John 5:17-29: “Jesus Begins To
Describe The Essence Of His Divine Nature To Some Jews Accusing Him Of Breaking
The Sabbath”
By
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In our last study we looked at verses 1-16 of chapter 5.
1.1.1. Jesus went to Jerusalem for
a feast and ended up at the Pool of Bethesda where a large number of crippled people
always gathered because of the legend that at certain times an angel would stir
the waters and the first ones into the pool would be healed of their
diseases. At this pool, we saw that
Jesus healed a crippled man who had a crippling illness for 38 years.
1.1.2. We observed many symbolisms
and principles concerning how the Lord works in our lives.
1.2.
In our study today, we are going to look at verses 17-29 of chapter 5.
1.2.1. In our last study, we saw
that the crippled man whom Jesus healed went immediately to the temple since he
now had been set free from illness and his sins, and made clean so that he
would finally not be forbidden to worship due to his illness. We saw also that Jesus had gone to the temple
in order to tell the crippled man who He was who had healed him, and also to
warn the man not to continue in his sinning unless a worse malady might happen
to him, an indication that his crippling illness of 38 years had been the cause
of his sin. However, at the temple the
man had come under criticism from the Jews because he had followed Jesus’
command to take up his bed and walk, and in carrying his bed had broken the
Sabbath Law of the Pharisees which defined how much and what types of work
activities were allowed on a Sabbath day (all of which went beyond the
commandment of God and His intentions for mankind). Now that Jesus was at the
1.2.2. We are going to look at this
second half of chapter 5 in two studies, and we will see that it could perhaps
be the most provocative section of scripture in our entire Bible, for Jesus
explains the essence of His nature and the things He does in terms that we as
people can and should understand.
1.2.3. Truly, we must say though
when we come to this second half of John chapter 5 that though we can scratch
the surface in understanding Jesus’ teaching concerning the essence of His
nature that we are far from understanding it in its fullness and with all of
its implications. Theologians have
debated the true nature of Jesus Christ in all of its aspects for 2,000 years
and they will continue to do so until He returns, and only then shall we be
able to grasp these truths in all of their fullness for at that time the
knowledge of the Lord will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah
11:9).
1.2.4. From www.bibleone.net
web page we can see that the student of the Word may acquire a suitable
grasp of the Trinity doctrine by “connecting the dots” of Scripture in a
separate study of the following five propositions :
1.2.4.1.There is one, and only one, God.
Deuteronomy 4:35, 39; 6:4; 32:39; 2 Samuel 7:22; Psalm 86:10;
Isaiah 43:10; 44:6-8; 46:9; John 5:44; 17:3; Romans 3:29, 30; 16:27; 1
Corinthians 8:4; Galatians 3:20; Ephesians 4:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:9; 1 Timothy
1:17; 2:5; James 2:19; 1 John 5:20, 21; Jude 25
1.2.4.2.The person of the Father is God.
John 6:27; Ephesians 4:6; Colossians 1:2, 3; 2 Peter 1:17
1.2.4.3.The person of the Son is God.
John 1:1, 14; 5:17; 8:58; 10:30; 20:28; Philippians 2:6;
Colossians 2:9; Titus 2:13; Hebrews 1:8; 2 Peter 1:1
1.2.4.4.The person of the Holy Spirit is God.
Genesis 1:2; John 14:26; Acts 5:3, 4; 13:2; 4:28; Romans 8:11;
Ephesians 4:30
1.2.4.5.The Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are distinct and simultaneously
distinguishable persons.
Matthew 28:19; Luke 3:22; John 15:26; 16:13-15; 2 Corinthians
13:14
1.2.5. The Wikpedia
online encyclopedia contains the following description of what is referred to
by Theologians as the “Hypostatic Union” in the nature of Jesus Christ:
In Christian
theology,
the hypostatic union (also known as the personal union and the mystical
union) is the dual nature of Jesus Christ as being simultaneously God and Man. What is considered
to be the orthodox doctrine of the hypostatic union, especially defined by the Council of Chalcedon (451), is opposed to the
doctrine that Jesus Christ has only one nature after His incarnation (monophysitism),
and it is opposed to Nestorianism, which posits a mixture of the two natures
but is considered to leave room for believing that Jesus Christ is two persons.
It further denies the doctrine of Apollinarianism,
which supposes that Jesus' deity simply occupied a vacant, mindless body.
Hypostatic union is a theological term used with
reference to the Incarnation to express the revealed
truth that in Christ
one person (ὑπόστασις, hypostatis) subsists
in two natures (φύσεις, physeis); the
divine and the human. Hypostasis means, literally, "that which
stands beneath"; as the basis or foundation. It thus came to be used by
the Greek
philosophers to denote reality as distinguished from mere appearance (Aristotle,
"Mund.", IV, 21). It occurs also in Saint
Paul's Epistles
(2 Corinthians 9:4, 11:17; Hebrews 1:3, 3:14), but not in the sense of a
person. Previous to the Council of Nicaea (325), the term hypostasis
was sometimes synonymous with ousia (οὐσία), and even St. Augustine (De Trin., V, 8) declared that he
saw no difference between them. The distinction was in fact brought about
gradually in the course of the controversies to which the Christological
heresies gave rise and was definitively established by the Council of Chalcedon (451), which declared that
in the Christ there are two natures; each retaining its own properties, and
together united in one subsistence and in one single person (εἰς ἓν πρόσωπον
καὶ μίαν
ὑπόστασιν, eis hen prosopon kai
mian hupostasin) (Denzinger, ed. Bannwart, 148). The two natures are not
joined in a moral or accidental union (Nestorius),
nor commingled (Eutyches),
but nevertheless they are substantially united. The precise nature of this
union is held to defy human comprehension, hence the alternative term
"mystical union."
1.2.6. The Two Opposing Natures Of Jesus Christ Are Seen In
Action In The Following Things That We See Jesus Doing In The New Testament :
|
GOD
He is worshiped (Matt. 2:2,11;
14:33). MAN He worshiped the Father (John 17). GOD He was called God (John 20:28; Heb.
1:8) MAN He was called man (Mark 15:39; John
19:5). GOD He was called Son of God (Mark 1:1) MAN He was called Son of Man (John
9:35-37) GOD He is prayed to (Acts 7:59). MAN He prayed to the Father (John 17). GOD He is sinless (1 Pet. 2:22; Heb.
4:15) MAN He was tempted (Matt. 4:1). GOD He knows all things (John 21:17). MAN He grew in wisdom (Luke 2:52). GOD He gives eternal life (John 10:28). MAN He died (Rom. 5:8). GOD All fullness of deity dwells in Him
(Col. 2:9). MAN Has a body of flesh and bones (Luke
24:39). |
1.2.7. So, in our study today, we are going to look at the
seven things that Jesus revealed about Himself in these verses that imply that
He has to be divine, the eternal Son of God from all eternity, the second
person of the Trinity:
1.2.7.1.A unique relationship
to God.
1.2.7.2.He cannot
act independently of the Father.
1.2.7.3.Equal
intelligence with the Father.
1.2.7.4.Sovereignty in all His actions.
1.2.7.5.Authority to judge all creatures.
1.2.7.6.Equal honor with the Father.
1.2.7.7.Life in Himself.
2.
VS 5:17-18 - “But He answered them, ‘My Father is
working until now, and I Myself am working’.
For this cause therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him,
because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own
Father, making Himself equal with God.”
– Jesus told the Jews on this day that
His Father was working until now and thus that He was working
2.1.
After
healing the crippled man who had been with a crippling illness for 38 years,
Jesus is once again finding Himself in trouble with the Jewish leaders in
2.2.
Isn’t it
sad here that these religious leaders in Israel are not at all thrilled that a
man who has been with a crippling illness for 38 years has been made completely
well? Instead of being thrilled and in
awe of how God has worked in this healing of the crippled man these religious
leaders are concerned that Jesus had broken their own Sabbath law by the
carrying of his bed at Jesus’ command after he had been healed. And, they are attacking Jesus for doing such
a wonderful deed on the Sabbath.
2.3.
Jesus
didn’t observe the Sabbath laws that the Pharisees had added to God’s Law
because to do so would have been to disobey God’s leading and will in His life
and not do wonderful works of healing on that day when people were gathered to
worship.
2.4.
The
Sabbath was not given to man for such a purpose as to keep a man who has been
healed from carrying his bed. It was
given so that men and women wouldn’t work seven days every week and never take
time to worship the Lord in community and spend time with their families.
2.5.
In the gospels we read of a few incidents in which Jesus was accused by
the Jewish leaders of breaking the Sabbath laws by healing on the Sabbath, and
Jesus made various arguments in His defense.
In one instance He stated that man was not made for the Sabbath but the
Sabbath for man. In another instance He
stated that any man among them whose donkey fell into a well on the Sabbath
would pull him out, and therefore why should it be wrong to heal a man and
remove him from his disease, pain, and discomfort on a Sabbath day. Here in this study, Jesus’ defense of Himself
for healing on the Sabbath is simply to explain the true essence of His nature
and why and how He does the things that He does.
2.6.
God never ceases from His works of providence and care
of this world, and Jesus says here that the reason that He healed on the
Sabbath is because God the Father also worked ceaselessly to provide and care
for His people. On the seventh day God
rested, but He rested at that time only from His creative work. The Jews wanted to kill Jesus because of His
answer, however.
2.7.
In the
scriptures we learn of a very interesting trait of the Lord, one that defies
the laws of Physics, and that is that He never wearies or tires and never
ceases activity and work. For instance,
Psalm 121:4 states, “4 Behold, He who keeps
2.8.
Jesus reveals the first thing about His nature that affirms His deity: He expressed a unique relationship to God,
calling God ‘My Father.’ By
referring to His Father in such a way that no other man could call God his
father, He must be God the Son from all eternity.
2.9.
Jesus was claiming authority for this supposed Sabbath
breaking on this unique relationship He had with God. As a result of what Jesus said, the Jews
sought to kill Jesus because they believed that He had blasphemed the Lord and
made Himself ‘equal with God.’
Jesus does not dispute their point.
2.10. In another
place in this gospel, Jesus told some Jews that He and the Father were one, and
at that time they took up rocks to stone Him because He had made Himself equal
with God in saying that He was one with the Father (John 10:30-35). On that occasion Jesus did not dispute their
claim either. Jesus never attempted to correct
the mistaken notion of the Jews that He thought that He was equal with God, for
He knew that this was in fact the case.
2.11. We need to
beware of being hypocrites as the Pharisees were. We Christians must never have our values so
misconstrued that like the Pharisees we become more concerned about someone
breaking an insignificant letter of the law (such as carrying his bed), than
that wonderful life-giving miracles occur in people’s lives, such as happened
with this man who had been restored and freed after 38 long years.
3.
VS 5:18-19 - “Jesus therefore answered and was saying
to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless
it is something He sees the Father
doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” - Jesus
tells the Jews that He (the Son) can do nothing unless it is something that He
sees the Father doing
3.1.
In these verses, Jesus expresses the second thing about His
nature that affirms His deity: He
claims that He cannot act independently of the Father. Jesus is saying that there is nothing that
comes out of or proceeds from Himself that originates with Himself.
3.2.
Jesus continues to explain to the Jews that He is in
perfect unity with the Father, and His argument begins to make evident that He truly
believed that He was in fact equal with the Father, because He sees the things
that the Father does, and then He does the same things as the Father.
3.3.
According
to Arthur Pink, the Greek word translated ‘sees’ here (blepo) means ‘to
contemplate, to perceive, to know.”
He writes, “When, then, the Son exerts His Divine power, it is always
in the conscious knowledge that it is the will of the Father it should be so exerted.”
3.4.
Arthur
Pink writes the following, “…Dr. John Brown on this verse: “All, is of
the Father—all is by the
Son. Did the Father create the
universe? So did the Son. Does the Father uphold the universe? So does the Son. Does the Father govern the universe? So does the Son. Is the Father the Savior of he world? So is the Son. Surely the Jews did not err when they
concluded that our Lord made Himself ‘equal with God.’ Surely He who is so intimately connected with
God that He does what God does, does all God does, does all in the same manner
in which God does it; surely such a person
cannot but be equal with God.” To this
we would add but one word: Scripture
also reveals that in the future, too, the will of the Father and of the Son
will act in perfect unison, for, in the last chapter of the Bible we read that
the throne of Deity on the new earth will be “the throne of God and of the lamb” (Rev. 22:1).”
3.5.
Jesus tells these Jews that He is in unity with the
Father at all times because He can do nothing of Himself. Jesus (God the Son from all eternity) is
equal with God the Father because He does the same things as God the Father.
4.
VS 5:20 - “For the Father loves the Son, and shows
Him all things that He Himself is doing;
and greater works than these will He show Him, that you may marvel.” - Jesus tells
these Jews that the Father loves Him (the Son) and shows Him all things that He
is doing, and greater works even that what they have seen will be shown to Him
so that they may marvel
4.1.
Another aspect of the special relationship with the
Father which Jesus has is shown in this verse.
The third thing
Jesus reveals about Himself that affirms His deity: He knows “all” that the Father is doing, or
has “equal intelligence” with the Father.”
Jesus states that the Father loves Him and shows Him everything that He
is doing. No creature has full and
complete understanding of the Lord.
4.2.
Jesus tells these Jews also that future from that
time, the Father will even show the Son greater things than what He has shown
Him so far. If Jesus in His deity was
not on earth limited in any way (such as being omniscient), what could Jesus be
referring to that the Father in the future would show Him? Could Jesus be referring to things He knows
that the Father has shown Him already but will do through Him in the future,
such as raise from the dead and reign as Lord and Christ, for instance?
4.3.
The result of the greater works that the Father will
show to the Son is that they ‘may marvel.’ They won’t necessarily believe in the Son,
but they will marvel. We are told in the
scriptures that even those who do not believe in the Lord in this life will
eventually acknowledge and worship Him, even though they will not spend
eternity with Him: Philippians 2:9-11, “9
For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name
which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in
heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue
will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
5.
VS 5:21 - “For just as the Father raises the dead
and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.” - Jesus
tells these Jews that just as the Father raised the dead and gives them life so
does He (the Son)
5.1.
In this
verse, Jesus reveals
the fourth thing about His nature that affirms that His deity: He is sovereign in all His actions as is the
Father.” Only God is sovereign and
does whatever He wishes whenever He wishes, and all creatures of His creation
must be in submission to His will for eternity.
5.2.
In His ability to give spiritual life to people and
perform healing, Jesus demonstrates that He is equal with God. Since He was the third person of the godhead,
Jesus could heal and regenerate anyone He wished. We will discuss this more in a moment.
6.
VS 5:22-23 - “For not even the Father judges anyone,
but He has given all judgment to the Son, in order that all may honor the Son,
even as they honor the Father. He who
does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” - Jesus tells
these Jews that the Father has given all judgment unto Him (the Son), that all
may honor the Son just as the honor the Father
6.1.
The fifth thing that Jesus reveals
about Himself that affirms His deity: the Father
has entrusted all authority to Him for judgment of all creatures. The ability
to fairly and justly administer judgment in any and all cases to any and all
creatures can only come from God Himself.
Only the Lord truly is omniscient and holy and just so as to be able to
fairly judge all.
6.2.
God the Father has committed all judgment to Jesus and
thus when we read about the Great White Throne Judgment in Rev. 19, the One
sitting upon that throne judging all those who have ever lived who were not
God’s people is Jesus Christ.
6.3.
The sixth thing that Jesus reveals
about Himself that affirms His deity: the Father
gives Him equal honor with Himself. Jesus is
shown in these verses to be God, because He is to be honored. God does not share His glory and honor with
anyone or any creature, so therefore Jesus must be God according to Is. 42:8,
“Isaiah 42:8, “8 “I am the Lord,
that is My name; I will not give My glory to another, Nor My praise to graven
images.””
7.
VS 5:24 - “Truly, truly, I say to you, he 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’.”
- Jesus tells these Jews that the person
who hears His word and believes the One who sent Him has eternal life and will not
come into judgment but has passed out of death into life
7.1.
Jesus says what He says in this verse emphatically,
demonstrating the divine inspiration and importance of His words. Salvation will come to those who hear His
word, and believe the Father who sent Him.
Rom. 10:17 says, ‘So faith comes
from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.’
7.2.
The one who receives this salvation through Jesus
Christ will never come into the judgment of unbelievers (the Great White
Judgment), but has passed out of that state of spiritual death in which
unbelievers live, they live in that highest quality of life, “eternal life.”
7.3.
It is wonderful to know that the Bema Seat of Judgment
for believers (1 Cor. 3) is going to be a judgment for rewards not for
condemnation, just as Jesus tells us here that the one who believes in Him ‘does
not come into judgment.’
8.
VS 5:25-27 - “‘Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is
coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live. For just as the Father has life in Himself,
even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute
judgment, because He is the Son of
Man.” - Jesus tells these Jews that an hour is coming
when the dead shall hear His voice and that those who hear it will live
8.1.
The seventh thing that Jesus reveals
about Himself that affirms His deity: It is given
to Him to have life in Himself. No mere creature could be delegated to have
life in Himself, life which he could impart.
This also explains Jesus’ ability to heal 100% all who came to Him in
need by the mere speaking of the word, as well as His ability to give life to
all whom He chooses (something we discussed earlier).
8.2.
Eph. 2:1 says, “And you were dead in your
trespasses and sins,” and this is the state of all who don’t know Jesus as
Lord and savior.
8.3.
All those who do not know Jesus as their Lord and
savior are spiritually dead, and when they hear His voice this side of the
grave, they shall receive “eternal life,” and thus be saved.
8.4.
Because Jesus is God the Son, equal with God in every
way, He can exercise His judicial powers, and grant eternal life to anyone He
wishes.
9.
VS 5:28-29 - “Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are
in the tombs shall hear His voice, and shall come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.” - Jesus
tells these Jews not to marvel at what He is saying for the dead shall be
raised
9.1.
These verses refer to the resurrection of all who have
ever lived, which will occur when Christ returns. There will be a resurrection (referred to in
scripture as the “First Resurrection”) for those who were God’s people
in this life, one which will be glorious, and, there will also be a
resurrection for those who were not God’s people in this life (referred to in
scripture as the “Second Resurrection”), and this will be a resurrection
unto condemnation and eternal punishment.
9.2.
Though salvation does not come through works, none the
less faith produces works (see James 2) and so a person’s life can be
summarized in the final analysis by his/her works. The people who do ‘good deeds’ are
God’s redeemed people and they will attain to that “first resurrection,”
the ‘resurrection of life.’
However, those who are not God’s redeemed people have their life
summarized by the ‘evil deeds’ they have committed, and they will be
appear at the “second resurrection,” the ‘resurrection of judgment.’
9.3.
In the Old Testament, there was a gradual development
of the understanding of what life after death held for God’s people, and so you
have to look to a few passages in the latter O.T. writings for definition of
the life for God’s people after this life, for instance:
9.3.1. Isaiah
26:19, “19 Your dead will live; Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy, For your dew is as the
dew of the dawn, And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.”
9.3.2. Daniel saw all
of the events that will occur in the future of the world, and thus his book
holds a huge key for interpretation of prophecy in the rest of the Bible, and
particularly the book of Revelation. In
Dan. 12:1-3, Daniel wrote prophetically about the resurrection of the just and
the unjust that will occur in the end of days after the great Tribulation, “1
“Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over
the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such
as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time
your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. 2
“Many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to
everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. 3
“Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the
expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars
forever and ever.”
9.4.
These resurrections that the scriptures tell us about
are still ahead of us at this juncture in time are the following:
9.4.1. The church
will be raptured (lifted up into the clouds to be with Jesus) we believe just
before the beginning of the seven year Tribulation of the book of Revelation.
9.4.1.1.At the Rapture, God’s people of all eras not alive
upon the earth any more will have their spirits reunited with a resurrected
body. Likewise, the saints who are alive
upon the earth at that time will receive a resurrected body as they are being
taken up in the clouds to meet the Lord:
1 Thessalonians 4:13-18, “13 But we do
not want you to be uninformed, brethren, about those who are asleep, so that
you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope. 14 For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those
who have fallen asleep in Jesus. 15 For this we say to you by the
word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the
Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. 16 For the Lord Himself will
descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and
with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then
we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds
to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord. 18
Therefore comfort one another with these words.”
9.4.1.2.During the
next seven years as the seven trumpet, seal, and bowl judgments are being
poured out upon those upon the earth, the church will be enjoying the Marriage
Supper of the Lamb, and appearing before Christ at the Bema Seat Judgment of
rewards.
9.4.2. Then, at the
end of the seven year Tribulation, the Second Coming of Christ will occur. At that time, the Lord will come and destroy
the armies of those surrounding
9.4.3. At the end
of the Millennial reign of Christ (1,000 years), all people who were not God’s
people in this life will have their spirits reunited with a body (their souls
have been waiting in Hades if they are an unbeliever), and they will come to
stand before Jesus’ Great White Throne of Judgment where they will all be
judged by their deeds based upon God’s Law:
Revelation 19:11-20:15, “11 And I saw heaven opened, and
behold, a white horse, and He who sat on it is called Faithful and True,
and in righteousness He judges and wages war. 12 His eyes are a
flame of fire, and on His head are many diadems; and He has a name
written on Him which no one knows except Himself. 13 He is
clothed with a robe dipped in blood, and His name is called The Word of
God. 14 And the armies which are in heaven, clothed in fine linen,
white and clean, were following Him on white horses. 15 From
His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations,
and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the
fierce wrath of God, the Almighty. 16 And on His robe and on His
thigh He has a name written, “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” 17 Then
I saw an angel standing in the sun, and he cried out with a loud voice, saying
to all the birds which fly in midheaven, “Come, assemble for the great supper
of God, 18 so that you may eat the flesh of kings and the flesh of
commanders and the flesh of mighty men and the flesh of horses and of those who
sit on them and the flesh of all men, both free men and slaves, and small and
great.” 19 And I saw the beast and the kings of the earth and their
armies assembled to make war against Him who sat on the horse and against His
army. 20 And the beast was seized, and with him the false prophet
who performed the signs in his presence, by which he deceived those who had
received the mark of the beast and those who worshiped his image; these two
were thrown alive into the lake of fire which burns with brimstone. 21 And
the rest were killed with the sword which came from the mouth of Him who sat on
the horse, and all the birds were filled with their flesh. 1 Then I
saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding the key of the abyss and a great
chain in his hand. 2 And he laid hold of the dragon, the serpent of
old, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and
he threw him into the abyss, and shut it and sealed it over him,
so that he would not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years
were completed; after these things he must be released for a short time. 4
Then I saw thrones,
and they sat on them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the
souls of those who had been beheaded because of their testimony of Jesus and
because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his
image, and had not received the mark on their forehead and on their hand; and
they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years. 5 The
rest of the dead did not come to life until the thousand years were completed.
This is the first resurrection. 6 Blessed and holy is the one who
has a part in the first resurrection; over these the second death has no power,
but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with Him for a
thousand years. 7 When the thousand years are completed, Satan will
be released from his prison, 8 and will come out to deceive the
nations which are in the four corners of the earth, Gog and Magog, to gather
them together for the war; the number of them is like the sand of the seashore.
9 And they came up on the broad plain of the earth and surrounded
the camp of the saints and the beloved city, and fire came down from heaven and
devoured them. 10 And the devil who deceived them was thrown into
the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also;
and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever. 11 Then I saw a great white throne
and Him who sat upon it, from whose presence earth and heaven fled away, and no
place was found for them. 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the
small, standing before the throne, and books were opened; and another book was
opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged from the
things which were written in the books, according to their deeds. 13
And the sea gave up
the dead which were in it, and death and Hades gave up the dead which were in
them; and they were judged, every one of them according to their deeds. 14
Then death and Hades were thrown into the lake of fire. This is the
second death, the lake of fire. 15 And if anyone’s name was not
found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.”
9.5.
It is very possible that there will be a small
resurrection that will occur at some point for those who missed the rapture of
the church and became Christians during the seven year Tribulation, but we
don’t really know when that will come about.
9.6.
Harper’s Bible Dictionary writes some interesting
words concerning the nature of the resurrected body for the Christian, “Resurrection
is to be distinguished from resuscitation or reanimation of the physical body.
It denotes a complete transformation of the human being in his or her
psychosomatic totality (1 Cor. 15:53-55). This is expressed in a number of
metaphors. The resurrected will shine like stars (Dan. 12:3). They will be like
the angels (Mark 12:25). Resurrection was thought of not as an event for each
individual at death but as a corporate event. God would raise all of the elect
at the end of history.”
10.
CONCLUSIONS:
10.1. As we consider these
incredible and very provocative teachings by Jesus concerning who He was and
why He did the things that He did, we have seen that He revealed His divinity
by stating of Himself:
10.1.1.1.A unique
relationship to God.
10.1.1.2.He cannot
act independently of the Father.
10.1.1.3.Equal
intelligence with the Father.
10.1.1.4.Sovereignty in all His actions.
10.1.1.5.Authority to judge all creatures.
10.1.1.6.Equal honor with the Father.
10.1.1.7.Life in Himself.
10.2. Because of these things, we
Christians need to consider:
10.2.1.The fact that our Savior
being deity gives us assurance that He shall reign for eternity and that we
will be raised up with Him and reign with Him also (as the scripture promises
us).
10.2.2.We can trust Jesus right
here and now to meet our needs and provide all that He promises to us. He is Lord and God and nothing shall be
impossible for Him.
10.2.3.We need to worship and honor
Jesus Christ as we would God the Father, for He is due equal honor with the
Father.