The Theology of Jesus

No, don’t expect a full-fledged, systematic, theological treatise. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to find anything close to that in the entire Bible. Instead, listen carefully to Jesus as he comments on his relationship with the Father. Without using the words “deity”, “divine”, or “triune” Jesus opens wider the curtain of his being for us to see.

John 5:30-47

• Jesus is not independent of the Father (v. 30). Unlike the Greek gods, Jesus is not another god in a pantheon.
• Jesus advances his works as evidence that he has been sent by God (v.36).
• Jesus sets forth the Father’s witness (v.37). Is Jesus recalling the voice from heaven on the day of his baptism?
• Jesus rebukes the Jews for not having heard God’s voice nor seen His shape and yet not believing the one whom the Father has sent (v. 38).
• Jesus tells them to search the scriptures and they will learn about him (v. 39).
• Free will? Oh, yes. They WILL not come to Jesus and have life (v. 40).
• But is it not because they have not the love of God in them (v. 41)? Is their rejection of Jesus not because their sin is so great that the CANNOT believe (v. 44)?
• Again, Jesus points the Jews to the scriptures which speak of him (v. 45-47).
• Faith is a gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9); and they didn’t have it.

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“Rejected”

In Judea again, Jesus demonstrates his miraculous power by healing the crippled man at the pool of Bethesda. Although the miracle could not be denied, Jesus was rejected because the healing was on a sabbath day. In today’s reading we learn the discussion that followed…

John 5:16-29

• Jesus said, “My Father is working until now; and I work.” (v. 17)
• The Jews who wanted to kill Jesus for healing on the sabbath are even more outraged at this claim to be equal with God (v. 18). Those who deny the deity of Christ, take note.
• If the Jews were mistaken in their conclusions, Jesus missed the perfect opportunity to correct them and to deny any claims of deity. Instead he went on to elaborate on his relationship with his divine Father (v. 19-23).
• Jesus claims the power to raise the dead and the right to judge all men (v.21-22).
• Jesus demands worship from men (v. 23).
• Jesus pronounces judgment on all who reject him by pronouncing eternal salvation on all who accept him (v. 24).
• Jesus, having spoken about eternal life (v. 24), speaks about a physical resurrection of the body (v. 25, 28-29).
• Jesus claims to have the divine power of life (v. 26), power over spiritual and physical life.

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38 Years Is A Long Time

A lot can happen in 38 years. But for the man at the pool of Bethesda nothing happened to help him walk until the day that Jesus passed by.

John 5:1-15

Introduction:

We are not unaware of the controversy over the precise text of this chapter. Codex Sinaiticus (online here) is supposed to be the only ancient copy of the entire Bible in Greek. But did you know that this old copy omits John 5:4; John 8:1-14; Matthew 16:2-3; Romans 16:24 and hundreds of other words and phrases which can be found in the Alexandrian text? If you want to learn more about the issues, the Dean Burgon Society has books and pamphlets on the subject of textual criticism. Without apology, we prefer the Textus Receptus.

• We don’t know how old the man was; but we do know that he’d been unable to walk for 38 years (v. 5). And Jesus knew it, too.
• Asked whether he’d like to be healed, instead of shouting “Yes” the man began to make excuses for why he continued to be unable to walk (v. 7). (Note: leave the angel verse out, v. 4, and try to explain the man’s excuse.)
• Jesus went well past the excuses and the angel when He said, “Rise, take up your bed, and walk.” (v. 8).
• And the man did just that! I can imagine he did more than walk quietly, even though it was a sabbath day (v. 9).
• The “religion police”, the Jews, confronted this walking miracle with his violation of their rules (v. 10).
• Although the man didn’t have Jesus’ name, he later learned who Jesus was when the two met again in the temple and Jesus told him, “Sin no more.” (v. 14).
• With this newly acquired information, the man found those who had asked, and told them that Jesus had made him whole (v. 15). I doubt that he did this to get Jesus in trouble, but rather to give Jesus credit for the miracle.

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Questions About Feasting And Fasting

Some days you can’t win. Jesus was having one of those days when he was maligned for eating with people he shouldn’t have, and for eating at times he shouldn’t have.

Mark 2:13-22; Matthew 9:9-17; Luke 5:27-39

To Eat Or Not To Eat.

• Should Jesus eat with tax collectors and sinners?
• Should Jesus fast religiously?

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