John 5:19-29: Honor the Son

John 5:19-29  “Honor the Son” (courtesy Jeff Klinger)

1.     Review from last week:  Why were the Jews “upset” after Jesus healed the man who was lying by the pool of Bethesda?

2.     What part of Jesus’ teaching particularly impressed Leo Tolstoy?  What action did Tolstoy take to honor Jesus’ teaching?  What evidence did Ryan give that made him think that Tolstoy honored Jesus’ teaching but did not honor Jesus, the Person?

3.     Is it possible that you as an evangelical Reformed Christian live by a coherent world view and moral framework to live and raise your children but do not honor Jesus, the Person?  What can you do about it?

4.     In what two ways do we see Jesus joining and enjoying his relationship with the Father?

5.     Ryan used his imagination to flesh out how Jesus might have reminisced about growing up with his “earthly father” Joseph.  Where did they work and what might have that been like?

6.     Jesus love for the Father drew him into the family business, Kingdom business.  What ultimately did that mean for Jesus?

7.     Where in the first chapter of John does it say that you become part of God’s family?

8.     Trivia.  Hopkins says that Christ plays in _________ (how many places)?

9.     From this passage Ryan said that Jesus receives two things from his role from the Father:  what are they?

      The Jews of Jesus’ day were correct in their understanding that there would be a final judgment, but they had one important thing wrong! What was it?

      What claim does Jesus make about himself in John 5: 21, 25 -26?

      What title from Daniel 7:9 does Jesus use for himself when confronting the Jews?  What can be understood from that title?

      Jesus will be the judge. You will receive life or judgment.  Is there a third option?

      What two kinds of people will come out of the tombs when they hear Jesus’ voice? Verse 29

John 5:1-18: Hanging Around Betheda

1. Re-read John 5:1-18. Is there one detail that jumps out as significant? Why?

2. When Ryan suggested we are 'all hanging around Bethesda,' what did he mean? What 'pools' in our society promise healing that fail to deliver on the promise? Are there specific ones you often run to when you need to find healing?

3. Jesus tells us that our biggest problem is sin (verse 14). Are there problems in our lives that often seem much bigger? More threatening? Why is it comforting to remember that Jesus has taken care of our biggest problem ?

4. Why were the Jews furious at Jesus? What did He say and do that offended them?

5. The Irish poet, Thomas Moore, suffered from a multitude of problems throughout his life: he lost his fortune through mismanagement; he lost all five of his children to disease; and he lost his physical and mental abilities due to a stroke late in life.  His best-known hymn contains these words:

Come, ye disconsolate, where’er ye languish,
Come to the mercy seat, fervently kneel:
Here bring your wounded hearts, here tell your anguish:
Earth has no sorrows that heav’n cannot heal.

Joy of the desolate, light of the straying,
hope of the penitent, fadeless and pure!
Here speaks the Comforter, in mercy saying,
“Earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot cure.”

How do these words shed light on the meaning of this passage?