Equal with God
Audio Recording
Sermon Outline
Speaker: Rev. Scott Strickman
Sermon Series: John 1-12: Come, See, Live!
John 5:1-18 (ESV)
1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.
2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids—blind, lame, and paralyzed. 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, “Do you want to be healed?” 7 The sick man answered him, “Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.” 8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.” 9 And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked.
Now that day was the Sabbath. 10 So the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath, and it is not lawful for you to take up your bed.” 11 But he answered them, “The man who healed me, that man said to me, ‘Take up your bed, and walk.’” 12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?” 13 Now the man who had been healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, as there was a crowd in the place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.” 15 The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had healed him. 16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
18 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.
Sermon Outline
Where do we find God in this world (v18)?
1. What am I looking for in this world?
vv3-5 In these lay a multitude of invalids… One man… thirty-eight years.
v7 “I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me.”
v14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “… sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”
vv15-16 The man went away and told the Jews… this was why… persecuting Jesus…
2. Who am I looking to be in this world?
v12 They asked him, “Who is the man who said to you, ‘Take up your bed and walk’?”
v16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
v18 … seeking all the more to kill him… he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
3. How do I move forward in this world?
v6 “Do you want to be healed?”
v8 Jesus said to him, “Get up, take up your bed, and walk.”
V17 Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
Prayer of Confession
Almighty God, our Heavenly Father, we have sinned against you and against our neighbors, in thought, word and deed, through negligence, through weakness, through our own deliberate fault. We are truly sorry and repent of all our sins. For the sake of your Son, Jesus Christ, who died for us, forgive us all that is past; and grant that we may serve you in newness of life, to the glory of your Name. Amen.
Questions for Reflection
If you could ask God for one thing, what would it be?
How can you avoid seeing God primarily as a means to certain ends?
What should we want from God? What can God uniquely give us? Is God concerned with practical things in your life, and is it appropriate to ask God for non-“spiritual” things?
What are ways that your desire for control causes problems in your life?
How can you learn to apply the teachings of the Bible to the specific situations in your life and of our world, without making those applications as authoritative as God’s Word itself?
In what ways do you want to be like God? What are ways we want to be like God that are honoring/pleasing to God? What are ways we want to be like God that are insulting to God and harmful to us?
What does it mean to trust God’s work on your behalf?
Why do we need to keep going to God for healing? How does the gospel offer continual strength and encouragement?