Fixing and Breaking

I'd like us to turn back together to John chapter 5.

John 5 · chapter mention

And we're going to look at the passage that we read.

! We can read again at verse 18.

The start of chapter 5 is an interesting mini turning point in the Gospel of John.

Because in many ways, the opening four chapters of John are just stunning.

Maybe you could say that it's a bit like walking in the Hebrides on a beautiful summer's day.

You go into chapter 1 and you have this stunning introduction as to who Jesus is.

John takes us, he echoes the language of Genesis chapter 1, takes us right back into eternity

Genesis 1 · chapter mention

and shows us that our view of Jesus has to be at the highest level.

You've got this incredible opening section in the Gospel.

You then have the interaction with John the Baptist where Jesus is identified as the Lamb of God

who takes away the sins of the world.

We then see the recognition that Jesus is the one who the Jews have been waiting for and longing for for so long.

And the joy of the messianic age has finally arrived.

And that's seen so clearly in chapter 2 in the wedding in Cana where in that moment, that day of great joy,

Jesus begins to reveal who he is.

And he does it through turning water into wine, the finest of wine, the drink of joy and celebration.

At this beautiful wedding, of course, pointing to the fact that he, Jesus, is the true bridegroom.

He has come for his bride.

And John starts to reveal to us that all the old requirements of the old covenant era are slipping away.

Those restrictions are being lifted.

And the Messiah has come with a beautifully simple message of salvation.

And that's what Nicodemus discovers in chapter 3.

That God has so loved the world that whosoever, that he gave his son,

that whosoever believes in him will not perish but have everlasting life.

And then you go into chapter 4.

You have this amazing interaction with the woman at the well.

And it's teaching us that Jesus is the one who has come to quench our thirst,

to meet our deepest needs, to give us satisfaction that nothing else can compare with.

And so John 1 to 4 is like walking on Luskintyre Beach on a stunning day.

It's beautiful.

And everything you see is breathtaking.

But as you come into chapter 5, there's just maybe a slight change in the tone of the narrative.

Not because it's less stunning.

And in fact, the teaching in these chapters is some of the most,

some of the richest and most theologically profound that we have in the whole Bible.

But what we see coming into chapter 5 and what builds going through the rest of the gospel

is that the clouds of opposition are gathering against Jesus.

And he's being noticed.

He is being questioned.

He's being judged.

And the criticism, the opposition, and the tension is all starting to increase.

And in many ways, those two things that we've just described there,

the kind of beautiful summer's day, stunning walk through John chapter 4,

John 4 · chapter mention

that's part of what a communion weekend is like.

There's something beautiful and refreshing and enriching.

But at the same time, a communion weekend,

a time like this in the life of a congregation and the life of an individual believer,

it's also the time where we are just conscious of our struggles,

of the opposition that we face, of our battle with sin.

And often that for us feels like a battle that we're losing.

So our communion weekend is like it's summer and it's winter,

all rolled into one.

And so I think that, I hope, makes this a helpful chapter for us to turn to this evening.

And one of the things that John is doing in his gospel,

like all the other gospel writers,

is he's trying to get us to understand more about who Jesus is.

And in particular, he's trying to help us understand why Jesus has come.

And I want us to think about that in a bit more detail tonight.

And the title that we're going to use is Fixing and Breaking.

Because that's what one of the things that this passage helps us to see,

that Jesus has come to fix, but Jesus has also come to break.

And these are two things that we need to recognize and understand,

and we need to apply them to our own lives.

And so what's he fixing?

What's he breaking?

Well, we're going to have two headings.

The first heading is that Jesus has come to fix brokenness.

And we see that so powerfully in this chapter.

But the second heading, which I'm a bit hesitant to give you,

but I'm going to give it to you anyway,

is that he's come to break bonkers, ridiculous, stupid nonsense.

Jesus has come to fix, and he's come to break.

And we'll look at these two together.

So first of all, fixing brokenness.

I don't need to persuade any of you or anybody out in the world around us

that there is a lot of brokenness in the world.

We see that across the globe.

We see that in our nation.

We see that in our communities.

We see it in our own lives as well.

And maybe right now you are very much feeling the pain and the struggle of that.

It happens in a thousand ways.

Illness, addiction, loneliness, poverty, chronic pain, exhaustion, anxiety, stress.

All of us experience these things to a greater or lesser degree at various points in our lives.

And sometimes that brokenness is very, very obvious.

It can be seen in people's lives.

Other times it's very, very hidden.

And we try to put on a good front,

even though beneath it there is so much that feels broken and fragile.

Whether it's visible, whether it's hidden.

Either way, it's awful.

And of course, the same was true in the days of the New Testament.

And one place where you absolutely could see the brokenness of life with crystal clarity

was at this pool of Bethesda that John takes us to in chapter 5.

And I want you just to imagine walking around that pool.

Verse 3 says,

At that pool where there was five roofed colonies,

in these lay a multitude of invalids, blind, lame, and paralyzed.

And, you know, imagine just walking around that pool.

You see people who have been there for years.

They're filthy.

And they're skin and bone.

Some of them can't see anything, so they're crying out in distress.

Many of them can hardly move.

Some of them are completely paralyzed.

And you're walking around that pool and it's awful what you see.

So much brokenness before your eyes.

And among them, among all those people,

is a man who has been ill for 38 years.

And he and all the other people there are waiting for the waters to be stirred.

And they believe that if those waters got stirred,

whoever got into the pool first was going to be healed.

Now, some of you may have the King James Version in front of you

or some of you may remember the King James Version from when you used it in years gone by.

You may remember that it has a verse here that is not included in the ESV.

So the King James Version, at the end of verse 3,

says that there's blind, lame, paralyzed.

And then it says,

Waiting for the moving of the water.

For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool and troubled the water.

Whosoever then first, after the troubling of the water, stepped in,

was made whole of whatsoever disease he had.

Now, this is an example of what we call a textual variant.

And so I'll just explain what that means.

We have hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of manuscripts of the New Testament.

And these have been found across various locations in the Mediterranean from the classical period.

And they've been gathered, examined, and studied by scholars for centuries.

And one of the remarkable things for attesting the truth of the New Testament

is the fact that we have so many of these documents.

And the numbers of manuscripts for the Greek New Testament

far outweigh the numbers that have been found for other ancient pieces of literature.

But because there's so many,

occasionally there are small variations between the texts.

So what one manuscript says is not always identical to what another manuscript says.

And that's what you call a textual variant.

And this is an example of that.

That some texts include the verse that was included in the King James Version,

which describes an angel coming down, stirring the waters,

and whoever got in there first was made whole of the disease that they had.

The ESV that most of us use in our congregations now

is based on manuscripts that have been found,

many of which have been found since the King James Translation was made,

many of which are earlier, from an earlier period than when the King James manuscripts were compiled.

And this verse is missing.

And scholars debate this, and you may have some different opinions on it yourself,

but those who translated the ESV would argue that because the earlier manuscripts do not have this verse,

it's likely that it was added at a later date and was not originally part of John's Gospel.

And I am persuaded by that argument myself,

but if anybody is not sure about that or would like to ask more about it,

I'd be more than happy to speak to you after the service.

What I want to highlight, though, is that there was clearly this idea

that if you got into the pool first, you would be healed.

We know that from the verse a little bit further down, where it says in verse 7,

the sick man says to Jesus, you know, if the pool in the water,

when the water's stirred up, someone else gets in there before me.

And the big question is this, did the pool really work?

Or was it just a superstition?

Was it really the case that, you know, if someone got in there first, they would be healed?

Or was it just a superstition?

That's something that we need to kind of make a judgment call on.

And again, you can discuss that together over the weekend.

Did it really work?

Was it a superstition?

I think it was probably a superstition.

And I may be wrong in that,

but it certainly looks as though it was.

And it looks as though it wasn't as effective as they thought it would be.

And it definitely wasn't working for this man.

He'd been an invalid for 38 years.

And whatever healing this pool was supposed to give him,

it was not working.

And so he's caught in this negative spiral,

where he's convinced that if the waters are stirred,

and he gets in there first, he's going to be healed.

But he can't get into the water quickly enough,

because no one's there to help him.

And as a result, he's stuck, paralyzed,

a chronic invalid beside this pool.

But then Jesus comes to him.

And I love how Jesus speaks to this man.

He asks him a very simple question.

Do you want to be healed?

In verse 6.

And the man gives this really elaborate answer.

And he's kind of basically saying how everything's against him.

And you know, with the waters are stirred,

I can't get down there, and no one can help me.

And I'm stuck.

And there's sort of this complicated story of how everything is going against him.

And, you know, whether he wants to be healed or not is kind of irrelevant,

because circumstances are just making it impossible for him.

He gives Jesus an elaborate answer.

Jesus responds with quite a blunt reply.

He says,

Get up.

Get up.

Take up your bed.

And walk.

And I love how Jesus just cuts right through all the complexity and difficulty of the man's circumstances.

He dismantles the spiral of negativity that the man's got himself into,

tells the man to get up, take his bed, and walk.

And that is exactly what happens.

And it's remarkable.

And there's two or three things I want us just to notice from this.

First is that all of this is pointing us to the fact that Jesus has come to fix brokenness.

Like every other healing miracle that Jesus performed in his ministry,

this is pointing us to the great work of restoration that Jesus has come to do.

That's one of the things that the miracles is pointing us to,

the fact that Jesus has come to put right the things that are broken.

And it's massively important for that to shape how we view the world around us,

because we live in a time, and our own experience can be one,

where we see so much brokenness in the world around us,

and sometimes we experience so much brokenness ourselves,

that we can easily conclude that it's just part of life that we've got to accept.

But the Bible never makes brokenness and suffering acceptable or welcome in our experience in that kind of way.

Instead, the Bible teaches us that the brokenness that we see in the world around us

is an unwanted intrusion into the world.

So every illness, every injustice, every bruise,

all suffering, all pain, all anguish,

Jesus never looks at that and thinks,

oh, well, it's the way it is.

Jesus looks at that and says,

that's wrong.

That is not the way things are meant to be.

And all the suffering that we experience,

and that the people around us experience,

and that we see in the world,

it can all be traced back to the fact that sin

has broken God's creation.

Things are not the way God made them to be.

Things are not the way God wants them to be.

Sin has caused so much brokenness.

Jesus has come to put things right.

He's come to fix it.

Now, the crucial thing we have to recognize

is that work of restoration is not instantaneous,

and it's not going to be completed

until he returns.

But it has begun.

And these miracles are a glimpse

of that great work of restoration

that Jesus has come to do.

Jesus' great goal is a world

where he will wipe away every tear from our eyes,

and death shall be no more.

Neither shall there be mourning,

nor crying, nor pain anymore,

for the former things have passed away.

Now, this is one of the reasons

why Christianity is so intellectually satisfying.

And this is incredibly important to remember

because often people think that to be a Christian,

you kind of have to leave your brain behind

and just ignore all the facts around you

that are arguing against Christianity,

and you just have to embrace this kind of blind faith

that's hoping for the best.

That is absolutely not true at all.

This is where you see

how intellectually satisfying the gospel is.

Because if you abandon the Bible,

if you reject the idea of God,

and if you say that Jesus has got nothing to offer us,

then ultimately, when you look at suffering,

all you can say is,

that is just part of life.

But with the Bible,

and with the gospel,

you can look at all the pain

and sorrow and hurt in the world,

and you can say,

I know that that is wrong.

Jesus has come to heal and restore

and fix a broken world.

The second thing I want you to see

is that this work of fixing

is done in a very particular way by Jesus.

It's done through his words.

What does Jesus do in John 5?

He just speaks.

He tells the man to get up,

and he's renewed.

And this is another example

of the many, many times

that you will see Jesus

making something happen by speaking.

That's what you see throughout the gospels.

Jesus speaks,

and people are healed.

Jesus speaks,

and the waves are calmed.

Jesus speaks,

and his work is accomplished.

Jesus does it again,

and again,

and again.

Another question I want you to think about.

Jesus speaks,

and his purposes are accomplished.

When was the first time

he did that?

When was the first time

you see

the voice

of God the Son

speaking,

and something happens?

Well, I think the first time

that you see that

is on the very first page

of the Bible

when he says,

let there be light.

Remember,

John already told us

in chapter 1

that it is through the Son

that all things

were created.

it's through God the Son

that the work of creation

was accomplished,

and he did it

by speaking.

That's why it's no surprise

that John calls Jesus

the Word,

and that's why

what we see in Jesus' ministry

is just a continuation

from what he did

at the very beginning

of the universe.

He speaks,

and it brings life

and order

and healing

and restoration.

And all of this

makes perfect sense

because everything

fits together

because this is why

the whole of Christianity

is grounded

on a message.

It's grounded

on words.

And that's why

we don't come to church

and bow down

before a statue.

That's why

we come to church

and we open a book

because it's his words

that bring life.

And this is where

you see

the contrast

with the kind of superstition

that maybe

this paralyzed man,

this invalid,

had fallen into the trap of.

Certainly you see

that suspicion

all over the world,

kind of weird rituals

and ideas.

All of this

is reminding us

that the key thing

that we need

in order to be saved,

in order to be healed

and to be restored

is to listen

and to trust

what Jesus

is seeing.

So this

fixing of brokenness

is pointing us

to the work

of restoration

that Jesus

has come to do.

It's being achieved

through his words.

But the third thing

I want you to notice

is that this incident

is an example

of what we could call

blunt grace.

I don't think

it's a very

technical theological term,

but I think

it's a helpful term.

It's definitely

what we see here.

Now when I say blunt,

I don't mean blunt

in like a rude

or offensive way,

but blunt in a way

that it just

cuts right across

all the complexity

and confusion

that this sick man

has got in his head.

And that blunt,

clear message

that Jesus gives him

is a message

of grace.

The man's

completely helpless.

He cannot do anything.

Jesus

does it all.

And you see

the same message

of blunt grace

not just

for the man's

salvation,

you also see it

for his sanctification

later in the chapter

because in verse 14

Jesus meets him

in the temple

and says to him,

see you are well,

sin no more,

that nothing worse

may happen to you.

Now that's the kind

of verse that can

maybe leave ourselves,

that can leave us

a wee bit tied up

in knots or uncertain

because we think,

well, is Jesus saying,

well, you know,

your sickness was

because you sinned?

And are we saying

that, well,

everybody by that pool,

they were sick

because they sinned?

And is it always

a consequence

that anybody who's sick

or anyone for whom

something bad happens

to them is because

of something wrong

that they have done?

It's easy to jump

to that conclusion

and many people have,

but that's not the case.

And we know

it's not the case

because other parts

of scripture teach us

that it's not the case.

Often our suffering

is not because of

anything specific

that we have done.

In fact,

John's gospel,

John chapter 9

John 9 · chapter mention

is a very,

very clear

and important

example of that.

So why does Jesus

say this to him?

Sin no more

that nothing worse

may happen to you.

Well, it could just

be a general warning

to the man

to say that

as he follows him,

he needs to make sure

that he doesn't

turn away.

But at the same time,

we do need to recognize

that there are ways

in which some suffering

can be the result

of a specific

sinful behavior.

So I don't know

if this is the case,

but I just want you

to imagine.

Imagine that this man

was a gambling addict

and 38 years earlier

he'd lost everything.

He'd lost his home,

he'd lost his family,

he'd lost his income,

he'd become destitute,

malnourished,

and eventually crippled.

And every time

he got any money,

he just immediately

lost it

by gambling again.

If that was the case,

you could very much

understand it

if Jesus said,

look,

don't sin anymore,

don't gamble again.

And maybe

that's the kind of situation

that Jesus was dealing with.

As I say,

we don't know for sure.

Either way,

whatever Jesus is saying,

he is saying it bluntly,

but that bluntness

is conveying grace.

It's a message

to help the man.

It's the message

that gives the man

everything that he needs.

And in order to benefit

from it,

all the man has to do

is trust

what's been said to him

and listen.

Jesus gave a message

of blunt grace

and sometimes

that's what we need.

And so,

there are many times

in life

when we need

encouragement,

many times

when we need

gentle persuasion,

many times

when we need

to just be,

you know,

patiently helped

along a particular path.

And in many ways,

that's the way

I would always

like to be spoken to

and that's the way

I would always like

to speak to others.

But alongside that,

when it comes

to listening to Jesus,

when it comes to

responding to the gospel,

when it comes to

reaching out

to a community,

when it comes

to inviting

a friend

to church,

when it comes

to putting

your faith

in Jesus,

when it comes

to professing

your faith

in Jesus,

sometimes

we need

a blunt,

gracious

kick.

And that's

exactly

what this man

got.

Jesus said,

get up.

And he did.

And that

blunt grace

is sometimes

where the gospel

is at its

most powerful.

And so Jesus

came to fix

brokenness.

That's our first

heading.

But our second

heading is

that he has

come also

to break

bonkers,

ridiculous,

stupid nonsense.

There's a lot

of brokenness

in the world,

as we said,

but there's also

a lot of

bonkers,

ridiculous,

stupid nonsense

in the world,

especially

when it comes

to religion.

And that's

exactly what

you see

in this passage

before us.

Verse 9

tells us

that the healing

took place

on the Sabbath

and the controversy

immediately arises

among the Jews

because the man

is carrying his mat,

which in their eyes

is a breach

of God's law.

But this is one

of many examples

that we see in the gospel

where the Jews

had added a whole

extra layer

of requirements

on top of what

God's law required.

So God's command

rightly and graciously

instructs us

to keep the Sabbath

as a day

that is to be holy

and a day where

we can rest

from our work.

And the Jews

added all sorts

of additional details

to that

to say

that you can't

carry a bed,

you can't walk

a certain distance,

you can't do this,

you can't do that.

And so this man

by obeying Jesus

is breaking

their commandment.

And of course

we can relate to this

in our context,

we can relate to it

with Sabbath keeping

with lots of things

that have been added

over the years

to add extra pressure

in regard to how

the Sabbath

is to be observed.

We've seen it

in other parts

of life as well.

The result of all

of that is that

instead of rejoicing

that this man

is healed,

the Jews are

criticizing him.

In their eyes,

the fact that

this 38-year invalid

can walk again

is a bad thing.

And it's crazy.

It's utterly bewildering.

And you can see

it seems to have

a very damaging effect

on the man himself.

When he's confronted

by the Jews,

he immediately wants

to put the blame

on Jesus

and to deflect attention

away from himself.

And it does seem

that the man

becomes very quickly

more concerned

about what the Jews

around him think

rather than

he is concerned

with actually following

Jesus

and listening to the man

who's healed him.

In fact,

when you get to

verses 14-18

when Jesus speaks

to him in the temple,

the man goes

and reports Jesus

to the Jews.

This prompts

a confrontation.

And they attack Jesus

because he healed

the man on the Sabbath.

And then Jesus responds

in verse 17

by saying,

my father is working

until now

and I am working.

And that just makes

everything worse.

The tension escalates

and it takes us

to verse 18

where it says

that 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.

Jesus goes on

later in the chapter

to say more

about his equality

with the father.

This is part of

the incredibly rich

teaching that's

going to emerge

in John 5, 6, 7

and beyond.

I want us

just to notice

a crucial lesson

that arises

from the ridiculous

nonsense

of the people

who are criticizing

Jesus.

Their argument

is like this.

Jesus is making

himself equal

with God

and that's

a reason

for us

to kill him.

That was their

great criticism.

Jesus is making

himself equal

with God.

He needs to die

we need to

find a way

in order

to put him

to death.

But there's

a huge irony

in what's

happening here

because these

Jews

when they

took

the fourth

commandment

and added

all their

additional

requirements

to it

and when

they

judged

what

Sabbath

keeping

does

and does

not

look like

and when

they decided

that healing

this man

who's been

sick for

38 years

was a

bad thing

rather than

a good

thing

and when

they reached

the verdict

that Jesus

deserves to

die

what are

they doing?

They

are making

themselves

equal

with God.

They were

saying to

God

your rules

aren't enough

so we're

going to

add some

more.

Your

terms

aren't

adequate

so we're

going to

set them

and your

ways

aren't

really

suitable

so we're

going to

do things

our way

instead.

And by

adding their

own rules

this is the

thing that's

so important

to see

that by

adding their

own rules

by doing

things their

way they

were not

honouring

God.

They were

actually saying

that God's

commands were

not good

enough and

the minute

they did

that they

made

themselves

equal

with God.

But the

really scary

thing

is that we

do exactly

the same

thing.

In fact

that's what

lies at the

heart of

the human

condition.

That's what

sin has

done to

us.

When the

devil tempted

Eve to

sin against

God in

Genesis 3

what did

he say?

He said

you'll not

surely die

God knows

that when

you eat

of the

fruit

your eyes

will be

open and

you will

be like

God

knowing

good and

evil.

In other

words the

devil tempted

Eve with

the promise

with the

lie that

she could

make herself

equal with

God.

And that's

been the

constant

trait of

human behaviour

ever since.

We want to

do things on

our own

terms.

We want to

make our

own rules.

We want

God to

listen to

us instead

of us

listening to

him.

But when

we do

that we

are making

ourselves

equal with

God because

we're putting

ourselves

alongside

God.

Maybe we're

even putting

ourselves above

God and

saying to

God this

is how

things should

work.

This is the

way it's

meant to

be.

And

really

that's the

two choices

that we

have in

response to

the gospel.

We either

listen to

God and

respond the

way he

commands to

us or

we do our

own thing

and we

make ourselves

equal with

God.

There is no

third option.

And it's

really important

that this

one thing

can happen

in two

very opposite

ways.

I want you

to imagine

two people.

One of

them hears

the gospel

and says

Christianity

is not for

me, not

interested, I

don't need

God, I'm

fine as I

am, I'm

going to

live my

own life and

do things

my own

way.

And off

they go.

And

obviously

they're not

interested in

what God

thinks, they're

making themselves

their God,

they're making

themselves equal

with God.

But the

other person

says this,

I'm

not good

enough for

God.

So I

need to

make sure

that I

get myself

into a

better

condition.

So I'm

going to

start praying

five times

a day and

I'm going

to make

sure I

give more

money to

the poor.

I'm going

to cut

myself off

from TV

and from

music.

I'm only

going to

eat plain

food.

I'm going

to fast

twice a

week.

I'm never

going to

go on

social

media or

YouTube or

anything like

that.

In fact, I'm

going to

avoid all

relationships,

I'm going

to have a

life of

celibacy and

every time I

do something

wrong I

am going to

whip myself

to make

atonement for

my sin.

So the

one guy

wanders off,

no interest

in God and

does his

own thing.

And the

other person

makes all

of these

rules in

order to

get up to

the standard

that he

thinks is

required.

They look

completely

different.

They're both

doing exactly

the same

thing.

They're both

making

themselves

equal with

God.

Because the

guy who's

doing his

own thing

is saying,

well, I

can do

what I

like.

My opinion

is just as

important as

God's opinion.

That's the

antinomian,

doing what

they want.

the person

on this

side is

the

legalist.

But the

legalist is

making himself

equal to

God just

as much as

the other

guy.

Because he

is setting

his own

rules rather

than listening

to what

God is

saying.

And what

I hope you

can see is

that all of

it is

absolutely

bonkers.

others.

But it

happens in

so many

ways.

And

it's a

good question

to ask

ourselves.

Am I

allowing

something

that is

not right

and something

that's actually

ridiculous?

Am I

allowing that

to

imprison

me

and to

control

me

in my

life?

And so

here's some

of the

things that

we can

think in

our lives.

We can

think

I

have

absolutely

no

gifts

and I'm

of no

use to

anybody.

We can

think to

ourselves

my prayers

are

just

pathetic.

They're a

waste of

words and

God's not

listening.

We can

think to

ourselves

that

I can't

go forward

to the

Lord's

table

because I'm

not worthy.

I'm

not good

enough

and I

shouldn't

do it.

We can

think to

ourselves

there's no

point

in

time to

evangelize

because

we can't

do it

anyway.

It's only

the Holy

Spirit that

can convert

people.

There's no

point in

us

making any

attempt

to witness.

mistakes and

we can

think to

ourselves

I've

made too

many

mistakes.

I've

messed up

too badly

and God

will never

forgive me.

If you

believe

any of

those things

then you

are believing

bonkers

ridiculous

stupid

nonsense

because

none of

that's

true.

None of

that is

ever

true.

And

Jesus has

come to

break

every

crazy

idea

that we

have

that makes

the gospel

more difficult

than it needs

to be.

And you

know we do

that all the

time.

We make

the gospel

more difficult

than it needs

to be.

And that's

exactly what

these Jews

were doing.

They were

making it

so much

harder,

so much

more

complicated,

so much

more of

a burden.

And Jesus

has come

to break

all of

that.

But do

you know

he breaks

it in

the most

magnificent

and beautiful

way.

Because the

incredible thing

about Jesus

is that he

actually is

equal with

God.

That's the

big point

that John

wants us

to recognise.

Yet he

was willing

to lay

aside all

the glory

and status

that he

deserves.

He came

down to

be alongside

us.

He came

to die

in place

of us.

And this

is where

we see

an astonishing

contrast

between the

mindset of

the Jews

and the

mindset

of Jesus.

Because the

Jews in

this passage

made

themselves

equal with

God by

making up

their own

commands.

But in

their opposition

to what

they saw

in Jesus

and the

idea that

he was

making

himself

equal

with

God,

they said

he deserves

to die,

we want

to kill

him.

Jesus

actually is

equal with

God,

but he

comes to

these people,

these people

who are

making up

their own

rules and

who are

making things

far more

complicated than

they need

to,

who think

that they

know better

and who

actually want

to put

him to

death and

Jesus

comes

to die

for them.

Jesus

comes

to save

them.

And

that is

the amazing

thing about

the gospel

is that

in order

to fix

us,

Jesus

gave

himself

to be

broken.

And in

doing so,

in giving

himself,

he does

absolutely

everything,

everything

that is

needed

for our

salvation.

And here

is where

there is

such a

crucial point

that we

always need

to remember,

that in

our

Christian

lives,

nonsense

is far

more

dangerous

than

brokenness.

So you

might feel

like you

are so

broken,

brokenness,

either as

somebody who

is not

yet a

Christian

or even

as a

Christian.

You might

think,

I have

messed up

so much

and I

have

failed

Jesus

and I

am not

where I

want to

be.

And you

might feel

that you

are so

broken.

And we

think that

that

brokenness

is a

massive,

massive

problem.

We

must

recognize

that the

problem

is not

brokenness.

And the

danger

is not

brokenness.

the danger

is

nonsense.

Jesus

can fix

all the

brokenness.

And if

you're a

Christian,

he already

has.

But the

nonsense

will tell

you that

he can't

or that

he won't

or that

it's

different

for you.

that is

forever

and always

and eternally

nonsense.

And

instead

we have

the

beautiful

simplicity

of the

gospel

where

Jesus

comes to

us

with

majestic

blunt

grace

and he

says

get up.

And so

for all

of us

may

those

words

be our

guide

that

we

get up

from

here

we

go on

in our

lives

serving

him

and if

you're

thinking

about

professing

faith

then

please

please

get up

and come

and tell

the elders

in this

church

who love

you

that

you

love

Jesus.

and as

as we

look ahead

to the

Lord's

table

despite

our

feelings

of shame

and

frustration

and

disappointment

in

ourselves

we are

going to

lift our

eyes off

ourselves

we're

going to

get up

we're

going to

look to

Jesus

and we're

going to

rejoice

because he's

done everything

we need

Amen

let's pray

Lord Jesus

thank you

so so

much

for all

that you've

done

for us

all that

you've

come to

do

thank you

that you

come

to heal

our

brokenness

and you

cut through

all of

our

nonsense

and we

confess

that we

do

we tie

ourselves

in knots

we add

all sorts

of

complexities

we make

the gospel

far

harder

than you

have

ever

intended

it to

be

and we

pray

instead

that

every

one

of

us

would

just

hear

your

loving

commanding

voice

calling

us

to

come

to

you

to

be

refreshed

and

strengthened

by

you

and

to

live

for

you

every

day

of

our

lives

guide

us

and

direct

us

all

we

pray

in

Jesus

name

Amen

Our

concluding

psalm is

psalm 138

and we're

going to

sing

from the

sing

psalms

version

that's on

page 179

singing from

verse 4

to the

end of

the

psalm

O

Lord

let all

earth's

kings

give

praise

when

from

your

mouth

they

hear

your

word

let

them

extol

the

ways

of

God

for

great

the

glory

of

the

Lord

we'll

sing

4

to

8

we can

lift up

our

voices

in

thanksgiving

to Jesus

as we

sing

these

words

together

O

Lord

let

all

our

kings

give

praise

O

Lord

let

all

our

kings

give

praise

when

from

your

life

they

hear

your

word

and

let

!

go

the

ways

of

God

for

praise

the

glory

of

the

Lord

although

the

Lord

God

dwells

on

high

the

lowly

person

he

protects

he

whereas

the

blood

and

haughty

one

he

knows

the

blood

of

and

rejects

although

I

walk

a troubled

path

your

tender

care

preserves

my

life

you

raise

your

hand

against

my

foes

your

right

that

saves

me

from

their

strife

the

Lord

the

certainly

fulfill

for

me

the

purpose

he

commands