John 5:31-47
If I alone bear witness about myself, my testimony is not true.
32 There is another who bears witness about me, and I know that the testimony that he bears about me is true. 33 You sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 34 Not that the testimony that I receive is from man, but I say these things so that you may be saved.
35 He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
36 But the testimony that I have is greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given me to accomplish, the very works that I am doing, bear witness about me that the Father has sent me.
Psalm 29
The Glory of God Thunders
The voice of the LORD strikes with flashes of lightning.
The voice of the LORD shakes the desert;
the LORD shakes the Desert of Kadesh.
The voice of the LORD twists the oaks and strips the forests bare.
And in His Temple all cry, "Glory!"
Job 37
4 Then there comes a roaring sound; He thunders with His majestic voice.
He does not restrain the lightning when His voice resounds.
5 God thunders wondrously with His voice;
He does great things we cannot
37 And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, 38 and you do not have His word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom He has sent.
The first day of Jesus' ministry, the entire 3,000 person town
of Capernaum
turned out to see Jesus
John 1
To all who did receive Him, who believed in His name,
He gave the right to become children of God,
who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh
nor of the will of man,
but of God.
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us,
and we have seen His glory,
glory as of the only Son from the Father,
full of grace and truth.
39 You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, 40 yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life.
Matthew 27:52
52 The tombs broke open,
and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised.
53 After Jesus’ resurrection, when they had come out of the tombs, t
hey entered the holy city and appeared to many people.
41 I do not receive glory from people.
42 But I know that you do not have the love of God within you. 43 I have come in my Father's name, and you do not receive me. If another comes in his own name, you will receive him. 44 How can you believe, when you receive glory from one another and do not seek the glory that comes from the only God?
Acts 5:12 -15
Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles.
Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles.
Acts 5
And they were all together in Solomon's Portico.
13 None of the rest dared join them,
but the people held them in high esteem.
14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord,
multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.
Acts 5
multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them.
What is clear -
Pontius Pilate wrote to Emperor Tiberius Claudius Nero.
Something extremely odd about Crucifying Jesus of Nazareth.
Tertullian and Justin Martyr refer
to an account of Christ's Passion sent by Pilate to Rome.
The letter is lost today. Fake letters abound of the Crucifixion.
Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. 46 For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me.
47 But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?”
The number of Jewish pilgrims to the Temple was computed by the governor Gesius Florus (64-66), who counted 256,500 paschal lambs at one Passover festival. The average of fifteen or twenty persons for each lamb, based upon the remark of Josephus (War li, vi, 9, 3) Pilgrims went to Jerusalem to offer the paschal sacrifice were all full-grown and able-bodied men, and every company of twenty such persons, when the Jews were in their own land.
The calculations of Josephus match the Roman accounting for the number of pilgrims in Jerusalem. In the millions. 2 million people at least.
Then again. John's Gospel, 5th Chapter.
As we sit down to Easter, to share Jesus Christ, what will we say? Jesus is thinking about this as well, in John's 5th Chapter.
How to explain Jesus, the Christ of God.
Jesus says back up is a good thing.
Jesus then discusses His cousin John the Baptist as a co-witness. Jesus says be one unit, joined in harmony in this discussion and don't go off topic. Did Jesus say this? He was a burning and shining lamp, and you were willing to rejoice for a while in his light.
Your own life testimony.
Why do you believe in miracles of God? How has God touched your heart and your life? What works has God done in the lives you know? What touches you in your exact favorite Scripture?
You Teach Us.
Not to yawn. Favorite Scripture question? What is the name of the young man? The young man in Acts 20:9 seated in a window was a young man named _____________, who was sinking into a deep sleep as Paul talked on and on. When he was sound asleep, he fell to the ground from the third story and was picked up dead.
Not to slay the audience. His name is Eutychus. You Teach Us. Not to be bored! "The Right to Be Heard," is a golden rule in Youth and all beginner ministry. Jesus, in John 5, has been ASKED to Speak at an important Jewish Festival. Why is this important? Teachable Moments are the anti-millstone of, "Please, don't tell us again." The Easter table, hey, it begs for a moment of Jesus Christ.
My favorite miracle. My mother carried her 1978 Texas Driver's License in her wallet. Where she found she had an Adam's Apple for 2 years. A Thyroid Tumor. And when she and her prayer group went to Church of the Resurrection, Episcopal Church in Garland, Texas, led by Father Ted Nelson, she found she would die of embarrassment to be seen slain in the Spirit. Father Ted held on to her at the altar for dear life for about 15 minutes. Mother said she felt she was being microwaved. We prayed in the pews for her. 2 days later, the X-Ray Technician could find zero tumor. And it was about 2 inches by 2 inches, showing clear, protruding, definition. Mother lived until 2021 and never had another Thyroid Tumor. 3rd Generation Thyroid malfunction.
One of my favorite people on earth has turned from avid belief, into making dire choices and now atheist with no Heaven. He was scolding me for my faith. I said, you know what I believe exists? The illness of being color blind is real. It is not the hysteria believed in past centuries. Some people are legitimately color blind. He asked me how this was parallel. Because anyone who can't believe God is even possible, with the Universe, Heaven, and the miracle of life is Color Blind. Narrow minded. Finally, the door wedged open.
Someone in my life is a decades-along-atheist. He says when he is alone, sees the stars in the sky in rural areas, he is compelled to pray. Because to understand the vastness of a gentle Creator brings in worship and awe, he is filled with the Holy Spirit. The Light of Jesus is in mankind.
Jesus tells us He does not need people to give Him Glory.
And we interpreted this as not many people knew about Jesus during His life. Nothing is further than the truth. Jesus, left Israel, went to the country of Tyre. He didn't even tell people He was going. Immediately, Jesus Christ needed to be inside a house to have privacy. And then a woman from another country wanted her child to be healed. Jesus was Known. The Dispersion from the Greek Isle of Crete invited Jesus to come to live with them and escape Herod.
Then we see the Millions who knew Easter was real in The Book of Acts of the Apostles. This isn't even the level of Glory for Jesus. Greece has a 4th Century Home Church. England has Churches with bricks going back to the 6th Century. Papyrus 46 is 85 intact Chapters of the Bible not disputed to be 1st Century until the 'new wisdom' of this century - on verb usage.
The Glory of God isn't in any of this. The prophecy that all the world will know the Scripture has not been fulfilled. And yet, new generations find Jesus. The Glory of God is our heart to Jesus' heart, and His giving Salvation. The world has infinite layers of problems. Each generation continues to find and love Jesus. Because He first loves us. His heart calls to you and to me. Today.
The meek inherit the earth!!
Abba, Father,
Like Gideon's Father
we hope You have a Good Lent.
Because...
We will come to Our Father.
And while we are still a long way off,
Our Father sees us, you and I
and He is
filled with compassion for us.
You will run to us,
Your Child of God,
threw Your arms around me and You
and kiss me
and you!