John 5:9-10(ESV) 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.”
John 5:15–18 (ESV) 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 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.
The healing exposes two things: I. Religious Resistance
“Jesus is not seeking your feelings; he is seeking your faithfulness.”
II. The Authority of Jesus- 7 Statements
John 5:17-10 (ESV) 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 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. 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.
1. Equal with the Father
“If Jesus is equal with the Father, you can’t ignore Him—you must submit to Him.”
John 5:20-21 (ESV) 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. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
2. Power to Give Life
John 5:22(ESV) For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.
3. The Authority to Judge 2 Judgments:
Where do you spend eternity- The Great White Throne Judgment
How will you spend eternity- The Bema seat of Christ
“We must live with eternal awareness because we will all answer to Jesus!”
John 5:23(ESV) 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. 4. Equal Honor with the Father
“If you get Jesus wrong, you are getting God wrong.”
John 5:24(ESV) 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.
5. The Source of Eternal Life
John 5:25-30(ESV) 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. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 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. 30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
6. Authority to Resurrect the Dead
7. His Witness is True John 5:31-32 (ESV) 31 If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true. 32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true.
A. John the Baptist — John 5:33–35 John 5:33-32 (ESV) 33 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. 35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
B. The Works/Miracles John 5:36 John 5:36 (ESV) 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.
C. The Father - John 5:37-38 John 5:37-38 (ESV)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, 38 and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent.
4. The Scriptures(And Moses) John 5:39, 45-47 John 5:39-40(ESV) 39 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.
John 5:45-46(ESV) 45 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?”
John 5:1–13 (ESV) 1 After this, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’ ” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. The Pool of Bethesda Bethesda: House of Mercy.
The Missing Verse? John 5:4 (NKJV) For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.
His Broken Hope 1. Broken Hope in People Our hope is not in others
2. Broken Hope in Methods Psalm 20:7 (NIV) Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.
3. Broken Hope in Timing “We are not trusting timing; we are trusting God in the tension of timing.”
“We are not waiting for an event to happen, we are living from an event that already happened.”
4. Broken Hope in Resources “Scarcity is the language of the system. Abundance is the language of the Kingdom.” “Jesus is our source.”
Ephesians 3:16 (NIV) I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being.
Jesus showed him Real & Living Hope 1 Peter 1:3 (ESV) According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. “Jesus doesn’t provide stirred water; he provides living water!”
John 5:8(ESV) “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 1. Get up 2. Take up your bed “What you were once bound to now speaks your breakthrough!” 3. And walk.
John 5:14 (ESV) Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”
“Don’t confuse a moment with Jesus… for a life in Jesus.”
1 John 1:6–7 (ESV) 6 If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.
John 4:43–54 (ESV) 43 After the two days, he departed for Galilee. 44 (For Jesus himself had testified that a prophet has no honor in his own hometown.) 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. 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. 48 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.” 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. 51 As he was going down, his servants met him and told him that his son was recovering. 52 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.”
A Dying Son/A Desperate Father
Acts 1:8 (ESV) You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
Titus 2:11 (ESV) For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people.
5 Facts of Faith “The source for seeing is believing.” 1. Faith often looks like desperation
2. Faith is Persistent
“God is not looking for casual inquirers; he is looking for diligent seekers.”
Hebrews 11:6 (NIV) Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.
Luke 11:8-10 (NLT) 8 if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence. 9 “And so I tell you, keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.
John 4:50(ESV) Jesus said to him, “Go; your son will live.”
Psalm 107:20 (ESV) He sent out his word and healed them.
“We dont have faith in the method, we have faith in the man.”
“We don’t have faith in the outcome; we have faith in Jesus.”
3. Faith must be properly placed. John 4:50(ESV) ...The man believed the word.
“God’s word works at a distance.”
Isaiah 55:10–11(NIV) 10 As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 11 so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.
Psalm 33:6 (NIV) By the word of the Lord were the heavens made, their starry host by the breath of his mouth.
4. Faith obeys John 4:50(ESV)“And went on his way.” “Because his word travels, so does our faith.”
“Faith Works.” James 2:17 (ESV) Faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead.
“The word doesn’t shorten the journey, but it changes the way you walk.”
5. Faith accomplished His Purposes
John 4:53–54 (ESV) 53...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.
John 20:31 (ESV) These are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
The Source: Pure Worship= Spirit+Truth | John 4:13-45
“Because He is the source, He is OUR Source.”
John 4:13–18 (ESV) 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.”
“Jesus exposes what’s in us so He can reveal Himself to us.”
2 Kings 17:29 (ESV) But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made.
2 Kings 17:41 (ESV) So these nations feared the Lord and also served their carved images. Their children did likewise, and their children’s children—as their fathers did, so they do to this day.
“You can’t just add Yahweh into the mix—He doesn’t share the throne.
“Mixture is the enemy of purity.”
John 4:20(ESV) “Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”
John 4:21-24(ESV) 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth,for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
God is Spirit
Pure Worship = Spirit + Truth.
“Jesus is confronted a mixture because the Father is seeking pure worshipers.”
John 3:24(ESV) “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
In Spirit
“Because we are born of the Spirit, we can worship in spirit.”
“The Holy Spirit is our escort in worshiping the Father.”
In Truth
“We are called to love God rightly, faithfully, and sincerely.”
“Worship isn’t just expressed—it’s lived.”
John 4:31–38 (ESV) 31 Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” 32 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.
Romans 12:1 (ESV) I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice,holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual Worship.
“You were re-created for more than being filled—you were re-created to Overflow.”
John 3:35-42(ESV) 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. 36 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.” 39 Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” 40 So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. 41 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.”
John 4:3–26 (ESV) 3 He left Judea and departed again for Galilee. 4 And he had to pass through Samaria. 5 So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. 6 Jacob’s well was there; so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. 7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” 8 (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) 9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) 10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” 11 The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” 13 Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” 15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.” 16 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” 17 The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; 18 for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” 19 The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. 20 Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” 21 Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. 22 You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. 24 God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” 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.” 26 Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”
Biblical Portraits of Life-Giving Water A. Eden (Genesis 2)
Water represents a source of life, blessing, and provision
B. Water in the Wilderness (Exodus 17) C. Water Flowing from the Temple(Ezekiel 47) D. The Cross(John 19:34)
Biblical Portraits of Wells
Isaac and Rebekah – Genesis 24
Jacob and Rachel –Genesis 29
Moses and Zipporah – Exodus 2
Jesus reframes the pattern.
The Samaritan Woman 1. She’s a woman 2. A Samaritan Woman 3. She was immoral 4. She was broken
Jesus cares for the broken. Psalms 34:18(NIV) The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
“Jesus repairs her with the water she will carry.”
John 4:14(ESV) Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
“You don’t retrieve living water, you receive it.”
Living Water:
“You don’t draw living water; it draws you. “
“When we drink of Jesus, the river takes over.”
Her Response John 4:28-29(ESV) 28 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?”
1. She left her jar.
2. She said to her people, “Come and See.”
“A lot can happen with one Encounter with Jesus.”
Isaiah 55:1 (ESV) “Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the water...”
John 1:30(ESV) This is he of whom I said, ‘After me comes a man who ranks before me, because he was before me.’ 31 I myself did not know him, but for this purpose I came baptizing with water, that he might be revealed to Israel.”
Thought for today - How do I decrease so that He can increase?
John 3:22 (ESV) After this Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them and was baptizing.
He wants to spend time with you!
1. Spend time with Jesus.
You will only know his voice to the degree you spend time with Him.
John 3:23 (ESV) John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salim, because water was plentiful there, and people were coming and being baptized
John 3:25 (ESV) Now a discussion arose between some of John's disciples and a Jew over purification.
John 3:26 (ESV) And they came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, he who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”
Ray Stedman (Pastor & Author) “A sense of rivalry between ministries is one of the devil’s most effective tools to impede the progress of the gospel.”
2. Beware of Division
Romans 16:17 (NIV) I urge you, brothers and sisters, to watch out for those who cause divisions and put obstacles in your way that are contrary to the teaching you have learned. Keep away from them. 18 For such people are not serving our Lord Christ, but their own appetites. By smooth talk and flattery they deceive the minds of naive people. 19 Everyone has heard about your obedience, so I rejoice because of you; but I want you to be wise about what is good, and innocent about what is evil.
1 Corinthians 1:10 (NIV) I appeal to you, brothers and sisters, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another in what you say and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly united in mind and thought.
John 3:27 (ESV) John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. 28 You yourselves bear me witness, that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’
3. Point People to Jesus
Do I measure success by my recognition—or by Christ being magnified?
John 3:29 (ESV) The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom's voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete.
Your calling is to point people to Jesus.
John 3:30 (ESV) He must increase, but I must decrease.”
1 John 2:15-17 (ESV) Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. 16 For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away along with its desires, but whoever does the will of God abides forever.
4. Die to Self
Luke 9:23 (NIV) Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me.
Make Jesus the priority and not a priority.
Psalm 37:4 (ESV) Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
John 3:31-36 (ESV) He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all. 32 He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. 33 Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. 34 For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure. 35 The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.36 Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.
