What a sermon he had for them!

In Galilee Jesus had not yet told of Himself.
He rathered that it came about gradually to
those who would hear him.

But in Jerusalem (where the nations decisions
were made) His crowds would be smaller and
less often. Yet He would revealed his identity
and mission completely. He was still rejected.

At that time the Jews couldn't do anything.
They would only rage and wait for an opport-
ity to pass the death sentence on Him.

Jesus found it useless to stay and returned to
Galilee knowing well what the end would be.
He would continue His work but would be
aware that at any time they would come to
take Him and condemn Him to death.

Not all would share the resurrection of Life.
Their would also be a resurrection of judgment.
Those who did evil would have their part in the
resurrection of damnation.

"Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth
my word, and believeth on him that sent me,
hath everlasting life, and shall not come into
condemnation; but is passed from death unto life.
Verily, verily, I say unto you, The hour is coming,
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of
the Son of God: and they that hear shall live."
John 5:24-25

" Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the
which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
And shall come forth; they that have done good,
unto the resurrection of life; and they that have
done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation."
John 5:28-29

Jesus also gave them (Jewish leaders) a revelation
of the truth of the resurrection of the dead.

The Old Testament only hinted of it, but Jesus
was the one to bring the truth to light. The truth
of immortality and life beyond death and the
grave.

He didn't speak of the Christian's future as ones
of disembodied spirits; but that their bodies
should be raised from the graves and glorified.

They rejected Him, the one who came in His
Father's Name.

They became victims of every false Messiah that
came on the scene. A century later they accepted
a fanatic who destroyed the Jewish nation.

Some sixty false messiahs have appeared, each
in his own name. The most wicked and deceptive
of all will appear just before the days of the Great
Tribulation.

Jesus referred to him when he said, "I am come
in my Fathers name, and ye receive me not; if
another shall come in his own name, him ye will
receive" John 5:43

These men were intelligent about earthy things,
so why were they blinded about spiritual things?

Jesus asked them, "How can ye believe, which
receive honor one of another, and seek not the
honor that cometh from God only?"
John 5:44

Apparently their pride made them see a differ-
ent kind of Messiah. One that would relieve
them from the Romans and make them the
world power which would also make them great.
They wanted a Messiah who would defeat their
enemies.

This pride made it impossible for them to accept
such a Messiah as Jesus.

Through the witnesses just mentioned, God had
provided a way that these leaders could know
their true Messiah, the Son of God in whom they
would have eternal life.

Jesus accused them of not believing the witness
of God's Word. The Jews had been giving the
scriptures a superstitious reverance. They
counted the letters so why couldn't they believe
them.

The prophets had told all things about Him:
His birth in Bethlehem
His humanity
His divinity
His mission
His ministry

Man's duty to God: "That man should honor
the Son, even as they honor the Father. He
that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the
Father which sent him" (verse 23)

Jesus went further than just revealingHis
Messiahship because the Jews didn't expect
a 'divine' Messiah. He also revealed His
divinity. John 5:33-35
By John baring witness of Him
By His miracles verse 36
By the Father verses 37-38
By the Scriptures verses 39-47

The Godhead has personal distinctions.

"The Son can do nothing of himself, but what
he seeth the Father do. . . .For the Father
judgeth no man, but hath committed all
judgment unto the Son"
John 5:19,22

One does not act on their own, doing their own
thing. There is a unity in their actions as well as
in their natures; even though they are distinctly
three persons. The Father is not the Holy Spirit,
the Holy Spirit is not the Son and the Son is not
the Father. Three persons, One God, with one
purpose and actions. Three in One. Trinity.

So Jesus claimed to the Jewish leaders that He
does what the Father does, not His own will but
the will of the Father.

The Jewish

leaders were

set to instruct

Jesus

on the Sabbath Day, but He ended up instruct-
ing them. When they mentioned the Sabbath,
He said that He was copying His Father, this
"making himself equal with God."

This comment from Jesus struck them with
horror. As far as they were concerned He now
was not only quilty of sabbath-breaking, but
of blasphemy also. This crime was worthy of
death.

But Jesus, instead of backing off, only claimed
it all the louder. As the Son of God, He stood
in an unusual relationship with the Father.

They appear to have lost interest in the man
that had been healed.

The consequences of the man's testimony
was disasterous. The Jewish leaders were
not moved by Jesus' compassion or His
miraculous power. They were up in the
air to defend their legalism.

They began to persecute Jesus because He
did such things on the Sabbath Day.

Answering them, Jesus said, "My Father
worketh hitherto, and I work" (verse 17).

Here we see a strange circumstance. The man
told the Jewish authorities that Jesus had
healed him. This resulted in the Jews seeking
to kill Jesus. Did the man know this?

Maybe this was what Jesus had warned him
about. Maybe Jesus knew the man was afraid
of being charged with breaking the Sabbath so
he [the man] would want to put the attention
on Him [Jesus].

We do not hear of the man glorifying God or
any words of greatfulness for his healing.

There are people who think that if someone is
really healed, that that same thing can not ever
come back or they were not really healed in the
first place.

This scripture in John 5:14 disagrees with that
thinking. Not only can the original affliction
return but something worse can come to them.

We are in need of biblical teaching in order to
understand God's way of healing.

Later the man with the bed went to the temple.
It seemed that he had gone there to give thanks
to God.

While he was in the temple, Jesus saw him and
gave him a warning, "Behold, thou art made
whole; sin no more, lest a worse thing come
unto thee"
[John 5:14]

Where the crowd could hear, Jesus didn't say
anything to shame the man but found him and
reminded him of his sin. One that must have
been the reason for his affliction. He was to
forsake it.

In the Old Testament book of Jeremiah, a man
could be stoned for gathering up sticks on the
Sabbath. This was during the days that the
Israelites wandered in the wilderness.

But the reason was to protect them from a
life of unending work. It was a day to rest.

Now this man wished to carry his bed home.
He had been laying on it for 38 years. In no
way had he been over-working to break this law.
It may have been the only thing he owned,
and otherwise he would have to leave it behind.

So they continued to question him about the
man who told him to "take up his bed and
walk". But the man could not tell because
Jesus had left and gone away.

These men of religion had already suspected
that Jesus was the one involve with this man
who was carrying his bed.

They began to question him as to who it was
that told him to take up his bed and walk.

Notice that they didn't ask who had healed
him. They diliberately ignored the fact but
continued questioning him about carrying
his bed.

The breaking of their law was the only thing
they cared about. They believed that they
had a clear violation of the Law.

Speaking of the religious leaders in those
days, just as the inner life of any one who
professes a religion becomes dead, they want
to start sticking to petty rules.

The Sabbath was made for man, but these
Jews had turned it around until it seemed
that man was made for the Sabbath.

Their observance of the Sabbath had become
a custom with many silly and senseless
restrictions.

The mercy and judgment of the Mosaic Law
were by passed.

The people at the pool had failed to notice the
man's healing or they would have been all over
Jesus to heal them.

But the religious leaders were quick to notice.

They didn't notice the healing but was enraged
at the man carrying his bed on the Sabbath Day.
This was a clear violation of the Sabbath.

The man answered, "He that made me whole,
the same said unto me, Take up thy bed, and
walk."

They didn't seem interest in the healing nor
the sick and suffering, only their rules.

It is strange how this man got up and walked
and didn't attract the attention of the others.
There were many other sufferers around him.

They were looking so intently at the pool, as
they watched for the moving of the water;
that they hadn't notice the activity caused by
the man with Jesus receiving his healing.

They remind us of many today whose focus
is on physicians for remedies. [These are not
to be spoken against, doctors or medicines.
They do help and ease suffering. Jesus never
spoke against them.]

But even the physician will admit that there
are many diseases that medical science can
not help.

Some poor people move from one operation to
another and treatments one after another and
seem to be intent in trying to find a cure, that
they miss the 'Great Physician'.

It is noticable that Jesus didn't say anything
about the effectiveness of the pool, good or
bad. Jesus was never negative.

He spoke "Rise, take up thy bed and walk";
with such authority that the man obeyed with
out thinking. As he did, his weak bones and
muscles responded.

After 38 years lying on a cot, he suddenly
realized that he could walk.

In Jerusalem by the sheep market there was
a pool named Bethesda, which claimed to heal
if a person entered it when the water stirred.

It had 5 porches and many people laid there
waiting for a turn to get into the water.

Among the diseased was a man who had been
paralyzed for 38 years.

Jesus look on him with pity and
asked him, "Wilt thou be made
whole?"


The man answered by telling
Jesus his problem. Jesus
stopped him and told him,
"Rise, take up thy bed and walk".
The man responded and was immediately healed.

"and on the same day was the sabbath"
Read John 5:1-9

It has been over a year now of Jesus' ministry.

It was time for the Passover again.

We see He has been in Jerusalem for some
weeks now. And He has been closely watched.
Members of the Sanhedrin had reported His
works in Galilee, and it brought a strong
accusation upon Him:

He had kept company with sinners,
He claimed to be able to forgive sins,
He showed slackness in keeping the sabbath.
He was guilty of blasphemy (in their opinion).

Now they were soon to find things against
Him in Jerusalem.

Evangelizing Israel is the most immediate
and important job facing the church today.

After giving His instruction, Jesus sent them
out two by two, and He preached and taught
in Galilee.

He apparently didn't stay long in Galilee for
we see He went to Jerusalem early to be
there for the Passover and another feast
that preceded it.

Matthew 10:23 "But when they persecute you
in this city, flee ye into another; for verily I say
unto you, Ye shall not have gone over the cities
of Israel, till the Son of man be come"

This is an important verse because Jesus jumps
in time to the very end of the age, when the
messengers of the Kingdom would complete the
works of the first apostles.

After 66 A.D. the Gospel preached to Israel all
but ended when the Jewish-Roman wars started.
Israel would be scattered abroad for centuries.

As the ages come to the end, God would gather
them back to their land (did this May, 1948) but still in
unbelief. The task of bringing the message to
them again would have to be done quickly before
the coming of the Son of man.

It appears that these instructions that Jesus
gave to the apostles went further than their
immediate ministry.

Prophetically, it was projected into the future,
when many of their followers would give their
lives to it also.

One, it referred to the age of persecution during
the second and third centries when believers
were "hated of all men for my name's sake"
Matthew 10:22

They were to use wisdom, not to provoke
danger. If force were about to be used on
them, they were to leave and go to the
next town.

Even then, some were brought before
govenors or kings. When that happened
they were not to depend on their own
human wisdom, but that given to them
by the Holy Spirit.

Matthew 10:19-20
"But when they deliver you up, take no
thought how or what ye shall speak: for
it shall be given you in that same hour
what ye shall speak. For it is not ye that
speak, but the Spirit of your Father which
speaketh in you."

Jesus wanted the men to know that God
would provide for those working for Him
and He would bless those who gives and
supports His ministry.

Later when they returned, they were
so very blessed that they were carrying
a purse. So Jesus reminded them that
He had told them not to carry one but
that now He would allow it.

In Matthew 10:16 Jesus warns against
carelessness. They would be among
wolves "be ye therefore, wise as serpents,
and harmless as doves." They were to
use wisdom.

They were not to take money, clothes, or shoes.
Jesus wanted them to depend on Him. He told
them that the "workman was worthy of his meat."

They were going to bless people by healing them,
give them the good news of the kingdom, so they
were worthy to receive those things which were
necessary.

They were not beggars, those who took them in
would be blessed and rewarded. They were not
to move around but find out who in that city
was worthy to take them in.

They were to bless the house where they stayed,
if they were not received well, they were to leave
shaking the dust from their feet as a witness
against it.
Read Matthew 10:9-14

Now He instructs them to go to Israel only.
They are not to go to the cities of the Gentiles.
Matthew 10:5-6

They were to preach, saying, The kingdom
of heaven is at hand. Heal the sick, cleanse
the lepers, raise the dead, cast out devils:
freely they had received, freely they were
to give. Matthew 10:7-8

What a blessed commission he had for
the lost of the world.

Jesus was ordaining them for His ministry.

Matthew 10:2-4 "Now the names of the
twelve apostles are these;
The first, Simon, who is called Peter,
and Andrew his brother;
James the son of Zebedee,
and John his brother;
Philip, and Bartholomew;
Thomas, and Matthew the publican;
James the son of Alphaeus,
and Lebbaeus, whose surname was Thaddaeus;
Simon the Canaanite,
and Judas Iscariot, who also betrayed him."

This is how they are listed in Matthew when
Jesus called them. They didn't necessarily
go out in this order as many times they were
sent two by two.

These men came from lowly positions in life,
but He [Jesus] was giving them the work of
the 'christian church'.

They were to become great, but their greatness
was to come from Jesus only. It was Him they
were fit for this huge task.

They started out carnal and rude but through
Jesus they got rid of their ideas of a coming
earthly kingdom.

They saw all He did and heard all He said.
Many times He took them alone to teach them.
They took on His character to do the mission.

"And when he had called unto him his twelve
disciples, he gave them power against unclean
spirits, to cast them out, and to heal all manner
of sickness and all manner of disease."
Matthew 10:1

"And Jesus went about all the cities and
villages, teaching in their synagogues, and
preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and
healing every sickness and every disease
among the people.
But when he saw the multitudes, he was
moved with compassion on them, because
they fainted, and were scattered abroad,
as sheep having no shepherd."
Matthew 9:35-36

The multitudes were becoming great.
Wanting to hear Jesus' preaching. He saw
these crowds as the whole world and the
harvest was plenty.

It was time to send out the twelve on
their own because the day was coming where
He would be leaving them and by them going
out it would multiply the work with more being
accomplished.