Walking in the Power of God
John 5:19, 20, 21, 30
In chapter 5 we are back again with Christ in Jerusalem. We must not miss the importance and significance of the visits to Judea and Jerusalem as recorded in "John." These visits have a relationship with the position, condition and destiny of the Jewish nation in an official sense. Take, therefore, full account of every visit and every event, and, the connection of each. The details of these will come out as we move on, but we call attention in a general way to two aspects; one, the close association with Israel's past history, and the other, the place of the Mosaic order.
Look at some of these:
Chapter 1. "The Lamb of God." What a history in Israel there is behind that phrase.
Chapter 2. The marriage. Just look at two passages.
Jeremiah 31:33-35: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people."
Hebrews 8:7-10: "For if the first covenant had been faultless, then should no place have been sought for the second. For finding fault with them, he saith, Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt; because they continued not in my covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord. For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people."
Here , as you see, the point was a marriage covenant, and this is transferred from the covenant made through Moses to the covenant made in the Blood of Jesus Christ.
Chapter 3. The serpent lifted up. (Numbers 21).
Chapter 4. The springing well. Here it is interesting and significant to notice, that in Numbers 21 the springing well came into view almost immediately after the lifting up of the brazen serpent, and this is the order in John 3 and 4.
Chapter 5. The impotent man. (We are going to deal with this in the present chapter.
Chapter 6. The Manna.
Chapter 7, 8 and 9. The Feast of the Tabernacles.
Chapter 10. The Feast of Dedication.
Chapter 11. Contains the spiritual meaning of Jordan - death, burial and resurrection as something right at the heart of Israel's history.
Chapter 12. Israel's blindness (verses 37-41). See in this connection the passages in Isaiah, chapters 6 and liii quoted.
Chapter 15. The Vine. Isaiah 5 represents Israel as the vine, or the vineyard, and the vine was a common figure among the prophets of Israel. This is transferred in John 9 by the Lord Jesus from Israel to Himself.
Chapter 17. The High Priest, with the altar and the whole burn-offering in view.
This is only a selection, and more features can be traced, but there is one thing to be remembered, that is, that everything to do with Israel in "John is in a bad light, and represents the setting aside of Judaism to bring in the Church. This is done by Christ Himself taking all the elements of Israel's true life, and embodying them as the spiritual features of the Church's constitution, life, and vocation. Everything which subsequently comes out in the doctrine of the New Testament will be found in germ in the Gospels, and especially in "John".
~T. Austin-Sparks~
(continued with # 22)
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