THEME: "MY GOD IS GREATER THAN I"-I Got It All With The Lord Jesus. Colossians 2:9, "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily." One moment with the Master and darkness flees in the presence of His light. The soul longing for a fresh air of truth will always react to truth in the flesh.
LESSON-2: THE LORD JESUS CHRIST-The LORD Of The Law (Sabbath). God's law instructed mankind to labor in the six days that God had given him, but to rest on the seventh day. KEY VERSES: Mat 12:08, "For the Son of man is Lord even of the Sabbath day."
Jhn 05:16, "And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, & sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day."
1. INTRODUCTION:
God gave Israel the law through Moses that they might know His righteousness and judgment. Since God was the giver of the law, it was perfect in its requirements & reasonable in its demands. However, the Jews, especially the Pharisees, they added to its requirements by narrowly interpreting the letter of the law, by ignoring the spirit and purpose behind it. They failed to discern that God made the law for mankind, & not mankind for the law. Jesus is the express image of God, brought deliverance and faith to those who believe on His Name. Through His love, compassion, and miraculous power, He demons- trated that the fulfillment of the law was manifest in Him.
II. TOPIC DISCUSSION: The Lord Jesus ignored the Pharisees' tradition to demonstrate that He was the fulfillment of the law.
A. The Miracle by the Pool (Jhn 5:2), "Now there is at Jerusalem by the sheep market a pool, which is called in the Hebrew tongue Bethesda, having five porches."
1. The pool by the market. This amazing miracle at the pool of Bethesda that the Lord Jesus choses to perform is a notable miracle that demonstrated His grace and love.
a) A Great number of impotent folk. They gather at Bethesda in anticipation of the visitation of the Lord's angel.
b) Waiting for the moving of the water. The angel troubled the water during a certain season, and whosoever got into the water first after the troubling of the water stepped in was made whole. c) By faith in the Name of the Lord Jesus. Today there's no pool of healing water troubled by an angel, the Lord Jesus still desires to cleanse and make us whole by the healing of His Spirit. d) Through the power of the Holy Ghost. We can trust in the Lord Jesus for both physical & spi- ritual healing in this life and in the world to come.
e) In addition. The waters of the Spirit spring up within the born-again believer as a fountain of eternal life.
2. The man by the pool (v-5). He had been lame for 38 years, his hope for recovery had grown dim.
a) Trapped by circumstances. The lame man was powerless to change, he lay languishing beside the pool of Bethesda hoping that someone might care enough to help him into the pool at the troubling of the water.
b) Test of the man's faith. The Lord Jesus looking upon him knowing that he had been helpless for all those years, test the man's faith ask a question, "..., Wilt thou be made whole?" (v-6).
c) The man's answered. Thinking that the only answer to his problem lay in getting first into the pool, he answered, (v-7), "..., Sir, I have no man, when the water is troubled, to put me into the pool: but while I am coming, another stepped down before me"
d) A special treatment to the man. Many had received their healing by going down first into the water, but God had reserved a special miracle for the man that continues to inspire us today.
3. The Master by the man. The Lord Jesus came to bring hope to the hopeless, which was His mis- sion and passion.
a) The Lord's miracle. Hopeless and suffering humanity surrounded the man by the pool, but the great number of sick, lame, paralyzed, and blind people did not limit or prevent the Lord Jesus Christ from performing the miracle.
b) A hopeless place for some. The pool of Bethesda was a place of hope for some, but it became a place of despair from whom would never gain the opportunity to be the first into the water.
c) The visitation of the Lord. This place of despairs soon became a place of joy and triumph be- cause of the visitation of the Lord (v-7), "..., Rise, take up thy bed, and walk."
d) The man was made whole. In (v-9), “And immediately the man was made whole, & took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath."
B. A Controversy about the Miracle (Jhn 5:10), "The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for thee to carry thy bed."
1. The Pharisee & the Sabbath. The Pharisee regarded the Sabbath as a day when only things that approved by their traditions could be done.
a) Contradiction. They made the laws & interpreted them as they saw fit, while ignoring the true law & purpose for the Sabbath. That which God intended for good became great evil to them.
b) A question working on Sabbath day. The Pharisee did not accuse the Lord for doing good, rat- her they chided Him because He chose to do it on Sabbath day which was contrary to their un- derstanding of the law.
2. The Savior and the Sabbath. The word Sabbath means rest and its observance was to remember that God rested from all His work on the seventh day. God's law instructed mankind to labor in the six days that God had given him, but to rest on the seventh day.
a) Every day is holy. Indeed, the scriptures teach us to regard every day as holy in (Rom 14:5-6), "One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks."
b) The Jews missed the blessings. Although the Jews kept the letter of the law by observing the seventh day, they missed the greater importance of the purpose of the Sabbath.
c) Traditional strongholds. He that was Lord of the Sabbath went about serving humanity, doing good, but the Jews by their traditions dishonored Him.
d) True rest and peace. Therefore, we should rest from the works of the flesh that we might bear the peaceable fruit of the Spirit.
C. The Credentials of the Miracle Worker (Jhn 5:19), "..., Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."
1. The Son was powerless without the Father. The Lord Jesus Christ was both God and man. As a man, He was subject to temptation and human emotions. He knew sickness, pain, and hunger. He grew in knowledge and wisdom.
a) Abraham's seed. As a man, He could not do any more than His flesh was capable of doing, for He was made after the similitude of Abraham's seed (Jhn 5:19b), "..., The Son can do noth- ing of himself,
b) The divinity of the Lord. The Lord Jesus was able to do all that the Father did, because all that He did was the work of the Spirit.
2. The Son had power. All life originates with God. Since God created all things by the word of His power, the power to give life is by His word.
a) The Word made flesh. The Lord Jesus Christ is the Word made flesh, the physical representat- ion of God's invisible power and Godhead.
a-1) Jhn 1:1-4, "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The same was in the beginning with God. All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life; and the life was the light of men.'
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a-2) Jhn 1:14, "And the Word was made flesh, & dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth."
b) The resurrecting power of Christ. The Lord Jesus has the words of eternal life for all who believe in His Name. Since all of the fullness of the Godhead dwells within Him bodily, the same Spirit that rose up the body of the Lord from the dead is able to raise us up at the last day.
c) The same Spirit. As the Father rises up the dead by His Spirit, So the Son of God raises up the dead by the same Spirit.
c-1) Rom 8:9-11, "But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God
...
dwell in you. Now if any man haven't the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his. & if Christ be in you, the body is dead because of sin; the Spirit is life because of righteousness. But if the Spirit of him that raised up Jesus from the dead dwell in you, he that raised up Christ from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by his Spirit that dwell- eth in you."
c-2) 1Cor 12:13), "For by one Spirit are we all baptized into one body, whether we be Jews
or Gentiles, whether we be bond or free; & have been all made to drink into one Spirit" d) Resurrection & life. The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God, and the Spirit of Christ are one and the same; consequently, the Lord Jesus Christ had power and authority to raise the dead. Jesus is indeed the resurrection and the life.
e) The Lord's declaration. This is why the Lord Jesus could declare, Jhn 2:19, temple, and in three days I will raise it up.'
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3. The Son had witness. The works of the Lord Jesus Christ bear witness that He is the Son of God.
a) True believers. He raised the dead, opened deaf ears, opened the eyes of the blind, made lame to walk, performed miracles, and granted eternal life to those who believed on His Name.
b) God's anointed. No person could have done the mighty works except He was the anointed of God, (Isa 35:4-6), "Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance even God with a recompense; he will come & save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert."
c) The Lamb of God. John the Baptist declared that the Lord Jesus Christ was the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world. At the Lord's baptism, he saw the Spirit of God descend upon Him like dove (Jhn 1:32-34), "And John bare record, saying, I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, & it abode upon him. And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit descending, & remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost. And I saw, and bare record that this is the Son of God."
d) A message for John the Baptist. John heard the voice of God saying, in Mat 3:17, "And lo a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased."
e) John testimony. He testified of the Messiah, Mat 3:11, "I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance. but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:"
f) The Lord Jesus, the baptizer. Furthermore, John bore witness that the Lord Jesus was the one who will baptized with the Holy Ghost. In Jhn 1:33, "And I knew him not: but he that sent me to baptize with water, the same said unto me, Upon whom thou shalt see the Spirit desc- ending, and remaining on him, the same is he which baptizeth with the Holy Ghost."
4. The Son did not accuse them. The Jews rejected the Lord Jesus as the Messiah, because He did not receive the honor of men. He came in humility seeking to give honor unto His Father rather than honoring mankind.
a) The Lord Jesus was rejected. The Lord said, in Jhn 5:43, "I am come in my Father's Name, and ye receive me not: if another shall come in his own name, him ye will receive."
b) Moses had written. Although Moses had written that there would come a prophet like to him that would speak in the Name of Yahweh, they did not hearken unto His voice in
(Deu 18:15), "The LORD thy God will raise up unto thee a Prophet from the midst of thee of thy brethren, like unto me; unto him ye shall hearken;" and (Deu 18-19), "And it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not hearken unto my words which he shall speak in my name, I will require it of him.".
c) Yet, the Lord Jesus didn't accuse them of sin. Because the words of the law, they had not kept judged them already (Jhn 5:46-47), "For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me; for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?" d) The fulfillment of the law. Those who have faith in the law of Moses should come to acknow- ledge that the Lord Jesus Christ was the fulfillment of the law.
e) The purpose of the law. Was to reveal the pattern of salvation that the Messiah would fulfill.
f) Faith in the precious blood. The Lord Jesus fulfilled every type and shadow of the law so that all who have faith in His blood might received remission of sins.
g) Now that faith is come, we are no longer need to return to the ordinances of the law that poin- ted to the day of salvation by faith & obedience to gospel (Gal 3:23), "But before faith came, we were kept under the law, shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed."
III. CONCLUSION: The Lord Jesus Christ challenged Pharisees' traditions regarding the Sabbath day, not because He desired to abolish, but in order to reveal the true purpose of the Sabbath in giving honor and glory to God. By their traditions, they had made the Sabbath day burdensome unto mankind & grievous unto God. Indeed, the Lord Jesus is the fulfillment of the law that we should not judge one unto another in regard to days, times, and months, and years, because we have been delivered from the oldness of the letter that we might serve Him in the newness of the Spirit, Rom 7:6, "But now we are delivered from the law, that being dead wherein we were held; that we should serve in newness of spirit, and not in the oldness of the letter." In Gal 4:10-11, "Ye observe days, and months, and times, and years. I am afraid of you, lest I have bestowed upon you labour in vain."
IV. PRAYER: Gracious Lord God Almighty, in the glorious Name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, we plead for your promise to Prophet Isaiah, "Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance even God with a recompense; he will come and save you. Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, & the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped. Then shall the lame man leap as a hart, & the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert," In the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ we pray, Amen.
PRAISE THE LORD GOD ALMIGHTY - TO GOD BE ALL THE GLORY