Recently, as I studied John 5:22, my heart was thrilled with the Fact that our dear Lord is also our “Judge!” Yes, I am speaking of Jesus.

The Proof Verse … “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.”

Notice the qualifier … “ALL JUDGMENT!”

This surely means Jesus will be in charge at the great White Throne Judgment of Revelation 20.

This fearful Scene … “11 And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. 12 And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works. 13 And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works. 14 And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death. 15 And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.”

And Jesus will be Judge at the beginning of the Millennium as reported by Matthew 25. (We call this one the “Judgment of the Nations.”)

“31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory: 32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats: 33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left. 34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”

The Drama immediately continues in verse 41 … “Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels.”

Just two examples … but every judgment the Bible depicts, Jesus is the Arbiter!

So we have learned, and this is what I forgot to say on the “Evening Meditation” posted yesterday …

In the Beginning … Jesus is Creator … John 1:3

“All things were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was made.”

In the End … Jesus is Judge … John 5:27

“The Father hath given him (Jesus) authority to execute judgment.”

In the Middle … Jesus is Saviour … John 4:42

“Now we believe; for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”

Wow! No wonder Hebrews 13:8 thunders … “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.”

Now add this too, a powerful quote I forgot to include …

“Give me flame without light … and I will give you God the Father without the Son!”

A good Word Picture!

Folks, our next “Evening Meditation” looks at John 5:24, perhaps (in ways) the greatest Salvation Verse in all the Bible!

Come and study the Bible with us!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

(Videos every other evening on both our YouTube Channel and then shared to Facebook, our Pages there.)

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Oh, considering the Christian and “judgment?”

In one way, never!

“There is therefore now no condemnation (judgment) to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.” Romans 8:1

But in another, fuller way, Yes Indeed!

“For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad.” 2 Corinthians 5:10

Amazing!

Peter asks, in the light of Jesus as Judge … “What manner of persons ought ye to be in all holy conversation and godliness, Looking for and hasting unto the coming of the day of God.” 2 Peter 3:11-12

Now … that’s’ all for today!

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The common (and liberal) explanation of John’s term “the Jews” (which he used 64 times in his Gospel) is often twisted to mean that John favored ill treatment of the Jewish people!

That’s not right!

By “the Jews” … John does NOT mean the common men or women living in Israel. The seemingly often pejorative expression has reference to the Jews who were leaders of their people, the Pharisees, Sadducees and their cronies.

John, neither the Disciple/Apostle nor the Gospel is NOT anti-Semitic! In fact, he is a Jew, a son of Zebedee the fisherman.

But John has written for us an honest Gospel. And the religious leaders among Israel did hate the Lord Jesus Christ!

They were also blind, spiritually, and Jesus tells them so! “Woe unto you, ye blind guides.” Matthew 23:16

For example …

In John 1:19 they had no idea as to the identity of John the Baptist! But Isaiah 40 (Scripture they should have mastered) clearly identifies him as our Lord’s Forerunner!

In John 1:26, Jesus was standing in the midst of a crowd where John was baptizing, and they (the Jewish leaders) had no absolutely knowledge of His Presence!

In John 3:10 Jesus was appalled at the ignorance of one of the Jews’ pristine leaders, Nicodemus! “Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master (teacher) of Israel, and knowest not these things?”

Again and again we see this (is it willful?) refusal to accept Jesus at His Word.

Eventually they call our Lord an illegitimate Son! See John 8:41 for Bible proof.

Then they later said that He had a devil, John 10:20. Blaspheming the very Son of God! “Many of them said, He hath a devil, and is mad; why hear ye him?”

Yes, the leaders of Israel at that time were spiritually dead. But multitudes (including Jews) believed on His Name and were “saved.”

Is John anti-Jewish? No, no, no!

Is he truthful? Yes indeed!

Will there continue to be Jews saved by the Grace of God?

Yes, both now and even in the Tribulation!

Paul even teaches us … “And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.” Romans 11:26, referring to the little remnant of Israelites left on earth at the end of the Tribulation when Jesus physically, bodily returns to earth!

The Bible is very pro-Jewish!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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Particularly from the viewpoint of our four Gospels, Matthew through John … we see Jesus enacting no less than “seven” miracles on various Sabbath days during His earthly Ministry!

In Mark 1:29-31 Jesus heals the fevered Mother-in-Law of Simon Peter … doing so on the Sabbath! (Mark 1:21 for the Sabbath context.)

In Mark 3:1-6 Jesus did it again, healed on the Sabbath! This time a man with a withered hand.

Add Luke 13:10-17 to this growing list! a woman who had been bent double for 18 years! Jesus touched and healed her not only on the Sabbath, but in a synagogue!

Luke 14:1-6 as well. This man had dropsy, excessive swelling all over his body. Today it might be said to have resulted from congestive heart failure. Jesus, the divine Physician!

Back to Mark! Jesus cast a demon out of a poor and tortured man. Again in the synagogue and again on the Sabbath! Precisely, Mark 1:21-28 recounts the event.

Then we can’t forget the man by the pool of Bethesda. Paralyzed though he was, Jesus made him well, whole. We do not learn this was a Sabbath day healing the last verse of the Paragraph. See John 5:1-9 for the miracle.

Last of all, though my list is arbitrary and not chronological … John 9:1-16 tells of a man born blind, whom Jesus healed, again on the Sabbath!

WHY would the Lord do this deliberately provocative thing, knowing His enemies wee watching with hatred in their hearts?

I believe partly to prove that Jesus is Lord of the Sabbath too! In fact, He is Lord of all!

I thought someone might profit from having this “list” handy.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

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At both the beginning of John chapter 2 and again at the ending of John chapter 4 … miracles occur. The turning of water into wine and then the healing of a nobleman’s son! And both occurred in the same city, Cana of Galilee!

In the first … water is turned into wine, as I just said. In the second … death is turned into life! Who can do either, but Jesus? But the second is much harder than the first, I would presume!

I also forgot to mention earlier yesterday when recording this Bible Lesson (our Evening Meditation video Class) that really “triple miracles” occur at the end of John chapter 4. First, the son is made well! Second, the father (nobleman) believes, is saved by the Grace of God! Third, the nobleman’s whole household gets born-again as well!

Watch this too … the miracle of the healing of that boy hinges on faith. The father had no doubt, if Jesus would only come to his city, his home, and physically touch his son … all would be well!

Faith … yes!

But weak faith!

“Come down, Jesus!” (The man lived in Capernaum, ten miles away.)

“Lay Thine Hand on my son, Lord!” (Thinking that “touch” was essential in any kind of restoration!)

In fact, that woman who had been bleeding for 12 years also had weak faith also … touching Jesus’ outer “garment!” (As if the power was in Jesus’ clothing!)

Mary and Martha as well, for that matter. “Lord, Lazarus would not have died IF YOU HAD BEEN HERE!”

(Jesus did not have to “come down” for the son to be healed! And she did not have to grab Jesus’ coat to be healed! And Jesus certainly did not have to be present in Bethany either, to prevent Lazarus dying!)

But even though the faith of these individuals was weak … God still honored it! He still healed the son. He still stopped the hemorrhaging! He still raised Lazarus from the dead!

Wow, think about that!

This too … in the miracle of the healing of the nobleman’s son, John 4:43-54 … the father got saved, and soon did the whole family “believe” on Jesus! This is an oft repeated phenomenon! Apparently the same thing happened in Acts 16 when the Philippian jailer was born-again! His whole “house” followed!

This observation prompted a Pastor friend of mine to institute in his Church a soul-winning campaign he called “head hunting!” Praying, witnessing, presenting the Gospel particularly to the men of his area! The “heads” of their families! (They had a bus ministry as well, mostly reaching young folks, children.) But most of the Dads they won to Christ those months … did eventually bring their whole families to Jesus as well!

“Head-hunters,” what a creative idea!

Just a few things I forgot to say, to emphasize.

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

Our next video (on our YouTube channel) … the impotent man at the Pool of Bethesda … Jesus healing him! John 5:1-9, the Lord willing.

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A few “snippets” of information that I did not have time to include in our last video Bible Class, our “Evening Meditation” posted August 21, 2022 titled … “John 4:39-42” … JESUS CHRIST, THE SAVIOUR OF THE WORLD!

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Because of His ministry with the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4, Jesus was able to impact a whole city with the Gospel!

Look … “And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did. So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.” John 4:39-40

A city begging Jesus to stay and spend time with them!

The Old Testament Prophet Jonah once impacted a whole city for God as well! Nineveh by name, thousands saved in a single Revival! And certainly Jesus is greater than Jonah, Matthew 12:41.

Yet, some cities have even asked Jesus to leave! The people of Nazareth did, trying to kill our Lord one day after He had preached to them! See Luke 4:29 for proof.

The people of the Gergesene area as well. “And, behold, the whole city came out to meet Jesus: and when they saw him, they besought him that he would depart out of their coasts.” Matthew 8:34 … whereupon Jesus promptly left, too! Never to return there again!

Decisions have consequences!

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Jesus in John 4:42 is called “the Saviour of the world!” I have learned that is also a title for many of the reigning Caesars of New Testament days! Here is Christianity challenging the heathen kingdoms of this world!

Jesus is also very often called “Lord” in Scripture. That’s another title Roman Emperors demanded for themselves! But … in reality the King (Emperor) is not Lord … Jesus (Jesus only) is Lord! Another challenge to humanism!

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Lastly, John loves to use the word “testify” or the noun “witness” in His Gospel, in all he wrote really. As a verb (martureo) it is found 47 times in John’s Corpus, and only 30 times in the rest of the New Testament! As a noun (marturia), 30 times in John’s Material, and only 7 times in the rest of the New Testament!

Wow … the Gospel of John, the three little Epistles of John, and the Book of Revelation … are indeed the New Testament Books of “Witness!”

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The Account of the “Woman at the Well” ends with this statistical thought … “And many more believed because of his (Jesus’) own word.” Many, many saved! This reminds me of Acts 28:24 … “And some believed the things which were spoken, and some believed not.”

So … some went to Heaven and some went to Hell!

Are YOU saved?

Do YOU believe?

Critically important questions!

— Dr. Mike Bagwell

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.” Romans 10:9-10, King James Version.

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