Friends, would you stand with me as we read together from John chapter 5? I'm reading verses 1 through 17 again. And this morning, we are looking at verses 9 through 17. Again, this is the Lord's Word. After these things, there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew Bethesda, having five porticoes. In these lay a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered, waiting for the moving of the waters. For an angel of the Lord went down at certain seasons into the pool and stirred up the water. Whoever then first, after the stirring up of the water, stepped in was made well from whatever disease with which he was afflicted. A man was there who had been ill for 38 years. When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been a long time in that condition, he said to him, do you wish to get well? The sick man answered him, sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, but while I am coming, another steps down before me. Jesus said to him, get up, pick up your pallet and walk. Immediately the man became well and picked up his pallet and began to walk. Now it was the Sabbath on that day, so the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, it is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet. But he answered them, he who made me well was the one who said to me, pick up your pallet and walk. They asked him, who is the man who said to you, pick up your pallet and walk? But the man who was healed did not know who it was, For Jesus had slept away, or slipped away, rather, while there was a crowd in that place. Afterward, Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, Behold, you've become well. Do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you. The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. For he answered them, My father is working until now and I myself am working. This is the Lord's word. Friends, would you please be seated and let's ask the Lord again for his blessing. Again, our father in heaven, we thank you for your word and for this time again, for the privilege of gathering as your people to sing forth your praises. Now to hear your word read and preached a father, we, we, I count this an extreme blessing from you, that you have not left yourself without witness, that you reveal yourself to us through the word. And we pray now that you would come and be present by your spirit. Father, opening eyes and hearts that we might truly come to know who Jesus Christ is. Bless us as we are weak. Some are sick, some are tired, some are weary. Father, would you please minister to us today now, we humbly ask in Jesus' name, amen. Why don't people want Jesus Christ and why aren't they interested in him? Why don't they receive Jesus as they did in the Samaritan town of Sychar? They don't receive Jesus because he doesn't fit their ideas of who they think he should be. I was once told by a man that he wanted nothing to do with a God who would send anyone to hell. His version of God was that God is a God of love, and he was not interested in a God of holiness or of justice. And of course, any time you go beyond the realm of scripture, any time we go beyond what the scriptures teach, friends, at that point you've made an idol, or any time we don't include For instance, I like the passages about love. I like the passages about heaven. I like the passages that talk about God loving the lowly. I love those kinds of things. I love the passages about grace. But I'm not such a fan of the passages about do this. or repent of this, or die to yourself and minister and love your wife. That's kind of an inconvenience to me. And that's the way the world oftentimes addresses the Bible. We pick and choose. You know this. I'm not telling you anything you don't know. But people love a God who is like themselves. And they will follow a Messiah who has the same priorities that they do. who will do and command what they would do and what they would command. Basically, I'm saying, we're so in love with ourselves that we don't have any room for Jesus Christ. We just love ourselves. And it's just gotten worse since the 60s and the whole self-esteem movement. Because, hey, honestly, what's not to love, right? And this is the way we're geared now. We think this way. The problem, friends, with this mindset, and David addressed it in Psalm 50, you thought God was just like you. Friends, it's the things that you prize above Jesus Christ that will keep you from Jesus Christ. I'm gonna say that again. It's the things that we prize above Jesus Christ that will keep you from knowing Jesus Christ. This is what we see unfold in front of us in this passage. And it's a real caution to us, a warning not to imitate this mindset, as it will keep you from and even make you an enemy of Jesus Christ. And it will keep you from life eternal. This event clearly is placed after the Great Samaritan Harvest. Remember that in Sychar Jesus had received a warm reception by those that many would consider lost causes or losers. Jesus has made his way now to Jerusalem as we began chapter 5 last week as there was a feast of the Jews there. It was either the Feast of Tabernacles, Passover, or Pentecost. As I maintain that it doesn't matter which festival or feast it was, because all of them ultimately point you back to God, towards God's gracious provisions. Remember this, that the town of Jerusalem, the city of Jerusalem would have swelled, and John records that at that time there was a pool by the Sheep Gate called Bethesda, meaning House of Mercy. in which under the porches or the porticos was a multitude of those who were sick, blind, lame, and withered. All of them were waiting for a chance, a chance stirring of the waters of that pool so that whoever got into those waters first could be healed. One such man had lived with an affliction with his legs for 38 years. And he was never able to get into those waters quickly enough to be able to be healed before someone else got into those waters. The festivals, all of them, again, pointed to God's gracious provisions. And they were observing the feast in Jerusalem of those days. Or were they? Or were they so fixated upon their afflictions and trials that they had neglected to recognize what the Lord had already done. They're caught up in this or that and missing Jesus Christ and missing the Messiah and yet as we saw and as this thing unfolds remember it seems like such a chance thing Bethesda the house of mercy such a chance thing I'm gonna sit here and all these people a multitude it says sat by the pools waiting for the stirring of the water so that they could quickly climb over one another, and somebody jumps into the water so that they could get healing. And yet something more sure than the chance stirrings of waters was there. In fact, we might argue, who is the real house of mercy here? It wasn't the water. It was Jesus. Jesus is the house of mercy. Jesus is the one who showed mercy to this man, who took mercy upon this man who had suffered for 38 years. Jesus is the sure deliverer. We read Isaiah 35, 4 through 6, says, say to those with anxious hearts, take courage, fear not. Behold, your God will come with vengeance. The recompense of God will come. but he will save you. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will shout for joy." As noted last week, commentators differ on the man whom Jesus healed. Some think that this is a man who is a grateful recipient of the powerful work of the Lord, and others think that though the man is a recipient of the mercy of the Lord, he is not a grateful recipient. Rather, he is a crotchety, grumbling old man with which Jesus was dealing. And I admit to you, I tend to view him the same way, as we find in him no expressed gratitude, thanksgiving, worship, praise, or adoration. We find nothing in this man. to indicate anything like this. In fact, as we go into this text further, I think you'll see this even more plain. And I say this because it fits an overall context. And again, I'm putting chapter four where we see the great harvest in Samaria, where we see this warm reception of Jesus Christ to the point where Samaritans are saying, please come live with us. Come be with us. And John says, he came to his own, but his own didn't receive him. And here he is now again. Now, we can't mistake that what were the Jews about Jesus? What did they think of Jesus? Up to this point, all we know is that their attitude is, Jesus is a really neat guy because he does really neat things. He helps people. He does these fantastic, you should see what this guy does. He's incredible. But nobody wants to believe in him. Nobody wants to trust him. Everyone just wants, like, you go to Walmart, right? And remember, they used to do this. You go to Walmart, and the greeter comes, and he puts a sticker, a happy face, on everyone's hands. And you're like, kids are like, this is great. I'm getting a free sticker. And this is the way many people approach Jesus. He's great. I get something out of him. And that's how I would classify the Jewish mindset towards Jesus Christ at this point. It is from this perspective that I believe the man is a Jew. He is a catalyst to what follows, and he serves as a small part or a small player in a much bigger, much darker issue. And the question again, why didn't his own receive him? And why are they so cold and unreceptive? to Jesus Christ. I think that this is John, why he's revealing these things to us. You look at verses 9b through 13, and I summarize it this way, that the Jews were self-righteous. They're self-righteous. Now listen to these scriptures. Now it was the Sabbath on that day. John's setting it up for us. It was the Sabbath on that day. So the Jews were saying to the man who was cured, it's the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet. But he answered them, he who made me well was the one who said to me, pick up your pallet and walk. They asked him, who is the man who said to you, pick up your pallet and walk? But the man who was healed did not know who it was for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. I want to start with one initial observation here. And you don't have to be a scholar to recognize this. You can just stop. And I encourage you to do this. When you read the scriptures, when you read the Gospels, put yourself in the shoes of these characters and imagine what's unfolding here in front of you. Here's this man who has been lame for 38 years, And he's just been healed, and he's just told everyone that I was healed. I was told to pick up this mat and walk. And these Jews are fixated on the fact that the man is carrying his mat. Their priorities, friends, are messed up. What they value, what they esteem, what they prize is out of whack. So there are priorities. And this is what we initially see. Imagine the man walking up. He's carrying his mat. They say, it's not right for you to do this. And he goes, but the guy who healed me, he told me. He told me to pick up my thing and walk. Why aren't they asking different questions? Why aren't they focused on something different? Now, that should come off the page. That doesn't require deep deep thought or deep study to recognize this. When they heard, he who made me well, they should have said, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait a second. What did he do? He healed you? What did he heal you from? How long had you been like this? What did he do? What did he say? Did he say something? How did he do it? You know, you're a Jew, right? You've got 39 books of the Old Testament. You've got all of these prophecies and prophetic performances of miracles in the Old Testament. Why aren't they saying, remember in Elisha, he brought an ax head and made it float. Well, what kinds of things did he do? They ask nothing of that sort. The problem with those in authority was that they were fixated on the Sabbath, and in particular, their additions to the law. Mind you, Jesus was not violating or instructing the man to violate the Sabbath day. We want to get that right out on the table. And I say that because if you look at verse 14, what does Jesus say to the man? He says, behold, you have become well. Do not sin anymore. So these Jews, they're about ready to accuse the man. You're instructing people to go sin. Jesus was not instructing the man to go and sin. He was not doing that. Jesus, remember, is the Lord of the Sabbath, Matthew 12. The Pharisees and the Jews had sought to make the observance of the Sabbath more rigorous than God had commanded. You know these things, that they made safeguards, they put layers around the wall to keep people from breaking the law. So, we don't want you working on the Sabbath day, therefore, if you lift or carry anything that's heavier than a dried fig, then now you're in sin. Well, what if it's like I'm carrying a dried lemon? Or what if I'm carrying a cantaloupe? Is that sin? We start getting into these crazy little things that they do. And we do the same thing. We add rules. We add laws to things because we don't want people to mistakenly sin. And so we create new standards of righteousness for people. And we go beyond the scriptures. The scriptures are very plain about the Sabbath, Listen to Exodus 28 through 12. Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy six days you shall labor and do all your work. But the seventh day is a Sabbath of the Lord your God in it you shall not do any work you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. So they likely had this in mind. Perhaps they had Jeremiah 17, 19 through 27 in mind where the Lord says in part, Take heed to yourselves and bear no burden on the Sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. Neither carry forth a burden out of your house or on the Sabbath day." Or perhaps they even had Nehemiah 13, 15, which says, in those days I saw in Judah some who were treading a wine presses on the Sabbath and bringing in sacks of grain and loading them on donkeys, as well as wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of loads. And they brought them into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day So I admonished them on that day that they sold food. One commentator said, in these passages, the reference is, however, clearly to that type of burden bearing which was connected with the performance of ordinary labor for gain with trading and marketing. In other words, the Lord says to remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy. And the passages I read to you pertain to your average job your six-day-a-week tasks that you do. It has nothing to do with making your bed or with having to go water your cows. It has nothing to do with those sorts of things. But by the Jewish tradition in that day, they treated the man carrying his mat, which was straw, rolled up as though he was engaged in a business venture, somehow advantaging himself furthering his own agenda. And so they accuse him of violating the law of God. He is not violating the law of God, but he is violating the traditions of that day. And by the way, this is one of the singular largest issues between Jesus and the authorities in Jerusalem. It came down to what do we do on the Lord's day or on the Sabbath day? And you'll notice that Jesus never strays away from healing on the Sabbath day. But in fact, oftentimes it's the perfect day to heal somebody. There's a theological reason for all of this friends. There's a reason behind all of this. And so the, he was violating the, um, the traditions of the elders. And so, in effect, what they're saying, if you do and you follow what we tell you to do, this is what is the standard of righteousness. This is what fulfills, God makes God pleased and happy with us if we do these very things. And so they say to the man, again, remember, he's a catalyst to a much larger problem. It is the Sabbath, and it is not permissible for you to carry your pallet. So understand the scene here. They are focused on minuscule addition to the law of God, missing the fact that this man, who was afflicted for 38 years, stood there healed all because this man, Jesus, had spoken and healed him completely. And the man says to them, he who made me well was the one who said to me, pick up your pallet and walk. And what he says makes sense. However, it would seem that he is merely passing the buck passing blame to the one who healed him. I'm not responsible for this. I was merely doing what I was told by the one who healed me. Naturally, the Jews want to know who is this man going around encouraging people to break the law of God. And so they say, who is this man who said, do you pick up your pallet and walk? But the man who was healed did not know who it was for Jesus had slipped away while there was a crowd in that place. And Jesus likely did this, again, because the Jews were enamored with signs and wonders and miracles and all these sorts of things. They weren't interested in Jesus Christ. As a savior, they wanted Jesus Christ, the king who would destroy and deliver them from Rome. That's what they're looking for. So these few verses, nine through 13, are about this man carrying his pallet on the Sabbath And what he was doing was not, according to them, permissible. And again, they're so focused on the man's offense, because after all, it was such a large offense, that they can't see that someone has healed a man who was lame for 38 years. And it was really quite a wonderful miracle that Jesus performed. So this is the mindset. It doesn't matter what Jesus said. It doesn't matter what Jesus has done. All I know is that whoever he is, I won't be listening to him because he doesn't promote or endorse what we think is necessary and important. He doesn't do what we want. I won't believe in a God who sends people to hell because that's not the God of my understanding. You see this, this is what's happening. Why aren't they receiving Jesus? Why aren't they receiving him? Because the Jesus we know, the Messiah we know, would never tell someone to carry their mat on the Sabbath day. You see, this is a preconceived idea. This is a false standard of righteousness. And therefore, they want nothing to do with Jesus Christ. Many don't embrace or receive Jesus because he doesn't measure up to their standard of righteousness or what they think a Messiah should be. This is a fairly nuanced, thought for us. So if you consider the woke, they don't want Jesus. Why? Because he's not woke enough. Jesus Christ is too narrow, right? Jesus doesn't recognize that love is love. I can't have a Jesus, a Messiah like that. The Jesus I know, he's all-inclusive. He would have rainbow flags hanging up in the sanctuary. That's the Jesus I worship. Right? Isn't that what we see? I don't want that Jesus of the Bible. Give me a Jesus of my own creation. Give me an idol that I can worship. That's the world. But it goes. It's not just the woke. It's the self-righteous as well. They don't want a Jesus. They don't need a Jesus. That Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, is not narrow enough. If he were truly the Messiah, if he were the Savior, he'd be doing things our way. And so again, I can't have the Jesus of the Bible, so we have to alterate the Jesus that we're all gonna worship. Why are they unreceptive of Jesus? And why can't they receive him? It's because they are full of themselves. You know, one thing I've noticed about people who come to Jesus Christ truly is that they'll be the first to tell you that they're a wretch. They're emptied of themselves. But the proud come to Jesus and think that he is just like them. If you were to come, my friends, to Jesus Christ, you must be empty of your pride. You must know the truth of yourself and embrace it wholeheartedly. Friends, brace yourselves. In our self-esteem age, I'm about ready to rock you. You are nothing. You're nothing. I'm not saying you're not made in the image of God. I'm not saying that you weren't fearfully and wonderfully made. I'm not saying that you don't have gifts and that you're an amazing creation of the Lord. But spiritually, you have nothing to offer the Lord. He needs nothing from you. In fact, If he were to give you exactly what you would deserve, each of us would be burning in the fires of hell right now. And it is only his grace and only his patience that he has not destroyed us at this very point. And it is because of this self-esteem. It's not biblical, friends. It goes well beyond what the scripture says. The scriptures say that the only two people in the whole world who ever had a free will were Adam and Eve, and they chose to exchange it for bondage for themselves and for the rest of humanity. The rest of us are dead in our sins. We come into this world dead in our sins and deserving the wrath and curse of God. That's what the scriptures say. I don't know what the psychologists say. But I suspect it's not very close to what the scriptures say about us. And as long as you maintain that, you will never come to see your need of Jesus Christ and you will never receive him because really he's beneath you. Don't you see? I'm a rather nice guy and I've got my life pulled together. You don't have squat pulled together. And I don't mean that to be cruel. I mean that to be truthful. Because as long as you hold to that, you will never look to Jesus Christ. You won't. And they didn't, because they had a standard of righteousness that they thought was above the man who healed the lame man. It's a frightening place to be. Why don't they receive him? Secondly, verses 14 and 15, they will not be told what to do. 14 and 15, afterwards, Jesus found him, this is the man who was healed, found him in the temple and said to him, behold, you have become well, do not sin anymore so that nothing worse happens to you. The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Now again, I confess to you, this is a fairly nuanced point that I would like to make. The man has been healed physically. Jesus has spoken and healed this man completely who had been afflicted for 38 years. The man doesn't know who Jesus is, and we're told that Jesus found him in the temple. This is good, right? The man's in the temple. This is actually good. He's come to the temple. He is there to pray, to give thanks, or offer a sacrifice. Or is he? See, this is where I think it gets a little bit nuanced. Again, some see this as a good thing and others not necessarily so. Again, listen to verse 14. Jesus says, behold, you have become well, do not sin anymore so that nothing worse happens to you. Why does Jesus say this? Well, because the man apparently had done something, committed some sin, and the consequences he bore in his flesh, being lame, were the result of some sin he had committed some 38 years earlier. Now, we know this is not always the case. We have Job who suffered, but his suffering was not because of his sin directly. We have the man who was born blind in John 9 who suffered, but it was not due to any sin in him or his parents. So not all the time people suffer. Or in other words, people suffer oftentimes for no direct reason of their own. We live, friends, in a fallen world, and so suffering is a result of living in a fallen world. So we all suffer. We've got half a congregation out because of people who are fighting colds or flu or something like this, and that's not because they went and kissed someone illicitly who had the flu. It's because they went to the grocery store and picked up a jar of peanut butter that somebody five minutes earlier sneezed on. And so it's nothing to do with them sinning. But this man, sometimes our suffering is a direct result of our sin. Nadab and Abihu offering strange fire, and the Lord consumed them. It was their sin that caused them to be consumed. We read in 1 Corinthians 11, the warning that is given to us, that some are sleeping and sick, and so some have fallen sick or have died because they're not examining the body and blood of Christ faithfully. That's a result of sin. And then there's this man. Jesus comes and he warns the man. Jesus warns him, do not sin anymore. I don't think Jesus would have said it had it not been necessary, the man The man was in sin at some point, and Jesus warns him, don't sin anymore. He's in the temple. And so that's got to mean something good. I'm going to challenge this thought a little bit. What's going on in Jerusalem at this very time as we read this? There's this massive festival going on. There's this massive feast going on. So thousands and thousands of people are in Jerusalem and there's multitudes of people around the pool in Bethesda waiting for the angel to come down and stir the waters. Are they there because they love Jesus or are they there because they're fulfilling some obligatory law and mandate? I would argue that it's fashionable in Jerusalem during feast days to go to Jerusalem and to walk around the temple. I'm meeting old friends. I'm seeing family members. I'm remembering some great things like when we were little Jewish boys and girls and we had special little Jewish treats that we ate. Oh, I love those things that my grandmother used to make. I don't think the man is there because he's repented of sin. I think he's there because he's gloating in the fact that he's now been healed and Jesus has to find him and says, don't go and sin anymore. The man needs to be warned. And so he says, behold, you've become well, do not sin anymore so that nothing worse happens to you. Now this again, This is what I would have thought, that the man who didn't know Jesus, he's excited, he's healed, he picks up his pallet, he walks away, never thinks twice about asking who Jesus Christ is. So when Jesus finds him, what do we see the man do? I think this is very telling of the man. If he were grateful, if he were thankful, if he had been discovered that his consequences, the consequences of being lame, were due to his sin, I would have thought that the man now, without pressure around, would have said, of course, Lord. Go and sin no more. Of course, Lord. By the way, thank you so much for healing me. I'm ashamed of what I did. Thank you for your mercy. By the way, there were some guys who are not so happy with you. You might want to watch your back. I would think that a man who had been lame for 38 years, that's a long time, who's been healed, would express some form of gratitude, thanksgiving, a cautionary note, they're upset with you because I did what you told me to do. I'm sorry. I think I might've gotten in trouble. As I said, this is a very nuanced point, but it would seem to me that the man is put off, rather, by Jesus warning him not to sin anymore. Jesus says, go and sin no more, and he goes, kill joy. I'm walking, aren't I? I'm better. Like you said, I've become well. Your warning is unnecessary to me. In fact, I don't welcome it. Now I realize I'm implying these things from the text. I'm reading between the lines here a little bit, and I'm trying to figure out how all of these parts fit together. Proverbs 12.15 says, the way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel. What does this man who's been healed do? Rather than fall down and worship at the feet of Jesus, which the blind man does in John 9, verse 38, this is what we're told. The man went away and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well. Why did he do this? He wasn't obligated to go tell them about Jesus. Was he now trying to get in good with the Jews so he could now feel better about himself and justify himself? He got his health back, but it appears that his soul was still in rebellion against the Lord. And I don't want Jesus because I don't want Jesus telling me what to do. I think that's many people. They don't want Jesus telling them what to do. I'm good enough as I am, and how dare you imply that I have some lack that I should have to turn to Jesus Christ. I'm healed. I'm walking. They're working fine. Lighten up. Lighten up, man. Don't you come down on me. I think that's what's happening. Now, as I mentioned earlier, this man and his life, this event is a catalyst to something bigger and a larger problem. Again, why aren't these people receiving Jesus Christ? Verses 16 and 17, because they don't know the father, they don't recognize the son. That's the bigger problem. And that leads us into a whole nother problem among the Jews. Listen to verses 16 and 17. For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus. Why? because the man went and told them, Jesus was the one who healed me. For this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath, but he answered them, as Jesus answered them, my father is working until now and I myself am working. They don't recognize Jesus, they don't receive Jesus because they don't know the father, they don't know God. You hear all the time, In fact, one of you told me this morning, you heard an advertisement this morning about the fellowship of Christians and Jews, right? And it's advertised that somehow we're all serving the same God. According to John's gospel, no, we're not. Why? Because they do not recognize Jesus Christ. They don't know God the Father because they don't know Jesus Christ. And that's why they don't come to Jesus Christ. They have a perverse view of God the Father. They have a wrong view of the Sabbath. They have a wrong view of righteousness. And they have a wrong view of the law. And they have a wrong view of themselves. And until they square up with those things, they will never come to Jesus Christ. They were persecuting Jesus. It was because of this man's words to the Jews that caused them now to persecute Jesus. And again, it's an issue that we see elsewhere in the gospels because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. And again, now they know Jesus healed this man on the Sabbath, and they not only don't believe in Jesus, but notice friends, they hate Jesus. It's not that they're just not receiving him, they actually hate Jesus Christ because they would persecute him. Why? Again, because Jesus doesn't match our perceptions and our understandings of what righteousness is. We're going to get into this much more next week, but all of this to say it demonstrates that Jesus, like the father, was gracious and compassionate. And he says that the father is working until now. That is, the Father, while creation has been done, have you ever stopped to wonder, since that first creation week, who makes the sun rise every day? Anyone? God does. He makes the sun rise. He makes the sun set. Who makes, who set the boundaries on the waters so that they don't go beyond those boundaries? It's the Lord, doesn't he? who fills the oceans with fish and their fields with cattle. It's the Lord who sends the rain so that the grass grows, who puts snow on the mountain caps so that the animals receive water. It's the Lord. For thousands of years, the Lord has been sustaining, preserving his creation, and he's also been redeeming it, especially the children of God he's been redeeming. My father's at work, and I'm at work. I'm doing the work of preserving. I'm doing the work of redeeming. And why are you so upset with me? Because you don't recognize that the Father has been doing this all along. And you're trapped in self-righteousness. They don't recognize or receive Jesus Christ because they don't recognize and know God the Father. Jesus said this in John 8. So they were saying to him, where is your father? Jesus answered, you know, neither me nor my father. If you knew me, you would know my father also. My friends, the problem in Israel was that they honored God externally in their feasts with their laws and their sacrifices. But they were blinded by all of these things, blinded by their self-righteousness and far from the Lord, so that when he came and served them, They did not know, recognize, or receive him. And understand that they prized all of these things above Jesus and therefore were kept from Jesus. Now that can very much apply to us. How many of you are waiting to come to Jesus Christ until he finally represents what you like? Many of you are willing to lay your life down and recognize that Jesus has come from the Father, full of grace and truth. And you take him and receive him, bow the knee to him and follow him wholeheartedly and abide with him. That is something the Jews wouldn't do at this point. They wouldn't do it. And the Samaritans did. and the man who was healed, even though he tasted of the mercy of God, I'm convinced, dug in his heels and maintained that he didn't need Jesus Christ the way other people thought he should. We mustn't be guilty of doing that same thing. We must see Jesus Christ as he is, as he's been presented to us in the scriptures, and we must come to him and bow our knees before him as he is given to us in the word. Let's pray. We thank you, Father, again for your word and pray your blessing be upon it as it goes forward, that we would be challenged, challenged in our self-righteousness, challenged, Father, not to hold out and think that we are more deserving, better people, and so have no need of Jesus. We recognize, Father, that we are full of ourselves so often, and it is that, those things we prize which have kept us from you. We pray, Lord, that we would turn from those things. And we pray, Lord, for our Jewish neighbors, even today, who likewise hold to these things, that they claim that they are the chosen people and therefore have no need of a Messiah. Nothing could be further from the truth. We pray, Lord, that they would be broken in their self-righteousness. A rich man will not enter into the kingdom of heaven, but a broken man will. We thank you again for your grace to us. I humbly ask your blessing upon these people now and ask this all in Jesus' name. Amen.