Word of Salvation – Vol. 19 No.39 – July 1973
An Issue Clarified
Sermon by Rev. Adrian Leenman, Th.Grad. on John 5:39,40
Scripture reading: John 5:1-18
Psalter Hymnal: 193; 315:1,4 (law); 329:1,2,3 (confession); 448; 327; 490
Beloved Congregation of our Lord Jesus Christ,
Brothers and Sisters, Young people, Boys and girls,
Do you know what a controversy is? We have them in all spheres of life. They present themselves at Parliamentary level; we come across them among big Industrialists; they appear among Churches and cause breakaways; we meet with them in our families, when Parents disagree with the bigger children on some vital issue. When disagreement continues to present itself on a matter, then we have a controversy on our hands.
When such a subject is brought up at Parliamentary level, we call it a debate, at ‘home-level’ we simply call it a quarrel.
Only a while ago we read part of John 5 and did you notice that it speaks about an argument between Jesus and the Jews of His days?
The Chapter begins with the story of the lame man to whom Jesus simply says: ‘Do you want to be healed?’
‘Yes, of course, but I have nobody to put me in the pool when it has healing power.’
Apparently Jesus does not wish to pay further attention to the man’s explanation, although he tells the Lord how difficult it is for him to get to the pool in time.
However, Jesus has a different way of healing in mind for him…!
It is a matter of a straightforward, yet profound command given to the lame man: ‘Rise, take your mattress and walk…!’
So the man does get up and walks away, carrying his mattress AND THIS HAPPENED TO BE ON A SUNDAY, so the Jews are up in arms about it, ‘this newly healed man IS SHIFTING ON SUNDAY….!!
‘…and who told you to get up, anyway??’
‘Yes, the Man Who healed me, said so…!’
In answer to this Jesus said to the Jews: My Father in heaven is working and I am working…! And that was enough to arouse anger with the Jews, because Jesus had not only broken the Sabbath commandment, but He called God in Heaven HIS FATHER…!!
But there is more to come: Jesus goes on to point out what power He has as the Son of God. Verse 21 reads: ‘for as the Father raises the dead, and gives life to them, so the Son gives life to whom He will.’
This is more than they can digest, and yet Jesus goes on and claims authority to execute judgment because, Jesus says, ‘I am the Son of Man’ by this time the Jews are not only puzzled, but also deeply offended, more so since Jesus points out to them that they do not have the Father’s words abide in them, for you do not believe Me and I am sent from the Father.
The controversy between the Jews and Jesus continues; toward the end of the chapter the discussion centres on the witness Jesus bears to the Father and Jesus claims not only to be Divinely commissioned, but also claims superiority to John the Baptist.
We have now cleared the way leading to the words of our text where it reads: ‘You search the Scriptures, well’, that’s commendable, is it not?
Let’s have a closer look at the word ‘search’.
It should be clear to all of us that whenever we engage in searching we must do the searching as a means to an end… and not as a mere end in itself.
Let’s have this illustrated:
When you or I would visit some famous caves, well, we arrive there and will be guided around, we go up and down stairways and steps and we have a good look around and that’s it. We visited the caves and this has no further results or consequences. Our visit and our searching of the caves was an end in itself.
But if a group of Geology Students would make the same tour through the same caves, THEIR SEARCHING WOULD BE DIFFERENT, they have a look around the caves not as an end in itself… they search as a means to an end.
THOSE STUDENTS WISH TO UNDERSTAND GEOLOGY BETTER
So we have two parties who search the same object, but do come to different end results. The problem of the Jews was that they viewed Scripture like we looked at the caves, JUST TO HAVE AN INTERESTING LOOK AT THINGS… AND NO MORE.
Now, says Jesus, I view your searching from that point of view and seen from that angle, there is little value in your efforts…!
We now move on to the second mistake the Jews made, it is this: they thought that in Scripture they had eternal Life..!
So the Jews were of the opinion that by careful looking at the construction of the words of the Old Testament and perhaps by learning certain sayings and texts by heart they would be saved; or by knowing certain and perhaps many things pertaining to the Old Testament and commit them to memory…!
No doubt the Jews wished to safeguard themselves in respect to their view of Scripture and they did have a very high view of Scripture, but their view was also FROZEN AND STEREOTYPED.
With all their searching they still saw no more than a man carting his mattress around and because of this there were three words in their minds which stuck out miles, they are the words:
KEEP THE SABBATH
and they laboured these three words to no end, while failing to read any message in the Old Testament
OR in Jesus as a Person
OR in Jesus’s words and works..!
Oh, yes, they had a high view of Scripture, they even had theology but they used their theology to rationalise their own SELF-DESIGNED thinking THEY HAD AN ACADEMIC and not a SPIRITUAL VIEW on the Old Testament AND NO VIEW ON JESUS AT ALL because they wanted to kill Him and so have Him out of the way. (vs.18).
These Jews never caught on as to the purpose of the Old Testament and therefore Jesus says to them: ‘Look, people, Scripture only bears witness to Me, in other words: the Old Testament points to me.
The Old Testament has as its message: the coming of the Messiah…! In the course of the discussion the Jews are reminded of the testimony John the Baptist bears to Jesus by calling Jesus ‘the Lamb of God’. This ‘Lamb’ would shortly terminate all Old Testament sacrifices by presenting Himself as the perfect Lamb but the Jews did not catch on.
The Hebrew Kings were to foreshadow the spiritual rule of the Messiah as the bringer of Righteousness and Peace..
…the Jews did not understand
The Messianic prophecies all pointed to the one great theme, namely the coming of the Messiah and now that Messiah
IS IN THEIR CITY…
He walks their streets and
PRESENTS HIMSELF TO THEM.
He backs up His claims as the Son of God by healing people without resorting to any outside aid or procedure and by showing His power to forgive sins;
by portraying, by way of parables the nature of the Kingdom of God;
by referring to His Father as the God of Heaven and earth.
And all the Jews see is a man CARTING HIS MATTRESS ALONG ON SUNDAY AND A SO-CALLED JESUS WHO MAKES STUPENDOUS CLAIMS SUCH AS EQUALITY WITH GOD HIMSELF…!!
In how far and where do you resemble the Jews of Jesus’ days??
There is a possibility that you belong to one of two types of people. The first type are those who take the Bible and look at it hard and long, ‘search’ it like the Jews did and so become known as people ‘who are always right’ and who have strong, stereotyped views on what the Bible teaches. These folk have great difficulty in seeing ‘LIFE’ and ‘LIGHT’ portrayed in it. They have difficulty in speaking about THE LORD AS THEIR SAVIOUR and still more difficulty getting on well with BOTH fellow- believers and unbelievers.
Such people claim to know the Bible so well and yet can cause a lot of headaches in Christian circles…!
The second grouping one may belong to is more numerous and quite common. They are the people who have an expensive Bible sitting somewhere as an ornament on a bookshelf. Their view of Scripture is not very high: they think they can get along without its message and purpose.
Where do you belong?
To the first category??
or the second grouping?
Are we sufficiently aware of the fact that God speaks to us through His Word, having the Lord Jesus as its centre and core?
All of the Old Testament points to the Lord Jesus,
All of the New Testament points back to Him.
Neglect of the proper use of Scripture means: failing to know the Master aright.
To have Bible knowledge is one thing,
to have a growing personal knowledge of Jesus Christ is quite another.
It’s not enough to possess a Bible,
It’s not enough to read the Bible, or even study it
– these are necessary things, no doubt,
and they do flow from knowing the Lord in a saving way.
BUT THE REQUIREMENT is that we OBEY, that we DO what It says:
that we take in what it prescribes;
that we believe what it portrays;
that we realise what it says about your sin.
AND that we BELIEVE what it says about God,
Who in and through Jesus Christ
has brought Salvation to a world
which ought to cry out to God for forgiving grace and mercy.
A world which is in dire need of repentance
And to a Church which is in constant need of wide horizons and new vistas
and a realisation of NEED,
which in turn results in a coming to the LORD OF LIFE
who will supply abundantly.!!
The Jews never saw this…
they refuse to come to Me, says Jesus,
SO THAT THEY MAY HAVE LIFE
The Jews looked for salvation in scripture,
while Jesus points out to them
that there is no salvation IN Scripture,
but that Scripture does POINT TO THE CHRIST OF THE SCRIPTURES
Who is the Lord of Life
and scripture does tell us that it speaks of Him
Who is the Saviour
and that TO HIM WE MUST GO because the Bible tells us so…!
Indeed, the Jews looked hard AT scripture, they searched intensively but they made the mistake of just looking AT it, rather than looking THROUGH it, without seeing the CENTRAL FIGURE, THE CHRIST.
They were like a small child who would just look AT a pair of binoculars or perhaps fumble with them and turn them over, but unlikely to pick them up and look THROUGH them.
If the Jews had viewed Scripture correctly, it would have brought the Lord Jesus IN REAL CLOSE, being guided by the Old Testament pointers and prophecies and predictions, all serving as revelations about the Lord Jesus.
If the Jews had viewed Scripture correctly, they would have come to the CLIMAX OF REVELATION, PRESENT, STANDING IN THEIR MIDST, THE LORD HIMSELF.
It would have kept them from getting bogged in their zealous search.
May the Lord keep us from getting bogged in detail and may we be kept from being ignorant of the pointers as they present themselves in the Old Testament and find their fulfilment in the New.
May the Lord grant that we EMBRACE THE MESSAGE
and LIVE THE MESSAGE
because it testifies to Jesus whom we love;
the One to whom we may go for forgiveness;
the One to whom we may go for LIFE AND SALVATION.
Let us eagerly and faithfully make use of the opportunities we have to go down and observe the beauty and wealth of Scripture
NOT JUST AS HOLIDAY MAKERS,
but as a people WHO WISH TO SEE AND EXPERIENCE
how the beauty of the cave does testify to the greatness and love of God
Jesus Himself being the foundation stone of the whole structure
and YOU AND I A REAL PART of the structure.
The Church and God’s Kingdom is in great need of faithful and Spirit- guided searchers of Scripture.
Our Congregation is in need of believers who have insight and a balanced outlook on Scripture.
Our Churches are in need of members who ‘see through scripture’ and who point out to others what is clear and close-by to them, namely: a real love for the Lord.
A love and zeal which is contagious and spreads to fellow-church- member and fellow-countrymen.
A love and zeal which builds the community of Saints and so throws light on whatever controversy he is faced with IN or OUTSIDE the Church.
We have ways and means of doing Bible Study, suitable material is more readily available these days.
And yet we seem to have less and less time as we move through life. Our progress and advance in respect to the Bible is often restricted to what we pick up from the Sunday Services.
But each believer has a calling to fulfil as an individual, namely to know the Lord more intimately – AND SCRIPTURE POINTS TO HIM.
We must go to Scripture SO THAT we may see the Christ portrayed.
So that we may go to HIM for LIFE…!
No doubt, the world will keep presenting its controversies and the Church is no stranger to them, either.
Nor is your heart and mine.
Let’s therefore keep coming to the Master SO THAT WE MAY HAVE LIFE…!
Amen.