WEEKLY SERMON
Second Sunday of End Times / Last Judgment
John 5:19-30 – Do You Hear Christ Speaking Loud and Clear?
November 7-9, 2009 by: Pastor Wessel
19
Jesus gave them this
answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can
do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does
the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and
shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even
greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father
raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom
he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father
judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23
that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He
who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 "I
tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me
has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from
death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is
coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of
God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father
has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself.
27 And he has given him authority to judge because he
is the Son of Man.
28
"Do not be amazed at this,
for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his
voice 29 and come out—those who have done good will
rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.
30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear,
and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who
sent me.
Introduction –
“It’s the end of the world as we
know it and I feel fine.” Those were the lyrics of a popular song
twenty years ago. It was a catchy tune. I’m sure the lyrics were
supposed to make some profound comment about our culture. I never really
paid too much attention to what it was supposed to mean. But that
phrase: “the end of the world as we know it,” could be either negative
or positive.
Charles Taze Russell, the founder of the religious group that we know
today as Jehovah’s Witnesses, predicted that the end of the world as we
know it would occur in 1914 with the return of Jesus Christ. Of course
the end of the world as that religious group knew it would be something
positive. Their official website admits however:
“Not all that was expected to
happen in 1914 did happen, but it did mark the end of the Gentile Times
and was a year of special significance. Many historians and commentators
agree that 1914 was a turning point in human history.” (http://www.watchtower.org/e/jt/index.htm)
The First World War did begin in 1914 and many certainly would say that
the end of the world as they knew it did arrive. But this religious
group that does not accept the Christian teaching of the Trinity and
presents a different plan of salvation than simply by grace through
faith, clearly missed the mark in their prediction of Christ’s return.
Now many eyes are fixed on a new date: December 21, 2012. People
generally are not eyeing this date with a positive vision. As with the
year 2000 anxiety, people are viewing this final date of the long count
Mayan calendar with apprehension. An upcoming movie will sensationalize
the date and put the worst possible spin on it, depicting a day filled
with horror and destruction: the end of the world as we know it.
Let’s listen to a more sensible voice today. Let’s listen to our Savior
Jesus Christ, who has a better handle on life and death, a better handle
on the beginning and the end of the world as we know it. He gives us
vision beyond the predictions of the Mayans and would-be religious
prophets. Through his words, he leads us away from the fear and anxiety
of the future and leads us to a safe place.
I. By the power of his voice, the dead cross over to life
II. By the power of his voice, the dead come out of their graves
As often happens, the words we focus on in the sermon seem to come in
mid thought. “Jesus gave them
this answer.” It wasn’t really an answer to a question, but it was a
response to a group of people. Some of the Jewish people were appalled
because Jesus had healed a man on the sacred Sabbath Day, and by doing
so, he violated their religious laws. Those laws said that no work was
to be done on the Sabbath, the day of rest. Even worse, Jesus justified
the miraculous healing he performed by telling the people that his
Father is always working, so he works, too, regardless of what day it
is. He called the Lord God Almighty his Father, claiming that he is
equal to God.
So Jesus answers their criticism. He further explains who he is and why
he came. For us who have faith in Jesus Christ, these are wonderful
words. For many of the people there, you might picture them dumfounded,
with their mouths open wide in disbelief while Jesus claims, over and
over again, to have a special, intimate relationship with the Creator of
all things that no one else on earth ever had or ever will have. He says
that if they don’t honor him, they are not honoring God. This statement
of Jesus is certainly a condemnation of anyone in our world today that
does not believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
Key to this relationship between Father and Son is Jesus’ ability to
give life, just as the Father in heaven gives life. How does he do it?
Simply by speaking. Using his voice, his words, Christ gives life to
those who are dead. It might seem backwards to talk about death coming
before life. But spiritual life is what we need because spiritual death
is the natural state of a human being born into this world. Spiritual
death occurs when a human being is separated from God. Naturally, we do
not have a relationship with God. Our will fights against God’s will. We
are sinners, through and through, not just because of our actions, but
because of the sinful nature that is inherited from the generation
before us (and the generation before that). It is placed on us, without
our choice, when we are conceived, like a horrible heirloom, leaving us
helpless. You cannot avoid receiving a sinful nature from your parents
and you cannot get rid of it once you have it. You are part of a
spiritually dead human race that is able to imagine and carry out all
sorts of evil. The commands God gives in his word help you see that
there is evil in your own life whenever you say to God, “No. I’m not
going to do what you want me to.” And you can see that evil with every
gun massacre, every lie, and every self-centered desire that is
satisfied.
Because we are dead in sin, Christ came to give life. As Jesus talks
about raising the dead, don’t jump ahead to the end of the world right
away. Jesus has already raised many people from the dead. Listen again
to what he says: “I tell you the
truth, a time is coming and has
now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and
those who hear will live.” Who are the dead people Jesus is talking
about? Although Jesus did raise a young man from Nain, the daughter of
Jairus, and his friend Lazarus from the dead, that doesn’t seem to be
what he is talking about here. He seems to be talking about giving life
to the spiritually dead – to you and me and all Christians. How does
this happen? Through the voice of our Savior, who loudly and clearly
proclaims his power over all the rebellious forces in the seen and
unseen world. Jesus speaks with the authority of the Father himself and
says he has defeated the law. The court is satisfied. The laws that say
you are guilty are now silent. Your Savior willingly faced the judgment
of God’s court and was condemned for your sin. You no longer stand
condemned before God. You have been forgiven all your sins. That is what
God’s Word, the voice of our Savior, proclaims.
There is a program on television called Crossing Over. A man name John
Edwards claims to be able to “cross over” and communicate with people
who have died. Now I don’t know if John Edwards has become involved with
some invisible demons or if he simply deceives himself and others into
believing that he has some special abilities. One thing I do know. That
is not the crossing over that we want to get involved in, as much as our
curious mind might want to know what it is like. The better way to
cross over is what Jesus
talks about here. We cross over from death to life by hearing the voice
of the Son of Man. He calls us out of our spiritual death to a new life
with God. We often call it a rebirth or being born again through the
power of the Holy Spirit. But we can also call it the first
resurrection. Before, there was death. Now, by God’s grace, we are alive
in Christ, no longer condemned criminals. We are joyful people who
eagerly follow the voice of our rescuer.
We thank God for the first resurrection. There is no greater peace and
joy than being connected to our Savior Jesus, like branches on a vine,
spiritually alive and being fed daily the life-giving promises of God.
We know that the Holy Spirit needs to give someone this spiritual life
sometime between conception and death, because it is this spiritual life
that prepares us for what happens after we die. Along with this
spiritual life in Christ comes the promise that there is eternal life.
Although our bodies and souls will be separated, they will also be
reunited when the end of the world comes.
“A time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice
and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who
have done evil will rise to be condemned.”
Now, coming off what has become a month long celebration of Halloween,
someone might easily imagine a zombie movie – the walking dead, with no
real life, lumbering around and terrorizing people. That is certainly
not what Jesus is talking about. On the other hand, our everlasting
existence is not that we lose our identity and become a nameless
faceless, glowing light, as science fiction might imagine it.
The hope that is connected to the resurrection is the promise that we
will be who we are and we will be reunited with all those who have died
in Christ. We will remain individuals, each of us with a personal
relationship with God our Savior and every other Christian on the last
day. But as individual immortal children of God, whose life will have no
end, many things are strangely absent. All the weakness and the fear and
the doubt and the death and sadness and decay will be strangely absent.
Strange, at least from our perspective, because we consider those things
facts of life. They are facts of this life in a decaying world that has
rebelled against God and is under God’s curse, destined for a final
judgment. But they are not facts of life in the new heaven and new earth
when God makes everything as it should be – perfect, without sin,
without end.
Sadly, however, just as those who have done good because of their
connection to the Son of Man will rise to live, so also those who have
done evil because of their separation from the Son of Man will rise to
be condemned. Jesus preaches the law to us here. What do you trust in as
you look ahead to the end of time? Do you trust in yourself and how good
a mom or dad you are or how good a worker you are or how good a citizen
or student? Watch out if that is your criteria, because only those who
have done good will rise to live. Those who have done evil will rise to
be condemned.
If you think you can do it on your own, if you think you have a chance
and might be able to stand before Jesus on the Day of Judgment and say
to him, “Look at how much good I’ve done,” then you can be sure that you
will rise to be condemned, because you can’t do enough. It’s sad that,
even though the gates of freedom are open through Jesus Christ, many
people with hard hearts choose to reject Christ and remain in prison,
trying to find their own path to freedom.
Trust in a goodness that doesn’t belong to you. Trust in the goodness of
the Son of Man. When, by the Spirit’s grace, you rely only and entirely
on him to be saved, his goodness is yours and you can be sure that you
will rise to live. He will use you to do good for others, good deeds
that he will point to on the last day as evidence that you belong to
him.