Sermon Book: John

About this sermon

With a Passover crowd of five thousand men coming toward him, Jesus tested Philip by asking where they could buy bread. Philip counted denarii and Andrew counted five barley loaves and two fish, and both measured the task against their own resources instead of looking to the Lord who had fed Israel with manna. Moved with compassion for sheep without a shepherd, Jesus fed them all until they had eaten their fill and gathered twelve baskets of fragments, yet the crowd wanted a king who would fill their stomachs and free them from Rome. Every meal still comes from the Father’s hand, so believers rest their peace in the good shepherd who provides all they need, rather than in savings or a career.

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Sermon transcript

This morning’s sermon text comes from John chapter 6. John chapter 6, we will be reading from verses 1 through 15. Verses 1 through 15, if you would open in your Bibles to page 1059 to the Pew Bible. John chapter 6, we will be reading from verses 1 through 15. Hear now God’s word. After this, Jesus went away to the other side of the Sea of Galilee, which is the Sea of Tiberias. And a large crowd was following him because they saw the signs that he was doing on the sick. Jesus went up on the mountain, and there he sat down with his disciples. Now the Passover feast of the Jews was at hand, and lifting up his eyes, Then, in seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat?

He said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. And Philip answered him, 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. And one of his disciples, Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother, said to him, there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many? And Jesus said to him, have the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down about 5,000 in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted. And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost.

So they gathered them up and filled 12 baskets with fragments from the barley loaves left by those who had eaten. And when the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who has come into the world. And perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. Let’s pray for God’s blessing on the word exposited. Heavenly Father, we thank you, O Lord, that you are a God who abundantly provides for his children. O Lord, you know each and every need that we have, both small and great. You know both our physical needs and also our spiritual needs. O Lord, you have abundantly provided for us so much more than we can ever imagine.

We thank you, O Lord, for what you do for us on a daily basis. We pray, O Lord, that as we read your word, as we hear your word exposited, that you would work in our hearts through your Holy Spirit. that you would cause us, O Lord, to see the goodness and the greatness and the glory of who you are and what you do for us. We pray, O Lord, that that would in turn turn our hearts towards praising you in thankfulness, O Lord, for what you have provided for us. And we pray all this in your son’s name. Amen. Please be seated. Well, brothers and sisters, where does your bread come from? Where does your daily provision come from? I mean, ultimately, where do these things come from? Does it come from the fruit of your labor?

In former times, the majority of people put food on the table by means of farming for themselves, meaning that if the average person wanted to eat, he would have to go plant the seed, water that seed, and harvest the fruit of his labor. And for someone in the old days who would subsistence farm, the reality that he is not the one who is ultimately in control of his labor would have been extremely clear to him. He could prepare the soil to the best of his ability. He could carefully plant the seed. He could water the plants the exact amount that they needed. But the factors that go into a successful crop yield are far more than those that the farmer can actually control. Will there be enough rain this season? Will there be enough sunshine?

Will the temperatures be warm enough? Will there be disease or insects that eat the crop? Will animals come and destroy what I have planted? All these and many more, I’m sure that I am unaware of, are questions which the majority of mankind has had to ask themselves throughout the history of the world. In our culture today, much of the obvious risk that existed in that context has been covered over by the manner in which we work. It is easy for us in our modern day to think that our job security, our financial security is tied to our manager’s view of our work and possibly the overall health of the company. But that same reality that existed 300 years ago for a Christian man or woman in America is the same reality that exists for us today.

Things may feel more secure because of the complex economic society that we live in and structures that we live in. The reality still remains that if God were not sustaining and maintaining and providing everything that we need today, we would indeed not be able to put food on our table. Despite the security that we may feel and thousands of dollars saved up in the bank account or a good job or decorated resume that we have, we are indeed as reliant on our Father in heaven today as they were hundreds of years ago. Despite the security that we feel from a human perspective, from the financial decisions that we have made, the reality still exists that if God in his good pleasure and in his good purposes decided tomorrow to prevent all the riches that we had stored up on this earth and to take them away, there is nothing that we could do to stop it.

And this is the reality that we live in. Whether we acknowledge it or not, whether we live like it or not, nothing that we have currently is guaranteed to remain even for tomorrow. And all that we have gained and all that we will gain is because of the gracious provision of our Father in heaven. And the Israelites of old forgot this reality. The people of Jesus’ day forgot this truth. And we today, as modern men and women especially, because of the abundant provision and the abundance of what we have, we indeed forget this truth easily. we as faithful believers are called indeed to work diligently and to act wisely in using the good gifts that our Father has given us. But that reality must not discourage us, must not keep us from placing our trust and our peace in God’s provision.

In our passage this morning that we read, as recorded to us, for us, by the Apostle John, we see once again this reality, underscored for us and emphasized over and over again throughout the Old Testament, and that is that God is the one who provides all that we need. Jesus wants us to see that God sees our needs, He understands man’s plight, and he understands man’s weaknesses and his needs. And God is willing and able to meet these needs, and he does so in an abundant manner. And thus, we must place our trust in him daily. And Jesus draws this out in our passage this morning first. in verses one through nine. First, by testing Philip in verses one through nine, and secondly, by abundantly providing for the crowd in verses 10 through 15. Let’s turn now to Philip’s test in verses one through nine.

The feeding of the 5,000 is the only miracle that Christ performed, which is recorded in all four Gospels for us. Different reasons have been given for why it is that this particular miracle has been chosen by all four gospel writers. But the most plausible explanation is simply that among all the miracles that Christ did, it was the most public and most confirmable miracle that he performed. There were thousands of witnesses, and it was indeed a miracle that clearly established not only the divine origin of clear connection between Jesus Christ and His provision with the provision of the Father of God in the Old Testament. Whatever the reason, all four Gospels record for us this glorious event when Jesus Christ provided for the people. The Gospel of John only records for us in our passage only a few of the details that led up to this miracle.

But we learn from the other Gospels that Jesus and his disciples had retreated to a secluded place to rest from their ministry. However, the crowds somehow figured out where they were going, and they followed them there and gathered them, preventing them from resting. It was over 5,000 people that were following Him. And John in verse 2 gives us the reason why it was that the crowds followed Him. John says that they followed Him because they saw the signs that He was doing on the sick. In other words, the crowd formed and followed Him because they had seen the miracles that Jesus was doing and they were seeking to be healed themselves or they were seeking to once They had not understood the true significance of the signs. Their eyes, like many of the other characters that we have met so far in the Gospel of John, were focused on earthly realities, the physical reality of healing.

And they did not see the spiritual realities to which these signs point into. That was who Christ is. And Christ says to the crowds later in the chapter in verse 26, if you look down with me at verse 26, Truly, truly, I say to you, you are seeking me not because you saw signs, but because you ate your fill of the loaves. In other words, the crowds who had seen with their eyes the miracles taking place were not there because they were focused on what the miracles pointed to, but because of the physical nourishment that they had received. The nourishment of their stomachs, of the healing of their ailments, was their focus rather than what Christ was teaching and who he was. And John continues in verses three through four, Jesus went up on the mountain and there he sat down with his disciples.

Now the Passover feast of the Jews. What is the significance of John pointing out was at hand. Only John points this out. The other gospel writers don’t bring this point up. So why does John point out that the feast of the Passover was at hand? Well, the crowds, who consisted of Jewish men and women, would have been anticipating this big festival, the biggest festival of the year. Their minds and their hearts would have been thinking about and meditating on the history of Israel and God’s redeeming the people of Israel from the land of Egypt. They would have been considering the significance of the Passover lamb and how God had provided manna for the people in the wilderness where there was no food. And so they were drawing near to this festival, and their celebration, and their hearts and minds would have been preparing to hear the word of Jesus.

And likewise, John clues us, the readers, in on this fact to help us connect this story with the Old Testament backdrop. And John continues. Lifting up his eyes then and seeing that a large crowd was coming toward him, Jesus said to Philip, Where are we to buy bread so that these people may eat? And he said this to test him, for he himself knew what he would do. Here Jesus asks Philip a question, but not because he was truly curious about where the food would come from, because as John points out, Jesus already knew what was going to happen. He asked this question because he was trying to test Philip. He wanted to test him to see if he indeed had understood the signs. He wanted to know if Philip had understood what was being signified, that is, who Jesus is.

And he wanted to see if Philip, having seen the signs and understood them, would look to Christ to provide for their needs. And Jesus’ question here, in some ways, is similar to the question that the Jews asked God in the desert when they had grown tired of the manna in Numbers 11, verse 18. This is God speaking to Moses. And say to the people, consecrate yourselves for tomorrow, and you shall eat meat. For you have wept in the hearing of the Lord, saying, who will give us meat to eat? For it is far better for us in Egypt. And God answered their question. The Lord will give you meat, and you shall eat. And indeed, God was the one who had provided the manna and then the meat from heaven to feed their bodies. And this allowed them to live.

The people of Israel in the wilderness, like the people in Jesus’ day, did not see the spiritual reality of what God had done for them. They did not put their trust in God even out of the house of bondage and had saved them from the mighty army of Pharaoh. And because they had not truly set their trust in the Lord, they had easily forgotten his wondrous works that he had done for them. They began to complain and to grumble about not having meat, rather than with faith and confidence in the one who had saved him, going before God and praying to him and asking him to provide in thankfulness for what he had done for them. Likewise, if Philip had fully understood the signs and the words of Jesus until this point, that Jesus was indeed the Messiah sent from God, indeed the very Son of God, he would have noticed that the lack of money, that they lacked money and they lacked food, and he would have looked to Jesus, the same God who had provided the manna and the meat in the times of Israel in the Old Testament.

He would have looked to him to provide for the crowds all that they needed. But Philip, like the crowds, had not fully understood the spiritual implications of the signs. He clearly had more faith than the crowds did, but the reality of the identity of Jesus had yet to be fully understood by Philip. 200 denarii worth of bread would not be enough for each of them to get a little. Now, 200 denarii is not a small amount of money. It’s roughly two-thirds of an average man’s salary, a yearly salary. But to feed 5,000 men and their wives and children, it was not enough to feed them even a little. And if Philip had continued to say, we do not have enough money, but you, O Lord, can provide. You, O Lord, can feed all of these people.” Then Philip would have passed the test.

But instead, his response ends with, Lord, we do not have enough money to feed everyone here. And this shows that he had not fully understood the signs. And after considering the money that they had, The text records for us that Andrew, another one of the disciples, says to Jesus, there is a boy here who has five barley loaves and two fish, but what are they for so many? And once again, instead of looking to Jesus and saying, we don’t have enough money, we don’t have enough food to feed such a vast number, but you, oh Lord, are able. Please, Lord, provide for these people. Once again, the disciples conclude that it is impossible for them to feed the crowd. Both disciples failed the test. Both were looking at a giant impossible task that lay before them, that Jesus set before them.

And they were focusing on the impossibility of the task for man instead of looking to God who could provide all of these things. But Jesus does not leave the people in their hunger. He does not leave the disciples wondering about where the food would come from. He indeed, as he had planned from the beginning, would provide for all who were there. And this then brings us to Christ’s provision in verses 10 through 15. Christ’s provision in verses 10 through 15. Let’s read once again verses 10 through 15. Jesus said, have the people sit down. Now there was much grass in the place, so the men sat down about 5,000 in number. Jesus then took the loaves, and when he had given thanks, he distributed them to those who were seated. So also the fish, as much as they wanted.

And when they had eaten their fill, he told his disciples, gather up the leftover fragments that nothing may be lost. So they gathered them up and filled the 12 baskets with fragments from the five barley loaves left by those who had eaten. And when the people saw the sign that he had done, they said, this is indeed the prophet who is to come into the world. Perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain. Now we call this miracle the feeding of the 5,000 because what is listed is 5,000 men, but we know from Matthew that this number does not include all of the women and children who were there. So in reality, Jesus fed much more than 5,000 people that day.

And Jesus had them all sit, perhaps so they could rest after a long day of walking, or perhaps so they could all see what was actually taking place above them on the hill. But whatever the case, imagine 5,000 people all standing up and surrounding Jesus. It would have been hard for them to actually see what Jesus was doing. So Jesus has them sit down and takes the five loaves of bread and two fish and he gives thanks and he distributed the food to the masses. And all who were there ate as much as they wanted and the text says that they were full until they were completely satisfied and everyone was completely full. Jesus ordered the disciples then afterwards to gather up the remaining food and it filled 12 baskets. Indeed, even after feeding 5,000 plus people who were there, there was more food left over from the sign that Jesus performed than there was in the food to begin with.

And there are some who try to explain the miracle away by saying that perhaps Jesus split the food up really, really small and he gave it to the 5,000. And there are other natural explanations that are given for what occurred here. But the gospel writer’s record for us is that they were all full and they ate as much as they needed. So such an interpretation cannot be accepted. And even after all of the people were full, were full. So no natural explanation can be given for this miracle. Further, any attempt to argue that the story was fabricated by the disciples would have been easily debunked by just interviewing the thousands of people who were there that day and saw what Jesus had done. Because verse 14 records for us, when the people saw the sign that he had done.

So the people that were there, that were watching, actually were watching what Jesus did. They saw the miracle. They were all witnesses to what he had done. And they said, this is indeed the prophet who has come into the world. So the crowds did not just receive the food and conclude that Jesus was a prophet because they were full. They concluded that he was a prophet because they actually saw the sign, they saw the miracle, and concluded that only a man from God could do such a thing. And there were thousands of witnesses to this undeniable miracle of God. Now, Jesus Christ is an abundant provider like his heavenly father was for Israel of old. The gospel of Mark records for us the motivation for Jesus’s actions towards the crowd. Gospel of Mark records for us that Jesus had compassion on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd.

This is the same crowd that Jesus knew their intentions about, that he knew that they were there, They wanted salvation from their sins. He knew that they were not there to repent of their sins against him and against a holy God. He knew that they were not there to worship him. He knew they were there only to satisfy their physical needs. Yet that same Jesus who could read their hearts, who knew their intentions, is the same Jesus who had compassion on them. and saw their needs and saw that they had no shepherd. So even knowing that they were there not for good reasons, Jesus had compassion on them. Why? It says, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. And we find, of course, this prophesied of in Ezekiel, in the book of Ezekiel, in Ezekiel chapter 34.

If you would turn there with me to Ezekiel chapter 34. Ezekiel chapter 34. And we’ll be reading several selections from throughout the chapter, but starting in verse 2, God says, Prophesy against the shepherds of Israel. Prophesy and say to them, even to the shepherds, thus says the Lord God, all the shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves, should not the shepherds feed the sheep? You shepherds hear the word of the Lord. Verse 10, thus says the Lord God, behold, I am against the shepherds and I will require my sheep at their hand. I will require my sheep at their hand and put a stop to their feeding the sheep. No longer shall the shepherds feed I will rescue my sheep from their mouths, that they may not be food for them. For thus says the Lord God, behold, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out.

As a shepherd seeks out his flock when he is among his sheep that have been scattered, so will I seek out my sheep and I will rescue them from all places that they have been scattered. So when Jesus saw his people coming to him, he saw that they had no shepherd because their shepherds had failed them. And so he had compassion on them. He loved them. And he chose to stay with his disciples there and teach them, heal them, and ultimately feed them with abundant food so that they would be nourished. He lavished so abundantly that the food that was left over was 12 baskets. It was God who called Noah to build the ark and save them from the waters of judgment. It was God who brought Abraham out of idolatry to worship the one true God.

It was God who brought Israel out of the land of Egypt and provided food and water and brought them into the land of flowing with milk and honey. But these physical provisions that God provided, Old Testament Israel, were meant as an added blessing to knowing and worshiping the one true God. But the people of God were repeatedly replacing their highest calling in life to trust God and worship Him with keeping their eyes on the physical reality of the world. The people that came to Jesus that day were no different. They too were motivated by physical needs and by physical desires. And yet Jesus, out of his love for his people, had compassion and met their physical needs. But the people once again misunderstood this sign. Look at verse 15 with me. I’m going back to John 6, verse 15.

Verse 15 states, perceiving that they were about to come and taken by force to make him king, Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. People here in this story saw God’s glory. They saw Jesus’s power and his glory. But instead of repenting and believing in Jesus, they tried to make him king. They were focused on what Jesus could do to save them from and liberate them from the Roman rule rather than liberating them from their sin and death. And we too, brothers and sisters, like the Old Testament and New Testament saints, have abundant needs. We have physical needs, but we also have spiritual needs. And Christ is willing and he is able to fill all of these needs if we look to him. This doesn’t mean that he will give us everything that we want.

There is a distinction between what we want and what we truly need. And God knows what we need and he will indeed provide us with everything that we need. We start to worry and we start to question God when our eyes are focused and our hearts are looking towards the things of this world. We start to question whether God is truly good. We question whether God is truly able and willing to comfort us and to give us what we need when our eyes are focused on these earthly things that fill us. But Christ is calling us and he is showing us in that he is a shepherd who sees his sheep and loves them. He is willing and he is able to provide everything that we need, provide every provision that we need to live the godly life.

So do not look to the things of this world. Do not put your trust in your own abilities. or the goods that you have accumulated for yourself, but look to Christ. That is where our peace and our trust should be when we lay our heads down at night. We should not find peace in our 401k or whatever else that we have established. We should find our peace in knowing that Jesus is the good shepherd who will abundantly provide for all that we need. So look to him. Find your peace in Him, trust Him, and walk in faith knowing that He will provide everything that you need. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You, O Lord, that You, through Your Word, remind us over and over again that You are a powerful God, that you are not just able to provide for us, but you are willing and you desire to provide all that we need.

You, O Lord, are not a God who stands far off, judging your people for what they have done, but you, O Lord, are a God who has drawn near to us and who has given us a pathway to salvation. Indeed, you yourself have saved us by your blood. You, O Lord, love to provide. You indeed desire to provide all that we need. And we pray, O Lord, that we would not be fooled, we would not be led astray by the things of this world. We would not put our eyes and our trust on the things that we have done, that we would not put our trust in the things that we have saved up, in the riches that we have on this earth. We pray, O Lord, that our eyes and our hearts would fully rest on you, the only one who provides, the only one who sustains It is only because of you sustaining and providing, O Lord, that we have food today, that we will have food tomorrow, that we will have anything in this life.

And so we pray, O Lord, that you would protect us from the evil one who seeks to deceive us, who seeks to draw us away from Christ, who seeks to puff us up, who seeks to deceive us into believing that we are able to live our lives apart from you. We pray, O Lord, that we would day by day live in thankfulness, live in light of confessing this reality that everything that we have is from you. We pray that we would use it, O Lord, wisely, that we would use it, O Lord, for your glory and for your people. We pray all this in your son’s name. Amen. Let’s continue in worship by standing, rising, and singing hymn 196. Hymn 196, At the Lamb’s High Feast, we sing.

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About this sermon

When the Jews sought to kill Jesus for calling God his own Father, he pressed the claim further: the Son does nothing of his own accord but only what he sees the Father doing, because the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. The Father has given the Son greater works than healing a lame man. The Son gives life to whom he will and executes all judgment, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever hears his word and believes has already passed from death to life, and at the last day all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and rise, some to life and some to judgment before the same Son.

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Sermon transcript

Let’s turn now to the reading of God’s Word. This evening’s passage is from the book of John, chapter 5, and we will be reading from verses 18 through 29. John, chapter 5, verses 8 through 29. Hear now God’s Word. This was 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. 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. In greater works than these will he show him 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. For 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. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

And he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you in eternity past have covenanted with your Son to save a people for yourself. We thank you, O Lord, that you have sent your Son, Jesus Christ, to this earth to reveal yourself to us and to accomplish this plan of redemption. We thank you, O Lord, that through your Son, Jesus Christ, we are granted access to eternal life that through your Son, Jesus Christ, we can come to know the eternal God who has made all things and who has saved a people for himself.

We thank you, O Lord, that through your Son, Jesus Christ, through his work, we have been granted access to the Father, that we can come before him even this evening and worship you. We pray, O Lord, that as we read your word, that your spirit would work mightily in us, that our eyes would be opened, that we would not only hear familiar gospel truths, that we would hear them anew, that you would hear them and be refreshed and encouraged, that we would see new truths and be encouraged by them. We pray, oh Lord, that you would use this time to shape us and to mold us into the likeness of your son. In Jesus’s name, amen. Please be seated. Well, there are many astounding and glorious words that Christ spoke and that have been graciously recorded for us throughout the four Gospels.

But the words in our passage this evening from our Savior are truly, even among the many examples that could be raised, some of the most awesome words that have been recorded for us in the Gospels. When we read these words as 21st century Christians who already believe in the divinity of Christ, who recite the Nicene Creed on a regular basis, we may be tempted to gloss over the truly earth-shattering significance that these words possess. So I want you to imagine that you are a first century Jew who has been worshiping the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. The God who created the universe and who sustains it. The God who declares the end from the beginning. The one who brought up Israel out of the land of Egypt and brought his people from exile.

Devout first century Jew, Jew’s whole life and his whole identity revolved around the worship of this God and the service to this one true God. His whole being, his whole identity was wrapped up in this knowledge, the knowledge of the one true God and the worship of this glorious, wondrous being who was outside and above his creation. And I want you to imagine hearing these words from Jesus. as one of these men or women. And the man standing before you utters these words that we just read. For them, it would have been revolutionary. If true, if these words that Jesus spoke were true, these words change everything. For the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob has taken on human flesh and He has drawn near to His people. in the person of Jesus Christ. Throughout the Gospel of John, we have already seen that John the Apostle has proclaimed the full deity and the wonder of the Son of Jesus.

This is the first time in the gospel that we read Jesus himself so clearly teaching this reality. We saw glimpses of it in chapter 2 when he declared that the temple was his father’s house, and in greater measure still in chapter 3 when Jesus revealed that the Son of Man had come down from heaven. And still even more in chapter 4 when Jesus revealed to the Samaritan woman that he was indeed the Messiah that was promised of old. But each of these instances were either in private or only veiled references to his deity. But here in chapter 5, Jesus’ profession about himself becomes much more explicit and is much more public. Christ proclaims the reality that he has been hinting at, and he has implied, and he does so openly and boldly. And through this proclamation, we learn that Christ’s work on earth is tied directly to his work in heaven.

This passage teaches us that the Father sent the Son, that the Son conformed to the Father’s will, and in turn, because of the obedience of the Son in carrying out the plan of redemption, has given Christ His Son all honor. We will examine our passage this evening, three points that Jesus emphasizes. First, the Son’s obedience to the Father. Secondly, the greater works of Jesus. And lastly, the fruit of the work of Jesus. the Son’s obedience to the Father, second, the greater works of Jesus, and lastly, the fruit of the works of Jesus. Let’s turn now to the Son’s obedience to the Father. Remember how our passage last week ended. It ended with Jesus healing the crippled man on the Sabbath and the Jewish leaders finding out that Jesus was the one who had healed him.

And the passage records for us that from that time on, the Jewish leaders sought to persecute him. Because the Jewish leaders had lost sight of the purpose of the Sabbath. And thus they attacked Jesus for healing a man who had been sick for almost 40 years. But Jesus responded to these Jewish leaders by appealing to the fact that Jesus was not doing this on his own authority, but in fact was following the lead of his father. who continues to work all day, every day, including on the Sabbath, to which in verse 18 we read that this is why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him. Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal to God. Now at this point, with the Jews wanting to kill him, pull back, and disappear behind the crowds, as he often did in other settings.

But instead, John records for us that Jesus pushes forward and makes his profession even more explicit. Jesus begins with these words, truly, truly, I say to you, literally, amen, amen. Jesus uses these words throughout the Gospel of John when he is introducing a particularly important message that he has to say, a particularly important matter. Jesus’ way of calling our attention, calling the attention of the hearer and now the reader to listen closely to what he is about to say. And he is also promising the truthfulness, the guarantee of what he is about to say. And Jesus goes on. The Son of Man 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.

So the Jews had wanted to kill Jesus for calling God his father. And Jesus, instead of pulling back and retreating, continues to explain the relationship in greater detail. Prior to verse 19, Jesus’ words may have been interpreted as calling God in heaven his father. The saints of old in the Old Testament called God their father, in the sense that God was the father of all God’s people, in a more general sense. The Jews certainly didn’t understand his words that way. They understood him to be making a more exclusive claim. It could be argued that he was using it in a more general sense, but in verses 19 and doubt that may have existed about the exclusivity of the relationship that he was claiming that he had with the Father is now gone. Jesus is revealing the complete uniqueness, the complete otherness of his relationship with his Father.

And the authority which Jesus has to work on the Sabbath then, to heal this man on the Sabbath, to make this man whole, is not because he claims authority based on himself, but because he is acting, he says, in accordance with the will and work of his Father. And the son, Jesus says, watches his father and then follows suit. And whatever the father does, the son does likewise. This is to say that the father in heaven who sent the son sent him to accomplish the plan of redemption which the son and the father agreed to in eternity. The father has been acting to redeem his people, to carry out the plan of redemption to save his people. And the Son, likewise, in full submission to the plan of salvation, works in complete harmony with the Father’s will and work.

But why is Jesus able to know and to see the will of the Father? He says in verse 20, An earthly father, who loves his son, teaches both by his words, how his son is ought to live as a godly man on this earth. It’s not only because of the duty that he has as a father, but because he truly loves his son, that he sets an example and teaches his son how he ought to live. It is love primarily that should drive a father to bestow this knowledge upon his son. So in a similar way, not in the exact same way, but in a similar way, the father in heaven, out of his love and pleasure for his son, whom he sent to this earth, shows him his divine providence that he is carrying out, even in that moment.

And the son then in turn carries out that same work is called to follow and honor His Father, the Divine Son in His incarnation, willingly submits to the will of the Father and carries out His plan of redemption. In these words, Jesus wants the Jews, and in turn us, modern readers, to see that His actions, Jesus’ actions and His words are not divorced not just speaking and acting on his own authority, but in harmony, in submission to the Father. The Son then heals on the Sabbath. It is not, then, a rebellious act for the Son to heal on the Sabbath, but an act that should lead us to raise our eyes to the Father, who also is working, even on that day. It is the Father’s will that the sick would be made well, that the cripple would walk again, that forgiveness of sins would be granted.

It is the Father’s will that is driving the Son to these good works. And so we see from Christ’s words that we are to see his actions of redemption and salvation as being inextricably linked to the will and work of the Father in heaven. But Jesus says that the Father has shown greater works than these, i.e. greater works than healing the cripple. And this brings us to the greater works of Christ. The greater works of Christ. Let’s read once again verses 20 through 29. Verses 20 through 29. 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 you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom He will.

For 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. Truly, truly, I say to you, in hours dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

While Jesus was on this earth, he did many miracles. He healed the sick. He restored sight to the blind and did many other signs and wonders that are recorded for us. And all of these signs pointed to who Christ is. They showed the power that he had over his creatures and their physical bodies, as well as the power that he had over all of nature. But Christ in his first coming did not primarily come to heal the sick or to restore eyesight. But as Paul says in 1 Timothy 1, verse 15, Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners. And so while the miracle of healing the cripple was indeed an amazing feat, much greater works awaited the Son. The greatest miracle that occurred in the Old Testament that we can read of, that could only be carried out by the power of God, was the raising of the dead.

Sin fell on man and death entered the world. Death came for every man and for every woman. And the only thing that reversed the finality of that death was when God did a mighty work through his prophets and raised several people in the Old Testament to life. Only God has the authority and the power to dead and thereby gave the Israelites, through these actions, hope for the resurrection to come. And Jesus says in this passage that just as the Father in heaven gave life to the dead in the Old Testament, the Son will now give life to the dead in the here and now. And that life that the Son gives is both spiritual and physical, both spiritual and physical. In this passage, he does not say, he does not speak merely of physical life, but of spiritual life.

Whenever someone hears Jesus’ words and believes them, he says that he will be saved and be granted eternal life. But what is eternal life? John 17.3 says that eternal life is that they may know you, the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent. Once the Spirit has regenerated us and granted us a heart of flesh, and we have believed in the words of Christ, we are then united to Christ in eternity. We are brought into sweet communion with the Son and the Father, and this salvation is secure in eternity. And precisely because we are brought into union with Christ, We are united to him. We are then given all the benefits of union with him. We then, he says, pass out from under judgment of God and we are brought in to union with him.

The Apostle Paul explains this in Colossians chapter 2. Please turn there with me. Colossians chapter 2 verses 11 through 15. Colossians chapter 2, verses 11 through 15. Paul writes, in him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you are also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead. and you who were dead in your trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame by triumphing over them in him.

We were dead in our sins and in our trespasses. We were dead in our trespasses. We were slaves to our sin. When we say that we were dead in our trespasses, we mean two things. We mean that we were slaves, but also that we were condemned by an Almighty God. All that we have to bring to God when we are dead in our trespasses and sins is our sin. And all that is awaiting us is eternal death. However, because of the gracious work of Christ, living a perfect life for us, and taking on our punishment for our sins on that cross, we are no longer slaves to sin. We are no longer under the condemnation of God, but we are brought under life. We are brought from death to life. And we are guaranteed this by our union with Christ.

And we will be granted eternal life in communion with the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. But Jesus here is not just speaking of spiritual life that the son gives. The son also gives physical life in verses 25 through 26. He says, do not marvel at this for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out and those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Here Jesus is speaking. from the dead at his second coming. Jesus would give the Jews a foreshadowing and a taste of this in John 11, when he raised Lazarus from the dead by the word of his mouth. But ultimately, the fulfillment of these words will be at his second coming, when both believer and unbeliever alike is raised from the dead, and Christ will come back in preparation for the final judgment. and he will judge both the unbeliever and the believer.

Paul writes something similar in 1 Thessalonians 4. Paul writes this, But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve those who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of a trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Just as the Father granted life in the Old Testament, to several individuals who had died, the sun will one day call all who have died out of their tombs, and he will give life to all who have perished.

Death is unnatural. Our bodies are not supposed to be separate. In the Old Testament, God graciously foreshadowed this coming resurrection by raising some. But on the final day, on that Judgment Day, the Son will raise up all who are asleep, and their souls will be restored to their bodies, and all will stand before their Creator. And on that day, the fullness of the fruit of the work of Christ will be revealed. And this brings us then to our last point, the fruit of the work of Christ. Jesus says this in verses 28 and 29, do not marvel at this for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. And then those who have done good to resurrection of life, but those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Jesus here in verses 28 through 29 says that all who are dead, both believer and unbeliever, will be raised from the tomb. And there will be two groups. They will be separated. And those who have done good to eternal life, but those who have done evil will perish. But this passage is not speaking of works righteousness. Maybe attempting to read this as Jesus saying that if you do good in your life, you will attain eternal life. But if you have done evil, you will perish. But we can be confident that that’s not what he means, because Christ, as we just saw, just revealed to us the basis for our salvation. And it’s not doing good works, but rather, as he says in verse 24, it is hearing the word of God proclaimed and believing in Jesus and the one who sent him that grants eternal life.

It’s not doing good that brings us out of death into life. We don’t drag ourselves out of a state of death and sin and misery into life. But rather, Jesus says, we are granted life by the Son. So for those who are found in Christ, for those who have been given a new life, who are saved by the work of Christ for good works, will be resurrected to an everlasting life. But for those who do not believe in the gospel, who do not repent of their sin, Jesus gives a word of warning. The Father did not just grant the Son the right to give eternal life to sinners. He also appointed the Son of God to be the judge of all the earth, as Jesus says in verse 22, for the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.

Despite the misconception of many believers and unbelievers alike in our modern society, Jesus is not a soft, all-forgiving Savior who will let sin go. He is the one on that judgment day who will judge all of the wicked. He will be the one that pronounces the guilty sentence for the glory of the Son and the Father. He is the one that will send them to eternal punishment on that day. just as the resurrection to life is sure for the believer, because it is secured in Jesus Christ, so the resurrection to damnation, to judgment, is sure. So heed this warning, turn away from your sin, and turn to Christ who is calling you this day to receive eternal life in Him. The gospel call is given to all. Christ calls all to repent and believe. Come this day, taste and see that the Lord is good.

Turn away from the fleeting things of this world. Turn away from your sins that only lead to destruction. And turn to Jesus, the only one that has the ability to give us life. Let’s join the saints as we give all glory and honor to the Son for what he has done for us. In our passage this evening, we have seen a God who loves sinners. He has loved them so much that he has sent his Son to redeem a people for himself. That Son, Jesus, working in complete union with the Father, has come to save you and I. He has come to give us life in a dying world, to restore our relationship with the Father, and to give us life eternal with Him. What a glorious God that we serve. What a glorious God that we worship, who in perfect harmony, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, worked to save a people for Himself.

If you do not yet know this gracious God, turn from your sin and pursue Christ. Place your trust in Him. And let us who know Christ, let us who know this gracious gift, give all the glory and all the honor due to Christ to him. For he has truly brought us from death to life. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you. that through your word we are given a glimpse into the inner working of the Father and the Son. Lord, in our day and age it’s so easy for us to be fooled into believing that Jesus is the only one who loves us. Oh Lord, in your word, through the words of that very Jesus, we see that he is accomplishing the good pleasure and the plan of redemption of the father. We see, oh Lord, that the beauty of the gospel, the beauty of God’s love, the mystery, The depth of the love that you have for us comes from the Father.

We thank you, O Lord, that we are given a glimpse of the glorious plan of salvation being worked out in time and in history. O Lord, what a wondrous thing it is to not only be saved by you, but to learn and to see more and more of the glorious love that you have for us. We pray, O Lord, that as we go from this place this day, as we go forth from worship this day, that you would cause us to remember these truths, that you would cause us to remember the love that the Father had for us in sending his Son, Jesus Christ, to die for us, Help us to remember the mercy and the grace that you have shown us. Help us, O Lord, to proclaim these glorious truths, to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, both in our word and our deed, to all of those who have ears to hear.

We pray, oh Lord, that you would draw us closer to yourself and make us more and more into the likeness of your son, Jesus Christ, this day. We pray all of this in your son’s name. Amen. Let’s continue our worship by standing together and singing hymn 154, hymn 154.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

About this sermon

At Jacob’s well Jesus offers the Samaritan woman living water: whoever drinks the water he gives will never thirst again, for it becomes a spring welling up to eternal life. That water is the Holy Spirit, who never leaves believers without his sustaining work, though they still suffer and doubt. Christ is also the access to the Father. The hour has come when true worshipers worship in spirit and truth, not on Gerizim or in Jerusalem, as God extends his promise to the nations.

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Sermon transcript

Remain standing as we read the word. This evening’s Bible passage is from John chapter 4, verses 1 through 42. We will be reading all 42 verses, but the focus of this evening’s exhortation will be from verses 1 through 27. John chapter 4, verses 1 through 42. Hear now the word of the Lord.

Now when Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that Jesus was making and baptizing more disciples than John, although Jesus himself did not baptize but only his disciples, he left Judea and departed again for Galilee, and he had to pass through Samaria.

So he came to a town of Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Jacob’s well was there, so Jesus, wearied as he was from his journey, was sitting beside the well. It was about the sixth hour. A woman from Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink,” for his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food. The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? For Jews had no dealings with the Samaritans.” Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, and as did his sons and his livestock?” And Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up into eternal life.” And the woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.”

And Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband.’ For you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.”

“Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know. We worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming, he who is called Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things.” And Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he.”

Just then his disciples came back, and they marveled that he was talking with a woman. But no one said, “Who do you seek?” or “What do you seek?” or “Why are you talking with her?” So the woman left her water jar and went away into the town, and said to the people, “Come see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

They went out of the town and were coming to him. Meanwhile, the disciples were urging him, saying, “Rabbi, eat.” But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you do not know about.” So the disciples said to one another, “Has anyone brought him something to eat?” Jesus said to them, “My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work.”

Do you not say that there are yet four months until the harvest? Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes and see that the fields are white for harvest. Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may rejoice together. For here the saying holds true: one sows and another reaps. I sent you to reap that for which you do not labor. Others have labored, and you have entered into their labor.

Many Samaritans from the town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony. He told me all that I ever did. So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them. And he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves. And we know now that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”

Let us pray for God’s blessing upon the Word exposited. Heavenly Father, what a privilege it is to be able to hear your Word proclaimed. We pray, O Lord, that you would, through your Holy Spirit, work in each one of us. That the gospel of Jesus Christ would go forth into our hearts, that your word would remain there, that it would grip us, that we would see the glories of Jesus Christ and his mercy and his grace toward us. We pray, O Lord, that we would be encouraged, that we would be brought up, that we would be caused to draw closer to you and to one another. We pray all of this in your Son’s name. Amen. You may be seated.

Well, I am sure many of you have seen or at least heard of the news from Nepal and Tibet. If you have seen any of the videos that have come out of those regions, they are some of the most frightening images that one could ever see. There is one video in particular that you may have seen. A flood is approaching, and there is a building that is four or five stories tall. The flood comes and completely covers this building. The building is entirely consumed by the water.

Reports now indicate that at least hundreds, and possibly thousands, have died, and thousands remain missing. Something similar occurred in 2011 in Japan, when a tsunami caused by an earthquake struck the northeastern shores of the country. On that single day, nearly 20,000 people died from the combined effects of the earthquake and the wave, with the vast majority killed by the wave. The wave was so large that, at some points, it reached a height of 130 feet—equivalent to 13 basketball hoops stacked on top of one another. This was an immense force.

It is understandable that those who experienced this tragedy often avoid the ocean, even decades later. For many, the ocean represents the force that took their loved ones and caused lasting nightmares. The wave tore apart families, destroyed homes and businesses, ruined marriages, and destabilized entire towns for years.

On the other hand, there are places in the United States and around the world where water is regarded as a precious resource that must not be wasted. On this earth, there are regions where water is so scarce that conflicts have been fought and people have died to gain access to it.

The idea of a source of water that would satisfy their thirst forever would likely be the most desirable thing to these people. The scriptures, like the examples I have given, also speak of water as both a blessing and a curse. When the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, they desperately needed water.

Their situation was so dire that they complained about God bringing them out of the land of Egypt. In their minds, at that time, it would have been better to remain in Egypt, enduring slavery, sometimes being beaten or even killed, because at least in Egypt they had access to water. The Israelites did not humbly request water from God. Instead, they complained to Moses and verbally attacked God.

But God, being gracious, provided water through a rock, which Paul identifies in 1 Corinthians 10 as being Christ himself. Thus, Christ was the living water for His people in the Old Testament. There are many other examples where water is portrayed as a blessing from God, quenching thirst and enabling crops to bear fruit, providing both nutritional nourishment and relief to parched mouths. Therefore, for God’s people, those who are under His blessing, water is seen as a blessing.

At the same time, water also represents judgment for sinners who have rejected the gospel call. Most notably, we can recall the great flood in Genesis, when the waters covered the entire earth and every man, woman, and child not in the ark perished because they had rejected the gospel call of Noah. Later, in the Exodus account, God used the waters of the Red Sea to destroy the enemies of Egypt who were pursuing the Israelites. Further, in the prophetic literature, numerous examples show God’s judgment likened to water or a flood coming upon His enemies.

Thus, for the people of God, for those of us who trust in Him, God provides water as a blessing to quench our thirst and strengthen us in our walk with Him. But to those who reject God, water becomes a terrifying instrument of judgment, used to vanquish the enemies of God’s people.

And in our passage this evening, Jesus reminds us that the provision he has given us is not a momentary provision, nor is it merely a physical provision of water, but rather a spiritual and eternal water that he has given us. In the Old Testament, God provided manna and water from a rock for his people, which gave them temporary relief. But in his Son, Jesus Christ, he has given us water that leads to eternal life. He has done so that we may be spared from God’s judgment and brought into eternal communion and worship of our Creator.

In our passage this evening, we will consider first the access we gain to living water through Christ. That is, Christ is our access to living water, and second, Christ is our access to the Father. First, Christ is our access to living water, and second, Christ is our access to the Father. Christ is our access to living water can be found in verses 7 through 15. Let us read those verses again: A woman from Samaria came to draw water, and Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria? For Jews had no dealings with Samaritans.” Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

And the woman said to him, Sir, you have nothing with which to draw water, and the well is deep. Where do you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock? Jesus said to her, everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life. And the woman said to him, Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water.

As we consider our passage this evening, it is important for us to briefly examine the historical context in which this passage takes place. When we first read this story, if we were to read it for the first time in our modern context, it may seem surprising. Especially when we read the words of the woman in verse 9, where she says, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?”

In our day and age, the idea of one person from one ethnic group refusing to interact or commune with another person solely on the basis of ethnicity is considered morally unacceptable. This is true, except for a small group that has recently begun promoting such views in certain reform circles. Aside from that group, this idea is universally regarded as unacceptable.

But in the time of the scriptures, separating along ethnic lines was common and expected. After all, the Jews were primarily, with the exception of some Gentiles who were incorporated into their community, an ethnically homogeneous religious group. It was common for the Jews to regard other ethnic groups with disdain. The Samaritans, in particular, were deeply opposed to the Jews. Their division was not only ethnic but also religious.

The Samaritans, as many of you may know, had their roots in the northern kingdom of Israel. When the Assyrians conquered Israel, they took most of the Israelites into exile, but left some behind. When the Assyrians brought in other foreigners to settle the land, the remaining Israelites intermarried with those foreigners. When the Jews who had been in exile returned, they resented those who had stayed behind and viewed them with suspicion because they had intermarried with non-Israelites.

As a result, the Jews separated themselves from the Samaritans, and the two groups grew further apart. Eventually, although the Samaritans accepted the five books of Moses as scripture, they built their own temple on their own land. This further deepened the division between Jews and Samaritans. By the time Jesus came, the division was so great that the idea of a Jewish man sharing a drink with a Samaritan woman would have been completely unacceptable to both groups. The Jews considered the Samaritans to be defiled by foreign blood and compromised in the most important matter—worship of the one true God.

Returning to our text this evening, we see that Jesus was traveling from Judea to Galilee when he stopped at a well to get water. The well he stopped at was none other than the well of Jacob. Jacob, of course, was one of the patriarchs of Israel and held common significance for both the Jews and the Samaritans. Both Jesus and the woman had roots that went back thousands of years to this common ancestor. It was at this well that they shared a connection, and Jesus said to the woman, “Give me a drink.” The woman, deeply influenced by her historical context, responded with surprise.

And she says, “How is it that you, a Jew, would ask me, a woman of Samaria, for water?” The Gospel writer, John, then explains why she said this. He states that the Jews had no dealings with Samaritans. As we discussed earlier, the Jews avoided the Samaritans and regarded them with disdain. Therefore, for Jesus to not only speak with this woman but also to drink from her jar, to commune with her, and to discuss serious matters with her—especially with a woman considered defiled by Jewish standards—was utterly unacceptable for a Jewish man.

Hence, in verse 27, we see the disciples’ reaction: they were amazed that he was speaking with this woman. Then Jesus responds to the woman. He says, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying this to you, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.”

Once again, Jesus does not respond directly to what the woman said. Instead, he responds in a way that causes her to ask further questions. While the woman is considering the cultural divide between Jesus and herself, Jesus focuses on the deeper divide—the true divide—that exists in the human heart, which is far from God. Jesus wants her to understand that there is something deeper and more serious at stake than this ethnic division, and that she has not yet come to know the one true God. And just as the woman in chapter 3, Nicodemus, understood Jesus literally rather than spiritually as he meant it, so she now responds, “Where and how are you going to get this water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? Even he, the greatest among us, had to dig a well and use tools to draw water. How can you produce water without such tools?”

Once again, Jesus answers her question indirectly. Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” He did not say this directly to her, but He made it clear in His reply that He was speaking of spiritual matters, not physical water.

The water that God provided to Jacob, and the water that God gave to the Israelites in the wilderness, were both temporary solutions to a physical need. The Israelites were suffering under intense heat. They were parched, and they could feel their strength gradually fading as they went without water. At their most desperate moment, God provided them with water, which to them, I am sure, tasted like the best water they had ever tasted. But after several hours, this water no longer satisfied their thirst. Their thirst returned.

They would again seek water, because this desire is only briefly fulfilled. People must continually take in physical nourishment throughout their lives in order to perform basic bodily functions. But Jesus says He can give water that never runs dry—a water that, when drunk, brings eternal satisfaction. Indeed, according to Jesus, when this water is received, it becomes a spring of water within the believer, leading to eternal life. Clearly, He is speaking of spiritual matters, and He is referring to the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity.

Now, Jesus is not saying that believers will never suffer. He is not saying that they will never have doubts. He is not saying that they will never need to be renewed or encouraged by the word. He is saying that once the gift of the Holy Spirit is given, believers will never be left without the sustaining work of the Holy Spirit in their lives.

There will never be a time in your life, believer, when you are left without the water that produces new life in you. Calvin, in his commentary, explains it this way: For he, that is Jesus, does not say that from the very first day we drink so as to be fully satisfied, but only means that the Holy Spirit is a continually flowing fountain, and that therefore there is no danger that those who have been renewed by spiritual grace will be dried up. Therefore, although we thirst throughout our whole life, it is certain that we have not received the Holy Spirit for only one day or for only a short period, but as an everlasting fountain, which will never fail us. And thus believers thirst and keenly thirst throughout their whole life, yet they have an abundance of quickening moisture. However small the measure of grace they have received, it gives them perpetual vigor so that they are never entirely dry. So for the believer, this eternal water, the water that gives eternal life, will never run out.

But for the unbeliever, on the other hand, whether they acknowledge it or not, the unbeliever is constantly walking around searching for something to quench the deep gap that exists in his nature between what he was created for and how he is living.

And sinful man attempts to fill this void with many things. They fill it with money, with fame, with alcohol, with sex, with drugs, with pursuing a good career, with status, and many other things. Some unbelievers have recognized the futility of chasing after these things. And they try to find purpose and meaning in things that are good and have been given to us by God, such as family, children, and other responsibilities.

Jordan Peterson is a notable example of this. You may have heard of him. He is a well-known psychologist from Canada who has written many books and delivered numerous lectures. He teaches at length about finding meaning and purpose by taking on greater and greater responsibilities. Yet even if you were to follow this man’s advice completely, you would still find yourself longing for something more.

Because God created us. The one true God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, created you for something more. He created us, and what is truly astonishing is that He made man and entered into a covenant with him. He made man to be in relationship with Him, to live in intimate communion with His Creator. While earthly relationships are necessary and vital, if we do not have a relationship with our Creator, we will always be searching for something to quench our thirst and to give us peace.

But if we know the Lord, if Christ has granted us the gift of the Holy Spirit, then the eternal God, the one who created you, now dwells within you. He strengthens you, He convicts you of sin, He sanctifies you, He comforts you, He builds you up through the Word, and He will keep you until the end. As Jesus says, He will lead you to eternal life. As Paul writes in Ephesians chapter one, in Him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of salvation, and believed in Him, were sealed with the promise of the Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee, the guarantee, of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it to the praise of His glory. Physical water may give us momentary sustenance, but the eternal water, the eternal Holy Spirit that gives us water unto eternal life, which Jesus Christ has offered to us, gives us eternal sustenance. And by the gift of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we are also granted access to the Father. This brings us then to Christ, our access to the Father. Christ, our access to the Father, as described in verses 16 through 26. Let us read that passage once again, verses 16 through 26.

Jesus said to her, “Go call your husband and come here.” The woman answered Him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying I have no husband, for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” And the woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet.”

You worship what you do not know. We worship what we know. For salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. And the woman said to him, I know that the Messiah is coming, he who is called the Christ. When he comes, he will tell us all things.

And Jesus said to her, I who speak to you am He. Once again, in verse 15, the woman shows that she still has not understood the meaning of Jesus’ words. She again asks, Can I have this water, this water that gives eternal life? And so Jesus takes a different approach to help her understand the significance of his words and the authority by which he speaks.

Jesus knew that this woman had been unfaithful. She had not only had more than one husband, but five husbands. The man she was currently living with was not one of her husbands. He asked her to bring her husband, knowing that she was living with a man who was not her husband. And so she responded, I have no husband.

And here Jesus is revealing her life before her. The most intimate, the most private, the greatest secret in her life, the most damaging to her—this is what he brings to light. And we see that her attitude immediately changes when she realizes that this man before her knows everything about her life. Therefore, she says, He must be a prophet. In this story, Jesus is gradually revealing more of who he is to this woman. But the woman still does not fully understand who he is. So the woman then recognizes that he is sent from God.

And she takes the opportunity to ask him a central question that divided the two peoples. She asks him, in which place are we to worship God? In other words, who is correct? Are the Jews correct in Jerusalem, or are the Samaritans correct? It seems that her question is genuine.

Jesus knows that she still has not understood what he is teaching. The people whom Jesus encounters throughout this Gospel have consistently tried to understand his words in physical terms. We saw this with the Jews at the Temple. We saw it with Nicodemus, and now we see it this evening with the woman.

Jesus is not speaking of physical realities. The worship of the Old Testament, the Temple structure, and the sacrificial system all pointed to a spiritual reality—the reality that would come when God sent his Son, Jesus Christ, to fulfill all these things. Then God’s people would worship him by spirit and with truth, not in a specific location, not in a specific building, not in a specific nation, but by the power of the Holy Spirit and in accordance with the truth of the Scriptures.

As an aside, some commentators suggest that here Jesus is minimizing the distinction between the Jews and the Samaritans. I submit to you that Jesus was not saying that their distinction was unimportant.

He says in verse 22, “You worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews.” Here Jesus fully affirms the Jewish understanding of the matter. The Samaritans, although they sought to worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, had indeed strayed from the people of God. They were outside the covenant community and were worshiping contrary to God’s Word. Therefore, Jesus affirms that how we worship matters, and we must do so in accordance with God’s will. But Jesus’ overall point here is that there will come a day—and indeed that day has come—when the location of worship will no longer matter.

As we were reminded in this morning’s sermon, God promised Adam, all the way back in Genesis chapter 12, verse 3, that God would bless all the nations through the seed, through his seed. God’s plan of redemption from the very beginning was to extend the call of the Gospel beyond the nation of Israel. And it was through Jesus Christ and the inauguration of the New Covenant that this promise to Adam would now be fulfilled. Jesus continues in verses 23–24: “But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Christ has now come, and He has inaugurated the new covenant, and there is no longer a limit to the nation of Israel. This is now open to every man and every woman from every tribe, nation, and tongue. And Jesus says that this time is now here. The time has come for the worship of God to be no longer tied to the physical location of Jerusalem and to be brought to every nation, to every tongue, and to every tribe. The worship of God would no longer be defined by the Temple of Jerusalem, but would now be identified by those who are led by the Holy Spirit and worship Him according to the Scriptures.

Because Jesus says, “God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.” Therefore, the nature of worship for us is primarily spiritual. It is not to be conducted with physical objects, as is done by Roman Catholics or Eastern Orthodox Christians. Christ has indeed given us two sacraments—baptism and the Lord’s Supper—but these are the only two physical signs He has provided for worship. Now, God dwells in us. God dwells with us. There is no longer a need for the physical types of the Old Testament, which only pointed to the greater reality that is Christ. And now, since the perfect revelation of Jesus Christ has come, the types of the Old Testament must pass away.

Jesus says this reality is happening now. In other words, it is occurring at this very moment. As we see, the people of Samaria come to believe in Jesus and worship Him. The Gospel is now, even at this moment, coming not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. Therefore, the chief marker of those who worship the one true God is not their ethnicity, nor is it the place where they worship. It is those who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit, who receive the living water, the gift of Jesus Christ to us. Those who worship the one true God in spirit and in truth are the true church.

There is much more that could be said about Jesus’ words here, and much more that would be helpful to study. But as we come to the end of our time this evening, let us be reminded of the truths that Jesus proclaimed.

There is only one thing that satisfies the human soul, and that is a relationship with His Creator. It is communion with our God. It is our reliance on Him. It is His dwelling with us. But because of our rebellion against Him and our sin, that relationship is fundamentally broken. Thus, we live our lives constantly searching, constantly in need of something we do not have. We are constantly parched, seeking the water that can heal us.

But Jesus Christ has come to this earth to reconcile us to God and to dwell with humanity. He has come so that our sins may be removed as far from us as the east is from the west. And that same man, Jesus Christ, has given us a gift. He has given you and me a gift that is the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit regenerates us. The Holy Spirit sustains us. The Holy Spirit purifies us. The Holy Spirit convicts us of our sins. The Holy Spirit comforts us in times of need and grief. And most importantly, the Holy Spirit keeps us until the end. Most wonderfully.

It is by the Holy Spirit that we are united to Christ, so that we can come before the Father even this evening. We come before the Father by the Holy Spirit and worship Him in spirit and in truth. So if you do not know this peace, if you do not have this living water, if you do not know the Father in heaven, turn to Him even this evening and find peace and life. If you have already come to Christ, be encouraged that even now this living water springs forth within you. Even when you do not feel it, the Spirit is sanctifying you, the Spirit is comforting you, the Spirit is building you up, the Spirit is encouraging you, and the Spirit is keeping you until that blessed day when we will see our Savior.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You that You have not left us alone, that You have given us the Holy Spirit. Oh Lord, this life that we live is difficult. There are many challenges, many discouragements, much grief, much pain. Now, Lord, You have not left us alone. You have sent Your Holy Spirit to dwell in us.

Through Your Word, we may be encouraged, we may be built up, we may find comfort, we may be convicted, and we thank You, O Lord, for the work of the Holy Spirit. We pray, O Lord, that even this week as we go from here, You would work mightily in each one of us, draw us closer to You, sanctify us, turn us away from sin, and turn us to You. We pray all this in Your Son’s name. Amen. Please stand as we continue our worship with hymn 272, hymn 272, I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

About this sermon

When John’s disciples worry that everyone is going to Jesus, John answers that he is not the Christ but the friend of the bridegroom, who rejoices at the bridegroom’s voice: “He must increase, but I must decrease.” Scripture calls God the husband of his people, and Christ is that bridegroom. He comes from above, speaks the words of God, and has all things from the Father; whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Ministers are never the main characters in the story of redemption; Christ is.

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Sermon transcript

This evening’s passage is from the Gospel of John, chapter 3, verses 22 through 36. You can find this in the Pew Bible on page 1055. Hear now the word of the Lord. After this, Jesus and his disciples went into the Judean countryside, and he remained there with them, baptizing.

John also was baptizing at Aenon near Salem, because water was plentiful there. People were coming and being baptized, for John had not yet been put into prison. Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew concerning purification. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who was with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.”

John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given to him from above. You yourselves bear witness that I said, ‘I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.’”

“The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

“He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in an earthly way. He who comes from heaven is above all.

“He bears witness, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not believe in the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.”

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, for your word. We thank you that you have preserved your word over thousands of years, so that this day we could come to it, hear it read, and hear this glorious truth from it. We pray, O Lord, that through your Spirit you would strengthen each one of us, work in each one of our hearts, and open our hearts to receive your word and these truths. We pray that through your Spirit you would cause each one of us to be encouraged in Christ, to see Christ, to see his glory, and to grow more deeply in love with him. We pray, O Lord, that we would love one another more through your word. We pray all this in your Son’s name. Amen. You may be seated.

As we continue further into the book of John, I think it can be easy for us to become distracted by the details of the book and lose sight of its major themes and the path the gospel writer is guiding us to follow. And as we lose sight of the broader message and the purpose of this gospel, it becomes easy for us to overlook the importance and the weight of each passage we consider.

Just by way of reminder, John writes in the twentieth chapter the reason for writing his gospel. He writes in chapter 20: “These have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” Because of this narrow focus that John has in the purpose of his gospel, at times it can feel as though certain passages are repetitive or that we have heard this same emphasis repeatedly. But as we go on, I want us to bear in mind several things about the Gospel of John. First, John intentionally and carefully crafted each aspect of the Gospel that we read. Remember that in his time, it was not inexpensive to hire a scribe or to record these words. It was not like he had access to a computer or to printing at a cost of just one cent per page. It was a difficult and expensive task.

We also can consider John’s statement in chapter 20. He writes that Jesus performed many other signs that were not written in the gospel. This means that John selected only a few of the signs that Jesus performed in order to fulfill the task and purpose for which he wrote the gospel. Therefore, each passage that we read, each section that we come across, plays a unique role in accomplishing John’s stated purpose. If I am not able to bring out that uniqueness, that is on me, not on the text. Having said that, as we begin our text for this evening, I want us to remember once again these three reasons for which John wrote.

First, that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, meaning that Jesus is the Messiah, the Savior of God’s people, as prophesied in the Old Testament—the seed of the woman who would crush the head of the serpent, the suffering servant in Isaiah, and the rod of Jesse, the one who would end the enmity between God and sinners. This is why John includes so many references to the Old Testament and devotes significant time to John the Baptist and his testimony regarding the Messiah.

Second, that you would believe that Jesus is the Son of God. In the Gospel of John, this belief is of great importance because it establishes the authority by which Jesus taught. Jesus was not a mere wise man or a good teacher. He came down from heaven and testified to that which he knew firsthand about the Father in heaven. Therefore, we can trust what Jesus says about God, because He has absolute authority. Or as John puts it in verse 31, He is above all.

Lastly, that in believing in Jesus’ name you may have eternal life in Him. Through the witness of John and his gospel, the reader is invited to believe in the name of Jesus Christ and to have eternal life. These three themes appear repeatedly throughout the gospel. John emphasizes these three themes, especially in our passage this evening. He does so by highlighting a unique aspect of these themes. In our passage this evening, he records for us the further witness of John the Baptist. In chapter 1, as you may remember, we saw the first part of John’s witness regarding the Messiah. That witness emphasized John’s role in preparing Israel for the coming Messiah. We considered the distinguishing aspects and features of the ministry of John and the ministry of Jesus.

But in our passage this evening, John the Baptist reminds his disciples of the central purpose of his own ministry. John the Baptist did not come to be glorified. He did not come to bring glory to himself. Instead, he came to glorify the one who is the central figure in the history of redemption. Our passage this evening teaches us that as we proclaim the good news, as we bring the good news to a dying world, we are to remain in the background and to place Christ at the forefront, so that the bridegroom may be seen by many, and through Him, many may find eternal life.

And we will do so. We will consider this by first considering the role of the best man, and secondly, the glory of the bridegroom. Let us now turn to the role of the best man in verses 25 through 30. Let us read that passage again, verses 25 through 30.

Now a discussion arose between some of John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. They came to John and said to him, “Rabbi, the one who is with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness—look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.”

When we considered and read John’s witness in chapter 1, we examined in depth the role he played as a bridge between the Old and the New Testaments and between the Old and New Covenants. He is, in many ways, an Old Testament prophet who prepared the people of Israel for the coming Messiah. He baptized in the manner of the Old Testament purification rituals, yet he foretold of the one who would bring a greater baptism. In many ways, his preaching was still in types and shadows because the reality that was Christ had not yet appeared. But when the Messiah did come, when he did appear, John was the one who identified him as the Lamb of God who would take away the sins of the world.

And so John successfully bridges the gap between the types and shadows of the Old Testament and helps to inaugurate the new covenant. But in order for that new covenant to be inaugurated, the old must come to an end. John the Baptist’s ministry must come to an end so that Christ’s ministry can move forward. In the past dispensation, as the author of Hebrews puts it, God spoke to his people by the prophets, but in these last days, he has spoken to us by his Son, who reveals the Father in greater measure. Or as John, in our passage, calls him, the Bridegroom.

In our passage this evening, we see that John’s disciples did not grasp this reality. They did not realize that the testimony John had given regarding Jesus made him the main character of God’s story and not John. Our passage begins with a discussion between John’s disciples and a Jew over purification. The exact nature of this dispute is not given to us in the scriptures, but whatever it was, they came to John the Baptist to resolve it. The disciples say to John, “Rabbi, he who is with you across the Jordan, to whom you bore witness, look, he is baptizing, and all are going to him.” Whatever this dispute or discussion was appears to have been related to Jesus’ baptism. Perhaps the Jewish man was confused as to why there were two different groups baptizing in two different areas and how they were related, but whatever it was, it was somehow related to baptism and Jesus. John’s disciples came to John and asked him a question.

They make a statement that betrays their misunderstanding. It shows that they have misunderstood John’s testimony. They say, “Look at that man over there, the one about whom you bore witness. He is now doing baptisms, and everyone is going to him instead of to you.” In this, they show that they had indeed not understood John’s testimony.

But they also show that they had indeed heard John’s testimony. They say, as you testify, the man that you testified about. They had heard what John had said about Jesus and his baptism, that his baptism was greater. They had heard him say that Jesus was the very Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.

And yet, what are they concerned about? They are concerned that the crowds are leaving John and are going to Jesus. They are worried that the man who they had been following, that they had devoted their lives to, John the Baptist, was losing prominence and that people would no longer come to him for guidance and for baptism. These disciples mistakenly believed that their teacher was the main character of a story that God was writing.

And so they disregarded the true testimony of their teacher and were now complaining that the crowds had gone to Jesus. But John the Baptist understands his role. He understood the testimony that he gave. He recognized what he previously confessed about Jesus. And so he responds in this way to his own disciples.

A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven. You yourselves bear me witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him. Now, the first part of this sentence is a little bit difficult to understand at first. What does it mean when he says a person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given to him from heaven? Well, if you read different commentators, there are several different interpretations as to what it means. But what makes the most sense is that John is confessing his own limitations.

In other words, John is saying to his disciples, the ministry that I have, the baptism that I give is not from me. None of this is about me. This ministry was given to me from heaven. And so if God has brought this ministry to an end and exalted another, praise be to God. The authority for his ministry and the glory due for it was never mine to begin with.

And one passage that supports this reading, besides the immediate context, is Matthew chapter 21. Please turn there with me to Matthew chapter 21, verses 23 through 27. When he entered the temple, the chief priests and the elders of the people came up to him as he was teaching and said, “By what authority are you doing these things? And who gave you this authority?” Jesus answered them, “I also will ask you one question. If you tell me the answer, then I also will tell you by what authority I do these things. The baptism of John—was it from heaven or from man?”

They discussed it among themselves, saying, “If we say from heaven, he will ask us why we did not believe in him. But if we say from man, we are afraid of the crowd, for they all hold that John was a prophet.” And so they answered Jesus, “We do not know.” And he said to them, “Neither will I tell you by what authority I do these things.” Here Jesus is putting the chief priests and elders in a difficult position so that whatever they answer, they would either be opposed by the crowd or they would have to admit that they had rejected a prophet sent from God.

What is important for our passage from Jesus’s words is that Jesus is saying that John’s ministry and his baptism are from heaven. Jesus is teaching that John’s baptism was not from human authority. It was not based on his own authority. It came from heaven. It was based on the authority of God.

And so here, in Matthew, Jesus is echoing John’s own teaching regarding himself to his disciples in verse 27 of our passage. Going back to our passage this evening, John the Baptist continues: “You yourselves bear witness that I said, I am not the Christ, but I have been sent before him.” Here, John is rebuking his disciples. He is saying, you already know who he is.

He is the very Messiah for whom our nations and our beloved people have been waiting for hundreds and thousands of years. All of our religion and all of our faith rest on this one man. It is he who will bring peace. It is he who will bring peace between God and humanity. It is he who will take away the sins of the world, not me. I have come only to prepare the people of God for his coming.

This reminds me of what Paul says to the church in Galatia in Galatians 1:6: I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel. John the Baptist is saying to his disciples: Have you already forgotten what you yourselves know and have heard? I am not the Christ. I have been sent ahead of him to proclaim the man who will bring salvation to humanity. And that man is Christ.

This leads us then to the glory of the bridegroom, the glory of the bridegroom. After reminding them of his own role in redemptive history, John the Baptist then turns to teach them about the glory of the bridegroom in verses 29 through 30. Let us read that again from verses 29 through 30: The one who has the bride is the bridegroom. The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete. He must increase, but I must decrease.

This analogy that John uses, comparing the Lord to the bridegroom of his people, is not one that John the Baptist originated. Many passages in the Old Testament describe the relationship between God and his people as a marriage union. The Old Testament refers to this relationship as a marriage union in passages such as Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Jeremiah, among others. Most clearly, we find this analogy in Hosea. In Hosea chapter two, let us turn there for a moment. Hosea chapter two, verses 16 through 20. Verse 16: “And in that day, declares the Lord, you will call me my husband, and no longer will you call me my bale. For I will remove the names of the bales from your mouth, and they shall be remembered by name no more.”

And I will make for them a covenant on that day with the beasts of the field, the birds of the heavens, and the creatures of the ground. And I will abolish the bow, the sword, and war from the land. And I will make you lie down in safety, and I will betroth you to me forever. I will betroth you to me in righteousness and in justice, in steadfast love and in mercy. I will betroth you to me in faithfulness, and you shall know the Lord.

Through the prophet Hosea, God promises Israel that there will come a day when the people of God will repent and return to the Lord. On that day, God declares, they will once again be able to call the Lord their husband, and the union between the Lord and his people will be an eternal union. The marriage union between the Lord and his people will be established forever.

Fast forward to our gospel. In John 3, verse 29, John the Baptist identifies Jesus as the bridegroom. Jesus is the central figure of the story of redemption, for He is the groom of the wedding. He is the head of the household of the people of God. So if the people of Israel, as His disciples realized, left John the Baptist and went to their Bridegroom, what is the issue with that? That is exactly what was supposed to happen. The Bride of Christ, that is, the people of God, were indeed meant to welcome their Bridegroom.

Now sadly, as we know, many of them—many of the people of Israel—did not remain with Jesus but ended up rejecting Him. As we read in the first chapter of John, the light came to His own, and His own rejected Him. But John continues, “The friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly at the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore, this joy of mine is now complete.” Once again, John understands his role in the marriage between Christ and His people. He is not the focal point of the wedding ceremony. His role, according to him, is that of the best man.

To magnify the Bridegroom, to bring attention to the Bridegroom, and to rejoice in the marriage of the Bridegroom to His bride. This is indeed true. Have you ever been to a wedding? Often, the people who are most joyful, besides the bride and the groom, are those who stand beside them. The best man and the maid of honor are deeply joyful because their closest friends are committing to one another and beginning a union that is unique and beautiful. But in this case, the union between Christ and His bride is an eternal union. It will have no end, and it will be in truth and in righteousness, as Hosea says. And this is why John says his joy is complete.

This is why he says he must decrease so that Christ may increase, because John’s role has now been fulfilled. He has indeed preached the gospel of the coming Messiah, he has identified the Messiah for the people of God, and he has now passed on the responsibility to the main character of the story, who is Jesus Christ. John, as the representative of the Old Covenant and as the last of the Old Covenant prophets, must decrease so that the ministry of Jesus may increase and move forward. Here once again in our passage we have John the Apostle drawing our attention to the surpassing greatness of the Son of God over the Old Covenant revelation. If you remember, over the past few weeks in chapter 2, verses 1 through 11, we saw the new wine which Jesus provided, which surpassed the old. The new wine of the covenant that he would provide to his people.

At the end of chapter 2, we saw Jesus driving out the animals from the temple and we saw his proclamation to the Jews that he was the true temple. He was the reality of what the old covenant temple pointed to. The true temple is the body of Christ, in whom the fullness of God dwells, and through whom we have access to the throne room of God.

And in the first half of chapter 3, we saw that Jesus demonstrated to Nicodemus the superiority of the Son of Man over Old Testament types and shadows. We saw that the bronze serpent granted temporary salvation from the poison of a snake bite. But when people looked to the Son of Man, who would also be lifted up on a tree, they would have salvation that is not temporary, but eternal. And lastly, in our passage, John the Baptist confesses the superiority of Christ’s revelation over his own.

And this is the central message of the first few chapters of the Gospel of John, that Christ is greater than what came before. He is the greater fulfillment of the Old Testament. He is the greater provider. He is the greater sacrifice, the greater temple, and the greater revelation of the Father, because He has indeed come from the right hand of the Father to this earth. And John the Apostle goes on to give commentary on John the Baptist’s words in verses 31 through 36. This is what John the Apostle says, writes: He who comes from above is above all. He who is of the earth belongs to the earth and speaks in earthly ways. He who comes from heaven is above all.

He bears witness to what he has seen and heard, yet no one receives his testimony. Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God. For he gives the Spirit without measure. The Father loves the Son and has given all things into His hand. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

These words of John the Apostle further emphasize the words of John the Baptist. Jesus is the only one, as we have seen throughout the Gospel of John, who has come from heaven, who has come from the Father’s side, and He has come to reveal the Father to us. He is above all, because all things, as John writes, have been given to Him by the Father.

And this is the glory of the Bridegroom. He is the very Son of God incarnate. He has come to this earth to save a people for Himself. And we, the church, made up of both Jew and Gentile, are privileged to be able to call Christ, the second person of the Trinity, our Bridegroom.

Well, John’s role in redemptive history was certainly unique and will never be replicated. The truths that he confesses here are not unique. Pastors and evangelists in our day are called to proclaim the gospel of Jesus and the scriptures, but they are not the main characters of the story. Despite how many pastors in our culture and in our churches act in public, they are not the main characters of God’s story of redemption.

One of the greatest sins that afflicts pastors of any age, and especially in our age, is the sin of pride. Just because people come on Sunday and hear them preach, they sometimes begin to think that they are what people come to hear. Just because someone bought their books, or worse yet, read some of their blogs, they begin to think that they are what people are eager to learn from and eager to hear about. But the truth is, as John the Baptist said, we should be standing in awe of the Bridegroom. It is ironic that a pastor would have pride.

It is his whole job to be reading and explicating the scriptures, which teach that we are all sinners in need of grace. The whole job of the pastor is to point away from himself as a needy man who falls short of the glory of God, and to point to Christ, who is the only hope for our salvation. And yet sin remains in this life, so pastors and missionaries and evangelists must be vigilant in preaching Christ.

As Christ says in chapter 5 of John, “How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?” Would pastors seek the glory of men and not God? They do not seek to obey Him. It is a road that leads to destruction. But it’s not just pastors or evangelists.

We must all stand in awe of the Bridegroom. We must all confess, as John did, that we have a role to play in the plan of redemption. God has called you, as a man or woman, as a child in the Bride of Christ, to be a part of that Bride. And He has given you gifts to serve the people of God.

But you are not to be proud or to be deceived into thinking that the good you do brings glory to yourself. We are not to serve others for our own benefit, but to serve others for their good and for the glory of God. The goal of evangelism, the goal of service to others, and the goal of the Christian is not personal glory. It is not for the masses to come to us, but to bring glory to God and to bring the masses to Jesus.

Our goal is to be faithful in the role that Christ has called us to, to be faithful in the small tasks that have been entrusted to us, and in doing so we bring glory to God. We should all be content to hear the voice of the Bridegroom and find joy in Him, so that when God calls us away from our role in the Bride of Christ, we too can say with John that our joy is complete. If you think that you have little to offer the Bride of Christ, remember what John says in verses 33 through 34:

“Whoever receives his testimony sets his seal to this, that God is true. For he whom God has sent utters the words of God, for he gives the Spirit without measure.” God gives the Spirit without measure. God has given each one of you gifts to serve the church. He has given you His Spirit to use those gifts abundantly. Do not remain on the sidelines watching others serve. Find out what your gifts are. Develop your gifts and use them.

The work that He has called the bride to do is heavy. It is vital work. It is work that concerns life and death. It deals with eternity, as John says: “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life. Whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.” This work that we have been called to do is a matter of life and death.

So join the work. Give glory to God. Listen to the voice of the Bridegroom. Trust that God will give you His Spirit to strengthen you to do all that He has called you to do. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You, O Lord, for raising up faithful men and women, faithful men and women who do not desire glory for themselves but desire glory only for You. Lord, it is easy for us to sit idly by and watch others serve, but O Lord, You have called each one of us, even the least of us, to do great things. You have given each one of us gifts to serve the church. O Lord, even the smallest of us, You have called to love one another.

O Lord, You have not left us alone. You have given us the Holy Spirit to strengthen us so that we can fulfill what You have called us to do faithfully. And O Lord, we pray that we would be faithful in doing so: faithful in obeying Your word, faithful in loving You, faithful in our worship, faithful in our daily callings, faithful in loving our families, faithful in loving our children and our spouses, faithful in loving our friends, our enemies, and our fellow believers. Lord, we pray that we would be faithful in loving You. And we pray all this in Your Son’s name. Amen. Please stand as we sing our closing hymn, Hymn 417. Hymn 417, “Jesus shall reign where’er the sun.”

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.

About this sermon

Nicodemus asks how a man can be born again, and Jesus answers with heavenly things. As Moses lifted up the bronze serpent so that dying Israelites could look and live, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son.” God did not send his Son to condemn the world but to save it. Believers struggling with sin can rest in this: Christ came to free them from sin’s bondage and make them alive.

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Sermon transcript

Remain standing for the reading of God’s Word. This evening’s passage comes from the Gospel of John. We will be reading from John chapter 3, verses 1 through 21. We will read these verses to provide context, but the focus of our passage this evening, and the focus of our exhortation this evening, is from verses 9 through 18. You can find this passage on page 1055 of the Pew Bible. John chapter 3, verses 1 through 21.

Hear now the word of the Lord. Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, “Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him.”

Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” Nicodemus said to him, “How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother’s womb and be born?” Jesus answered, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’ The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit.”

Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” Jesus answered him, “Are you the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

No one has ascended into heaven except He who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. As Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him may have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people have loved the darkness rather than the light, because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest their works should be exposed. But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that their works have been carried out in God.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank You for Your word, and we thank You, O Lord, for the gospel. O Lord, the gospel is so simply and yet so beautifully given to us in this passage. O Lord, we have heard this same gospel in this same passage over and over. We know it by heart, and yet, O Lord, as we read this beautiful passage once again this evening, we pray that the Spirit would work in our hearts to learn new things, that these things that we have heard over and over again would be impressed upon us once again, and that You would quicken our hearts, that You would revive our hearts, that You would shake our hearts so that we would be gripped by these wonderful, beautiful truths that You have so graciously given to us in Your word. We pray all of this in Your Son’s name. Amen. Please be seated.

A thoughtful young believer recently asked me: If belief in God only occurs when God has first changed a person’s heart, why does God not change everyone’s heart so that everyone is saved? This is a common question that arises in the minds of both believers and unbelievers. If God can change people’s hearts so that they will believe, why not regenerate the hearts of all unbelievers so that all may believe? This question is especially relevant to our passage this evening. The passage we examined earlier in the first part of the conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus teaches that regeneration precedes faith. In other words, God must change an unbeliever’s heart before that person can believe. Verse 16 in our passage for this evening states: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” Thus, on the one hand, the Scriptures teach that belief is only possible when God first acts in the unbeliever’s heart.

Yet on the other hand, the Scriptures also call all unbelievers to repent. The Gospel call to faith and repentance is freely offered to all, to all Jews and all Gentiles alike. Although our passage this morning does not answer this difficult question fully, it does address one aspect of it: even though God, in his infinite merciful plan of salvation, has chosen only some to be saved, he still calls all men and all women to repentance and faith in him. However, this call to repentance and faith is not a mere formality. It is not insincere.

A famous pastor from Scotland in the 1800s once wrote regarding the free offer of the gospel. We preach a free and worldwide gospel. We proclaim a free and worldwide invitation to sinners. We present to every sinner a gracious welcome to Christ without any preliminary qualifications whatsoever. We do not require any person to wait until he has confirmed his own election or can provide evidence of regeneration or sufficient repentance or deep conviction.

We tell every person, as he is, to go to the Savior at this moment, assured that he will not be cast out or sent away. The call of the gospel to turn away from sin and to hate it, to put it to death, and to turn to our Creator who has sent his only Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins, is a genuine plea to all who would listen to cling to Jesus as the only truth and the only way to eternal life.

In our passage this evening, in this interaction between Nicodemus and Jesus, our passage reminds us that Jesus reminded this learned scholar of the free offer of the gospel. It reminds us that this free offer has always been made by God, beginning in the Old Testament and continuing into the New Testament. It begins in the Old Testament with shadows and types, and then leads to the fulfillment of that type in the New Testament. And in our passage, after reminding us of these truths, it ends with a guarantee of results for all mankind. More simply, Jesus gives us the type from the Old Testament, the fulfillment in the New Testament, and the guarantee for all mankind. Let us now turn to the type of Christ found in the Old Testament. The type of Christ found in the Old Testament from verses nine through fifteen.

At the core of the problem for the great teacher of the Pharisees was not that he did not know his scriptures. In fact, Nicodemus most likely knew more about the Old Testament scriptures and what they contained than 99 percent of Christians alive today. The problem was not a matter of knowledge of the scriptures.

As Jesus himself says in verse 10, “Are you not the teacher of Israel, and yet you do not understand these things?” The leading teacher of the Jews had knowledge of even the most detailed aspects of the law and the prophets. And yet he had failed to understand what they pointed to. When Jesus proclaimed that a man needed to be born of water and the Spirit in verse five, he was not proclaiming a new doctrine. He was proclaiming a doctrine drawn from passages such as Ezekiel chapter 36. The great teacher of Israel had failed to understand the Old Testament scriptures which he knew so well. And he was puzzled by what Jesus was saying. This reminds us once again that knowing the scriptures, even knowing them well, is not enough to be saved.

My systematic theology professor in seminary was close friends with a well-known liberal theologian from Europe. He told us that this theologian had memorized large portions of the New Testament in Greek. This man knew more about the New Testament than most conservative scholars. This is remarkable. He knew entire books of the Bible in Greek.

But at the same time, this theologian did not believe any of it was the revealed word of God. None of it was authoritative or binding upon him or his conscience. For him, it was merely an academic exercise to gain more knowledge. Yet all that knowledge in this man’s mind did nothing but condemn him further and make his judgment even more certain. It is crucial for Nicodemus and for us not only to know the scriptures, but to understand them rightly and believe in them.

Jesus continues in verses 12 through 14. Let us read them again. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. As we read these verses, let us remember what Jesus is responding to in verse 9.

Jesus had clearly laid out what was required to enter the kingdom of God. It was not being Jewish. It was not keeping the law just enough to assuage the wrath of God. It was not by outwardly keeping the law. It was not by memorizing all of the scriptures. The only way, according to Jesus, to enter the kingdom of God is by the Holy Spirit removing your heart of stone and replacing it with a heart of flesh. The only way, according to Jesus, that a man or woman can enter the kingdom of God is for the Spirit to give them new life, for them to be born again.

Jesus even refers to the Old Testament scriptures that Nicodemus knew so well. But Nicodemus in verse nine responds, and he shows that he has no idea what Jesus is saying. It says, Nicodemus said to him, “How can these things be?” So Jesus responds in verse 12.

I have already told you in terms that man can understand. Explaining the mechanics of how things actually work is not going to help you understand the spiritual reality that takes place at new birth. This is what he means when he says, “How will you believe if I tell you heavenly things?”

We do not fully understand how a man is regenerated. The scriptures do not fully explain the precise mechanics of the Holy Spirit working and changing our hearts. That is a mystery that has not been revealed to us. But what has been revealed and what we must believe is that the Holy Spirit indeed gives us new life.

And so Jesus answers, Nicodemus: if you cannot understand what has already been revealed—truths regarding man’s salvation—then explaining further the more complex heavenly realities behind it will not help. But Jesus does not leave Nicodemus with this difficult statement. He explains why, despite the lack of understanding, Nicodemus is to trust in him.

Jesus says in verse 13, “No one has ascended into heaven but he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man.” This may be one of the most difficult passages in the Gospel of John to understand. Some liberal theologians use this passage to argue that John is reinterpreting events in Jesus’s ministry to fit his theological agenda. They claim that Jesus uses the past tense here, saying, “No one has ascended,” which is past tense.

Therefore, they argue, this portion must have been added by the gospel writer, because Jesus clearly has not yet ascended into heaven. They conclude that this must be a mistake by the author. In other words, they understand Jesus to be referring to himself in the first part of verse 13. Jesus would then be saying, “No one has gone up into heaven but me, who has descended from heaven.”

However, there are several problems with this interpretation. The first is that it assumes John was careless. The second is that it assumes John lacked knowledge of the Old Testament scriptures. For there are several examples in the Old Testament of men—mainly Enoch and Elijah—who were taken up into heaven without experiencing physical death. So what exactly is Jesus saying here? Well, remember that Jesus is establishing his authority by which he is teaching.

Jesus is not saying that no one has ever physically gone up into heaven, because we know that Elijah and Enoch did so. He is saying that no one has gone to heaven to the Father’s side and returned. All people who die and go to heaven remain there and do not come back. No one has been at the Father’s presence and then returned to reveal gospel truths to humanity. But there is one who has come from the Father’s right hand to reveal the Father to humanity, and that is the Son of Man. Therefore, no one has ascended into heaven and returned, but there is one who has come from the Father’s right hand to reveal Him to us, and that is Jesus, the Son of Man.

And this is why Nicodemus, even if he does not fully understand what Jesus is saying, must trust Him, because He has come to reveal the Father to us. The Son of Man did not come merely to reveal the will of the Father. He came to accomplish a specific purpose, and that is to redeem the people whom the Father gave Him.

Jesus then continues to remind Nicodemus of the scriptures that he already knows, in verses 14 through 15, which we have just read. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Old Testament scriptures. Remember what Jesus says to the two disciples on the road to Emmaus. He said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Did not the Messiah have to suffer these things and then enter into His glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the prophets, Jesus explained to them what was said in all the scriptures concerning Himself. That is according to Jesus.

All the scriptures, all the Old Testament scriptures, point to the coming Messiah. The entire narrative of redemptive history in the Old Testament points to Jesus. And Jesus in our passage this evening gives us just one example among many of a type of Christ that points to Him. He recalls for us the story that we read in Numbers chapter 21.

In Numbers chapter 21, the Israelites, as they often did, forgot the covenant promises of God. They forgot all that He had done for them in bringing them up out of Egypt and in sustaining them during their journey through the wilderness. The Israelites began to complain about the food that had been provided to them. Instead of humbly turning to the Lord and asking for food and water, they complained against God.

Numbers 21:5, which we read, records their response to God. It says, “The people spoke to God and to Moses, ‘Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable bread.’” As a result, God sent serpents among the people, and many were bitten and died.

Under this judgment, the people quickly came to Moses and begged him to intercede on their behalf before God so that they might be saved from certain death. Then God told Moses to make a bronze serpent and set it on a pole, so that anyone who looked at it would be healed from the deadly bite.

Now, if you are Nicodemus, hearing this story from Jesus once again, being reminded of this story from the Old Testament, several questions should arise. For example, why was it necessary for a bronze serpent to be erected? God had already given the people detailed instructions on how they were to atone for their sins. The sacrificial system had been established many years before for God’s people. But for some reason, simply looking at the bronze serpent brought them forgiveness and salvation from death. The obvious answer to this question is that neither the sacrificial system nor the bronze serpent brought true salvation to God’s people. Both pointed to the future reality of the coming Messiah. When the people of God sinned gravely against Him, they were told to look to the serpent hanging on a pole and trust that God would save them from certain death. In the same way, Jesus says that the Son of Man will be lifted up so that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. This brings us then to the fulfillment of the Old Testament type. The fulfillment of the Old Testament type in verses 16 through 17. Let’s read that again, verses 16 through 17.

For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world may be saved through him. These words are widely considered to be the most famous and most repeated Bible verses from the Scriptures. Yet no matter how many times we hear these words, they are refreshingly comforting to us once again.

The fact that we can read these words, and that these words are true, is a humbling reality for us. These are the greatest truths that anyone could ever read or hear, contained in these two verses. Nothing in this verse makes sense from a human perspective. Every clause of these verses is a wondrous mystery that could be studied throughout history.

Starting with the first clause, “For God so loved the world.” What a wondrous reality this is—that God would love men and women despite their sin and rebellion. Since Adam and Eve believed a lie and chose that lie over God, they loved that lie. Since that time, humanity has rebelled against God every minute of every day. Humanity has rejected God. Humanity has hated God. Humanity has turned away from God. Humanity has put God aside.

Yet God loved the world. As a side note, this does not mean, “For God so loved the world. He loved him so much.” It means that God loved the world in this way: He sent His only Son. He loved it in this way, that whoever believes in Him would have eternal life. Another question that must be answered is, what is the world? Did God love the birds and the bees? And is that why He sent His Son?

No, it clearly refers to humanity. The world is in contrast to only the Jews. It is important that we understand this, because in verse 14, the type was given only to the Jews. But in the fulfillment of that type in the New Testament, in verses 16 and 17, this gospel truth is no longer for the Jews alone, but for all humanity—men from every part of the world, not just the kingdom of Israel.

So then, God has loved the world in this way: He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him, whether Gentile or Jew, may have eternal life. Once again, we must stop and be in awe of these words—the eternal Son of God, the eternal God, the God who does not need our praise or glory, who has no need for us to be whole. That God gave us His only begotten Son.

When atheists read the story of Abraham and Isaac, they are often horrified by it. They often cite it as a reason to disbelieve the scriptures. Because they rightly, on some level, cannot understand the idea of a father willingly sacrificing his son. Why would a loving father send his own son to die? But the whole story of Abraham and Isaac is once again misunderstood if it is not seen in the broader context of redemptive history.

This story teaches us that God will provide an atoning sacrifice on behalf of humanity, so that Isaac in his time and we in our time would not have to pay the punishment for our sins. It also offers us a vivid image, a glimpse into the reality of what the father is experiencing when he sends his son for us. The gospel of Jesus Christ is truly good news for those who believe in Him. We often tell unbelievers that the gospel is good news, but we must first understand the bad news before we can hear the good news. We go on to explain that the bad news is that we have sinned against a holy God and are condemned to eternal death, and so on. But that is not the only part of the gospel that is bad news.

In order for the gospel to be true, in order for you and for me to be saved, in order for us to have a chance to be made right with God, the second person of the blessed Trinity, the eternal Son of God, was given by the Father and became a man. He suffered blasphemy, abuse, hardship, and hunger, and ultimately he suffered the wrath of God on the cross. In order for you and for me to be saved and to have eternal life, the eternal Son of God was killed by the very people whom he had created. The cost for you and for me to be in the presence of God, even this evening, to worship him and to be with his people, is the only begotten Son of God. That is the cost for you and for me. It can be difficult to understand how Jesus could pay the eternal debt for millions of people. How could Jesus pay? How could one man pay for that on the cross?

The reason he could is because of who he was. Jesus, the eternal Son of God, is more valuable than all sinners combined. Do you understand the cost, the great cost that was paid for you? He is everything to the heavenly Father. And yet he willingly came to this earth, and the Father, out of love for you and for me, chose to purchase a people for himself and sent his Son to die on the cross for us.

What a wondrous mystery this is. What a love this is that he has shown to us. And John continues, that whoever believes in him should not perish, but have eternal life. This is the great gospel call to all people to repent. There is no one exempt from this call. No matter what you have done in this life, no matter the sin, no matter the hatred you have shown to others or to God, you must heed this call.

There is no other way to be made right with God. You cannot absolve yourself of your sins. You cannot clean yourself up before you come to God. You cannot do enough good works to outweigh the bad. The only hope you have in this life is to cling to Jesus and to put your faith in him. And if you do, Jesus promises that you will have eternal life. And there are some who struggle with this reality. Another common objection to the gospel is how someone like Hitler could be in heaven if he were to repent.

But the nice Mormon man down the street or the nice Mormon woman down the street will not. Surely such a thing is unjust. And at first this seems like a strong argument against Christianity. But the problem with this statement is that it does not recognize two things. It does not recognize the sinfulness of that nice Mormon man or woman down the street. And more importantly, it does not recognize the greatness and the glory of the man who was hanging on that tree 2000 years ago. Do you know who that was?

It was the eternal Son of God who hung on that tree. And no matter your sin, past or present, know that God’s salvation is greater. And he has prepared a path to eternal life for you. So put your faith in him. And John goes on in verse 17, with more glorious words of hope for us. He writes in verse 17, For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. What a wonderful assurance this is to us. The Father sent the Son into the world to save us.

Jesus has not come to condemn us in our sin, but to call us away from our sin into eternal life. I want us to remember these words when we are struggling with sin. Jesus has not come to condemn you in your sin. He has come to save you from that sin, to break the chains that easily ensnare us, and to free us from the bondage in which we were living. He has come to make us alive in Christ Jesus, so that we can live in righteousness and in truth. But notice that John here is speaking of Christ’s first coming. The first time that Jesus came, He came not in judgment, but to save. But Jesus is coming back. And this time, it will be to judge the world.

This brings us then, lastly and briefly, to the guarantee in verse 18, the guarantee for all mankind in verse 18. Verse 18 writes: “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.” In verse 18, we are given two promises. One joyous promise for those who believe in the name of Jesus. And the second, a terrifying warning for those who reject Christ. John writes, for those who believe, their salvation is sure. As Paul writes in Romans chapter eight, “There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”

The penalty was paid for us on the cross by the eternal Son of God, who is wholly sufficient to save you from your sins. There is no more need for sacrifices or good works to justify us. Christ’s active and passive obedience have made us right before our Father in heaven.

But if you do not heed the gospel call of Jesus Christ, John says that you will perish in your sins. Your judgment is already secure because you have not looked to the one, Christ Jesus. The judgment for those who do not believe is eternal, just as the reward is for the believer. But instead of eternal life in Christ Jesus, it is eternity spent under the wrath and curse of God. So turn away from your sins if you do not know him, and turn to the one who hung on a tree so that you can have life in him.

These gospel truths are the same gospel truths that have been given to humanity from the very beginning. God gave the same gospel in seed form to Adam and Eve. And throughout the whole Old Testament, little by little, God revealed to humanity more and more about His plan of salvation. But all along, God had offered humanity a way to eternal salvation, which was to believe in the Messiah who was to come, who would crush the head of the serpent, who would bring an end to sin and death. And that gospel, as it became more and more unfolded, became more and more clear, bringing hope to many in the Old Testament.

And for us, it is the same hope, that we find in Jesus Christ. Brothers and sisters, this is indeed one of the most hopeful passages in the New Testament, but it is also one of the most solemn passages in the scriptures. There are many in our world whom we pass by on a daily basis who do not know the name of Christ and who do not believe in Him. If they die in their sins, there is no more hope for them. But believer, you have that hope within you. You know the one, you know Jesus Christ, who freely offers the gospel to all. We have a chance to bring this gospel to a dying world. So I encourage you to bring the gospel in your daily lives to these people.

And lastly, as we live our lives, this gospel is not just for unbelievers, but also for believers. Although we are saved, we still struggle with sin. The gospel is a continual reminder that we are not slaves to sin, but have been made alive in Christ. Therefore, let us remind ourselves daily of this wonderful gospel, of this simple yet beautiful gospel, and let us share it with a world in need.

Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you for who you are. We thank you that you are not like us. O Lord, if we were in control, we would have destroyed the world long ago. Yet you, O Lord, our gracious God, are merciful and patient. You are a God who loves us despite our sin. We thank you that you are our God, that you have chosen, in your infinite mercy and grace, to send your Son, Jesus Christ, to die on the cross for our sins, so that his righteousness might be made ours and so that our debt might be paid by him.

We thank you for the reminder of this glorious gospel that we have received tonight through your word. We pray, O Lord, that as we leave this place this evening, the gospel of Jesus Christ would remain continually in our minds, that we would be continually reminded of this amazing truth that affects every part of our lives. It is indeed the greatest encouragement we have. We pray, O Lord, that we would not hide this light, but that we would shine it before all. We would boldly proclaim this glorious truth, this glorious gospel, to everyone we meet. And we pray, O Lord, that you would use us mightily to bring your sheep into the fold. We pray all this in your Son’s name, amen. Let us continue our worship by standing and singing hymn 449, hymn 449.

The sermon text provided above is derived from the sermon audio recording making use of generative tools. It has not been manually edited. While transcription tools have a high degree of accuracy, the output may include generative textual, punctuation, and/or formatting errors.