The Crossing
(10-10-04)
John 5:16-24
Jesus
has just healed a man on the Sabbath. And then he tells the man he has just healed to pick up and carry his bed, also on the
Sabbath and clearly defined as work. Rather than praise God for showing His glory, they condemn the object of God’s
attention. (talk a bout a joy smasher)
Jesus responds to his persecutors: "My Father is always at his work to this
very day, and I, too, am working." And to this very day – the 10th
day of October in the year of our Lord 2004, who is working?? Reason with me for just a moment - What was Jesus’ power or ability to work? Answer: verse 19
“…the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing,..”
I
am willing to make this conclusion: Jesus was working because the Father was working, thus if the Father was not working Jesus
could not work. Is this right logic? I am so glad the Father was still working! So I ask the question again; who is working
today? Let’s ask the question this way – can the Church work if the Father and the Son are not working? (same
logic applies, I think.)
Why
does Jesus work? It is expected of Him by the Father. (the text doesn’t tell us here but in another place Jesus explains
that He is motivated by love and because of love He is obedient to the Fathers expectations.) The driving force of both the
Father and the Son is love. (See verse 20)
What
if neither worked anymore? What if they quit? What if they decided you weren’t worth it? The truth is, the Father is
still working and so is His Son and so is the Holy Spirit whom they sent. Therefore: What therefore can be correctly drawn
from this truth?
Lets go back to the text: “Jesus says that the
Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor
the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.” (verse 22) Jesus is the judger
of humanity and every day and every night His judgments fall upon the swarming masses of human activity. But!
Jesus is also the life giver: “For just as the
Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.” (verse
21) The authority and the power and the finality have been given to the Son, to Jesus. Jesus gives life to whom He pleases,
just as the Father has. The next big question must be: To whom is Jesus pleased to give life? (I think it is in who honors
Him! See verse 23)
The Father sent His Son Jesus into the world to provide the means of salvation. That obedience
earned Him the right to save or judge. The entrance into salvation is all about Jesus and how you respond to Him. Jesus says: “…whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life
and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” (Verse 24)
I asked a question earlier: “Can the Church work if the Father and the Son are not
working?” My conclusion is that the same logic that governs Jesus working governs the Church. If that is true, then:
The Church can do nothing by itself; it can do only what it sees the Son doing, because
what ever the Son does the Church does. For the Son loves the Church and shows it all He does. This we do need to understand – The Church is powerless with out Jesus and with Jesus the Church is not!!!
Lets go to work!!
