True Authority - John 5:18-47
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What will be enough?
The Incident - The Speech - The Response
The Incident
John 5:5-6 - 5 Now a man was there who had been disabled for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and when he realized that the man had been disabled a long time already, he said to him, “Do you want to become well?”
Do you want to become well?
The Speech
Divine love
Authority
Resurrection
Eternal life
Truth
Judgment.
John 5:19 - “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.”
John 5:39-40 - 39 You study* (examine) the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me to have life.
Ethics of the Fathers (Pirqe Avot) - “He who has acquired the words of the law has acquired for himself the life of the world to come” - Pirqe Avot 2:8
“Great is the law for it gives to those who practice it life in this world and in the world to come.” - Pirqe Avot 6:7
John 5:44 - 44 How can you believe since you accept glory from one another but do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.
Strahan Coleman - When we divorce knowledge from it's source - the Spirit of life - it like everything else begins to die. It's colours fade and its light begins to dim. It's not that knowledge itself is all of a sudden wrong or incorrect, it's simply that it no longer carries the transformative power God intended it too.
While we cannot know God totally, we can know him accurately.
The Response
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Each Sunday we come together we offer an open invitation into the way of Jesus. An invitation to enter into sacred rhythms - to draw near to God through singing, giving, learning, and praying.
As a community that desires renewal in Des Moines as it is in Heaven, we recognize that we cannot offer what we ourselves do not have. We cannot lead where we ourselves have not been led; in turn, these questions aim at reflection. Reflecting on God’s word and making space for his leadership.
After watching or listening consider the following discussion questions as a large group or in groups of three to four:
What stood out from the teaching?
What does God’s choice to dwell among his people in the Exodus account tell us about God’s character?
How do we see God’s character on display (embodied) Jesus in John 2?
What changes because Jesus is the new temple (the new meeting place of heaven and earth)?
If we individually - as Jesus’ followers - and corporately - as Jesus’ church - are now the dwelling place of God, what does that mean for our relationships, homes, and industries? And what stands in the way?