John 5:24-27 -- 24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, the one who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. 25 Truly, truly, I say to you, a time is coming and even now has arrived, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
Jesus has quite a lot to say in this chapter and he keeps pouring it out to the religious authorities and all others around. He has said a great many things that flipped these religious leaders on their heads, but now, in verse twenty-four, we hear Him say, "the one who hears MY word".
Let's break this down from the religious authority's perspective. Here is a list of seven things Jesus has done/said that vehemently flew in the face of the religious establishment.
1. Jesus tells a man to carry his pallet. To authorities this was inciting breaking Sabbath law.
2. Jesus says God is His Father. To authorities he'd claimed to be of the same level of God.
3. Jesus says He does what the Father does. The Father loves and shows Him all He does.
4. Jesus says He has power to raise the dead just as God the Father does.
5. Jesus says the Father judges no one because all authority to judge has been given to Him.
6. Jesus says whoever doesn't honor Him does not honor God the Father.
7. Jesus says the one who hears HIS WORD. He has now completely elevated Himself above man and placed His Word on the same level of God the Father's.
That's a lot of things Jesus said!
Now, stop, take a deep breath, and let all this soak in.
Beloved, this is our Jesus. This is what He had to say and what He had to say was completely upside down to man's religious structure, traditions, laws and understanding.
So, Jesus was either God the Son, here in the flesh, or he was a stark raving mad lunatic who did miracles. As we've seen repeatedly, Jesus brings confrontation. You either believe Him or you don't. You either think He is a mad man or the Son of God, King of Kings, Lord of Lords, The Word, The Way, The Truth, The Life. He doesn't leave any room for fence sitting.
After hearing His words here in John chapter five the only way you can sit on the fence is to willfully ignore parts of what He says and does. You must work hard to tune your selective hearing to get all the way to, Jesus is a nice guy. Jesus was a teacher of love. Jesus had some nice things to say.
Christian, can you see that Jesus is FAR more than just love, healing, and payment for your sins?!? You cannot sit on a fence with one foot in Jesus' love, healing, grace only, and the other foot in the world.
James 4:4 -- You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility toward God? Therefore whoever wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
Matthew 7:13-14 -- “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it. 14 For the gate is narrow and the way is constricted that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Revelation 3:15-16 -- ‘I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot; I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth.
I know it's a lot to chew on, but this is where the journey went today with the Lord. I pray you would have the courage to confront these things in your life or to talk to a Christian brother or sister you know is rooted in the Word about it. Also, don't take my word on any of it, be the Berean, get in your Bible and see for yourself!
You are loved. You are prayed over. You are not alone.
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