Jesus in John 5

John chapter 5 and Nathan will begin reading of verse 1. Sometimes later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for 1 of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the sheep gate of Paul. Which in aramaic is called Bethesda, and which is surrounded by 5 covered colonnades. Here, a great number of disabled people used to lie, the blind, the lame, the paralyzed.

1 who was there had been an invalid for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him. Do you want to get well? Sir, the invalid replied. I have no no 1 to help me get into the pool.

When the water is stirred, While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me. Then, Jesus said to him, get up. Pick up your mat and walk. At once the man was cured. He picked up his mat and walked, the day in which this took place was a sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed.

It is the Sabbath. The law forbids you to carry your mat. But he replied, the man who made me well said to me, pick up your mat and walk So they asked him. Who is this fellow who told you to pick up and walk? The man who was healed had no idea who it was.

For Jesus had slipped away into the crowd that was there. Later, Jesus found him at the temple and said to him, see, you are well again. Stopped sinning or something worse may happen to you. The man went away and told Jewish leaders that it was Jesus who had made him well. So because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him.

In his defense, Jesus said to them, my father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working. For this reason, they tried all the more to kill him. Not only was he breaking the sabbath, but he was even calling god his own father making himself equal with god. Jesus gave them this answer. Very truly, I tell you.

The son can do nothing by himself. He can't do only what he sees his father doing because whatever the father does, the son also does, For the father loves the son and shows him all he does, yes, and he will show him even greater works than these so that you will be amazed. 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. Moreover, the father judges no 1, but has entrusted all judgment to the son that all may honor the son just as they honor the father. Whoever does not honor the son, does not honor the father who sent him.

Very truly, I tell you. Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged, but is crossed over from death. To life. Very truly, I tell you. A time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the son I've got, and those who hear will live.

For as the father has life in himself, so he is granted the son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to judge because he is the son of man. Do not be amazed at this. For a time is coming when all who are in the their graves will hear his voice and come out. Those who have done what is good, will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.

By myself, I can do nothing I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just for I seek not to please myself, but him who sent me. If I testify about myself, my testimony is not true. There is another who testifies in my favor, and I know his testimony about me is true. You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth, not that I accept human testimony. But I mention it that you may be saved.

John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the father has given me to finish, the very works that I am doing, testify that the father has sent me. And the father who sent me has himself testified concerning me. You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you for you do not believe the 1 he sent.

You study the scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life. I do not accept glory from human beings, but I know you. I know that you do not have the love of god in your hearts. I have come in my father's name, and you do not accept me.

But if someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe since you accept glory from 1 another, but do not seek the glory that comes from the only god? But do not think I will accuse you before the father. Your accuser is Moses on whom your hopes are set. If you believed Moses, you would believe me.

For he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say? Let me start with a quote. It's a quote that is used so often that it's sort of it's sort of hard for speakers to use quotes that everybody else uses. But if you're a Christian speaker, you've got to you've got to use this quote at least 19 times in your life because it is just so good And, if you're a university student and you go to Christian meetings, you would have definitely heard this.

But it is really good, and I want to read it because it really helps us understand just the dynamite that's going on here in in John 5. It's from c s Lewis. C s Lewis is highly quotable. I think more people quote him than than have read him. Because they just sort of nick it from other people.

But this is a really great quote, and I have read it. So let me let me read it. He says this. People often say, I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher. But I don't accept accept his claim to be god.

That is the 1 thing we must not say says Lewis. A man who is merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic on the level of a man who says that he's a poached egg or either the devil of hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was and is the son of god, or else he's a madman or something worse.

You can shut him up for a fool. You can spit at him and kill him as a demon. Or you can fall at his feet and call him lord and god. But let us not come up with any patronizing nonsense about him being a good human teacher. That has not been left open to us.

And that's absolutely true when you read John 5. We've just read it. You can't just say he's a good teacher, but he, but he's not god. He cannot be good. If he's claiming to be god which he is here.

Now we saw last week, a number of things, 3 big things. We looked at the background to this whole discussion of who he's saying he is, which is the healing that first part, those first 16 verses, the healing of this man. He'd been 38 years unable to walk, probably the whole of his life, and then, Jesus comes and heals him. This is demonstration of the power of Jesus at his word, but he healed him on the Sabbath day, which to the religious bods at the time was like a blasphemy because the man had picked up his mat and walked. And then you find Jesus making claims from that miracle, you find Jesus making claims.

They're saying to Jesus, you are wrong to have healed him on the Sabbath day, And you were wrong to have made him pick up his mat and walk because that's work working and breaking what they saw as the Sabbath law. And so then Jesus makes these claims. That was the second thing we were looking at. Look at the claim in verse 17 of chapter 5. In his defense, Jesus said to them, my father, now just think about this claim.

My father is always at work to this very day. So god works on the Sabbath day. Yeah? And I too am working. Now we saw last week.

That's just an extraordinary claim. He's putting himself on level with god. He's saying that god works on the Sabbath day, and I work on the Sabbath day. Now you can see that that was a claim because it looked at verse 18. For this reason, they tried all the more to kill him, not only was he breaking the Sabbath in their mind, but he was even calling god his own father making himself equal with god.

So there's the claim of Jesus. He is equal with god. That was the claim. And then we saw Jesus clarifies the claim in his his whole sort of argument, and there were big things that went on. It's quite important stuff this, actually, if you're a Christian.

So I do recommend you listen to the talk. But we saw that Jesus was talking about this father son relationship. And it's a very important relationship to understand just who Jesus is and actually who god is. Jesus says that he is not independent of the father, so he's not some independent little god. Look at verse 19.

Jesus gave them this answer. Very truly, I tell you, the son can do nothing by himself He can only do what he sees his father doing because whatever the father does, the son does. He's not independent of god, He can only do what god shows him, but he can do everything god does. Do you see the claim there? He's claiming to be god.

Whatever god does, he can do, but he's not an independent god in the sense that he can do it without god showing him. So we were looking at that last week. The second thing you see is that's that the sun's revelation and this verse has blown me away. The son's revelation, from the father is from love. Look at verse 20.

For the father loves a son and shows him all he does, Yes, he will show him even greater works than these so that you will be amazed. So everything the father does is out of love. Everything the father shows the son, the father, the son does, and he everything the father shows the son is all out of love. Everything Jesus has ever done is marked by the by the love of the father, everything. So when he told people off, that was the love of the father.

When he healed people, that was the love of the father. When he pronounced the judgment on people, that is the love of the father. Everything he is the love of the father. We saw that. The third thing we saw is that the son judges the world and gives life.

Look at verse 22. Moreover, the father judges no 1, but has entrusted all judgment to the sun, all judgment to the sun, and then you talk about, we we read about him giving life to those who believe in him. So they're the claims. He is claiming not to be independent from god but there's this father son relationship, but nevertheless to do everything god does. Father works, he works.

They're massive claims. You can't just say he's a good moral teacher, but he didn't claim to be god. Lewis is saying, no, no, you've gotta get this right. He's either who he is or he's nuts or a demon. That's who he is.

Now, why this long sustained argument that we were looking at last week? Why because of verse 23, just look at verse 23, that all may honor the son, that's Jesus, just as they honor the father. Whoever does not honor the son does not honor the father who sent him. Literally everything turns on this. Everything in the whole of history is down to this response to these to Jesus.

If you honor Jesus, You honor the father. Now, those of the you are are at school or college or university, and those that did do that may remember that your lecturers always tell you to read the question when you're in the exam. They they they they you a good a good lecture, a good teacher will tell you that. Slow down. Make sure you under stand the question before you start writing an answer because there's so many people write an answer and it's got nothing to do with the question.

So make sure you understand the question and answer the question that is on the paper, not 1 you would rather answer. Yeah? I've only I think I've only ever done 1 exam in my life, and I passed. I don't know how because I do knew nothing about the subject. But don't listen to me.

Listen to the teachers. Answer the question. When you are ushered into the awesome presence of the living god. I mean, you're in his presence, but when you realize on judgment day, you're in his presence. There is 1 question.

1 question and it will decide your fate, your future, and you need to answer it. What did you do with the son of god? Did you honor the son? Well, I used to go to church. Answer the question.

Did you honor the sun? What did you do? Well, I didn't know when any harm answer the question. Well, I'm quite a good person and I'm better than a lot of people. The question Did you honor the well, I'm a good student.

You know, I was I gave some money away. I was quite religious. Answer the question. Have you honored the sun? Have you wanted the sun not just in words?

Have you wanted the sun not just with lips? Have you honored the sun by acknowledging him, embracing him for who he is, seriously listening to him, when he speaks because he has the words of eternal life. Have you honored the son by submitting to him by changing your life? By actually saying there are things in my life I'm gonna stop doing because they dishonor the sun, and I'm going to do this because that honors the sun. Have you on it?

That's the question that you will be made to answer. Now, okay. So that's some of the stuff that we were looking at last week that, his claims But here's where I want to go on in, John 5, is, what are the witnesses to these claims? Why should I believe these claims? And they're dealt with in this passage, and I think really helpfully.

So back to the text, look at verse 18, because I think this is the key sort of text that everything's hanging on. For this reason, the Jews or the religious people, tried all the harder to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath. So these religious people thought they were standing for god, wanted to kill him because of verses 1 to 16, his healing of this man on the Sabbath. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling god, his own father, making himself equal with god.

And then you have this whole argument going on. But there's this little phrase I want you to get. It's called ma it says making himself making himself equal with god. Is Jesus making himself Is Jesus doing this on his own authority? Is Jesus the 1 who's making himself?

Because that actually is the sin of Adam and Eve if you go back into the first book of the Bible. They wanted to be made like god. Do you remember that sin? Or if that's the story? So is Jesus doing the sin of Adam?

Is he making himself with God? In other words, is it only his is it only him who's giving him self authority? Self testimony is just not enough in this in this area. So in fact, Jesus says it himself, look at verse 31. He says, if I testify about myself, my testimony is not true.

So if it's just Jesus making himself equal with God, if it's just Jesus' test minute, even he, even Jesus says That's not good enough. So let let's try and get what's going on here. It must be god's testimony, or the sun cannot be the sun. So let's say Paul, who was leading the meeting, says, yeah, Pete's Pete's my dad. Yeah?

I all what I've got is he said, well, no, you're not. You idiot? Yeah, yeah, I I'm not your dad, you know. If Kyle says, Yeah, Pete's my dad. Well, he is, because he is.

I am, rather. Yeah. So it's up to the it's up to the father to say, isn't it? The father, you know, yeah, he's mine. He's not mine.

That's the sort of thing that's that's going on going on here. It's no good just someone saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, pizza my dad, pizza my dad, pizza my dad, pizza my dad, pizza my dad, or god's you know, I'm the son of god. I'm the son of god. It's really got to be the if a person can't just decide to say, yeah, I'm gonna judge the whole world. Yeah?

Yeah. Well, give us some evidence that what do you mean? Give us, I'm I'm giving you testimony. I've decided that I would judge the whole world. I decided that I am the son of god.

I decided that I am the resurrection and the life. I've decided that actually if you don't honor me, you don't honor god. Well, sorry. Who are you to do that? And even Jesus in verse 31 said, that's ridiculous.

I can't just have my own testimony here. It's not me making myself as you claim. The burden of evidence has gotta be much more than just self attestation. Much more. Man turns up here.

Bloke comes in the door, and he says, hello, I'm the son of god. Yeah. Most of us would think, okay, another loony. There's quite a lot of loonies in here, but there's, you know, that's another bloke. He must have escaped from the mental home or something like that.

It is not reasonable. Most of us wouldn't say, oh. 0, hello. Oh, I better worship you. I better honor you.

And then when I honor you, I honor god. Most of us, I don't think any of us would do that, would we? If someone makes a claim like that. So the problem here is How do we know the claims that Jesus is making are true? How do we know he's not a mad man?

How do we know that he's not a demon? Man comes in and he says, I'm sent from God. He says, I want you to get the problem here. Look, let's get the man comes in and he says, I'm sent from god. I'm the son of god.

Now, if he is the son of god, he's gonna say that, isn't he? Yeah? If he's mad, he's going to say that. Did you see the dilemma? If he is the son of god, he'll say I'm the son of god.

Fair enough. If he's mad, and thinks he's the son of god, he'll say he's the son of god. He says, you see the dilemma. That's the dilemma that's going on here. So this is where it's helpful.

Because in the Jewish mind in this first century, there had to be cooperation. You couldn't a man couldn't just say something. There had to be all kinds of evidences, and Jesus recognizes the wisdom in that. He recognizes that the massive claims that he is making, which are massive because your eternity depends on him needs some testimonies, and so he gives them. So let's have a look at The first testimony is the testimony of John the Baptist.

John the Baptist came before Jesus. John the Baptist pointed to Jesus and said, behold the lamb of god that takes away the sin of the world. John the Baptist said when people said, are you the Messiah? He said, don't look at me I'm not the Messiah. I'm not even worthy to, you know, take the sandals off the Messiah's feet.

I'm not the Messiah. He's the he's the Messiah. He's the promised 1 of god. He's the lamb of god. Now John had already done this in his book in in chapters 1 and 2 and so forth.

John the Baptist. Look at verse 33. You have sent to John, and he has testified to the truth. This is the testimony of John. It's not for the sake of Jesus.

It's for the sake of us that we may be saved. So here is John. Look at verse 35. John was a lamp that burned and gave light, and you chose for a time to enjoy his light. In other words, You know when you looked at John that it's undisputed that he was a man of integrity.

He was spiritually sensitive You believe that. He was a powerful man of God. You believe that, and he is claiming that Jesus is the son of god come down from heaven? He's saying that. Now, every 1 of you agreed that Jesus was a prophet from god speaking on behalf of god but was pointing to Jesus.

Now Why do you choose to sit in darkness when there was light like that? That's the argument that's going on here. Now there's bigger testimonies as we're gonna see than John, but nevertheless, John is that is that testimony. I think we can say this sort of thing today. It staggers me when you get, you know, the atheistic comic comics sort of blasting out, about their atheism, Ricky Jervais and all of that sort of stuff.

Richard Dorkings, and, you know, those that that sort of crowd of people that seem to work together. Your your Brian Coxes, all of those sort of people where they just dismiss the whole history of people that claim to be Christians in the whole scientific world in the in in all kinds of areas. And they dismiss it as if there's never been anyone with any reason or any sensibility who's been a Christian. The way they talk is that you would think that there was no 1 with any brain or any education or any intelligence of the Christian. They're just talk so so proudly and without any humility.

They never give way on that. They are so utterly arrogant. And I think we need to say that there are loads and loads of people who are not gullible, who are not even very religious who are not foolish people who follow any whim that seriously believe and based their life, their science, their work on the fact that Jesus is god. And it's that star argument from John the Baptist. It's interesting, isn't it?

You go to most universities the biggest society on campus usually is the Christian union. So why do we just dismiss Christianity? You can go to Oxford. You can go to Cambridge. You can go to these great universities.

You can go to Durham. The biggest societies on campus are the Christian unions. Now, That doesn't prove that it's right, but just to dismiss it that everybody's unintelligent and utterly foolish that follows Christ as divine is just there's just no humility in that. So just have a look. Go through history.

You can go through hospitals that were created and designed by Christians, invented by Christians, universities, because of because people believe that Jesus was divine. I mean, the funny thing is you can go to if you go to Cambridge or Oxford, everything's called Jesus or Christ or Magdalen or they they say it maudlin because they're posh and a bit thick. And, you you know, you go to Cambridge and there's Adam and Eve Street in Jesus, you know, field and all of that. Everything is Bible. It's just extraordinary Trinity Road, Trinity College.

This goes on and on and on. All set up by people that believe that Jesus was divine. So there's witnesses. It it doesn't necessarily prove you need more than that, but don't just dismiss it as these were dismissing John the Baptist. You believed he was a man of integrity, a man of god you believed he was a prophet from god, well, then why wouldn't you believe his testimony about me?

Because he pointed to me. Trade unions, started by Christian people that believe that Jesus was divine. You know, there's lots of stuff in your working life that has made your working life good because of Lord shaftesbury, who was a who believed utterly that Jesus was divine. Lots of laws in everyday life that make your life easier and make it so that your employers pay you properly and you have proper rest and have come from these men. So just to dismiss it like Richard Dorkins is the height of arrogance.

So that's 1 thing. That's the first thing. Look at John the Baptist. Why why wouldn't you listen to his light? But Jesus recognizes you need more than that, so there's a second testimony and he says, there's the testimony of my works.

Look at verse 36. I have testimony way easier than that of John. For the very work that the father has given me to finish and which I am doing testifies that the father has sent me. There's an interesting story about, a a famous artist called John Dor, nineteenth century artist called John Dor, and he was traveling around, Europe, and he lost his passport. And he comes to a border.

He was well known in those days. He comes to a border. The, the immigration official at the border says, where's your passport? He says, oh, I'm really sorry. I've lost all my identification papers.

I don't know where they are. I've lost my passport. But I am the famous artist Paul Dor. And the god said, no, you're not? Why would I believe you?

You're just making it up. You can't come in. And he said, no, no, no, I am the famous artist John Dor. And so the bloke said, okay? He went and pencil, and he got some paper.

He says prove it. Do your work. And he did this beautiful drawing, a sort of lightning sketch, and the blokes said, oh, okay. Yeah. You are.

You can come in. In other words, it's the works, isn't it? You know, I can say, look, I'm a I'm a, you know, I could say, you know, what? I'm Peketa. Actually, no, that's quite easy.

You know, we'll prove it. Do something. I can come in or someone can come in and say, I'm the son of god. Well, okay, do something then to show it. And Jesus says, yes, my works.

My works prove it. Jesus doesn't need a passport, you know, with country of origin, heaven, and, you know, father god, sort of on it. He does his works. He's just done it. Here's this chronic man, with who can't walk for 38 years, and Jesus heals him.

He's done the work. The signs are there. Look at the signs of Jesus. Go through John's gospel, and you'll see sign after sign after sign. He makes blind people see dumb people speak, deaf people hear, lame people walk, dead people come alive.

They were there. They were watching. They saw the evidence. There are eyewitnesses to these. The gospels are eyewitnesses.

They testify that Jesus is not just a good moral teacher. He can make dead people rise. He can stop a storm. You try and do that. It's extraordinary what he can do.

He can feed 5000 men plus women and children with a few baskets of, of, of, fish and bread. He could do these things. People saw them. They they weren't duped by him. They saw them.

He could die on a cross and rise again to life. You try and do that. That's what you wanna do if someone comes in and says they're the son of god. Great. Give us evidence.

We kill you, and then you come to life again. Yeah? And if he doesn't, he isn't, and if he does, he is. So it's very simple, isn't it? Jesus was killed by professional executioners, and the history tells us he rose again.

But not only those works, not only those miraculous works, the lives he touched. The people he changed go through John's gospel and you'll see how he changed people always for the better. Poor people, rejected people, people that no 1 cared about, he cared for, touched their lives, and their lives were changed. He has encounters with people, which was like having encounters with the living god. People were born again, made new.

Turn from religion to know god as a father. If that's not enough, look at his words. Just read the words of Jesus. They're so extraordinary his words that everybody wants to claim them and have something of them. Miss interpreter may be, but his words are so powerful today.

They're in our language all over the place. So there is testimony of his works. Is there anyone else like this? Test them. Put them to the test.

And if you put the words of Jesus to the test test and the miracles of Jesus to the test and the encounters that he's had with people to the test, you'll see they say. That he is who he claims to be because no 1 else could do that. So there's the testimony of John the Baptist, who points, man of integrity, who points. There's testimony of people that you know Christians that you know Christians in history that say, no, we really believe it's worth us investigating the next stage which is his work. Look at his works.

It's very interesting. Actually, when you read those sort of famous atheists, those, you know, doorkins and all of that sort of stuff, They talk so arrogantly, really genuinely, so arrogantly, but they never talk about the Bible, really. They never really talk about Jesus. They avoid him. They they just sort of make a passing comment, but they don't look into his works, not really, or his words.

Very interesting. But then there's a third 1. There's a third testimony. And that is the scriptures. The Bible itself testifies to Jesus.

And to the Jews, they should have heard it. Look at verse 37. And the father who sent me has himself testified concerning me You have never heard his voice or seen his form nor does his word dwell in you For you do not believe the 1 he sent, you diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life, these scriptures that testify about me. These are the scriptures that testify about me. And then look at verse 45, But do not think I will accuse you before the father.

Your accuser is Moses. Now Moses is the 1 that wrote first 5 books of the Bible and they saw us the Word of God. Your accuser is Moses on whom your hopes are set If you believed Moses, in other words, the scriptures, you would have believed me for he wrote about me. But since you do not believe what he wrote, how are you going to believe what I say? Now in that, you can see that he's claiming that the scriptures and that will be the old testament part of the Bible that all of that are testifying that Jesus is who he claims to be.

That's what he's saying. Now, again, that's a problem with modern atheists because they don't know the Bible. They don't know the scriptures. But the amazing thing is about this book, And I have to say the more I read it, the more I see. Actually, sometimes I read passages that I've read You know, many, many times, and I think, was I blind?

Is there something wrong with me? I've been reading that, and I've never seen that before. You are constantly seeing in the scriptures, the lord Jesus Christ. You go back to a book like leviticus, It's all full of weird, strange laws. But when you understand it properly, you suddenly see Jesus all over the place.

Oh, that's about Jesus. Oh, that's a description of Jesus. Oh, the lamb of god that takes away the sin of the world. Well, there's a lamb being sacrificed. Oh, I understand a bit more about Jesus.

You constantly read through in the, our little magazine called Cambrey Pye that we give out, which you can take on the rack. Out there. I've been showing about the, what people talk about, the 7 great stories, the 7 great plots that every story sort of fits into. And the argument from the man that sort of discovered this is that there are these plots are sort of written in, you know, not the sort of prewritten. And when when you look into the Bible, all of those plots apply to Jesus, and you see Jesus constantly.

If only we would be humble enough to read the scriptures you would start to see Jesus. If you're diligently studying the scriptures to find fault in it, You'll probably find faults because that's what happens if you're looking for something. I mean, there aren't faults, but but that's what you'll find. If you're diligently studying the scriptures like they were to find rules that they could try to obey to make them sales right with god and more religious, then you'll find rules. You'll find that.

But if you read the scriptures properly, he won't find faults, and you'll see Jesus. It's an extraordinary book breathtaking. So the scriptures promises after promise that 1 would come, that 1 would do these miracles, that 1 would die on across that 1 would rise again, that promise after promise you see in the scriptures. It's extraordinary. I mean, you go back to Psalm 22, And before crucifixion was even invented, Psalm 22 was written, and it talks about him being pierced in the hands and in the feet.

And being stretched out. It's about the cross. And Jesus quotes that when he's on the cross. So all the scriptures are testifying to him. So John the Baptist, those people that are are diligent who are are good people who are pointing.

But more than that, look at the works of Jesus. But even more than that, look at the scriptures and the promises of all of that. Now the response then, let me finish. It's a heavy chapter, and I realize it's it's tough stuff for a Sunday evening, but, you know, you need this sometimes. Look at the response.

See why they reject him. We'll start with the last 1. Verse 44. Look. How can you believe if you accept praise from 1 another yet make no effort to obtain the praise that comes from the only god.

That's the reason they reject him because they want praise It's all about them. I mean, I don't know whether you've ever watched interviews with Richard Dogging. He's a very irritating little self you know, he's right up his own whatever it is he's up. Or how that happened. I don't know, but I suppose it evolved.

But, you know, he's he's he's it's all of it's, you know, if you if you it's sort of Ricky Juvaces like that as well. You slot you you try to attack these people. You try to, you know, say something, and they really get upset. They're quite angry people. Why?

Because it's all about them. It's all about their praise. It's all about what they do. It's all about them writing popular books. It's all about their fame.

And that's what happens. If that's what your life is about, centered on you and your praise, then you won't understand that Jesus is king, because you wanna be king. That's the first rejection? Here's here's the next rejection. You get it in verse 39.

You diligently study the scriptures because you think that by them, you possess eternal life. These are the scriptures that testify about me. And then verse 14 is devastating. Yet you refuse to come to me to have life. That's what it's all about.

So I was to have talked to a woman this morning, and, my point in this morning service was because it was thanksgiving for all these little children that you look at, you know, it's very hard to look at a children's, a child's hand, newborn baby's hand. It's very hard to say Oh, look at that. That's a fortuitous occurrence of atoms. It's very hard to say about a newborn baby's hand that that was just an accident, a random collection of atoms. It's an accident.

It's meaningless. It wasn't for a purpose, and actually all die and decay, and there's no point in it. It's very actually hard to say that about a newborn baby. That was my point. And I was talking to this person afterwards, and I was saying, yeah, atheism, it's it's the faith you have to have to be an atheist is extraordinary because you have to deny all the evidence as far as I can see.

And her argument is, oh, no. You don't get atheists. The thing about atheists is, and this is what she said. The thing about atheists is that they do not want to have anybody over them telling them what to do and that's how they see god. And I said that's exactly right.

You refused to come to me to have life. That's exactly right. You refuse to come to me to have life because you're about your praise, and you don't want a king over you. And so you refuse, and that's what they did. Remember the question that you will be asked answer the question.

Do you honor the sun? Well, you dishonor him by refusing to come to him for life. Do you honor the son? Cause if you don't, you don't honor the father. Fore god, we thank you for the evidence that Jesus gives for his magnificent claims.

And we pray please that you would help us not to patronize him by just making him a good person. But that we would bow our knee and honor him by making him our king and lord. We pray this in Jesus' name. Oh,