WEBVTT 00:01:28.530 --> 00:01:33.410 and today's passage, I guess, is one of the reasons it has that reputation. 00:01:35.000 --> 00:01:39.080 But deep and meaningful is not the same as simple and straightforward. 00:01:40.370 --> 00:01:42.710 So there's a lot in this passage, 00:01:42.710 --> 00:01:47.230 and I think we are going to be stretched. 00:01:48.770 --> 00:01:50.330 And in fact, I think that's a good thing to remember, 00:01:50.470 --> 00:01:55.810 that God doesn't want us to sit in what we already know. 00:01:56.290 --> 00:02:00.490 He wants to stretch us beyond where we are now. 00:02:00.490 --> 00:02:04.180 and that's kind of my prayer for this morning. 00:02:05.290 --> 00:02:06.910 I'm going to set the scene a bit 00:02:06.910 --> 00:02:08.870 and then Sarah's going to come and read 00:02:08.870 --> 00:02:10.810 but let's have the next slide 00:02:10.810 --> 00:02:13.310 which will have the first few verses on it 00:02:13.310 --> 00:02:14.570 which kind of set the scene 00:02:14.570 --> 00:02:17.510 and it does of course follow on from last week 00:02:17.510 --> 00:02:20.970 and the story of how Jesus healed somebody 00:02:20.970 --> 00:02:24.570 who had been ill for I think it was 36 years 00:02:24.570 --> 00:02:26.450 or was it 38, a long time 00:02:26.450 --> 00:02:28.090 but he did it on the Sabbath. 00:02:29.730 --> 00:02:32.090 So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus 00:02:32.090 --> 00:02:34.030 for breaking the Sabbath rules. 00:02:34.880 --> 00:02:36.060 But Jesus replied, 00:02:36.600 --> 00:02:40.280 My father is always working, and so am I. 00:02:40.880 --> 00:02:43.700 So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder 00:02:43.700 --> 00:02:45.040 to find a way to kill him, 00:02:45.600 --> 00:02:47.440 for he not only broke the Sabbath, 00:02:48.120 --> 00:02:50.260 he also called God his father, 00:02:50.940 --> 00:02:53.500 thereby making himself equal with God. 00:02:55.100 --> 00:02:56.320 And the first question to talk about is, 00:02:56.320 --> 00:02:59.620 well, why is the Sabbath such a big deal 00:02:59.620 --> 00:03:00.780 for the Jewish leaders? 00:03:02.050 --> 00:03:04.730 And I think there are at least a couple of reasons that we can say that. 00:03:04.810 --> 00:03:07.410 First of all, it's an identity marker. 00:03:07.830 --> 00:03:12.730 You know, keeping the Sabbath shows that you're a faithful, believing Jew, 00:03:12.730 --> 00:03:17.170 not like these faithless Jews or these pagans who don't follow God. 00:03:17.810 --> 00:03:21.750 And to some extent, it still serves like that for Orthodox Jews. 00:03:22.190 --> 00:03:23.230 So it marks us out. 00:03:23.630 --> 00:03:24.990 We are the people who keep the Sabbath. 00:03:25.270 --> 00:03:28.690 And if you're not keeping the Sabbath, then that's a big problem. 00:03:29.840 --> 00:03:35.100 It would be also true to say that the Jews understood correctly 00:03:35.100 --> 00:03:38.360 that the reason for the exile, the great tragedy that had happened 00:03:38.360 --> 00:03:41.390 to the Jewish nation, was caused by sin. 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:44.700 And although they were sort of back in the land, 00:03:45.100 --> 00:03:47.260 to some extent they were still in exile 00:03:47.260 --> 00:03:51.600 because they were still being ruled by people who were not Jews. 00:03:52.990 --> 00:03:57.240 And so keeping the law was a way of kind of saying 00:03:57.240 --> 00:04:00.510 that they were kind of trying 00:04:00.510 --> 00:04:01.750 extra hard to keep the law 00:04:01.750 --> 00:04:04.940 because not keeping the law was 00:04:04.940 --> 00:04:07.420 a part of the problem. And they'd actually 00:04:07.420 --> 00:04:09.440 kind of built a fence around the law 00:04:09.440 --> 00:04:11.400 so that you wouldn't accidentally stray 00:04:11.400 --> 00:04:12.480 and break the law. 00:04:12.920 --> 00:04:15.180 They created, in the case of the Sabbath, 39 00:04:15.180 --> 00:04:17.330 extra rules to 00:04:17.330 --> 00:04:19.430 decide what was breaking the Sabbath and what 00:04:19.430 --> 00:04:21.450 wasn't. And one of the rules was 00:04:21.450 --> 00:04:23.210 don't heal anybody on the Sabbath 00:04:23.210 --> 00:04:24.770 unless it's a matter of life and death. 00:04:26.210 --> 00:04:28.110 Well, Jesus had healed somebody who'd been sick 00:04:28.110 --> 00:04:30.380 for years. So presumably 00:04:30.380 --> 00:04:31.880 it wasn't a matter of life and death. So 00:04:31.880 --> 00:04:34.600 Jesus is kind of in hot water. 00:04:36.020 --> 00:04:36.820 And then, kind of changing 00:04:36.820 --> 00:04:38.780 the analogy, I would say that having already 00:04:38.780 --> 00:04:40.880 been in trouble for breaking the Sabbath rule, 00:04:41.460 --> 00:04:42.880 Jesus answers that 00:04:42.880 --> 00:04:44.120 accusation 00:04:44.120 --> 00:04:46.780 by pouring petrol on the 00:04:46.780 --> 00:04:48.940 flames. He makes things worse 00:04:48.940 --> 00:04:50.740 straight away. And we've got to understand 00:04:50.740 --> 00:04:52.740 that Jesus knew that that was what 00:04:52.740 --> 00:04:55.310 would happen. He 00:04:55.310 --> 00:04:57.390 says, my father is working 00:04:57.390 --> 00:04:59.460 and so am I. And 00:04:59.460 --> 00:05:02.300 And they say, well, this is getting worse. 00:05:02.380 --> 00:05:08.230 Not only is he breaking the Sabbath, he's also making himself equal with God. 00:05:08.910 --> 00:05:12.470 And that's partly why, you know, if he just said the Father or our Father, 00:05:12.590 --> 00:05:13.590 that wouldn't have been so bad. 00:05:13.650 --> 00:05:15.050 But he talks about my Father. 00:05:15.630 --> 00:05:20.020 And he says, my Father is always working and so am I. 00:05:20.500 --> 00:05:24.300 Well, the Jews believed, understandably, that they were to rest on the Sabbath, 00:05:24.420 --> 00:05:25.900 but God actually worked all the time. 00:05:25.900 --> 00:05:29.900 So, you know, people are born and die, and creation is sustained. 00:05:30.680 --> 00:05:33.200 So God works, actually, seven days a week. 00:05:33.940 --> 00:05:37.900 So when Jesus says, you know, my father and I are working all the time, 00:05:38.140 --> 00:05:40.560 he's making himself equal with God. 00:05:40.660 --> 00:05:41.500 That's what's happening. 00:05:41.660 --> 00:05:47.700 So you can see why they were so indignant, and he made the situation worse. 00:05:48.580 --> 00:05:50.060 Let's have the next slide. 00:05:51.910 --> 00:05:54.950 So effectively, Jesus is on trial here. 00:05:54.950 --> 00:06:00.950 Now, you know, it's not a formal legal process, but actually, this is the start of something that will actually lead to his crucifixion. 00:06:01.610 --> 00:06:02.690 This is the charge. 00:06:03.190 --> 00:06:06.510 He's on trial for blasphemy, for claiming to be God. 00:06:06.590 --> 00:06:08.170 That's what the accusation is. 00:06:09.830 --> 00:06:15.980 And it's probably worth saying here that, you know, if Jesus hadn't thought he was God, 00:06:17.380 --> 00:06:20.720 if Jesus thought, well, I'm just a prophet or I'm just an ordinary guy, 00:06:21.280 --> 00:06:23.920 now would have been a very good time to say that. 00:06:24.320 --> 00:06:29.080 But Jesus kind of doubled down on it. 00:06:29.560 --> 00:06:35.830 You know, he pushes it further, and he will say things that really reinforce the charge against him. 00:06:36.350 --> 00:06:38.690 And blasphemy is a very dangerous thing. 00:06:38.690 --> 00:06:46.010 I mean, you may know this, but actually, even today, there are something like, in Pakistan, 00:06:46.690 --> 00:06:53.750 something like 2,100 people have been accused of blasphemy in the past 10 years or so. 00:06:54.690 --> 00:06:57.650 Many Christians, also Hindus and some other religions. 00:06:57.650 --> 00:07:06.110 and 89 people have been killed in mainly mob attacks in Pakistan against somebody accused 00:07:06.110 --> 00:07:11.810 of blasphemy and there are over 40 people on death row in Pakistan accused of blasphemy 00:07:11.810 --> 00:07:17.490 and I think that context probably it gives the sense just how dangerous this was in Jesus day 00:07:17.490 --> 00:07:22.350 also because it's both about formal charges but it's also about what the mob might do 00:07:22.350 --> 00:07:27.150 So being accused of blasphemy is a dangerous place. 00:07:28.670 --> 00:07:30.470 But I think there's something else here. 00:07:31.810 --> 00:07:35.050 Raniela Cantalmessa, if I pronounced that right, 00:07:35.130 --> 00:07:37.950 probably was an Italian theologian, 00:07:38.590 --> 00:07:40.190 once said something like, 00:07:40.570 --> 00:07:42.370 the battle today is around Jesus. 00:07:43.710 --> 00:07:45.190 And what he meant by that was, 00:07:45.790 --> 00:07:47.290 there are many people today who, you know, 00:07:47.450 --> 00:07:50.190 the idea of spirituality, maybe even God, 00:07:50.190 --> 00:07:52.870 is kind of okay, and they've got a place for all that. 00:07:53.310 --> 00:07:56.490 But it's Jesus and Jesus' claim to be God 00:07:56.490 --> 00:08:01.390 and Jesus' claim to be the unique way to God that causes offense. 00:08:02.540 --> 00:08:07.300 So there's a trial still going on really around who is Jesus 00:08:07.300 --> 00:08:11.420 and is his claim to be God justified or not? 00:08:11.800 --> 00:08:14.100 And that demands a verdict. 00:08:15.740 --> 00:08:19.060 Sarah, would you like to come out and read the passage for us as a whole 00:08:19.060 --> 00:08:26.130 and then I'll carry on having set the scene. 00:08:34.630 --> 00:08:36.410 ...claims to be the Son of God. 00:08:37.860 --> 00:08:40.620 So the Jewish leaders began harassing Jesus 00:08:40.620 --> 00:08:42.440 for breaking the Sabbath rules. 00:08:43.500 --> 00:08:44.800 But Jesus replied, 00:08:45.480 --> 00:08:49.360 My Father is always working, and so am I. 00:08:50.440 --> 00:08:52.800 So the Jewish leaders tried all the harder 00:08:52.800 --> 00:08:54.360 to find a way to kill him. 00:08:55.160 --> 00:08:56.820 For he not only broke the Sabbath, 00:08:56.820 --> 00:08:59.180 he called God his Father, 00:08:59.520 --> 00:09:02.900 thereby making himself equal with God. 00:09:03.920 --> 00:09:05.380 So Jesus explained, 00:09:06.240 --> 00:09:10.400 I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. 00:09:11.100 --> 00:09:13.820 He does only what he sees the Father doing. 00:09:14.700 --> 00:09:18.120 Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. 00:09:18.680 --> 00:09:23.280 For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything he is doing. 00:09:23.640 --> 00:09:28.860 In fact, the Father will show him how to do even greater works 00:09:28.860 --> 00:09:37.120 than healing this man. Then you will truly be astonished, for just as the Father gives life 00:09:37.120 --> 00:09:43.420 to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to everyone he wants. In addition, 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:50.280 the Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge, 00:09:50.740 --> 00:09:57.760 so that everyone will honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the 00:09:57.760 --> 00:10:05.990 son is certainly not honoring the father who sent him. I tell you the truth, those who listen to my 00:10:05.990 --> 00:10:13.670 message and believe in God, who sent me, have eternal life. They will never be condemned for 00:10:13.670 --> 00:10:22.200 their sins, but they have already passed from death into life. And I assure you that the time 00:10:22.200 --> 00:10:29.320 is coming. Indeed, it is here now when the dead will hear my voice, the voice of the Son of God, 00:10:29.720 --> 00:10:37.270 and those who listen will live. The Father has life in himself, and he has granted that same 00:10:37.270 --> 00:10:45.210 life-giving power to his Son, and he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son 00:10:45.210 --> 00:10:54.260 of man. Don't be so surprised. Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves will 00:10:54.260 --> 00:11:02.590 hear the voice of God's Son, and they will rise again. Those who have done good will rise to 00:11:02.590 --> 00:11:08.730 experience eternal life, and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience 00:11:08.730 --> 00:11:17.130 judgment. I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, 00:11:17.530 --> 00:11:32.560 because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will. Great. Next slide, please. 00:11:35.970 --> 00:11:42.290 So, Jesus' explanation, as I said, does kind of double down on it. The son can do nothing by 00:11:42.290 --> 00:11:48.530 himself. He sees only what he sees the father doing. Whatever the father does, the son also 00:11:48.530 --> 00:11:52.530 does. There's something here both, there's something very intimate about this picture, 00:11:52.630 --> 00:11:58.990 isn't it, about the whole relationship between the father and the son working together. There's 00:11:58.990 --> 00:12:07.470 also humility from the son to the father. I tell you that the son can do nothing by himself, 00:12:07.550 --> 00:12:13.190 he only does what he sees the father doing. And yet there's also equality in the relationship. 00:12:13.190 --> 00:12:16.370 let's look at the humility bit first 00:12:16.370 --> 00:12:18.970 the son can do nothing by himself 00:12:18.970 --> 00:12:22.130 this is not the son acting independently 00:12:22.130 --> 00:12:23.810 doing his own thing 00:12:23.810 --> 00:12:28.220 he's doing what the father is doing 00:12:28.220 --> 00:12:34.980 in a way you and I could identify with that first sentence 00:12:34.980 --> 00:12:36.860 I could say truthfully 00:12:36.860 --> 00:12:40.700 if any good comes out of my sermon today 00:12:40.700 --> 00:12:43.060 it will be because God is at work 00:12:43.060 --> 00:12:53.490 But the last sentence there, whatever the father does, the son also does, is quite extraordinary. 00:12:54.550 --> 00:12:56.650 None of us could say that, not remotely. 00:12:56.810 --> 00:13:02.290 The archangel Michael couldn't say that, whatever the father does, the son also does. 00:13:02.610 --> 00:13:05.130 That's an absolute claim of equality. 00:13:05.390 --> 00:13:08.170 He's saying he shares in the father's work. 00:13:10.620 --> 00:13:12.480 Let's have the next slide. 00:13:12.480 --> 00:13:20.110 for the father loves the son and shows him everything he's doing in fact the father will 00:13:20.110 --> 00:13:28.250 also show him how to do even greater things than healing this man and and love is at the heart of 00:13:28.250 --> 00:13:33.970 this it's a loving relationship um i mean one way it's kind of inadequate but maybe give us the idea 00:13:33.970 --> 00:13:41.710 um we know that jesus was a carpenter um and actually the word i think probably means like 00:13:41.710 --> 00:13:46.510 somebody who's a builder, so he may have worked with stone as well as wood. But anyway, that's 00:13:46.510 --> 00:13:52.190 what he's doing. And we also know that Joseph, his father, was also a carpenter. And that's not 00:13:52.190 --> 00:13:58.110 unusual. People would kind of learn your trade from your father. And you might have imagined that 00:13:58.110 --> 00:14:06.160 in the carpenter's shop one day, Joseph is showing Jesus how to make things. And Jesus is 00:14:06.160 --> 00:14:09.680 listening very intently to what Joseph has to say to him. 00:14:11.290 --> 00:14:12.710 And in some ways, then, you'd say, 00:14:12.810 --> 00:14:15.690 well, you know, surely the father's kind of senior 00:14:15.690 --> 00:14:16.990 and the son's junior. 00:14:17.610 --> 00:14:20.190 And that's sort of true, but they're still equal. 00:14:20.750 --> 00:14:21.910 It's still father and son. 00:14:22.610 --> 00:14:24.810 The status is still the same. 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:29.690 And that's kind of what I think we're seeing, 00:14:29.830 --> 00:14:30.590 if any more tense, 00:14:30.730 --> 00:14:34.670 is how they're working together in everything. 00:14:34.670 --> 00:14:43.880 In fact, if you remember at the very beginning of John's Gospel, how it starts, 00:14:44.480 --> 00:14:49.460 in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God. 00:14:50.550 --> 00:14:56.910 Actually, there was a normal word for with that John didn't use. 00:14:57.510 --> 00:15:00.050 He actually used a word that would normally mean toward. 00:15:00.850 --> 00:15:04.690 So the Word was with God, and the Word was toward God. 00:15:05.570 --> 00:15:07.750 And I'm sure that wasn't an accident. 00:15:07.750 --> 00:15:11.230 And that's kind of what this picture is showing us. 00:15:11.550 --> 00:15:14.510 It's the father and son working together. 00:15:14.710 --> 00:15:17.790 The son looking at the father, the father looking at the son, 00:15:18.130 --> 00:15:19.970 and they're working together. 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:25.820 And what might be the greater works than healing this man 00:15:25.820 --> 00:15:30.300 who'd been disabled for, you know, 30-something years? 00:15:31.020 --> 00:15:35.160 Well, we possibly can think of some miracles that we think would meet that. 00:15:35.160 --> 00:15:44.270 And, you know, bringing Lazarus back to bed, maybe the storms on the sea feel like bigger miracles. 00:15:45.030 --> 00:15:50.150 Probably what John is thinking of, though, he's thinking of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:15:50.470 --> 00:15:51.310 That's what he's thinking. 00:15:54.200 --> 00:15:55.740 Next one. 00:15:58.040 --> 00:16:05.120 For just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. 00:16:05.800 --> 00:16:08.460 In addition, the Father judges no one. 00:16:08.460 --> 00:16:16.360 instead he has given the son absolute authority to judge so that everyone will honor the son 00:16:16.360 --> 00:16:23.530 just as they honor the father anyone who does not honor the son is certainly not honoring the father 00:16:23.530 --> 00:16:31.440 who sent him it's interesting to watch how jesus claims to be god you know he doesn't have a t-shirt 00:16:31.440 --> 00:16:37.740 on saying i'm god and wander around galilee saying can i look at me what he does do is talk about 00:16:37.740 --> 00:16:45.780 himself in religion, God, in a way that shows the two together, you know, that Jews understood 00:16:45.780 --> 00:16:46.420 and prophets understood. 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:51.060 There were two things that were kind of unique to God, and one was giving life, and the other 00:16:51.060 --> 00:16:51.920 was final judgment. 00:16:52.800 --> 00:16:59.850 So those are God roles, and yet here we see the Son given those roles. 00:17:00.980 --> 00:17:05.140 So the father is sharing his right to rule with the son 00:17:05.140 --> 00:17:09.940 and sharing his right to give life with the son. 00:17:14.020 --> 00:17:16.620 And then it says, so that everyone will honor the son 00:17:16.620 --> 00:17:18.220 just as they honor the father. 00:17:20.640 --> 00:17:21.900 I know this would never happen, 00:17:21.900 --> 00:17:25.220 but just imagine that a leader in the church 00:17:25.220 --> 00:17:28.880 came and stood at this podium and said, 00:17:29.660 --> 00:17:33.860 I want you guys to respect me in the same way you respect God. 00:17:35.130 --> 00:17:40.870 I hope we would be on our feet in a second shouting, no, no, no. 00:17:41.550 --> 00:17:47.630 Because the respect and honour that's due to God is not to be given to anything except God. 00:17:49.630 --> 00:17:52.830 So there's a glory and respect that's due to God alone. 00:17:53.980 --> 00:17:57.500 And if we give it to anyone else, that's blasphemy and that's idolatry. 00:17:59.860 --> 00:18:03.060 But when it says we honour the Son as we honour the Father, 00:18:03.060 --> 00:18:05.820 we're saying the Son and the Father 00:18:05.820 --> 00:18:07.980 are both part of the Godhead 00:18:07.980 --> 00:18:14.270 let's have the next 00:18:14.270 --> 00:18:15.810 the next slide 00:18:15.810 --> 00:18:18.600 I tell you the truth 00:18:18.600 --> 00:18:20.180 that's a phrase that Jesus 00:18:20.180 --> 00:18:22.720 you may have noticed that coming up a few times 00:18:22.720 --> 00:18:24.940 Jesus is a way of emphasizing 00:18:24.940 --> 00:18:26.240 what he's about to say 00:18:26.240 --> 00:18:28.440 so Jesus is not kind of 00:18:28.440 --> 00:18:30.340 quietly saying these things 00:18:30.340 --> 00:18:32.280 he's firmly saying these things 00:18:32.280 --> 00:18:35.000 I really want you to get this 00:18:35.000 --> 00:18:36.900 across so that you really understand 00:18:36.900 --> 00:18:45.910 this, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. Again, we 00:18:45.910 --> 00:18:52.840 notice how easily listening to my message and believing God are part of the same thing, a part 00:18:52.840 --> 00:18:58.300 of the same thing. And we are as Christians called, and what being a Christian means is that we 00:18:58.300 --> 00:19:06.040 listen to the message of Jesus Christ, listen intently to the message of Jesus Christ, 00:19:06.040 --> 00:19:15.120 Hang on every word of Jesus Christ and believe in the God who sent him. 00:19:17.440 --> 00:19:30.140 A missionary called John Patton, who was a Scot who came from Dunfreeshire, I think in the 19th century, went out to the New Hebrides and he was working with a tribe who were cannibals. 00:19:31.270 --> 00:19:36.290 And he was seeking to translate John's gospel into their language. 00:19:36.290 --> 00:19:41.780 and he found a problem and the problem was they didn't have a word for belief or trust 00:19:41.780 --> 00:19:48.580 because actually that was a culture that valued deceit and trickery and and so well how can you 00:19:48.580 --> 00:19:53.680 translate John's gospel if there isn't a word for belief or trust and so he was struggling with this 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:59.280 and then one day he had a bright idea and and his assistant who was a one of the local guys came 00:19:59.280 --> 00:20:04.660 into the room and John Patton leaned back in his armchair and put his feet up and he said to the 00:20:04.660 --> 00:20:10.940 assistant. So what am I doing now? And the assistant used a word that meant to rest your 00:20:10.940 --> 00:20:17.200 whole weight on something. And that was the word that John Patton used for faith when he translated 00:20:17.200 --> 00:20:23.680 John's gospel. And that's what it means to believe in Jesus Christ. It means to lean our entire weight 00:20:23.680 --> 00:20:31.690 on Jesus Christ, to put our whole trust in him. And certainly that first sentence, eternal life 00:20:31.690 --> 00:20:38.500 there is not another way of saying going to heaven when you die, because here he's talking 00:20:38.500 --> 00:20:43.280 about the here and now. It's very clear. He's talking about the here and now, and he's talking 00:20:43.280 --> 00:20:51.280 about passing from death into life in the here and now. Eternal life starts, new life starts when we 00:20:51.280 --> 00:21:00.930 believe in Jesus Christ. Some Christians, I suspect, kind of think of the Christian life in 00:21:00.930 --> 00:21:05.490 this world as being a bit like in departures at the airport. You know, you've gone through security, 00:21:06.190 --> 00:21:12.480 but now basically you're kind of hanging around waiting for the main thing to happen. That's not 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:18.760 a New Testament picture, that, you know, eternal life and our calling to live for Jesus Christ 00:21:18.760 --> 00:21:29.450 begins now. Next slide. And I assure you that the time is coming, indeed it is here now, 00:21:29.450 --> 00:21:33.510 when the dead will hear my voice, the voice of the Son of God, 00:21:33.770 --> 00:21:35.890 and those who listen will live. 00:21:36.790 --> 00:21:38.670 The Father has life in himself 00:21:38.670 --> 00:21:43.210 and has granted that same life-giving power to his Son. 00:21:45.510 --> 00:21:47.090 Even though he's talking about the dead, 00:21:47.210 --> 00:21:49.610 he's still talking about now. 00:21:50.410 --> 00:21:53.130 We will get on to what happens at the end, 00:21:53.190 --> 00:21:54.850 but he's still talking about now. 00:21:55.330 --> 00:21:58.870 And you might think, because he says, indeed, it's here now. 00:22:01.140 --> 00:22:04.470 And we could be thinking of something like Lazarus. 00:22:04.550 --> 00:22:09.150 Probably, actually, Jesus is using the idea of death to life 00:22:09.150 --> 00:22:13.090 to describe what it means to become a Christian in the first place. 00:22:13.980 --> 00:22:17.520 And that was certainly how Paul understood it. 00:22:18.000 --> 00:22:20.940 At the beginning of Ephesians chapter 2, Paul said, 00:22:21.340 --> 00:22:25.020 once you were dead in your disobedience and your many sins. 00:22:25.640 --> 00:22:27.120 And then you get to verse 4 and he said, 00:22:27.120 --> 00:22:29.860 but God who is so rich in mercy, 00:22:29.860 --> 00:22:32.700 even though we were dead because of our sins 00:22:32.700 --> 00:22:34.560 he gave us new life 00:22:34.560 --> 00:22:35.480 through Jesus Christ 00:22:35.480 --> 00:22:38.600 so this idea of passing from death 00:22:38.600 --> 00:22:40.640 to life is what Jesus 00:22:40.640 --> 00:22:41.700 is talking about 00:22:41.700 --> 00:22:44.200 those who listen will live 00:22:44.200 --> 00:22:47.820 and then verse 26 00:22:47.820 --> 00:22:49.740 is very interesting, he said the father has life 00:22:49.740 --> 00:22:51.700 in himself and is granted 00:22:51.700 --> 00:22:53.720 that same life giving power to his son 00:22:53.720 --> 00:22:55.240 actually other translations 00:22:55.240 --> 00:22:57.640 just say and has 00:22:57.640 --> 00:22:59.800 given the son life in himself too 00:22:59.800 --> 00:23:02.400 kind of different way of saying 00:23:02.400 --> 00:23:03.340 the same thing 00:23:03.340 --> 00:23:05.940 let's think about it this way 00:23:05.940 --> 00:23:08.610 you and I all had a beginning 00:23:08.610 --> 00:23:10.610 there was a time when we were not 00:23:10.610 --> 00:23:12.730 and I guess if we had a biologist 00:23:12.730 --> 00:23:13.870 here or something they would say well 00:23:13.870 --> 00:23:16.190 actually you know 00:23:16.190 --> 00:23:18.550 your life began when 00:23:18.550 --> 00:23:20.410 a cell was first lised 00:23:20.410 --> 00:23:22.670 you could quibble about 00:23:22.670 --> 00:23:24.750 some of the details but actually life begins 00:23:24.750 --> 00:23:25.970 when the heart starts beating 00:23:25.970 --> 00:23:28.070 but what's very clear is 00:23:28.070 --> 00:23:30.350 there's a moment when life comes 00:23:30.350 --> 00:23:31.570 and it wasn't there before. 00:23:31.730 --> 00:23:33.850 So there's a starting point to our life. 00:23:34.860 --> 00:23:36.180 And also it's a starting point 00:23:36.180 --> 00:23:37.780 that we had nothing to do with. 00:23:37.840 --> 00:23:38.900 We certainly didn't cause it 00:23:38.900 --> 00:23:41.220 and we find ourselves alive 00:23:41.220 --> 00:23:42.060 where we wanted to be. 00:23:42.560 --> 00:23:44.960 So life is kind of done to us. 00:23:46.720 --> 00:23:49.860 But God has life in himself, 00:23:51.160 --> 00:23:52.580 which means there's never been a time 00:23:52.580 --> 00:23:53.860 when God was not. 00:23:54.790 --> 00:23:58.070 And life is part of the essential characteristic 00:23:58.070 --> 00:24:06.730 of God in the same way that love is. So God is life, and he can give life to other people. 00:24:08.300 --> 00:24:16.390 And he says, and Jesus has got the same thing. So Jesus also has life in himself. In the beginning 00:24:16.390 --> 00:24:24.160 was the word. From the beginning was the word. There never was a time when Jesus was not. And so 00:24:24.160 --> 00:24:31.780 So, here, you know, the very kind of being of who God is, is being attributed to the Son. 00:24:34.850 --> 00:24:35.430 Next slide. 00:24:37.410 --> 00:24:42.930 And he has given him authority to judge everyone because he is the Son of Man. 00:24:43.840 --> 00:24:50.010 And first of all, kind of as I already said, on good authority, it says it in the Bible, 00:24:51.180 --> 00:24:55.560 judgment belongs to God and shall not the judge of all the earth do right. 00:24:55.800 --> 00:24:57.620 So, God is the one who does judging. 00:24:57.620 --> 00:25:00.750 but here it is given to the son of man 00:25:00.750 --> 00:25:02.310 and very happily 00:25:02.310 --> 00:25:04.330 even though we hadn't talked about it beforehand 00:25:04.330 --> 00:25:06.390 it might got us all reading 00:25:06.390 --> 00:25:08.390 that passage from Daniel 7 00:25:08.390 --> 00:25:10.350 particularly verses 13 and 14 00:25:10.350 --> 00:25:12.210 when it talks about one 00:25:12.210 --> 00:25:13.830 like a son of man 00:25:13.830 --> 00:25:15.900 and that 00:25:15.900 --> 00:25:17.960 I think links to that 00:25:17.960 --> 00:25:20.500 but I think there's also something else 00:25:20.500 --> 00:25:21.060 in there 00:25:21.060 --> 00:25:24.360 you sort of wonder whether sometimes 00:25:24.360 --> 00:25:27.000 a criminal's been in 00:25:27.000 --> 00:25:30.290 not before a trial. 00:25:30.430 --> 00:25:32.330 They've been tried and they've been found guilty. 00:25:33.170 --> 00:25:35.450 And they must, I think, sometimes find themselves thinking, 00:25:35.590 --> 00:25:37.490 well, yes, I'm being guilty and I've been convicted. 00:25:37.750 --> 00:25:40.250 But I'm looking at the judges and the jury 00:25:40.250 --> 00:25:43.850 and all the court officials and the barristers on both sides. 00:25:43.950 --> 00:25:47.170 I'm thinking, you know, if your life had been half as tough as mine, 00:25:47.170 --> 00:25:49.390 maybe we wouldn't be so different. 00:25:50.190 --> 00:25:51.710 I'm sure people must feel that. 00:25:51.970 --> 00:25:53.410 It's all very well for you to judge 00:25:53.410 --> 00:25:56.370 because you've had an advantaged life. 00:25:59.660 --> 00:26:05.460 But let's think about Jesus, because, you know, part of the meaning of the incarnation 00:26:05.460 --> 00:26:10.620 is that Jesus experiences life in its awfulness. 00:26:11.350 --> 00:26:15.650 We've just got to think about the circumstances around the end of Jesus' life. 00:26:16.250 --> 00:26:19.030 He's betrayed by a close friend. 00:26:19.350 --> 00:26:20.930 His followers all run away. 00:26:21.750 --> 00:26:25.610 He then ends up in a trial that's an entirely crooked trial. 00:26:25.790 --> 00:26:27.610 It's only ever going to have one outcome. 00:26:28.010 --> 00:26:28.890 He's convicted. 00:26:29.670 --> 00:26:32.610 He's taken before a judge who knows perfectly well he's innocent, 00:26:33.050 --> 00:26:34.890 but still sends him to his death. 00:26:34.890 --> 00:26:39.610 And he's then tortured slowly to death while people stand by and jeer. 00:26:41.040 --> 00:26:45.700 You know, Jesus is familiar with life in its awfulness, 00:26:45.980 --> 00:26:48.640 and he knows what injustice looks like, 00:26:49.040 --> 00:26:51.460 because he himself has experienced injustice. 00:26:52.410 --> 00:26:54.990 Who better to judge the world? 00:26:55.920 --> 00:26:56.940 Who would be fairer? 00:26:56.940 --> 00:27:02.470 who would be more understanding and compassionate than Jesus Christ? 00:27:04.980 --> 00:27:05.760 Next slide. 00:27:07.940 --> 00:27:09.060 Don't be surprised. 00:27:09.260 --> 00:27:13.200 Indeed, the time is coming when all the dead in their graves 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:16.860 will hear the voice of God's Son, and they will rise again. 00:27:17.220 --> 00:27:20.380 Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life, 00:27:20.380 --> 00:27:24.660 and those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment. 00:27:28.160 --> 00:27:30.880 Relatively quickly, because I am keeping a vague eye on the clock. 00:27:31.740 --> 00:27:34.300 And my house backs onto a graveyard. 00:27:35.160 --> 00:27:36.520 And we'd not long moved in. 00:27:36.880 --> 00:27:38.900 And a Christian friend came to stay. 00:27:39.140 --> 00:27:40.120 His name was Noel Moules. 00:27:40.460 --> 00:27:41.480 And Noel said, you know, he said, 00:27:41.520 --> 00:27:43.800 even some church people are a bit funny about that sort of thing. 00:27:44.320 --> 00:27:46.660 Don't think I'd want to live that close to a graveyard. 00:27:47.040 --> 00:27:48.380 He says, I think, he said, 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:51.320 I think houses next to graveyards should be worth more 00:27:51.320 --> 00:27:52.980 because when Jesus returns, 00:27:53.300 --> 00:27:57.280 you'll get a spectacular view of the graves being opened. 00:27:57.980 --> 00:28:01.360 So here he is talking about the future return. 00:28:02.670 --> 00:28:07.310 But then verse 20 might be a question, he says, and they will rise again. 00:28:07.430 --> 00:28:10.490 Those who have done good will rise to experience eternal life. 00:28:10.810 --> 00:28:13.870 And those who have continued in evil will rise to experience judgment. 00:28:14.170 --> 00:28:21.070 You'd say, well, wait a minute, in verse 24, he said, we're going to experience eternal life if you listen to my words and believe in me. 00:28:21.350 --> 00:28:25.910 And now it sounds like, well, it's the good who are going to experience eternal life, which is true. 00:28:27.070 --> 00:28:28.930 And I think that the short answer is both. 00:28:28.930 --> 00:28:31.950 But I think what the answer looks like is this. 00:28:31.990 --> 00:28:38.690 We do experience eternal life by listening to Jesus Christ and believing in God. 00:28:39.430 --> 00:28:42.950 But the proof that that's genuine is that our lives change. 00:28:44.040 --> 00:28:46.600 The proof that it's genuine is that our lives change. 00:28:47.140 --> 00:28:49.840 And that's the consistent message of the New Testament. 00:28:51.120 --> 00:28:55.840 Next, I can do nothing on my own. 00:28:55.980 --> 00:28:57.900 I judge as God tells me. 00:28:57.900 --> 00:29:03.980 therefore my judgment is just because I carry the will of the one who sent me again there's that 00:29:03.980 --> 00:29:10.980 intimacy there's that submission but still with equality but you know sometimes and we can 00:29:10.980 --> 00:29:18.180 experience this in an organization or a country it feels like the people at the top pass rules and 00:29:18.180 --> 00:29:24.320 laws that they want everybody else to keep but they themselves aren't always as careful about 00:29:24.320 --> 00:29:30.110 following the rules. So you think that, you know, during the whole COVID thing, the parties in 00:29:30.110 --> 00:29:34.450 Downing Street kind of spoke to that. Everybody else has told that these are the rules. But 00:29:34.450 --> 00:29:42.580 actually, that wasn't quite how it was playing at home. And right in the middle of the Lord's 00:29:42.580 --> 00:29:49.240 prayer, we have Jesus saying, your will be done. So we're encouraged to say, your will be done. 00:29:49.240 --> 00:29:54.320 This is not a case of one rule for you and another rule for them, 00:29:54.620 --> 00:29:59.320 because Jesus himself expresses perfectly, your will be done. 00:30:01.650 --> 00:30:04.270 He is doing the will of his Father, 00:30:04.930 --> 00:30:10.410 and we are called to join with him in the doing of the Father's will. 00:30:12.390 --> 00:30:13.210 Next slide. 00:30:15.620 --> 00:30:18.200 I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, 00:30:18.680 --> 00:30:21.140 but I don't accept his claim to be God. 00:30:22.420 --> 00:30:24.480 Well, I think there are lots of people who would say that. 00:30:24.700 --> 00:30:28.080 In a sense, it's kind of the official position of Islam in a way that, you know, 00:30:28.140 --> 00:30:30.600 Jesus is a great prophet, but obviously he's not God. 00:30:31.220 --> 00:30:36.180 I guess a lot of Jews would say that, and certainly many atheists would say that. 00:30:38.530 --> 00:30:40.550 Why doesn't it work? 00:30:41.900 --> 00:30:42.780 Well, I think there are a couple of reasons. 00:30:42.780 --> 00:30:47.760 First of all, anybody who says, you know, give me the same respect that God gets, 00:30:47.760 --> 00:30:50.910 or I can do anything that God can do, 00:30:52.140 --> 00:30:54.640 those are not the words of a great moral teacher. 00:30:56.220 --> 00:30:57.640 You think, well, if that person's sincere, 00:30:57.740 --> 00:31:00.320 if they really think they can do anything God can do, 00:31:00.940 --> 00:31:04.920 then they're nuts, and not just a little bit nuts. 00:31:05.020 --> 00:31:07.960 I mean, they're ready to be sectioned under the Mental Health Act 00:31:07.960 --> 00:31:10.740 and locked up nuts if they really believe that. 00:31:12.310 --> 00:31:14.690 Or if they don't believe it, if they know it's not true, 00:31:14.690 --> 00:31:15.530 but they're saying it anyway, 00:31:15.690 --> 00:31:19.530 is there a kind of whole power thing going, this abusive power? 00:31:19.850 --> 00:31:23.030 I'm claiming to be God because then people will give me stuff 00:31:23.030 --> 00:31:24.070 they wouldn't give me otherwise. 00:31:24.070 --> 00:31:28.650 So it's either abuse or it's insanity. 00:31:30.660 --> 00:31:33.680 Here's how C.S. Lewis put it many years ago. 00:31:34.080 --> 00:31:34.600 Next slide. 00:31:36.160 --> 00:31:37.340 You must make your choice. 00:31:37.500 --> 00:31:39.980 Either this man was and is the son of God 00:31:39.980 --> 00:31:42.380 or else a madman or something worse. 00:31:42.880 --> 00:31:44.400 You can shut him up for a fool. 00:31:44.860 --> 00:31:46.900 You can spit at him and kill him as a demon 00:31:46.900 --> 00:31:50.040 or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. 00:31:50.040 --> 00:31:56.780 but let's not come up with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. 00:31:57.200 --> 00:32:04.940 He's not left that open to us. He did not intend to. Next, I've got two more slides to go, and I 00:32:04.940 --> 00:32:11.460 think, even though I'm going to do them, a little bit of history, very quickly. In the fourth century, 00:32:12.700 --> 00:32:19.320 a priest called Arius became very popular, had a big following, and in Arius's head, 00:32:19.320 --> 00:32:22.120 Arius' head, Jesus 00:32:22.120 --> 00:32:24.400 is kind of almost 00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:26.160 God, but maybe not 00:32:26.160 --> 00:32:28.280 quite. He's God-like 00:32:28.280 --> 00:32:30.080 or he's God-ish. So 00:32:30.080 --> 00:32:32.140 in some senses he's God, but not 00:32:32.140 --> 00:32:33.580 a full deal. Maybe he's 00:32:33.580 --> 00:32:36.300 the most important thing that's ever been created, 00:32:36.500 --> 00:32:37.300 but he's not quite 00:32:37.300 --> 00:32:39.300 100%. 00:32:39.300 --> 00:32:42.920 So he said on one occasion, there was a time 00:32:42.920 --> 00:32:43.940 when the sun was not. 00:32:45.070 --> 00:32:46.850 So in other words, you know, Jesus is 00:32:46.850 --> 00:32:49.480 created. And 00:32:49.480 --> 00:32:52.380 another leader at the time called 00:32:52.380 --> 00:32:54.460 Athanasius and other people who 00:32:54.460 --> 00:32:56.420 supported Athanasius disagreed 00:32:56.420 --> 00:32:58.420 profoundly with Athanasius. Not what the Bible 00:32:58.420 --> 00:33:00.540 teaches and actually it undermines 00:33:00.540 --> 00:33:02.140 so much about our faith 00:33:02.140 --> 00:33:03.220 and 00:33:03.220 --> 00:33:06.460 it went on for most of the 00:33:06.460 --> 00:33:07.740 century but 00:33:07.740 --> 00:33:10.040 they had two big councils 00:33:10.040 --> 00:33:12.660 one in 325 in Nicaea 00:33:12.660 --> 00:33:14.760 and one in 381 00:33:14.760 --> 00:33:16.340 in Constantinople when they 00:33:16.340 --> 00:33:18.730 they kind of sorted all 00:33:18.730 --> 00:33:20.790 this out. And the Christian 00:33:20.790 --> 00:33:22.510 position, this is an extract from the 00:33:22.510 --> 00:33:24.710 Nicene Creed, was to 00:33:24.710 --> 00:33:26.770 say, we believe in one Lord, Jesus 00:33:26.770 --> 00:33:28.730 Christ, of one 00:33:28.730 --> 00:33:30.050 being with the Father. 00:33:32.630 --> 00:33:33.190 He's 00:33:33.190 --> 00:33:35.330 fully God. He's 100% 00:33:35.330 --> 00:33:37.260 God, was what they were 00:33:37.260 --> 00:33:39.120 saying. And that's been the position 00:33:39.120 --> 00:33:41.500 of Orthodox 00:33:41.500 --> 00:33:42.780 Christians ever since. 00:33:43.120 --> 00:33:45.260 Funnily enough, what Ari has taught is pretty much 00:33:45.260 --> 00:33:47.080 what JW's, Jehovah's Witnesses, 00:33:47.080 --> 00:33:49.410 believe today. So, you know, 00:33:49.410 --> 00:33:51.910 You're kind of God-like, but not the real deal. 00:33:54.000 --> 00:33:58.180 Finally, why does it matter to us today? 00:34:00.790 --> 00:34:05.010 You see, if Jesus is fully God, if Jesus is 100% God, 00:34:05.490 --> 00:34:11.620 then we can say, if I look at Jesus, I know what God is like. 00:34:12.460 --> 00:34:15.000 There's a story told, it's a true story. 00:34:16.520 --> 00:34:20.060 A padre in the Second World War called Tom Torrance 00:34:20.060 --> 00:34:25.330 was called to attend to a young soldier 00:34:25.330 --> 00:34:27.930 who was dying on the battlefield in Italy. 00:34:28.890 --> 00:34:32.630 And the young man had only a very short time to live. 00:34:33.130 --> 00:34:34.250 And he said to Tom, he said, 00:34:34.410 --> 00:34:38.350 Padre, is Jesus really like God? 00:34:38.950 --> 00:34:39.570 Or where was it? 00:34:39.610 --> 00:34:40.770 Is God really like Jesus? 00:34:41.570 --> 00:34:44.330 And I guess behind that maybe was a thinking, 00:34:44.330 --> 00:34:48.600 well, I like the Jesus I've seen, 00:34:48.860 --> 00:34:50.580 but is there another God behind that 00:34:50.580 --> 00:34:54.260 who is a more severe, different God. 00:34:55.540 --> 00:34:57.800 And Tom Torrance, who, by the way, 00:34:57.860 --> 00:34:59.840 later went on to become a professor of divinity, 00:35:00.980 --> 00:35:05.960 he said, yes, God is exactly like Jesus. 00:35:06.480 --> 00:35:08.380 God is exactly like Jesus. 00:35:08.500 --> 00:35:11.500 There is no hidden God behind Jesus. 00:35:12.320 --> 00:35:14.880 And that's a very important truth. 00:35:17.520 --> 00:35:20.780 Only this God can be love. 00:35:21.380 --> 00:35:22.500 This needs a little bit of thinking about. 00:35:22.580 --> 00:35:28.200 So if your conception of God is a bit more like probably Jews understand it or Muslims, 00:35:28.360 --> 00:35:32.080 that God is one and only one, and that's what you have to see. 00:35:32.080 --> 00:35:36.160 So God is kind of alone in being God. 00:35:36.900 --> 00:35:38.920 But he cannot be love. 00:35:39.580 --> 00:35:44.380 He might be loving, but he cannot be love. 00:35:46.000 --> 00:35:52.800 And it might even say that God's desire to create the world is because God is needy. 00:35:52.880 --> 00:35:57.660 God needed something to love, so he created a universe to have something to love. 00:36:00.220 --> 00:36:05.020 But you see, the Christian conception of God, which we've very much been following, 00:36:05.340 --> 00:36:11.500 is that God has been eternally a love affair of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:36:11.820 --> 00:36:16.040 The Father loves the Son, the Son loves the Holy Spirit, the Holy Spirit loves... 00:36:16.040 --> 00:36:21.860 So love has been going on eternally between the Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit. 00:36:22.020 --> 00:36:24.180 So God is truly love. 00:36:25.110 --> 00:36:29.510 And the reason that love is so important in the Christian faith is because that is what God is really like. 00:36:29.830 --> 00:36:36.590 And the reason that God created the universe is not out of inadequacy, it's out of overflow. 00:36:37.430 --> 00:36:40.830 It's that God has so much love to give that he wants a bigger family. 00:36:41.410 --> 00:36:43.170 That's why he's called us. 00:36:43.230 --> 00:36:45.950 He's calling us to join us in his love affair. 00:36:47.610 --> 00:36:50.630 Finally, and then I will shut up and hand back to my... 00:36:50.630 --> 00:36:52.610 Jesus shows us how to be children of God. 00:36:52.930 --> 00:36:55.370 You know, we can't think that my being a child of God 00:36:55.370 --> 00:36:57.990 is about me doing my best to live my life 00:36:57.990 --> 00:36:59.610 and asking God to help me. 00:37:01.320 --> 00:37:03.460 And that's not necessarily wrong, 00:37:04.020 --> 00:37:06.360 but what Jesus shows us in this 00:37:06.360 --> 00:37:08.220 is that being a child of God 00:37:08.220 --> 00:37:10.280 is about dependent obedience. 00:37:11.020 --> 00:37:12.160 Dependent obedience. 00:37:12.760 --> 00:37:15.360 We're called, in a sense, like a small child 00:37:15.360 --> 00:37:16.880 to put a hand into the hand of God, 00:37:16.880 --> 00:37:25.580 to hang on tightly to work with him moment by moment dependent obedience that's what we're called to amen