Threats and Promises

We're in the same section of chapter five that we looked at last week. And, just as last week, we're going to be looking behind what happened. I have the same question lurking here that I did last week. Who is God? What is he like? What kind of person is he? That is a question that we need to explore more and more. How we answer this question - that is, how our hearts answer it - affects everything we do. Please listen as I read our text, John 5.1-17.

The part of John's account that I want to look at is the second time that Jesus finds the man. After he found the man the first time Jesus healed him. After Jesus found the man the second time he said something that we need to stop and consider. John writes, 'Afterward Jesus found him in the temple and said to him, “See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.”' So, what do you think? Was that a threat? Did Jesus threaten the man? It sure sounds like it, no? 'Hey, buddy. I healed you, and that's real good. But listen, you had better get your act together. Stop this sinning - or else.' Jesus isn't specific about what it might be that would happen, but does he have to be? It's clear enough that, whatever it is, the man will want to steer clear of it. 'Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.' Jesus threatens the man. We need to spend a little time here.

So, this threatening, is it something that has been done elsewhere in the Bible? The answer is obvious. The Bible is filled with threats.  Read Moses. Read the prophets. Threats abound. But let's limit ourselves just to times that Jesus has threatened people. Here's one that is fairly obvious.

There were some present at that very time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish."

Repent, or else you will perish. Threat.

Then there is Jesus' parable about the three servants and the money entrusted to them, the talents. The point is about Christians being ready for Jesus' return when he will evaluate us all. Do you remember what Jesus said about the third servant who was unfaithful?

And cast the worthless servant into the outer darkness. In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Be faithful with what Jesus has entrusted to you, or else it's to the outer darkness. Threat.

One more. This is how Jesus ends the Sermon on the Mount.

And everyone who hears these words of mine and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

You had better do what I say, or else your life will collapse. Threat.

Let's keep in mind who the original audience was for all that Jesus said here. He was not talking to a bunch of pagans. He was speaking to the people of God; church folk. Jesus threatened the church folk of his day. And I think that it is safe to say - in fact, I think that I need to say - that Jesus still threatens church folk.

But we can't stop there. It's also good to remember that there is a flip side to this. Jesus doesn't only threaten. He also promises.

I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit.

Promise.

Whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Promise.

And then, of course there is what Jesus said about the wise builder.

Everyone then who hears these words of mine and does them will be like a wise man who built his house on the rock. And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house, but it did not fall, because it had been founded on the rock.

Promise.

These also are spoken to church folk.

Church folk have always enjoyed being reminded of the promises. Lots of hymns about the promises. It's hearing about the threats that isn't so comfortable. Not many hymns about these. But sometimes the threats and promises are right next to each other, like those two men, the wise builder and the foolish one. And in talking about such things, Jesus isn't doing anything new. As I said earlier, the Bible is filled with threats and promises. It's just that they aren't usually called that. They are usually called curses and blessings.

Now it's time for the why question. Remember, a good 'why question' can be very helpful. Jesus threatens the man in our text. Why? I think that the answer is clear. He has expectations. Jesus expected something from this man. It wasn't that this fellow was different from the rest. Jesus had expectations of him just because he was one of God's people. And clearly stated threats encourage the people of God to meet the expectations placed on them. Isn't that what Jesus is doing when he says to the man, 'See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you'? He is giving the man a good reason not to sin but rather to work at the expectation of a holy life. And when Jesus offers promises he does that for the same reason. He has expectations. And promises will also encourage his people to meet those expectations. So, Jesus threatens the man because he expects something from the man. He expects a holy life.

In this, Jesus reveals something of the nature of the Father. Jesus is answering the question, 'What is God like?' He threatens, and he promises. And it's a good thing that he does this. We need the encouragement. The Father threatens and promises because he knows something about our nature. He has a clear answer to the companion question, 'What are people like?' He knows that it's so easy for us to coast when it comes to our devotion to Jesus. It becomes easy for us to think that meeting Jesus' expectations can take a lower priority.

It happens. There are those for whom there is a time of growth, of serious devotion to Jesus, even of excitement about being a Christian. For some, it's when they go off to college and meet some serious believers on campus. They begin to see things in the Bible they've never seen before. They find God at work in their lives and in the lives of the others in the group. People get converted. There is much going on. It's a high point of their spirituality. And then, comes graduation. As a result, this one goes here and the other goes there. These friends that they were so close to are now in other parts of the country. Friendships that were so encouraging fade away. Marriage and job follow. The church that they join just doesn't have the same excitement to it. And then, kids start arriving. Life becomes busy with all sorts of stuff. Life has changed. And devotion to Jesus is put on automatic pilot. It's not completely ignored, but it's not the priority that it once was. And Jesus' expectations are not being met - not in the way that he wants them met.

Can devotion to Jesus be restored to the priority it once was, the priority it deserves? Let me say the same thing a bit differently. Can devotion to Jesus be as exciting as it once was? I am convinced that the answer to that is a resounding, 'Yes!' And part of what's involved  has to do with threats and promises. Being devoted to Jesus, having him as the priority of your life, is one of the expectations that he has of you. 'Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me.' Jesus expects to be your first priority. And meeting that expectation is what that makes life work. So, Jesus offers promises and utters threat. He wants to encourage you to meet his expectations. He wants your life to work. And that's why Jesus says what he does to the man. 'See, you are well! Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.' And he really does expect this man to be like that wise builder. He expects him to hear these words of his and to do them. That is the only way that this man's life will work.

So, what exactly are you to do, and how do you do it? Well, for starters, put yourself in the text. Jesus' comments to this man are not only for this man. Doesn't Jesus, in effect, say the same sort of thing to each of you? 'See, you are well! I have healed you. I have healed your soul, saved you. Sin no more, that nothing worse may happen to you.' Does Jesus actually expect you to 'sin no more'? If you fail in this, will Jesus cause something worse to happen to you? What do you think?

There are several responses that people have to this way of thinking. Some just assume that it can't be true. 'I'm a Christian and I'm going to heaven. And I know that I am because I believe in Jesus. I don't know about expectations and threats and all of that. I just know I'm saved!' That's a fairly popular response even if it isn't stated in those terms. The promises are good, especially the ones about arriving in heaven. Jesus means those. But the threats - well they just can't be true, not for a real Christian. So, does Jesus expect us to sin no more? 'Well, it's good to try not to sin, but it doesn't really matter if we do or don't meet this expectation. He doesn't really expect us to. And since he doesn't, nothing bad will happen if we don't.' Really? So, what did Jesus mean when he said those words to the man?

Here's another response. In a way, it's the exact opposite of the first, and it can be summed up in one word: panic. 'I try and try, but I know that I don't meet his expectations. I work at it, but it never seems to work. I never get this right! What am I going to do?' For this person, being a faithful Christian means always being frustrated. It's trying to accomplish the impossible. So, there is this cloud of failure that always hovers nearby. But this person, because he actually is a Christian, hangs on in the hope that somehow a special dispensation will be granted for failures like him. Somehow, he'll make it. He has no clue how that works, but what else can he do?

And there is, of course, the response that goes something like this. 'Hey, I thought it was just about believing in Jesus and showing up for church. If you're going to preach about expectations and threats and whatever, I'm outta here!' And off he goes to find a more congenial church.

Now, obviously there is something not quite right here. But it's not what the Bible says about expectations and threats and promises. All of that is true. What's not quite right is that these responses have all missed the point. The key issue is always the same. It always comes back to believing the Gospel. It always comes back to repentance and faith.

Let's take that a step at a time. When it comes to understanding the Gospel, the very first point is that God has expectations. He expects us to live as if he really is the Creator and we really are his creations. He actually expects us to obey him. That's just basic. Think: Adam and Eve in the Garden. ‘Eat anything except from this tree.’ The next point is also basic and obvious. We don't meet his expectations. That's what sin is: our failure to meet the Creator's very reasonable expectations of us, his creations. We don't obey him. Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit.  Now, since we don't obey him, we deserve to experience what he has threatened. After all, his warning was clear. 'In the day that you eat of it, you shall surely die.' That threat has been applied - not just to Adam and Eve but to all of us. Death has come, and it has attacked our bodies, our souls, our relationships, our basic understanding of what life is about, everything. Death has come and it is in the process of doing is ugly work. Now, you know what's next. Jesus is next. Jesus has come, the gift of the Father's love. Jesus has come so that, instead of death, there would be life, eternal life, now and forever. And to all who entrust themselves to Jesus life is in the process of doing its beautiful work. This is just a statement of the Gospel.

But that isn't the end. Yes, Jesus has come, and he has changed so much about our lives. But are those original expectations, that we would live as obedient creatures of the Creator who made us - have they changed? Absolutely not! Why should they? There are still expectations, and we are still called to meet them. And to encourage us to meet them, we have been given all these threats and promises, real threats and real promises. The blessings and the curses. None of that has changed. But something has changed. We deal with these expectations as Christians. We deal with them in the context of the Gospel. We know that those threats are real. We can very easily be just like that foolish builder, hearing but not doing. And so we cry out to our Savior. 'Lord, don't let me be foolish. Don't let me be like that builder who heard and didn't do. Please. I could so easily be like him and suffer the consequences. Please make me like the wise builder. I want to stand firm in the midst of the storms and not collapse. Help me, Jesus. Save me from my sin. Don't let me give in to it. You have promised to care for me. Please do that now.'

So, when it comes to meeting those expectations, there is one eye on the threats and the other on the promises. We believe in both. And because we do believe in both, we pray about both. And we do that because we want to meet every expectation. To use the language of our text, we don't want to sin anymore.

There will be times when we fail to meet some expectation. The Spirit, as an act of kindness, will point that out to us. If you are wise, you will not fight him on that. Doing that is asking for trouble. (Something else to pray about!) Rather, we admit our failure, our sin. We repent. And we, once again, believe the Gospel and plead for the Father to cover our failure, to forgive our sin, because of Jesus.

And, of course, something from the Psalms fits here.

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. ​Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 

Jesus has come, full of love and mercy and grace. He has come for people like us, people who fail to meet his expectations time and time and time again. He has not come so that we might forget about those expectations. He has come so that we might fight the battles to meet those expectations.

Know your God! He is a God who has expectations of you, large expectations. And to move you toward those expectations, he threatens and he promises. But if your life is going to work, you must understand your God in the context of the Gospel. Strive to meet those expectations as Christians, as people who repent and believe in Jesus.