In The Long Run

I'd ask you to take your Bibles this morning and turn with me to John chapter 5. John chapter 5. You follow along. Now as I begin reading in verse 19, John chapter 5 verse 19. So Jesus said to them, truly, truly, I say to you, the son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing. for whatever the father does that the son does likewise for the father loves the son and shows him all that he himself is doing and greater works than these will he show him so that he may so that you may marvel for as the father raises the dead and gives them life so also the son gives life to whom he will the father judges no one but has given 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. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. Father, now as we look at your word, as we consider the importance of the resurrection of our Savior, the Lord Jesus. I pray, Lord, that you impress upon everyone the absolute necessity of Jesus coming from the grave.

And Lord, for those who are here who have never bowed the knee before this king and have embraced him as Savior, and Lord, I pray that they would think deeply this morning and consider what is being said. Father, we come to you asking you to work in our hearts as the Word of God is open to us, as your Spirit speaks that Word to us, and as we look into our own hearts. I pray, Father, that you would grant us grace in these minutes that we have in your word, and we'll thank you in Jesus' name.

Amen. Corinth wasn't a very big church. I would guess that Corinth is probably half the size of this church, maybe, maybe the size of this church. The churches in the New Testament weren't very big at the beginning. And Corinth was a church that was planted in a commercial center. Lots of things going on, lots of ideas coming and going.

And of course with any local church ministry you always have teaching and discussion and things going on within the church. And some folks in the congregation had proposed an interesting idea, although it wasn't a new one. It was introduced into the assembly at Corinth and it was simply this. Current thought makes it clear that the resurrection of the dead is an impossibility. actually no one could possibly be raised from the dead in an immortal body a body that is not subject to decay besides when it comes to our faith when it comes to our faith it doesn't really make much difference in the long run if jesus has been raised from the dead or not at least that's what it seemed to be that was going on in corinth well the fact that jesus has been raised from the dead doesn't really change much, right?

And those voices are still in the church. Scott Corbin, New York University professor who calls himself a non-practicing Catholic, said this, what I mean is that we can reach the lowest points of our lives of going deep into a place that feels like death and then find our way out again. That's the story the resurrection now tells me. And at Easter, this is expressed in community and at its best through the compassion of others.

Marcus Borg, who's canon theologian at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Portland, Oregon, dismisses, right, a theologian in an ostensibly Christian church dismisses the idea of a physical bodily resurrection of Jesus as inconsequential to the faith. He says, Easter is not about believing in a spectacular long ago event, but about participating in what we see in Jesus. In response to a blog on Easter, one named Doug Sloan wrote this, what difference would it make if a vault was found that undeniably contained the bones of Jesus.

To the message of Jesus that God is personal and present and characterized by love and grace, whose passion for us is to provide justice and compassion, generosity and hospitality, and who invites us and welcomes us and includes us without exception or exclusion, that message would neither be changed nor diminished in any way. And so the idea is propounded. Look, you know, we're Christians here.

It doesn't make any difference whether Jesus was raised from the dead. It doesn't change much in the long run. So in the long run, does it really make any difference that Jesus actually rose from the dead? Does it really make any difference at all? That the message would neither be changed nor diminished in any way? Can't we still follow Jesus' teachings?

Right? If he didn't raise from the dead, well, so what? We can still follow these teachings. can we not tell others that the way that Jesus lived is the way that all men should live what are we raised from who came from the dead or not let's just follow what Jesus says we can do the things that he did in his magnificent life we can make his teachings the standard of a true humanity a new humanity right we can do that well that's an interesting idea and I've heard that many times doesn matter if Jesus came from the dead we can still follow his teachings we can still listen to what he says and we be good Well I want to see if that works by running a test case Let's see if we can, as it was said, participate in what we see in Jesus if he never came out of the grave.

Can we participate in what we see in Jesus if he never came from the grave? the grave let's see if the message would neither be changed nor diminished in any way if Jesus had not just died on a cross like any other condemned man and had not physically risen three days later so take your bibles they're open to the gospel of John chapter 5 we're going to run a test case John chapter 5 verses 19 through 24 now Jesus had come to Jerusalem for one of the feast days and you've read the whole chapter he walked in the sheep gate and saw at Bethesda an area called Bethesda a man who was lame and and the idea was if you got into that water there while it was stirring you'd be healed and he was lame and he could never quite get there in time so Jesus comes along and he heals this man he'd been a cripple for 38 years and he healed them and he said, go ahead, pick up your mat and go. So this guy had been crippled for 38 years, stood right up, took his mat, and left. Walked out.

Well, there were some Pharisees around that day, and they were ticked. They were mad. Because you know what? This guy was carrying his mat on the Sabbath day. He was breaking the Sabbath, in their view, by walking around carrying his mat. And they got mad, and they asked him who did this, and he wasn't sure and he met Jesus later and finally told him it was Jesus.

And so then that leads to this confrontation with Jesus. And he says these words that we just read in John chapter 5. Now what's interesting, as you look at those, is that these antagonistic leaders of Jesus' day seem to understand more than these religious leaders that I've quoted understood. Well, anyway, let's look. Let's first of all acknowledge what Jesus claims.

We've just read through the text, so let's look at some of these claims that Jesus makes. Verse 19. Verse 19 says, So Jesus said to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what He sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. Jesus claims to be someone who does what God does.

Jesus says, I do what God does. And here he's responding to the leader's anger about breaking the Sabbath, and they even recognize that he was making himself equal with God. Verse 18, this is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God.

He's claiming to be God. all right and so jesus said i do what god does all right i'm looking at you wondering here you could do what god does all right so that's what he said jesus here responds to the leader's angers about breaking the sabbath and making himself equal with god he says look i'm only doing what i've seen my father do he did the right kind of work on the sabbath and so am i you're angry because I call God my own father but then I've seen him doing these things and he gave me the right to do them as well essentially Jesus says look at what I'm doing I'm doing the very same things that God can do in other words Jesus claims that he is no mere human being not just another one of the guys not just another human being look at verse 21 verse 21 he says for as the father raises the dead and gives them life so also the son gives life to whom he will he says in the same way that god gives life jesus says he gives life in the same way that god does he gives life here jesus says this may be the realm where death reigns but i have the power of life. Now consider that for a moment. That's an extraordinary claim.

How many of you have the power of life and death? How many of you have that power? Death may come quietly and unexpectedly. Death may come violently or in an unsurprising way. But however it comes, you cannot stop it. You cannot stop it.

Jesus says, I can give life to anyone I choose to. I can give life. Later in this same book, he'll expand on that claim. He says this, for this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. no one takes it from me but i lay it down of my own accord i have authority to lay it down and i have authority to take it up again now think of those extraordinary words jesus says no one kills me death comes when i say it comes and i have authority to pick my life up again you want to escape death Jesus can deliver you from the undeliverable he can rescue you from the unrelenting power of death that's what Jesus can do at least that's what he claims he can do verse 22 another claim the father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son God has given His authority to judge to Jesus Now, do you see what He's saying here?

Let's look at this claim. It's unbelievable. Here's what He's saying. When you face that final judgment, the final judgment of all mankind, the end of the world, if you will, and you face judgment, guess who you will be facing? it will be me. I'm the one who's going to judge the entire world. Now that is a claim that no human could or should claim.

Right? What if one of you stood up right now and said, oh, by the way, I'm the one who's going to judge the world. What do you think would happen? Well, we'd certainly probably laugh. No doubt church discipline would come. Right?

You can't claim to do that. But Jesus does. Jesus makes this unbelievable claim. And then verse 23. Listen to what he says in verse 23. 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. Now do you hear what Jesus says here? You must honor me. You must honor me with the same devotion and the same intensity that you honor God. Wow. He says, just as you hold God in awe and submit to every one of his commands and worship him, Thus you must what?

How would you finish that sentence? Thus you must hold me in awe. You must submit to every one of my commandments. And you must worship me. With the same honor that you give the Father, you give the same thing to me. Unbelievable claim here.

Isn't it? And then that's, I mean, that's absolutely breathtaking. breathtaking in what he says here and then the last thing he says verse 24 truly truly i say to you whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life he does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life jesus has the message that gives you life he says if you want to escape god's judgment and move from the realm of death to the realm of life, then you must believe what I say. You must believe what I say.

Yes, you live in the domain where death rules because of the condemnation of God. But if you listen to my message, it will deliver you from the judgment of God. Such are the claims of Jesus. Those are the claims of Jesus. So then we must acknowledge what happens to his claims if he is not resurrected. What happens to those things that Jesus says are true if he is not resurrected?

Let's imagine that next May, someone, somewhere, is doing archaeological work, and they come upon a vault, and it has above it the tomb of Jesus of Nazareth. and they and they they dig through it everything they get in there and they find human remains in that vault let's just say for just imagining that what happens to all the claims that Jesus makes what happens to those claims if he has not been raised from the dead again someone assert well that's fine it doesn't make any difference Easter is not about believing in a spectacular or long ago event, but about participating in what we see in Jesus. The message would neither be changed nor diminished in any way, we heard. If Jesus was not raised from the dead, then what?

He's just another human being. It would be impossible for him to do the things he claims in this passage. It would be impossible. It's, I don't know, sounds to me like it would change and diminish the things that he said. if he hadn't been raised if he hadn't been raised from the dead could he give life because frankly he's as dead as the next man how in the world could he give what he claims he can give life how could he do that and what makes him think that he's going to judge the entire world he's died just like any other human being evidently under the condemnation of god for death is the judgment of god on our sin how in the world could he possibly judge mankind If he was no different than you or me, then why should you give the same honor to him that you would give to God?

Why would you even do that? Would you honor a dead man in the same way you would honor God? No. And his message delivering us from death and condemnation? No way. That's impossible.

Why would you believe in a message from a God? why would you believe in someone who's no different than Plato or Socrates or Aristotle or Kierkegaard or any other philosophy in the world that tried to teach us how to live? How would he be any different than them? How would his life in any way be life or his message in any way be life-giving? Now look, this is what we have to face.

And this is what I think is really, really important. Jesus in this light, having not risen from the dead, is no more. listen if Jesus has not been raised from the dead and after we read these claims that he makes if he is not raised from the dead then he is no more than a maniacal deluded blaspheming idolater that what he is what would you say about a man who says honor me like you honor God You say, that's blasphemy. Right?

And some would say, and you've all heard me say this because this is what really sticks out in my mind. Well, Jesus isn't God. He's just a good teacher. No, He's not a good... you don't have the option of saying Jesus is a good teacher. Either he is what he says, or he's a maniacal, deluded, blaspheming idolater. There's no in-between.

There's no good teacher. Let's face it. Can you trust anything that he says now? You say, well, okay, so he's not God, but he's got all these other good things. Well, why would you trust the other good things if he's a blasphemer and deluded when he says these things? How could you trust the other ones?

You know, in the 1970s, there was a guy by the name of John Wayne Gacy. Now, some of you young'uns never heard of him. We heard of him because he was a guy who lived in a neighborhood in Chicago who killed 33 teenage boys and buried their bodies underneath the house. Right? Right? Well, would you buy a book from him called How to Be a Good Neighbor? right he has all these great ideas about how to be a good neighbor okay so so he killed 33 teenage boys but he's got this really good book on how to be a good neighbor he's no credibility so if jesus isn't what he says why would you believe anything else that he says why would you believe anything else that he says it amazes me when i i see these people these celebrities oh i don't know like Oprah Winfrey saying, that's not the Jesus I know.

I said, what Jesus do you know? Do you know the Jesus who made these claims? And do you believe those claims? You know, they want to say, okay, so Jesus isn't God and he, you know, he can't really give life. Well, if he's deluded about that, why isn't he deluded about all the other things that he might say? Why would you follow any of it?

Let's not fool ourselves with such talk as participating in what we see in Jesus if he's never been raised from the dead. So I would say to you, do not mourn Jesus' death as a travesty of justice, but rejoice that a blasphemer got his just desserts. It's the only thing you're left with. Well, that leaves us with only one other alternative. Acknowledge how you must respond to Jesus' claims if he is resurrected.

You're going to have to do something with the claims of Jesus if indeed he is resurrected. Now the nature of Jesus' claims, the nature of those claims did not leave you with an option of saying, well, you know, some people may like it, I just, I prefer not to follow him. You're not left with that option. Look, suppose you wanted to buy a new pickup. So you got all the magazines you could get on trucks and so forth, and you bought the latest issue, let's say, of Consumer's Report, and you compared Dodge, Toyota, Ford, and Chevys.

And the magazine says that Ford is the best. Don't quibble with me. It's just an illustration, all right? So let's just say the magazine says that Ford is the best. Well, you could buy the Dodge if you wanted. it it may not be as good of a truck but at least you got a truck or or you may not want to buy a truck at all it's no big deal your life is not radically changed by the claims of ford as against dodge but you cannot say well i'll just ignore what jesus says and do what i think is best because his claims are life and death issues.

You cannot just say, well, those are claims. You know, I'm just going to live my life the way I want to. It's okay for you, but not for me. You don't have that option. Why not? Because if Jesus came out of the grave, then he is God and he deserves your worship.

To follow Jesus means you worship and love him and organize your entire life around him. what does Jesus do to those who refuse to worship him? Or what does God do to those who refuse to worship him? Or who refuse to worship to Jesus? You're condemned. See, this is a life or death thing. If Jesus came out of the grave, then he is your judge, and you ignore him at your peril.

If Jesus came out of the grave, then he does have the power of life and death, and to ignore his message means that you will be condemned to eternal death. It's not like you can believe it, I'm not. You don't have that choice. Either you believe or you're damned. That's the bottom line. There's no other choice here.

You're sitting here this morning and you've heard the claims of Jesus. If he remained in that grave, then let's face it, we are wasting our time and playing at religion. Listen, if Jesus didn't come out of the grave, then let's use Sunday and let's go skiing, water skiing, or go to Colorado and ski in the mountains if you want, but we don't need to show up on Sunday.

It's a waste of time. If what Jesus says isn't true and he didn't come out of the grave, well, then we're just playing games here, right? And if you want to play games, then let's really play games. but if he has been resurrected then you must respond in faith and obedience it's one or the other so what difference does it make in the long run whether Jesus was raised from the dead what difference does it make Some of you here this morning have not embraced Christ in faith.

You have not believed this message of life. You haven't. If you believe that Jesus' resurrection did happen, you say, yeah, I can't deny it, but I just don't want to believe in Him. You are playing with fire. If you believe He's been raised from the dead, but you're going to ignore Him, you're playing with fire here. If you do not believe in Jesus' resurrection, then at least be honest and say I'm not going to follow the message of Jesus they're nothing more than lies and gibberish.

Stop trying to live a life that seems based on them. If you say well I'll live by the teachings of Jesus come on, be honest. Be honest, it doesn't make any sense at all. And be honest with this as well. if you don't believe in Jesus then you have no hope you have no hope in the face of death none you have no hope And let me tell you this if you an optimist that really stupid What kind of hope could you possibly have if Jesus did not come out of the grave?

Let's face it, be honest, your life is eating, drinking, working, sleeping, and nothing more. you you're you're in a you're you're in a a timeline of meaninglessness your life is meaningless and you may try to make life meaningless what happens you eat you drink you go to work you sleep and you die that's all you got it's all you got at least be honest about that but if you have embraced Jesus and his claims, you do have reason for hope. Jesus is exactly who he says he is. And you're not foolish for denying everything you have and everything you are in order to follow him You not foolish at all In fact that the best thing in your life that you could possibly do And Jesus can accomplish all that He promised He will bring judgment but He also brings freedom and life to all those who believe His message.

So you see, you only got two choices. Either you entrust yourself to Jesus, or you face Jesus as your judge. That's all you got. It's all the options there are. What are you going to do with that? Now I know, I don't know people's hearts here.

But I do know this, there's no neutrality. If Jesus has been raised from the dead, there's no neutral stance. And I would appeal to you, if you do not believe, I would appeal to you today, embrace Jesus in faith. Accept what He has done. Paid for sin. And find the doorway to life.

Don put it off You can There no reason Those of us who have embraced Jesus in faith what can we say to those who haven't? We can say we found purpose, we found life, we found joy. All of those things are ours because Jesus was raised from the dead. Father, we thank you, we praise you, we bow before you for the good news of Jesus' resurrection. Father, I pray for those here who have never embraced Him in faith.

I pray that they would hear these words carefully. That they would truly see that Jesus is indeed the Lord and Savior who calls us to follow Him, to embrace Him in faith, and walk then according to what He has commanded us. Father we praise you for the resurrection of Jesus our only hope in his name Amen