1 00:00:00,750 --> 00:00:01,916 Hey, thanks for joining us. 2 00:00:01,916 --> 00:00:03,750 As we continue through the Gospel of John. 3 00:00:03,750 --> 00:00:07,066 We are in the fifth chapter, the 25th verse. 4 00:00:08,100 --> 00:00:12,716 If I'm being 100% honest today, this is. 5 00:00:14,850 --> 00:00:17,966 One of the kind of passages that I think 6 00:00:17,966 --> 00:00:21,516 in some ways reflects my relationship with the Gospel of John. 7 00:00:21,533 --> 00:00:25,400 I, I don't know if we've actually gone into this yet, Michael, 8 00:00:25,400 --> 00:00:28,500 but you are a fan of the Gospel of John. 9 00:00:28,550 --> 00:00:31,733 I, I, I don't want to use favorite, but you 10 00:00:31,950 --> 00:00:34,950 you like the gospel of John very much. 11 00:00:35,150 --> 00:00:40,283 I like some parts of the Gospel of John very much. 12 00:00:40,666 --> 00:00:43,283 And then sometimes I just feel 13 00:00:43,283 --> 00:00:46,283 the weight of John being John and 14 00:00:47,516 --> 00:00:49,316 for me, 15 00:00:49,316 --> 00:00:52,316 today's passage is kind of one of those where 16 00:00:53,366 --> 00:00:55,683 we just are going to kind of pile on. 17 00:00:55,683 --> 00:00:57,750 So I'm going to read a few verses. 18 00:00:57,750 --> 00:00:58,466 I do think there's 19 00:00:58,466 --> 00:01:02,750 some important stuff in here, but there's a lot of the personality 20 00:01:02,750 --> 00:01:07,100 of John coming through in what Jesus says in these verses. 21 00:01:07,100 --> 00:01:08,566 So starting with 25, 22 00:01:09,616 --> 00:01:10,400 I tell you 23 00:01:10,400 --> 00:01:14,183 the truth, the hour is coming is now here when the dead 24 00:01:14,183 --> 00:01:17,566 will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it will live. 25 00:01:18,316 --> 00:01:20,816 For just as the father has life in himself, 26 00:01:20,816 --> 00:01:23,816 so he has granted the son also to have life in himself, 27 00:01:24,316 --> 00:01:28,800 and he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. 28 00:01:29,216 --> 00:01:32,183 Do not be astonished at this, for the hour is coming, 29 00:01:32,183 --> 00:01:35,633 when all who are in their graves will hear his voice, and will come out. 30 00:01:36,416 --> 00:01:40,100 And those who have done good to the resurrection of life, 31 00:01:40,283 --> 00:01:45,050 and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. 32 00:01:45,566 --> 00:01:49,316 So what do I mean by John being John here? 33 00:01:49,316 --> 00:01:51,050 I think occasionally, 34 00:01:51,050 --> 00:01:54,833 I don't think you're going to be able to read the Gospel of John seriously 35 00:01:55,133 --> 00:02:01,100 without having some head scratching moments in which you reread and 36 00:02:01,100 --> 00:02:04,850 and it sounds like John is saying some of the same things over 37 00:02:04,850 --> 00:02:09,000 and over again, and you find yourself saying, what is the point here? 38 00:02:09,000 --> 00:02:12,200 And I actually do think that's a good way to read. 39 00:02:12,466 --> 00:02:13,766 What is the point? 40 00:02:13,766 --> 00:02:19,133 Because if you can find the the Prime Mary point 41 00:02:19,133 --> 00:02:23,000 that John is making, I think you can be a little less, 42 00:02:25,016 --> 00:02:26,116 distracted, 43 00:02:26,116 --> 00:02:29,483 maybe would be a word by some of the other stuff. 44 00:02:29,483 --> 00:02:33,350 And so here we have this, this moment. 45 00:02:33,350 --> 00:02:37,166 Michael, Jesus says, I tell you the truth, the hours coming. 46 00:02:37,966 --> 00:02:38,900 Know the hours. 47 00:02:38,900 --> 00:02:43,366 Hear when the dead will hear the voice of God, and those who hear will live. 48 00:02:43,616 --> 00:02:47,700 Now, we've just had this conversation prior, yesterday's 49 00:02:47,850 --> 00:02:50,850 study about death and life. 50 00:02:52,283 --> 00:02:54,800 John may not have literally dead 51 00:02:54,800 --> 00:02:58,466 here in mind, though that seems to make an appearance in a moment. 52 00:02:58,950 --> 00:03:02,366 But again, a restatement of this idea 53 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,366 that living means listening 54 00:03:05,366 --> 00:03:09,166 to God, hearing the truth, knowing Christ, 55 00:03:09,566 --> 00:03:13,666 and that death means turning away from that. 56 00:03:14,066 --> 00:03:16,883 And so then, and this another turn. 57 00:03:16,883 --> 00:03:21,083 The father has life, and he's granted the son to have life. 58 00:03:21,083 --> 00:03:23,266 So what's John telling us, 59 00:03:23,266 --> 00:03:27,950 as we said yesterday, that life is found in relationship 60 00:03:27,950 --> 00:03:32,333 with God through Christ, that that is where life is centered 61 00:03:32,600 --> 00:03:35,600 and what it means to live for the believers, 62 00:03:35,716 --> 00:03:40,516 and what it means not to live for those who turn away. 63 00:03:40,800 --> 00:03:43,766 And that's not all John's going to say about it, 64 00:03:43,766 --> 00:03:46,766 but it's another way of saying it here. 65 00:03:47,116 --> 00:03:49,800 Well, one thing I would note here, Clint, 66 00:03:49,800 --> 00:03:54,900 is that for all of the complexities of John and we've said this now so many times 67 00:03:54,900 --> 00:03:56,700 already in the midst of this study, there's a lot 68 00:03:56,700 --> 00:03:59,700 there's there's quite a few complexities in this book. 69 00:03:59,866 --> 00:04:02,866 I think that John is no different 70 00:04:03,383 --> 00:04:06,683 than the other three synoptic gospels Matthew, Mark and Luke. 71 00:04:06,683 --> 00:04:11,116 It's no different from those in the sense that the center of it 72 00:04:11,116 --> 00:04:14,600 is always and consistently Jesus Christ. 73 00:04:14,600 --> 00:04:16,016 Jesus is the center. 74 00:04:16,016 --> 00:04:20,900 What makes John, I think distinctive is when you come into it, excuse me? 75 00:04:20,900 --> 00:04:24,533 And you come into it like this, and you begin seeing 76 00:04:24,883 --> 00:04:28,100 the levels of spiritual teaching being offered. 77 00:04:28,433 --> 00:04:32,266 What you discover is in red letters, as you have in the Bible 78 00:04:32,550 --> 00:04:34,200 that we have on the screen here. 79 00:04:34,200 --> 00:04:37,283 What you see very quickly is that Jesus is revealing, 80 00:04:37,283 --> 00:04:41,416 as John recounts it, the truth of Jesus's centrality. 81 00:04:41,416 --> 00:04:44,816 It began with the idea that Jesus Christ was with God 82 00:04:44,816 --> 00:04:48,383 in the beginning, that the word was there, and even part 83 00:04:48,566 --> 00:04:53,366 of the creating power of the world, the ordering power of the world. 84 00:04:53,366 --> 00:04:58,550 And now here we have this amazing phrase that at the end of the day, 85 00:04:58,550 --> 00:05:01,550 just as the father has life 86 00:05:01,550 --> 00:05:04,366 unto himself, the idea that life is 87 00:05:04,366 --> 00:05:07,350 doesn't need to be maintained, it doesn't need to be. 88 00:05:07,350 --> 00:05:12,050 So the father isn't reliant upon anyone for that eternal life. 89 00:05:12,300 --> 00:05:15,833 And in the same way, Jesus Christ has that same life. So. 90 00:05:15,833 --> 00:05:19,616 So there's this beautiful kind of theological richness being offered here, 91 00:05:20,033 --> 00:05:23,816 that what you see in Jesus Christ is fully God. 92 00:05:24,000 --> 00:05:26,566 And when you see Jesus Christ, you're seeing God. 93 00:05:26,566 --> 00:05:27,983 And when you see Jesus Christ, 94 00:05:27,983 --> 00:05:31,883 you also see God's redemptive, perfect, redemptive effort for humanity. 95 00:05:31,883 --> 00:05:36,800 I think there's a kind of maturity to this gospel because of it. 96 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:42,316 I also think if one is looking for, hey, John, what's the simple point? 97 00:05:42,650 --> 00:05:46,666 This is not the easiest way to tell the Jesus story. 98 00:05:46,666 --> 00:05:51,200 This is not the most simplistic way to hear Jesus's teachings 99 00:05:51,616 --> 00:05:56,550 that I think you could argue, is done far more effectively by parables 100 00:05:56,550 --> 00:06:00,600 and other gospels, where there's often Jesus even makes explicit reference. 101 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:01,816 Here's the point. 102 00:06:01,816 --> 00:06:05,516 But in John, Jesus is not teaching. 103 00:06:05,550 --> 00:06:09,566 Towards that end, Jesus is revealing the depth of who he is. 104 00:06:09,566 --> 00:06:12,200 And I think that gives this book a different flavor. 105 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:17,333 But I think at the end of the day, to go back to how I began here, I just think 106 00:06:17,850 --> 00:06:21,266 what it shares with the other gospels is Jesus is at the center. 107 00:06:21,416 --> 00:06:24,416 And so if you're looking for a point of a section like this, 108 00:06:24,566 --> 00:06:29,100 look for some answers to the question Who is Jesus in this text? 109 00:06:29,300 --> 00:06:32,266 And it's going to get you close to the center of what John's trying to do. 110 00:06:32,266 --> 00:06:32,716 Yeah, more 111 00:06:32,716 --> 00:06:37,400 so I would say in the other Gospels, you have these moments where Jesus is is. 112 00:06:41,333 --> 00:06:44,183 Teaching. 113 00:06:44,183 --> 00:06:46,350 Defending himself, 114 00:06:46,350 --> 00:06:49,616 sharing his identity and 115 00:06:50,933 --> 00:06:53,933 I think, you know, if you're prone 116 00:06:54,150 --> 00:06:59,250 to like the narrative things, the stories, if you the lessons, 117 00:06:59,700 --> 00:07:03,466 I think maybe those these sections are going to be a little drier. 118 00:07:03,466 --> 00:07:06,466 I think they take a little more work. 119 00:07:07,400 --> 00:07:09,083 They sound confusing. 120 00:07:09,083 --> 00:07:13,366 John has a way of kind of repeating himself as he quotes Jesus here. 121 00:07:15,383 --> 00:07:18,350 And he's given him authority because he's the Son of Man. 122 00:07:18,350 --> 00:07:21,350 Do not be astonished at this, for the hour is coming. 123 00:07:21,350 --> 00:07:22,283 We've talked about that. 124 00:07:22,283 --> 00:07:26,216 The idea that for John the cross and particularly 125 00:07:26,216 --> 00:07:29,300 the resurrection are Jesus's moment. 126 00:07:29,300 --> 00:07:32,600 And and all of his life is lived in awareness 127 00:07:32,600 --> 00:07:35,600 at that moment is coming in that, that is his mission. 128 00:07:35,866 --> 00:07:38,483 And yet it's not as though 129 00:07:38,483 --> 00:07:41,700 when that happens, he will gain his authority and identity. 130 00:07:41,700 --> 00:07:43,133 He already has that. 131 00:07:43,133 --> 00:07:45,616 He is already Jesus. 132 00:07:45,616 --> 00:07:49,950 He simply hasn't had that hour, that moment yet come. 133 00:07:50,400 --> 00:07:53,183 And so he says here, the hour is coming 134 00:07:53,183 --> 00:07:56,700 when even those in the grave will hear his voice and will come out. 135 00:07:56,900 --> 00:08:00,683 So that again, this idea that death is not final 136 00:08:00,983 --> 00:08:03,750 until it is a separation from God. 137 00:08:03,750 --> 00:08:09,383 And even those who have died will have an opportunity to know life. 138 00:08:09,683 --> 00:08:12,900 And then there is a part here, or I think we should spend a little time. 139 00:08:12,900 --> 00:08:13,316 Michael, 140 00:08:14,516 --> 00:08:15,166 those who have 141 00:08:15,166 --> 00:08:18,766 done good to resurrection and those who have done evil 142 00:08:19,016 --> 00:08:22,016 to the resurrection of condemnation and 143 00:08:23,216 --> 00:08:28,066 language like that can be a little off putting to Presbyterian, 144 00:08:28,066 --> 00:08:32,033 Reformed Christians who are worried about the idea of works 145 00:08:32,033 --> 00:08:37,783 righteousness, that, you know, you would somehow be saved by what you had done. 146 00:08:38,333 --> 00:08:41,700 I think, at least from our perspective, 147 00:08:41,700 --> 00:08:45,083 it is worth saying that for John, 148 00:08:45,383 --> 00:08:48,283 what one does is what one believes. 149 00:08:48,283 --> 00:08:52,883 So it is not simply that these people would be resurrected 150 00:08:52,883 --> 00:08:55,883 and they've done a lot of good, so they get eternal life. 151 00:08:56,183 --> 00:08:58,733 Eternal life is always through Christ. 152 00:08:58,733 --> 00:09:02,966 And if they've done good, they've shared in that goodness. 153 00:09:04,166 --> 00:09:06,566 And I you know, John doesn't say it. 154 00:09:06,566 --> 00:09:07,650 Maybe you could argue it. 155 00:09:07,650 --> 00:09:10,966 I think the overhanging implication here 156 00:09:10,966 --> 00:09:14,116 is that that's an extension of belief. 157 00:09:14,116 --> 00:09:17,700 It's an extension of obedience and righteousness. 158 00:09:18,050 --> 00:09:23,666 And and John intertwines all of that to together in a way that 159 00:09:25,166 --> 00:09:28,166 reformed Christians have sometimes separated. 160 00:09:28,216 --> 00:09:32,600 We have overdone the idea of a division between faith and works. 161 00:09:33,016 --> 00:09:36,016 I don't think you find much of that division 162 00:09:36,300 --> 00:09:39,300 in John, certainly not in a passage like this. 163 00:09:39,766 --> 00:09:40,016 Yeah. 164 00:09:40,016 --> 00:09:44,850 No, I, I think that would be importing it concern that John's not particularly 165 00:09:44,850 --> 00:09:45,950 speaking to. 166 00:09:45,950 --> 00:09:49,366 And I do also want to point out that the, 167 00:09:49,700 --> 00:09:53,116 the teachings of Jesus tend to be less 168 00:09:54,233 --> 00:09:56,116 interested in some of the 169 00:09:56,116 --> 00:09:59,116 theological quibbles that the church has taken up. 170 00:09:59,216 --> 00:10:01,050 And I think that this is a great example of it. 171 00:10:01,050 --> 00:10:02,416 Clint, to your point, 172 00:10:02,416 --> 00:10:05,416 the hours coming when all who are in their graves will hear the voice. 173 00:10:05,416 --> 00:10:08,566 By the way, this is a significant concern for the early church. 174 00:10:08,600 --> 00:10:12,900 We see this like in the book of Thessalonians, where the question about 175 00:10:13,050 --> 00:10:17,100 what's going to happen to those believers who are either martyred, 176 00:10:17,333 --> 00:10:21,116 you know, they've lost their life at the hands of, persecution. 177 00:10:21,350 --> 00:10:24,350 But then also as that first generation of Christians 178 00:10:24,533 --> 00:10:27,600 comes to the end of their own lives, the question of what comes next, 179 00:10:28,216 --> 00:10:30,750 when we've been waiting and anticipating 180 00:10:30,750 --> 00:10:34,066 the return of Christ, that this is a substantial concern. 181 00:10:34,066 --> 00:10:38,500 And so what, you know, we might read past it was so important to them, 182 00:10:38,516 --> 00:10:42,866 even those who are in their graves, they yet will have the ability 183 00:10:43,216 --> 00:10:45,533 to hear his voice. Right. 184 00:10:45,533 --> 00:10:50,600 So it's not just a matter of physical life which allows one 185 00:10:50,600 --> 00:10:55,050 to experience resurrection power, the return of the ascended Christ. 186 00:10:55,050 --> 00:10:57,683 Right now it's even those who are dead. 187 00:10:57,683 --> 00:11:01,700 And then this frame, those who've done good resurrection of life, 188 00:11:01,816 --> 00:11:05,516 those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation, the 189 00:11:06,266 --> 00:11:10,800 the fact that we have this paired together here in John, I think, is important. 190 00:11:11,150 --> 00:11:15,016 This reminds me, Clint, of like the separation of the sheep and goats, right? 191 00:11:15,016 --> 00:11:16,133 Or the wheat and chaff. 192 00:11:16,133 --> 00:11:19,850 I mean, Jesus has similar teachings and say there the book of Matthew. 193 00:11:20,000 --> 00:11:22,916 What what I think is happening here in John, though, it's just 194 00:11:22,916 --> 00:11:28,366 this idea that one's belief does have impact on one's 195 00:11:28,366 --> 00:11:32,416 eternal place in God's economy and God's kingdom. 196 00:11:32,666 --> 00:11:37,550 And I think that Jesus is making, the point here that not even death itself 197 00:11:37,816 --> 00:11:42,266 can keep God from the ones who have entrusted their their belief, 198 00:11:42,266 --> 00:11:45,266 and therefore their works would follow in that now, 199 00:11:45,766 --> 00:11:49,800 I I'm clearly reading into that with lots of history and assumptions, 200 00:11:49,800 --> 00:11:51,983 and you could argue that in different ways. 201 00:11:51,983 --> 00:11:54,533 But I think when you come to a book like John, 202 00:11:54,533 --> 00:11:57,983 what you have to remember is that this was written to a community 203 00:11:57,983 --> 00:12:01,616 with the hope and intention of bringing good news to people, 204 00:12:01,766 --> 00:12:05,816 asking real questions of the faith to recount the stories of Jesus 205 00:12:05,816 --> 00:12:09,833 and the teachings of Jesus in such a way that the community would be built up. 206 00:12:10,050 --> 00:12:12,650 Wood would understand their place in their role, 207 00:12:12,650 --> 00:12:15,616 and I think a text like this could accomplish is that goal. 208 00:12:15,616 --> 00:12:19,816 Because for people who are asking, what is death going to do? 209 00:12:20,300 --> 00:12:25,150 As we consider Jesus's Messiah, his role, his salvific, 210 00:12:26,900 --> 00:12:29,100 role in in God's kingdom? 211 00:12:29,100 --> 00:12:32,633 Well, the answer is not even death itself can keep those 212 00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:36,166 either those who did good or those who did evil, those who 213 00:12:36,300 --> 00:12:40,900 whose belief was and whose witness and whose eyes saw the revelation of Christ, 214 00:12:40,916 --> 00:12:44,966 or those whose eyes were closed, and those who didn't see that not even 215 00:12:44,966 --> 00:12:49,700 death itself can hold those people from being reconnected in in Christ. 216 00:12:49,766 --> 00:12:52,250 It's overstating it 217 00:12:52,250 --> 00:12:55,250 a little, but I think we have to be careful 218 00:12:55,516 --> 00:12:59,416 not to read all of these texts through the lens of things 219 00:12:59,416 --> 00:13:02,866 like heaven and afterlife. 220 00:13:03,300 --> 00:13:06,083 I think John has some of that in mind. 221 00:13:06,083 --> 00:13:10,550 But when John uses these words life and death, he's also means 222 00:13:10,800 --> 00:13:14,566 he also means the condition of our spiritual life. 223 00:13:14,816 --> 00:13:20,516 And there is a connection of the condition of our spiritual life 224 00:13:21,050 --> 00:13:27,466 and our eternal reality, or our life and death reality, our physical reality. 225 00:13:27,683 --> 00:13:33,166 But but it's not simply physical for John to say eternal life. 226 00:13:33,166 --> 00:13:36,200 And remember, he said that to the woman at the well, 227 00:13:36,533 --> 00:13:40,766 he he doesn't mean you get to go to heaven and live forever, 228 00:13:40,966 --> 00:13:44,183 in the sense that maybe the church later would think about it. 229 00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:48,800 He means that the condition of your life is concerned 230 00:13:49,066 --> 00:13:53,416 and consumed, and reflective of those things that are eternal, chief 231 00:13:53,416 --> 00:13:57,800 among them God's covenant, God's justice, God's righteousness, 232 00:13:58,066 --> 00:14:03,533 and and that God Himself, the eternal One, is seen in the character 233 00:14:03,533 --> 00:14:08,933 and condition of one spirit, and that leads to life. Yes, 234 00:14:09,950 --> 00:14:12,750 likely a life beyond death. 235 00:14:12,750 --> 00:14:14,600 But again, 236 00:14:14,600 --> 00:14:18,566 not simply death as the grave, death 237 00:14:18,566 --> 00:14:22,133 as the opposite of what God wants to fill us with. 238 00:14:22,133 --> 00:14:25,916 And so keep in mind that John uses these words life 239 00:14:25,916 --> 00:14:29,966 and death to mean a multitude of things, and I think, express 240 00:14:30,566 --> 00:14:36,466 a variety of realities and largely for him they are spiritual terms, 241 00:14:37,283 --> 00:14:40,133 I would say more so, 242 00:14:40,133 --> 00:14:43,800 or at least more frequently than they are physical terms. 243 00:14:44,066 --> 00:14:46,766 They're both in there. I want to be clear about that. 244 00:14:46,766 --> 00:14:49,766 But John loves 245 00:14:50,250 --> 00:14:52,733 the language of our spiritual condition, 246 00:14:52,733 --> 00:14:55,816 because John believes that believing in 247 00:14:55,816 --> 00:14:59,750 Christ is the foundation of our spiritual condition, 248 00:14:59,750 --> 00:15:04,916 or not, believing in Christ is the the detriment of our spiritual condition. 249 00:15:04,916 --> 00:15:08,650 And I think you have to keep that in mind as you encounter these kind of words. 250 00:15:08,700 --> 00:15:12,950 When the word that sticks out to me as we come to the end of the study today, 251 00:15:12,950 --> 00:15:15,950 is this idea of those who have done evil, 252 00:15:15,950 --> 00:15:18,716 that that evil word is the thing I want to explore. 253 00:15:18,716 --> 00:15:19,583 For just a moment. 254 00:15:19,583 --> 00:15:25,166 I remember the story where Jesus comes in 255 00:15:25,166 --> 00:15:29,416 and addresses that evil in no uncertain terms. 256 00:15:29,416 --> 00:15:30,616 It's it's right away. 257 00:15:30,616 --> 00:15:33,750 In the beginning of this book, we spent so much time talking about his 258 00:15:33,750 --> 00:15:37,200 coming into the temple and his throwing over the money changers tables. 259 00:15:37,200 --> 00:15:39,450 And in that study, remember what we talked about? 260 00:15:39,450 --> 00:15:43,466 The thing in John that is so clear is that Jesus is doing this 261 00:15:43,466 --> 00:15:46,966 because the evil being done, the injustice being perpetrated, 262 00:15:47,300 --> 00:15:52,616 is that people are creating roadblocks for people to see the revelation of God, 263 00:15:52,866 --> 00:15:57,750 the thing that they're doing is they are not only rejecting 264 00:15:57,950 --> 00:16:01,200 God's revelation in Christ, but they're getting in the way of other people 265 00:16:01,350 --> 00:16:06,166 being able to see it, to avail themselves, to be exposed to that revelation. 266 00:16:06,416 --> 00:16:08,933 People's right worship is being interrupted. 267 00:16:08,933 --> 00:16:12,083 And I think it's really evil, really evil, 268 00:16:12,083 --> 00:16:16,733 really easy for us, I think, to insert lots of things into those sections. 269 00:16:16,733 --> 00:16:18,750 But if we're reading John closely, 270 00:16:19,950 --> 00:16:23,266 this idea of the deeds that are done that are evil, 271 00:16:23,666 --> 00:16:27,300 you know, it's not just what we think of as rank evil. 272 00:16:27,300 --> 00:16:29,266 The stuff that people do that's bad. 273 00:16:29,266 --> 00:16:33,850 I think John has more specific ideas in mind for what's evil. 274 00:16:33,916 --> 00:16:36,616 I think what's evil is the Antichrist. 275 00:16:36,616 --> 00:16:40,066 It's the antithesis to what Christ has come to do. 276 00:16:40,066 --> 00:16:45,650 And you have that in, in spades in like first and second John, 277 00:16:45,650 --> 00:16:49,516 where a lot of time is spent talking about the opposite of Christ 278 00:16:49,516 --> 00:16:52,916 and the character of a person that stands in opposition to Christ. 279 00:16:52,916 --> 00:16:56,566 So I think evil here has to be read in a very specific way as well, 280 00:16:56,566 --> 00:16:59,566 that if Jesus Christ is the ultimate revelation of God, 281 00:16:59,566 --> 00:17:04,316 then belief will will lead one to good, because Christ is good, 282 00:17:04,316 --> 00:17:07,100 and that will ultimately lead to resurrection in life. 283 00:17:07,100 --> 00:17:12,233 But to the one who either stands against or is unable to participate 284 00:17:12,316 --> 00:17:15,233 in seeing the revelation of Christ, that one, to 285 00:17:15,233 --> 00:17:19,016 whatever extent they are, they are missing what God is doing in Christ. 286 00:17:19,016 --> 00:17:22,016 They're missing an opportunity for what Christ has come to do. 287 00:17:22,166 --> 00:17:25,550 Because John chapter three, remember, God's mission 288 00:17:25,550 --> 00:17:28,550 and plan is for the whole world. 289 00:17:28,666 --> 00:17:33,050 The question is that how does the whole world respond to that revelation? 290 00:17:33,233 --> 00:17:37,916 Yeah, at the risk of oversimplifying it, I think John clearly sees that 291 00:17:38,666 --> 00:17:42,683 if it is of God, it is good, and if it is not, it is bad. 292 00:17:42,683 --> 00:17:47,116 If it is of God, if it is of Christ, it leads to life. 293 00:17:47,516 --> 00:17:51,766 And if it is not, then it is evil and leads to death. 294 00:17:51,766 --> 00:17:57,300 And so when one turns away from the truth, when one refuses to believe, 295 00:17:57,300 --> 00:18:02,066 when one does not do good, which by definition is that which reflects 296 00:18:02,066 --> 00:18:05,700 God, one participates in death, one 297 00:18:05,966 --> 00:18:09,650 lacks good and therefore lacks life. 298 00:18:09,650 --> 00:18:14,866 And I, I think, you know, again, is it more nuanced than that? 299 00:18:14,866 --> 00:18:18,266 Certainly Bible scholars could help us at lots of different levels. 300 00:18:18,266 --> 00:18:23,000 But I think if you want to paint with a big brush, that's essentially 301 00:18:23,183 --> 00:18:26,183 what you would find at the bottom of it. 302 00:18:26,783 --> 00:18:28,250 Let's not get lost, right? 303 00:18:28,250 --> 00:18:33,116 Remember here that all of this is happening in the midst of conversations 304 00:18:33,116 --> 00:18:37,200 related to, person being healed, breaking of Sabbath 305 00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:40,883 law, Jesus arguing with the Jews, now teaching a contrary kind of teaching. 306 00:18:41,300 --> 00:18:44,583 Let's just remember that what Jesus is offering is a different way, Clint, 307 00:18:44,700 --> 00:18:48,083 to the to the many ways that we're sort of argued, debated, 308 00:18:48,083 --> 00:18:51,266 presented in the midst of first century, Israel. 309 00:18:51,266 --> 00:18:55,400 And and what Jesus is offering is not another religious idea. 310 00:18:55,583 --> 00:18:59,366 He's offering the revelation of God and and his point here. 311 00:18:59,366 --> 00:19:03,000 If you boil it down, is that there's only one way 312 00:19:03,316 --> 00:19:07,466 to be connected to the eternal Triune God, and that's through him, 313 00:19:07,466 --> 00:19:09,116 and that's going to be made more explicit. 314 00:19:09,116 --> 00:19:13,433 But this is the theological framework that all connects and whines and bends 315 00:19:13,433 --> 00:19:14,483 throughout this entire book. 316 00:19:14,483 --> 00:19:16,583 This is all intertwined. 317 00:19:16,583 --> 00:19:18,900 And and we're going to see more of it as we go. 318 00:19:18,900 --> 00:19:24,116 I think one of the distinctiveness of John, it more so than the other gospels, 319 00:19:24,116 --> 00:19:29,666 is that John, as all the Gospels do, make the case that Jesus is the Christ. 320 00:19:30,616 --> 00:19:32,516 John does that 321 00:19:32,516 --> 00:19:35,700 more than the others in Jesus's own voice. 322 00:19:36,833 --> 00:19:41,300 The others tell stories and have side conversations and such. 323 00:19:42,050 --> 00:19:47,783 John puts that theological question more often than the others 324 00:19:47,783 --> 00:19:52,100 in the mouth of Jesus, and I think that that really does give it a distinctive. 325 00:19:52,216 --> 00:19:56,483 It also gives it a certain challenge from the reader's perspective. 326 00:19:56,483 --> 00:19:58,166 So that continues on. 327 00:19:58,166 --> 00:20:01,350 Actually, when we continue the study on Monday, where we're going 328 00:20:01,350 --> 00:20:04,366 to get into some even more depths of this teaching. 329 00:20:04,366 --> 00:20:05,816 So we hope you'll join us for that. 330 00:20:05,816 --> 00:20:08,816 If you found this helpful or interesting or challenging or inspiring 331 00:20:08,933 --> 00:20:10,966 or all of the above, I give this video a like. 332 00:20:10,966 --> 00:20:13,966 Subscribe for more studies like it as we continue on 333 00:20:14,033 --> 00:20:17,100 with our next study on Monday at 2:00 central to be blessed. 334 00:20:17,116 --> 00:20:17,800 Thanks everybody.