It was the first sermon I ever preached. It was entitled,
“Encounters of the Closest Kind”. It was a riff on an immensely popular
Hollywood movie at the time—“Encounters of the Third Kind”. But it was more
than that. The title fit the text—I Kings 18 and Elijah’s showdown with the
prophets of Baal.
Ahab, the King of Israel, had ordered all the people of
Israel to gather together at Mount Carmel for a showdown between the prophet of
God and the 450 prophets of the false god, the god of the Canaanites, Baal. It
seems that, in the opinion of the King and his prophets, Baal was more to be
worshipped than the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. So there’s a showdown.
The terms are simple. Both the prophets of Baal and the
prophet of God (Elijah) will set up altars. They both will sacrifice animals
and place the carcasses on the altar. They both will call out to their god, and
the one who answers with fire will prove he’s the one and only god.
Now it’s interesting to observe in this account that while
the prophets of Baal follow the established procedure, Elijah adds a significant
degree of difficulty to his setup. The Bible says that after putting the wood
in order, and placing the offering (the bull carcass), he commands that four
jars of water be poured all over it. Not once, not twice, but three times! In
fact, the Bible says there’s so much water that it fills a trench that Elijah
had dug all around the altar. Even without reading further you can guess what
happens. After spending a whole day crying out to Baal and cutting themselves,
Baal fails. Baal, the god of the false prophets fails to bail them out!
But not so with the true God. The Bible says that when the
fire falls from heaven it not only consumes the whole sacrifice, but it “licks
up” all the water standing in the trench!
And the question that prompts all of this is a simple
one—which god is worthy of our worship? In other words, who is the real God?
The answer is crystal clear—the God of Elijah is the one and only God. It’s an
encounter of the closest kind!
When you come to the end of John 5, John gives us a similar
encounter. Think of it. Jesus has just healed a man who’s been paralyzed for 38
years. He’s just healed a man who’s totally unable to help himself. And yet,
the reaction of the Jewish leaders is to want to kill Him. And the reason is clear,
He’s making Himself equal with God. Whereas, at other times, Jesus slips away
from His antagonists, this time He stands and challenges them.
What we have here, in John 5:18-47, is a comprehensive
defense of the deity of Jesus. In fact, He cites 10 proofs of His deity here in
this text. But instead of detailing all 10 of His claims, we will examine
Jesus’ defense by using His words to the Samaritan woman in John 4:13. We will
look at the THIRST, the TAP, the TEST, and the TRAGEDY.
Just like the prophets of Baal, these religious leaders are blind to the
identity of the One true God who’s no longer sitting in heaven, but standing
before them. And what question is, “Are we?”
In preparation for Sunday, you may wish to consider the
following:
1. What prompts the Jews’ anger in chapter 5?
2. How is Jesus guilty of the charge that He’s making Himself
equal with God?
3. What does Jesus mean in verse 19? How does this relate to
His words in John 15:5?
4. What is the essence of the Jews’ problem as pinpointed in
verse 39?
5. What is Jesus saying about the purpose of the Scriptures?
6. What’s Jesus’ message to the Jews in verse 24?
7. What is the proof of Jesus’ deity in verse 30?
8. What’s Jesus saying about Himself in verses 46 & 47?
9. What do you think of Jesus’ charge in verse 44?
10. What’s Jesus saying to you about yourself in this text?
See you Sunday!
