “in the Lord” (1 Cor. 7.39). But in the end, choosing a spouse calls for wisdom.

The Bible does not give us a specific means by which we can find spouses. Some might be introduced by family or friends. Some might cultivate a letter-writing relationship (or as we might more commonly find it, e-mail, or some form of social media). In some cultures the thought of dating or courting is out of the question. I once walked in on one of my office mates in grad school–he was a Christian training for the ministry in Japan. He was intently reading a file; it looked like a personnel file. Out of curiousity I asked him what he was reading. He told me it was a file on a young woman that his father had sent him. His family, sight unseen (except for a few photos in the file) was arranging his marriage. I was stunned, but nevetheless made aware that godly Christians don’t all do things the same way. I.e., just because it’s American and Christians do it doesn’t mean its biblical or the only way.

The greater doctrinal point here is that in the pursuit of finding a spouse, we must be mindful two things: (1) that we are mindful of God’s revealed will in the moral law–we should not violate it in word, thought, or deed; and (2) Christian liberty–where God has spoken, we are bound, but where he has not spoken we are free. We are not bound by the commandments of men. This means that godly Christians may differ in how they live their lives, but it doesn’t mean that one is holier than another because she dates and doesn’t court.

We should also note that in its collective history, the church has never addressed the issue in its creeds or confessions about how to find a spouse. Perhaps this should tell us that it is a matter of Christian liberty and that in the end, we should rely on God’s grace, wisdom, prayer, and godly counsel rather than make claims that the Bible has never made.

 

Study Notes 6-10-12

~ pjwenzel ~ Leave a comment

NOTE: I haven’t bulleted these points.  These are my raw notes for the lesson just FYI.  I apologize if they are a little longer than usual for that reason.

 

5:16-17 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”

This fifth chapter shows us a little glimpse into the waves Christ was making (or beginning to make) in and amongst the religious establishment.  The story highlights one of their biggest frustrations with Jesus – His work of healing on the Sabbath.

Obviously there are no words recorded from the Pharisees that Jesus is “answering” here, but we must suppose that He is replying to their beef that He “worked” on the Sabbath.

Carson notes that four of the leading Rabbis (including Gamaliel II) had concluded that God always works, indeed He never rests from His upholding the universe.  “Whether he breaks the Sabbath or not, God works continuously: all were agreed on that point. Assuming it, Jesus applies it to himself.”  He goes on to say that Jesus didn’t argue here that the Jews were misinterpreting the nature of the command not to work on the Sabbath, but instead “Jesus insists that whatever factors justify God’s continuous work from creation on also justify his (making himself equal with God).”

This also shows us the second reason why the Pharisees would have hated and persecuted Jesus – namely that He made Himself out to be equal with God.

Calvin expands on this thought and explains how (given that Jesus was equal with God) the Sabbath work would not have constituted work in the way we think of it – or at least how we think we ought to “keep” the Sabbath.  He says:

“…keeping of the Sabbath is so far from interrupting or hindering the works of God, that, on the contrary, it gives way to them alone. For why does the Law enjoin men to abstain from their own works, but in order to keep all their senses free and occupied for considering the works of God? Consequently, he who does not, on the Sabbath, allow a free course and reign to the works of God, is not only a false expounder of the Law, but wickedly overturns it.

“If it be objected, that the example of God is held out to men, that they may rest on the seventh day, the answer is easy. Men are not conformed to God in this respect, that He ceased to work, but by abstaining from the troublesome actions of this world and aspiring to the heavenly rest. The Sabbath or rest of God, 101 therefore, is not idleness, but true perfection, which brings along with it a calm state of peace. Nor is this inconsistent with what Moses says, that God put an end to his works, (Genesis 2:2;) for he means that, after having completed the formation of the world, God consecrated that day, that men might employ it in meditating on his works. Yet He did not cease to sustain by this power the world which he had made, to govern it by his wisdom, to support it by his goodness, and to regulate all things according to his pleasure, both in heaven and on earth. In six days, therefore, the creation of the world was completed, but the administration of it is still continued, and God incessantly worketh in maintaining and preserving the order of it; as Paul informs us, that in him we live, and move, and are, (Acts 17:28;) and David informs us, that all things stand so long as the Spirit of God upholds them, and that they fail as soon as he withdraws his support, (Psalm 104:29.) Nor is it only by a general Providence that the Lord maintains the world which He has created, but He arranges and regulates every part of it, and more especially, by his protection, he keeps and guards believers whom he has received under his care and guardianship.”

The Jews definitely would have been aware of what Jesus was saying.  They would have understood Him to have been claiming that God was His Father.  Kostenberger says that this probably (incorrectly) violated their sense of strict monotheism because they probably thought of what Jesus was saying here at to some kind of dualism – like both the father and son were gods, and not simply once essence.

5:18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

This claim of deity enraged the Pharisees, and their reaction was fierce.  They wanted to put Jesus to death.

I heard a theologian/pastor (I think on the Case for Faith) once say that he was listening to a friend talk about why Jesus could possibly have had such a short ministry.  The reaction of this theologian was surprise, and he said, in affect, “I can’t believe He lasted 3 years!”  And this is because Jesus was claiming something that no other man had claimed among the Jews prior to Him.  Was He mad?  Was He out of His mind?  What do you say?  If He was, then there’s no use studying the words of a madman.

5:19 So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

This tells us something of the mystery of how the Trinity works.  We can hardly grasp what it means.  We try to scratch the surface and come up woefully short.  But we know that Christ isn’t saying that He is merely a robot just doing whatever the Father says. As Boice says, “…the mind of the Father and the mind of the Son are united. We must not think that when Jesus claimed to be able to do nothing, except what He saw the Father doing, He was saying He was something like a Robot, a zombi, who carried out the directives of the Father without thinking.  This is not at all what He was saying. Christ is a person. He has a personality, including an intellect and feelings. He faced temptations, real temptations.  There were discouragements. Nevertheless, in nothing did He ever disobey His Father. He obeyed Him, and obeyed Him willingly.”

So the Lord Jesus Christ had the same mind as the Father, they were united in their thinking.  But He was also fully human, and He bent His human will to match His divine will.  There was no sin in Him – He obeyed flawlessly and He calls us to obedience as well.  Boice continues, “This is what He wants you to do, in one sense, or rather what He enables you to do when He saves you. The trouble with us is that we are the opposite of Jesus Christ at this point. We are not interested in obeying God. We are interested in doing our own thing.  We want to run our own lives. We want to be “god” to ourselves.  Jesus was not like that, for everything He did He did out of love for God and out of obedience to Him.”

It is hard to add much to that!  But I know that this verse holds a great depth that cannot be plumed by the human mind.  How shall we ever know the mystery of the Trinity?  It is a wondrous thing to ponder that mind and work and love of Christ.

5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.

Marveling has to do with worship.  When we marvel, we are basically giving glory or a sort to the man who did the great deed.  Such is the result of miracles in the ministry of Christ.  But the greatest miracle of all is that which Christ describes in the next few verses – He gives us life out of death. No man can do this.  Only God the creator of the universe can do it.  So this verse is a setup for verse 21.

5:21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

In the first part of this verse we learn that Jesus has life giving power in Him – no other creature has this.  That’s why we say He was “begotten” because He wasn’t created.  A critical part of Christology is understanding the significance of His equality with God the Father, as well as the way in which He came into the world – He was begotten by the Holy Spirit.

I was talking with Kate last night, and one of the things that hit me in our conversation was how men of religion often leave out the work of the Spirit in the course of things.  They see a man who was a rebel or a vile sinner and then they a change when he becomes a Christian.  We ask: what can account for the change?  We should ask: WHO can account for the change.  That “who” is the Holy Spirit, and that same life giving power we find in the Spirit who quickens men was also found in Jesus Christ when He walked upon the earth.

In the second part of the verse we read that the Son gives life to “whom he will.”  The verse necessitates two things.  1. That He gives life to certain people and not others.  2. He discriminates based on His will.  This means that he necessarily doesn’t give life to some and does give life to others.  It also means that those who get life get it because He willed that you get it.  This presents us with a problem for some in the church because it seems to indicate that He chooses – and their argument is normally that “God doesn’t choose arbitrarily who will get life and who won’t.”  But that’s not what this verse seems to indicate is it.  There’s nothing arbitrary about it – the choice is based on His “will.”  His will is whatever pleases Him.

As Ryle says, “life is the highest and greatest gift that can be bestowed.  It is precisely the thing that man, with all his cleverness, can neither give to the work of his hands, nor restore when taken away.  But life, we are told, is in the lands of the Lord Jesus, to bestow and give at His discretion.”

5:22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son,

Ryle says, “All power and authority over the world is committed to Christ’s hands.  He is the King and Judge of mankind.  Before Him every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that He is Lord. He that was once despised and rejected of men, condemned and crucified as a malefactor, shall one day hold a great assize, and judge the world (Rom. 2:16).”

We often think of Christ as the great lover of our souls – and so He is.  But what we often forget is how all things are committed into His hands.  In the glory of our personal relationship with Him, let us not forget with whom we are conversing: the Lord of all mankind, of all creation, the creator of all and the judge of all.

5:23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

In this verse Jesus says that He is not only equal if character and power with the Father, but He is equally worthy of praise and worship.  Not only because of what He has done for us (for that comes in the next verse) but because He is the divine Being.  He is God.  He has all authority.

Study Notes 5-20-12

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4:40-42 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days.  And many more believed because of his word. [42] They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

  • Their belief went from trust on testimony to first hand witness.  The shift is from testimony to witness.  I especially note the willingness of Christ to dine and live with sinners.  He truly came to seek and save the lost.
  • The second thing I note about this passage is how the Samaritans were reacting to His teaching. They were seemingly convinced that He was the Messiah – the Savior of the World.  What an amazing thing to know and realize, that the Savior of the World is walking among you and stayed with your people for two days.  The record of Jesus’ ministry here on earth shows me time and again how lavishly He poured out His love upon those who didn’t deserve it.  God is good and His goodness was made manifest in the person of Jesus Christ.

4:43-44 After the two days he departed for Galilee. [44] (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.)

  • There are so many explanations for this, but I like what Carson has to say.  He basically says that the contrast here is not between towns, but between gentiles and Israel.  So in the immediate context we think of Samaria and Israel.
  • The Samaritans were willing to believe in Christ because of His word (cf. 41) and didn’t need a sign like so many of the Jews.

4:45 So when he came to Galilee, the Galileans welcomed him, having seen all that he had done in Jerusalem at the feast. For they too had gone to the feast.

  • This adds context and background and helps us further understand verse 44.  The Galileans had seen His miracles and knew that welcoming Him meant perhaps more miracles.  So they were okay with Him being there – though this certainly can’t be meant to speak of all Galileans as a whole.  It is a sort of neutral statement that they are okay with Him being there.

4:46 So he came again to Cana in Galilee, where he had made the water wine. And at Capernaum there was an official whose son was ill. [47] When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea to Galilee, he went to him and asked him to come down and heal his son, for he was at the point of death.

  • Jesus’ reputation had preceded Him.  This was His home territory, and we see the elusion to the fact that this (Capernaum) is close to Cana where He had performed His first miracle.  No doubt the people of this area were well aware of His burgeoning ministry.  And this is why they welcomed him.  Carson notes that they were open to seeing Him because of the miracles, not because they believed in His Messianic role – as the Samaritans did.  And this is the contrast between being “honor” in one’s homeland and other places as Christ enumerates above.
  • Note here how this “official” was likely attached to Herod the Tetrarch.  Herod was a pseudo puppet king, and not a real king.  So though the word in Greek for “official” here has to do with being attached to a king, the people regarded Herod as a king despite his lower title.
  • Ryle wisely points out that we ought to learn form this passage that any man can be afflicted with sickness, disease, and death.  The rich are not immune from this!  Riches complicate life and widen the responsibility of those to whom they are entrusted.  We ought not to envy those with wealth.  They have responsibilities that we do not have and worries that we do not have to deal with.  Ryle points out that David was likely more at peace and happier as a shepherd than a king in the palace at Jerusalem.

4:48-49 So Jesus said to him, “Unless you see signs and wonders you will not believe.” [49] The official said to him, “Sir, come down before my child dies.”

  • I note here that Jesus is talking about spiritual matters, but the official in the story only cares about the life and death of his child.  But the official also signals his belief by declaring that he believes that his son will die unless Jesus does something to heal him.
  • Therefore, there might be a sense in which the official actually believed before he saw.  This might be also why Jesus didn’t come to the child and heal him in person.  This forced the father to place his faith in Christ’s words and abilities instead of seeing the miracle first hand and the then believing.  This is signaled in the next verse, which says “the man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him.”

4:50 Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.” The man believed the word that Jesus spoke to him and went on his way.

  • Can you imagine the trip back home?  In the next few verses we see that the servants use the term “yesterday at the seventh hour” which tells me that it was several days journey from where Jesus was to where the man’s son was.  So this trip, which must have taken about a day if we deduct that the servants say “yesterday” as the time when the boy was healed, must have been a very trying time for this father.
  • But the main point I want to emphasize here is the power of the word of God.  Jesus is just as powerful and effective in person as He is several miles apart from the man’s son.  We know that He upholds the universe by the “word of His power” (Heb. 1:3) and that He sustains all things that way.  We also know that John referred to Him as “the Word” in the prologue.  It’s certainly a theme for John that we ought to notice.
  • From a practical standpoint, can you imagine how powerful this man is spiritually that He can do this?  How can you see this and think, as the Jews did, that He was going to usher in a political kingdom??? Surely this act shows His work here on earth was going to be spiritual in nature.  For only a man who dealt with the spiritual realm could heal people from afar merely by the words he spoke.
  • I think that many of us underestimate the amazing power of the words of Jesus.  We have them written for us, and it isn’t for nothing that Scripture is said to “renew” and transform the mind.  These aren’t just lifeless words on a page, they are the water that Christ offered the Samaritan woman.

4:51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering.

  • This is the relief point here, he is finally home and he now knows that his boy is okay.
  • When it says “going down” it makes sense geographically due to the fact that Galilee is some 600 or 700 feet below sea level.

4:52-54 So he asked them the hour when he began to get better, and they said to him, “Yesterday at the seventh hour the fever left him.” [53] The father knew that was the hour when Jesus had said to him, “Your son will live.” And he himself believed, and all his household. [54] This was now the second sign that Jesus did when he had come from Judea to Galilee.

  • There are two things to note here.  First, the official wants to know right away when his boy began to be better.  He has placed his faith on Christ’s words.  He has been agonizing over whether or not his boy would live.  No doubt his faith was tried over and over again in those evening hours the night before.  And now he knows and his faith is confirmed.  It said before that he believed the words of Jesus, but here we see that his faith is confirmed.
  • The second thing we see is the fact that all of his household believed when he believed.  There is no doubt in my mind that when the father of a household believes, the chances that the children and everyone else will follow suit are very good.  In fact, I remember seeing that statistically it is overwhelmingly more powerful for the father to believe than for the mother to believe and try to convert her household.  This is because God naturally made the man as an authority figure over the house.  This sort of sets a president that we see in other areas of scripture (Acts 16:31-34, 18:8 and others).
  • The father didn’t previously care about Jesus being the Messiah, or about theology, or about anything having to do with ministry.  All he cared about was his son’s health.  Now his head is clear, his eyes are opened, and his heart has been made spiritually alive!  The arm and power of Jesus, God here on earth, is indeed long and powerful.  Christ didn’t have to be there in person.  His witness extended into the heart of this man from miles away.  Such is the power of God when He wants to reach someone.  Can anyone possibly doubt the effectiveness of His grace?

How do we teach this to our children?  EXAMPLE: Today we learned about how powerful Jesus was during His time on earth.  He was so powerful that He only had to speak and people were healed.  We learned also how important the role of the father is in the family.  When a father loves Jesus it is much easier for the rest of the family to love God as well because being a daddy who loves God sets a good example.  Also, we naturally have hard hearts about the things of God and what He wants for our lives.  When our daddies set an example, our hearts melt and we find it easier to follow and obey Jesus.  The last thing we learned was that people of all different backgrounds, races and status have problems that only Jesus can solve.  Rich people and poor people all get sick and everyone on earth eventually dies.  We all need a savior!

Ryle on Sanctification

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JC Ryle is one of my favorite preachers from the 19th century. In his book ‘Holiness’ he addresses the christian life in many aspects; here are chapter two’s best quotes on Sanctification:

Others are so much afraid of ‘works’ being made a part of justification that they can hardly find any place at all for ‘works’ in their religion.

Sanctification is that inward spiritual work which the Lord Jesus Christ works in a man by the Holy Ghost, when He calls him to be a true believer. He not only washes him from his sins in His own blood, but He also separates him from his natural love of sin and the world, puts a new principle in his heart and makes him practically godly in life.

The faith which has not a sanctifying influence on the character is no better than the faith of devils. It is a ‘dead faith, because it is alone’. It is not the first of God. It is not the faith of God’s elect. In short, where there is no sanctification of life, there is no real faith in Christ.

Sanctification, again, is the outcome and inseparable consequence of regeneration.

Sanctification, again, is the only certain evidence of that indwelling of the Holy Spirit which is essential to salvation.

…so we may know the Spirit is in a man by the effects He produces in the man’s conduct.

Sanctification, again, is a thing which depends greatly on a diligent use of scriptural means. When I speak of ‘means’, I have in view Bible reading, private prayer, regular attendance on public worship, regular hearing of God’s Word and regular reception of the Lord’s Supper. I lay it down as a simple matter of fact, that no one who is careless about such things must ever expect to make much progress in sanctification.

A true Christian is one who has not only peace of conscience, but war within.

He that supposes works are of no importance because they cannot justify us, is a very ignorant Christian.

The notion of a purgatory after death, which shall turn sinners into saints, is a lying invention of man, and is nowhere taught in the Bible. We must be saints before we die, if we are to be saints afterwards in glory.

True sanctification does not consist in temporary religious feelings.

Many, it may be feared, appear moved and touched and roused under the preaching of the gospel while in reality their hearts are not changed at all.

Anticipation

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While most things in life for us Americans are essentially able to be achieved by our “instant gratification”, waiting for heaven and the coming of our Lord is not one of those things. The thought occurred to me that it must be more difficult for American Christians to understand and embrace the healthy tension between contentment and the sense of anticipation for the Lord’s 2nd advent than any other group of Christians on earth.

I began thinking of how excited I am for the upcoming men’s campout on June 22-23 (shameless plug), and realized that my heart needs to be just as anxiously longing for the coming of the Lord.

As popularized by the chorus ‘Glorious Day’, one day we will see Him, “One day He’s coming, oh glorious day!”

Hebrews 12:2 says, “looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”  This means that Christ set His mind on the joy that He knew awaited Him in heaven.  He endured all the evil because He was looking forward to a future that was going to be so full of happiness that the trial was worth the fight.

Can you honestly say that your heart longs for the second coming of the Lord? That day will be so full of joy that the hours, days, and years of suffering and turmoil in our lives on earth will be a small price to pay for the worth and excitement ushered in on that day.  I hope you will join me this week in anticipation of that glorious day by setting our minds on things above.

Blessings,

PJ Wenzel

Study Notes 5-14-12

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4:25 The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.”

  • The Samaritans knew of the teaching of the Messiah, even though they didn’t hold any of the Jewish prophetic books to be part of their cannon, they had the Pentateuch, and that was surely enough to recognize that there would be a Messiah.  For Moses even said, “The LORD your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you, from your brothers—it is to him you shall listen” (Deut. 18:15).
  • The Samaritans viewed the Messiah through the eyes on the first five books of the Bible because they rejected all the other books.  Kostenberger points out that they actually saw the Messiah as a teacher, and someone who would reveal to them “all things” in the spirit of Deut. 18:18.
  • The Jews, of course, saw the Messiah as a political savior who would liberate them from the oppression of the Romans etc.  Calvin says, “Although the religion among the Samaritans was corrupted and mixed up with many errors, yet some principles taken from the law were impressed on their minds, such as that which related to the Messiah.”

4:26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

  • Nowhere else in Scripture (to my knowledge) does Jesus so clearly state “I am the Messiah.”  This is a magnificent verse that ought to serve as a sort of highlight to the entire chapter.
  • First He lays out the excellency of the gift He has to offer, then He reveals to her that He is the Savior of the World!  Ryle says, “There is no heart satisfaction in this world, until we believe on Christ. Jesus alone can fill up the empty places of our inward man. Jesus alone can give solid, lasting, enduring happiness.  The peace that He imparts is a fountain, which, once set flowing within the soul, flows on to all eternity.”
  • What amazes me is that here, to a foreigner, to a sinner, He reveals the nature of His person.  Amazing.  Paul certainly felt the same thing, that as the “chief of sinners” He felt the weightiness of this reality.  That Jesus Christ, the Son of God, had revealed Himself to him, seemed too much to be grasped.  It was too good.  Such is Christ, and is a mark of His character.
  • One of the things that ought to be mentioned here that Boice brings up is that Jesus uses the phrase “I am” to describe himself.  The English version of the Bible adds the word “he” in there to modify the phrase so that it points back to the title Messiah, however, it also should indicate something deeper to this woman. Namely, the phrase or name “I am” is the name for God – Jehovah.  On the mountain top when Moses asked God who he should tell the people of Israel that sent him, God replied “Say this to the people of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you’” (Ex. 3:14).
  • By saying “I am” Jesus was, at least in a veiled way, asserting His deity.

4:27 Just then his disciples came back. They marveled that he was talking with a woman, but no one said, “What do you seek?” or, “Why are you talking with her?”

  • They marveled, but they didn’t say anything.  They were speechless.  Carson points out that there was sexism among the Jews to the points that Rabbis who talked with women were thought to have been wasting their time – time that could have been spent studying the Torah.

4:28-30 So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, [29] “Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?” [30] They went out of the town and were coming to him.

  • Note the influence of this woman.  Certainly God was using her.  Before she was shunned, now she is a herald of good news.  Isaiah says, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, ‘Your God reigns’” (Is. 52:7).  Sproul says, “…she was so excited by her conversation with Jesus, that she left her water pot and hurried away. We have no record that she ever filled it.  She couldn’t wait to get into town, to go to that very city where she was a despised outcast, to tell of her experience.”  This reminds me of when Jesus was calling disciples and urged the to leave the dead to bury the dead.  When He calls us, we don’t want to resist, we want to accept Him.
  • This is why we talk about the doctrine of “irresistible grace” because when God the Holy Spirit quickens us to life we suddenly see ourselves for who we are and the offer of living water for what it is!  We drop our water pot and go tell everyone we know – no matter how shameful they may see us – about the gift we just received.
  • You see, when we see God’s grace for what it is, suddenly our shame doesn’t mean anything.  Paul says, “Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died – more than that, who was raised – who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us” (Romans 8:33-34).
  • So when the Holy Spirit opens our eyes to the beauty and beneficence of what Jesus did and who we are (condemned men) we naturally grasp onto Jesus with all of our might!  Some foolish men who haven’t studied the nature of regeneration proclaim that Calvinists believe God “drags men into heaven kicking and screaming.”  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Every so-called Calvinist I know believes and understands that when the dead man is made alive by the Spirit of God, they don’t get dragged into heaven, they go sprinting into heaven!  They run quickly to the cross and embrace their Salvation!
  • Lastly, this ought to show us, more than anything else, that God can use anyone to spread the gospel.

4:31 Meanwhile the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.”

  • They had just come back from their trip to get Him food, so naturally they wanted to make sure that He had something to eat.
  • Ironic that they address Him as “Rabbi” in front of the Samaritan who now suspected He was the Supreme Teacher, the Messiah.  I wonder if this saying further confirmed in her mind what she just heard in her heart.

4:32-34 But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” [33] So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” [34] Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.

  • This is the second time in just a short while that Jesus has taken advantage of an opportunity to share the gospel or teach a parable.  He was always looking to turn conversations into teaching opportunities.  That shows you where His head was at.  We know that He must have been at least a little hungry after His journey, for we know that He was thirsty. Yet, He still is intentional about His mission.  I must admit that when I’m tired, thirsty, and hungry, the last thing I’m often thinking about is how to spread the gospel or teach anyone anything.  Calvin also recognized this and said, “…his anxiety about the present business urges him so strongly, and absorbs his whole mind, so that it gives him no uneasiness to despise food…and thus he shows, by his example, that the kingdom of God ought to be preferred to all the comforts of the body.”  I absolutely love that phrase and think that Calvin captures the essence of Christ’s mind – fully absorbed with expanding the kingdom.  I want to have that mind as well.
  • Carson points out that Jesus must surely have been using this as an opportunity to teach His disciples “something of His priorities.”  And further says that Jesus must certainly been thinking of Deuteronomy 8:3, which says:  “And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the LORD.”
  • Another thing that we need to realize here is how well this response from Jesus ties into His affirmation of deity AND his messianic role. The passage most people think of when they think of the Old Testament prophecy of Messiah is Deut. 18:15-19.  In verse 18 it says, “I will raise up for them a prophet like you from among their brothers. And I will put my words in his mouth, and he shall speak to them all that I command him.”  In other words, Jesus was speaking for the Father and not of His own initiative.

4:35 Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, then comes the harvest’? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest.

  • Why was Jesus always sharing and looking for these opportunities?  Because He viewed the world in a way that we do not, He saw the harvest and no laborers.  He came to recruit laborers. And as I mentioned earlier, he was so fully “absorbed” in this work that he dominated His mind.  He was always looking to expand the kingdom of God and here He urges His disciples to see the need and necessity of doing so.

4:36-38 Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together. [37] For here the saying holds true, ‘One sows and another reaps.’ [38] I sent you to reap that for which you did not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.”

  • Kostenberger says that the “others” who have labored are Jesus and the prophets who came before Him (notably John the Baptist etc).
  • Jesus wants His disciples to take a step back and realize that they are entering into a time in redemptive history that was brand new.  A new age was about to dawn and Jesus Christ was the One ushering that age in.  Jesus came to usher in the harvest.  This was a time many others in history had longed to see (Matthew 13:17), and now these farmers and fishermen got to witness it and be a part of it (Luke 10:2).  This harvest continues until today, and we are all called to be a part of it as well. Amazing.

How do we teach this to our children? Here’s an example:  Today we learned about how Jesus revealed to a Samaritan woman that He was the Messiah.  “Messiah” is a name for Jesus, and it means, “anointed one.”  To be “anointed” is to be chosen for a certain task. What was the task of Jesus?  (To save the world)  When Jesus’ disciples saw that he had shared with this Samaritan woman they were amazed because the Jews and the Samaritans didn’t get along.  But Jesus taught them that He was bringing eternal life to people from all nations, colors, races, or ethnic backgrounds.  That’s what it means in John 3:16 that “God so loved the world.”  Heaven will be made up of people from all corners of the earth and it is our responsibility and joy to share in the work of spreading the good news (gospel) about Jesus.  That’s why Jesus said we are to “enter into the harvest” with him. 

Summer Reading Group

~ pjwenzel ~ Leave a comment

A few weeks ago while I was at the Ligonier National Conference, it was suggested that several of us start reading and discussing Steven Lawson’s Pillars of Grace. So I have put together a summer reading and discussion program for whoever wants to be involved.  Parris Payden will be launching our discussion site (likely to just be a Facebook page) here in the coming weeks.  In the meantime, take a look Pillars of Grace Syllabus, and investigate more about the book here.

WHEN: The “class” begins the first week of June and goes through the end of August.

RSVP: Please let PJ know if you’re interested in joining the group for this study and we’ll get you signed up and pass along more information: pjwenzel@gmail.com

The Amazon summary is this:

The doctrines of grace are often known as the five points of Calvinism, but they were not the invention of John Calvin or his reforming cohorts of the sixteenth century. Rather, they are biblical doctrines, as Dr. Steven J. Lawson demonstrated in his book Foundations of Grace (2006). Now, in Pillars of Grace, Dr. Lawson shows that the doctrines of grace have been understood and taught sometimes in embryonic form, sometimes with great clarity throughout church history. From the time of the early church fathers to the years of the Reformers, there have been key men in the church, pillars as it were, who stood on the foundation of Scripture and upheld the truth of God’s sovereign role in salvation.

In Pillars of Grace, Dr. Lawson walks readers through the ups and downs of church history, profiling these voices for the truth. The inescapable conclusion is that the doctrines of grace are no innovation, but the consistent witness of some of the greatest men of the church.