Matt Slick Bible Study, John 4:24ff

Hour late and we're starting to get all this technology stuff going so you hit start broadcast on YouTube thing. All right. So what we're going to do is we're going to continue through John 4 starting at verse 24 and I don't know how far we're going to get into it but next week as we were talking last week you guys want me to do an eschatology thing so I think I'm going to do next week is announcing the radio and some other stuff is do an eschatology study and I'm going to present the amillennial side and people might say well that's just not fair.

Do both sides. After I do this one presentation I don't think there's any room for a position to be valid. That's how it may sound arrogant but I really believe the the argument of God is pretty good doesn't mean it's perfect but I think it's pretty good.

So if you guys are interested in that it'll be next week. Okay. Oh man so let's let me pray we'll jump into John chapter 4 verse 24 and we'll see what we can learn is that a whole bunch of real depth in here when we get to John 6 it's gonna just really open up.

There's a whole bunch of great stuff in there. All right. Let's pray Lord we ask that you would be with us and that you would bless us and that in the teaching of your word that you would open up our hearts and our minds to the truth of who you are.

Lord as you have seen fit to have these words given to us and written down in the Bible. We thank you for it. We ask that you would teach us out of it that we all might come to know you better and learn how to tell others about you all the more and bring glory to you.

In the process we ask this Jesus your precious name. Amen. All right. So we're starting at John chapter 4 verse 24. Now this is happens to be a verse that I use a lot with some cults particularly those cults that deny the physical resurrection of Jesus like the Jehovah's Witnesses and what they what the J-dubs say is that Jesus was resurrected in a spirit body but he's not resurrected physically and the reason they do that is because they say that the life is in the body that the body is a sacrifice and they don't understand that the blood is what cleanses us.

But that's not gonna get into that right. Now we'll do a thing on J-dub sometime but nevertheless God is spirit and those who worship him must worship him in spirit and truth. Now Jesus here is declaring the nature of God that he is spirit.

He's not a physical being he's not a physical being. And one of the things I'll do is I usually associate with John 4 24 Luke 24 39 see my hands and my feet that it is I myself touch me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.

So we must worship God in spirit and truth. Now in Mormonism they say that God is spirit. God is a God. The father has a body of flesh and bones and they say that he's an exalted man from another planet and he has physical sexual relations with his goddess wife in heaven and make spirit babies.

And that the father appeared to Joseph which is contradicted by Romans. That's gonna be John 6 46 and also 1st Timothy 6 16. You can look those up some other time. What I'll do is I'll say look the Bible says God is spirit.

I was talking here in the context about the father and so what is spirit. Well spirit is something we don't know how to describe. We kind of know it but what really is it. We know what it is not. Jesus says see my hands and my feet and as I myself touch me and see for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.

So Jesus is saying that the spirit or spirit does not have flesh and bones and God is spirit now clever Mormon what they're going to say is that God is spirit and physical and that the spirit part doesn't have flesh and bones.

But that's ridiculous. Well if that's the case then why say it now he's not talking about the differentiation between spirit and a physical aspect. He's talking about God being spirit. Because that's what they understood about God that he was not an exalted man for another planet as Mormonism teaches.

Now I'm going to introduce something to you. It says that in first Corinthians 1550 now I say this brethren that flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Now this is an important thing when I show you something flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Nor does a perishable inherit perishable the the imperishable. So flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. But Jesus he was raised physically. So one of the things that Job's witnesses will do is they'll say flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

You can't go to the kingdom of God if you have flesh and blood. That's what they're saying. And so Jesus is physically resurrected. So how then could he go to heaven. Because the Bible says he can't. Good question.

Right. When you say it's good question. Well I want to teach you something. I've said this before I want you to understand something. This is critical. You must read every single word for what it says and what it does not say.

You must see what the words are. Because the words what are critically important in a lot of areas of scripture. And I'll use this as an illustration to show you what we do often when we read the Word of God is we assume certain things are meant and we don't challenge it.

Like two men are in the field one is taken one is left. People assume pre-tribulation rapture. It's not the rapture the wicked. Or to take one's taken in a corner context. Now I'm going to read something here again about this.

Jesus says in Luke 24 39 touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones. As you see that I have now first going to 1550 it's Paul says flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God. You notice the difference.

Jesus said flesh and bones. Paul said flesh and blood. That one difference blood and bones is significant. And what you should do at this point is go through. If you have the Bible program and you can say flesh and blood.

And you can look through and see how it works. See how God uses the phrase flesh and blood. You can see how God uses the phrase because of one word difference. You should be motivated to go through a study to see how God uses these words.

And by doing this you'll learn things. So we know that Jesus died on the cross in his physical body. We also know according to John 2 19 through 21 Jesus says destroy this temple three days. I will raise it up.

And he was speaking the temple of his body. Ok. We said took 46 years to build a temple three days you'll raise it up. And John says but you were speaking the temple of his body. So that's John 2 19 through 21.

Now he says I will raise. That's a Greek word a gay role. And a gay role is the future active indicative first-person singular. What that means is he will be the one performing the action of the resurrection now that's interesting because he says so he said I will raise it up destroy this temple.

I will raise it up. He's talking about his own body that he will raise. And this is one of his demonstrations of his deity. But after his resurrection he says flesh a spirit doesn't have flesh and bones.

As you see I have now remember Thomas in John 20 25 to 28 doubting Thomas doubting Thomas. He did not believe that. Or he was highly suspicious. Did Jesus physically rise from the dead. He says I'm not going to believe unless I can put my hands unless I seen his hands the imprint of the nails and put my finger into the place of the nails and put my hand into his side.

I will not believe. That's John 10 25 or 2025. Now incidentally the Jehovah's Witnesses say that Jesus was crucified on a vertical stake and that his arms will be put up above his head like this with a single nail driven through his wrists.

That's how the crucifixion was to be done on a torture stake. And what they'll do is they'll say the cross is a pagan symbol. Blah blah blah. But notice what Thomas says unless I can see in his hands now the wrist is considered part of the hand.

Back in that culture didn't have a word for wrist. Unless I can see in his hands. That's two hands. The imprint of the nails. That's two nails. Two hands two nails. You don't do it like this. One nail we could be through if they did it that way.

Or one nail out there and there. That's a cross. That's just a little tangent. Eight days after eight days his disciples were again inside and Thomas was with him. Jesus came the doors having been stood in our midst and said peace be unto you reach here at your finger and see my hands and reach here your hand and put it into my side and do not be unbelieving.

So he says put your hand into my side. Why is that significant. Because what Jesus is demonstrating is that his body had been physically crucified and physically raised and it had open wounds in his side and his finger.

He said you put your finger into my hand and you can see. And you can see. It's me Thomas. You see it's me. I've risen. Here's the proof. Here's the holes in the wrist. Here's the hole this side. It's me.

This is the proof that he's giving now that means there weren't any scars. I've heard the saying the only scars in heaven are those by of Jesus. That's incorrect. Jesus didn't have time to heal so his wounds were open and they apparently retained their openness.

We don't have anything in scripture that says they were healed and hence scars. It's a nice sentiment but it doesn't seem to be biblically correct. All right. I'm focusing on this for a little bit of reason.

I want you to understand something a principle that something like this brings up. Now if you're looking at the issue of flesh and blood versus flesh and bones you'll find that for example I think it's a John Matthew 16 where he says who do you think I am.

And Peter says you're the Christ the Son of the Living God. And Jesus says flesh and blood did not reveal this to you. So flesh and blood is a phrase when you do a study that refers to the sinful part of what you are.

It's a phrase that's how it's used. But flesh and bones is what Jesus refers to him himself. Now in Leviticus 17 11 it says the life is in the blood. Leviticus 17 14 the bloods offered I may have reversed.

The blood is offered as a sacrifice were cleansed by the blood. 1st John 1 9 of the blood of Christ cleanses us. The sacrifice is in the blood not simply the body. The blood is that thing that represents the life.

And when the blood is offered out the blood is what cleanses us not the body. The blood does so Jesus after his resurrection retained his crucifixion wounds. They were open. They could. Someone could put their hand into his side.

It was open if he had functioning blood. Now this is a conjecture and I'm just going to go with this because it's where I lean. And if you don't like this don't think it's biblical. Okay. But what you'll see is that since the blood is what cleanses us the blood was offered on the cross his body was retained the crucifixion wounds.

If he had functioning blood it looks like his heart ruptured as well. How people let me take a sidestep here and talk about that when the blood is leaving the body your arms are outstretched there's holes in your feet.

He's already had his back ripped open from the whip the cat of nine tails which is extremely painful and would rip his back open. So his blood coming down his back down his buttocks his back of his legs they would take hit the nails.

They put his nail between two feet. That's what they would do. And they would in order to do that flat. Sometimes they do it against the wood. And sometimes they'd have a little thing he could step on but his knees would be bent like this.

Now if anybody wants to do this as an experiment even as I'm doing it right now I'm standing with my knees slightly bent and right now about now this quad is starting to burn. Well so let's put all my weight on my right quad.

Not both. So when you're there in that situation it's problematic. You have the nails that are coming through here it's extremely painful. There's a certain nerve that gets punctured. And if they say your hands are on fire it feels like so you're sitting there and your arms are outstretched.

They've already been disjointed because of the nature of weights and your arms are out and so when they put him up on the cross the gravity would cause his body to fall down. Pop pop is his joints would pop out of out of socket.

So now you're in a lot of pain and now you have trouble breathing. Don't forget his back is ripped open and he's got to rub up and down against the rough wood in order to breathe. Because we're in a position you get to push up and that's what you got to do.

And so he was in agony. They say crucifixion is one of if not the most painful way to die. And he was there for hours. In order to do this he had to press his weight upon the nails in his feet and that means blood is gushing out of his feet of his hands now his side.

Not till after he had died. So what happens. The blood is leaving the body. He's already under trauma because of the beating the whipping. He's had to carry this post. He was already weakened and they had to get Simon of Cyrene to pick up the post and carry it for him.

They nailed him they put him up they raised him up there and blood is leaving because the blood is gushing out of his body through the holes in the wrists. You guys know when you cut yourself sometimes they can bleed a lot.

It's amazing. What if you have holes through both sides of your wrists and on your feet is it going to heal while you're pressing up on a nail. It's if anything it's going to make it worse. Rip the skin open and it could be even more blood coming out.

And when the gravity is pulling everything down and you're pressing on that for hours it's going to be leaving your body. What happens. You get thirsty. That's why he said I thirst. Another thing that happens is your body starts not having enough blood and blood needs heat.

It has hemoglobin in it. Hemoglobin is the the thing that transfers oxygen to your body. So the heart has to start beating quicker and quicker and quicker because there's not enough blood in the body because it's draining out of his system while he's going through crucifixion.

So the blood is leaving. There's less oxygenation possible in his body so he has to breathe even quicker and harder which means he's got to push up even harder and harder on his on his feet. Yeah yeah.

So it starts beating harder with more power as well as rapid so more blood pressure. So it causes more problems. There's going to come to a point where you can't be saved. Your body is going to it's going to erupt unless they got you off the cross but IVs all over you and did pressure stuff.

That's the only way in fact an actor who did the scene Cavell whatever his name was. Yeah he did this. He was up there he almost died. And the reason he didn't is because he was in distress. They had all but he didn't have any nails in him.

But it made it look like it. You know special effects makeup and everything. And he was up there he couldn't breathe very well and he couldn't talk and he was trying he needed help. And the only reason he didn't dies because one of the crew looked up during a break or something you to stay up there we're getting moving cameras around for another shot looked up as I think something's wrong and they went they saw and he's like this and they got him down and they had to take care of him and he wasn't even doing that having in him.

Okay. So what happens. The heart. Ruptures ruptures ruptures ruptures. Boom. And it explodes. Basically what happens when that happens in the body. Then the blood circulation stops. You die. So when they would pierce him on the right side not the left.

That's interesting. The right is salvation left his judgment to damnation. They pierce him on the right side. They said blood and water came out. The reason it was blood and water is because and I read this before I don't understand it but when the this all this is going on that fills up in your chest cavity something happens around the heart.

And so when you do this if blood and water come out it's because there's already been death the hearts already stopped and the tooth something in the blood separates. It looks like water I guess plasma but whatever it separates.

And so you see both these things coming out they call that blood and water. And so the reason I brought all this up is because if you retain the wounds in his hands and he retained the wound in his side that he retained consistently the ruptured heart.

If you had a ruptured heart he had no functioning blood in his body in his resurrected body. And he said flesh and bones. As you see I have not flesh and blood. And my personal belief is because it was drained out on the cross.

So this one difference of words caused me to research years ago. It took me days to to figure this out. I do research crucifixion and it writing an article on karma crucifixion had to read some what goes on to the body.

I think I did once I did a presentation for a half hour shortly after I learned about it. All the stuff that went on people were just like you gotta be kidding me. It's incredibly difficult incredibly painful.

So all of that I wanted to say because it tied into God's spirit. That causes me to look at John 2439. Could I do I apologetics. Well that caused me to look at flesh and blood. Flesh and bones. Why the difference.

I look at the patterns and I learn one word difference one single word. And look what I've learned. You know you see me before with Romans 518 because that verse is different in NASB than all the other Bibles.

And I went look at the Greek. I learned a great deal of theology because of one simple verse I try and tell people what you need to do is not just skim over stuff. And you think the Word of God is is something you ski on you know at a fast pace 60 miles an hour.

But you're skiing over the world. Yeah that's good. No you got to get down in it. Just do some scuba diving in there. Skiing is not what you want to do. You want to scuba diver maybe some snorkeling for some people.

And so you got to get down into the word. Why is that word here. Why is the word not here. Ask the question and go explore and go find things out. Now we did this before last year. Why don't was here at the other place.

There's the other place where what we did was remember. I said we said okay we're gonna have a Bible study. I'm going to assign some verses this week and then next week you can come back and tell me what you learned.

Remember that it was good and we gave the same verses and some other stuff and we for two hours I think it was we went over stuff and people enjoyed it and they thought at first they were not going to be able to understand God's Word properly.

And I gave him some tools and I come back with some great stuff. And I remember a few times people going oh I didn't even think of that. That's an excellent point. That's right there in the text you know good stuff but I'm trying to encourage people you can go in and you can do some studying pay attention to what the text says all that from John 4 24th.

This rate will take about 12 years to get through all right now just so you know in Doctrine and Covenants and Mormonism and Doctrine Covenants 130 22 God the God the Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's.

And that's crud. This is one of the stuff I will have to use in order to refute them. So apologetics has taught me a great deal in order to defend the faith. I've had to learn other faiths. I had to learn why the words in the Bible are what they are.

In fact you guys may know the book the shack and how it's coming out as a movie pretty soon. I watched the trailer today. The shack is ninety-five percent really good stuff and five percent leaven and people are loving it and I'm not sure if it's good or bad that Hollywood's doing it but when Hollywood does a movie about Christianity that's a warning flag right there and so we'll see.

I'm gonna go see it the night it comes out and rather review the next day. But the reason I'm so critical about the shack the book is because I've studied the Word of God like this and I've seen what God says about himself and I've learned how critically important words are and he picks them for a reason and he wants us to know him in it for a reason and to depict him any other way is equivalent to the idolatry which is what is happening in the movie and the book to shack and I'll get into that some other time.

I may do a presentation on that. I'm gonna definitely do something on the radio. We got some plans about that. We're gonna do any rate another thing another time. All right. Hey let's get to after half-hour let's get to the next verse.

The woman said to him I know that Messiah is coming. He who is called Christ. When that one comes he will declare all things to us. So both the Jews and the Samaritans remember this is in Samaria and I like to rub it in.

I drank out of that very well when I went to Israel and stuff that this very well that Jesus was that I got to drink out of it. Oh I like to rub that in. It's great love it and a lot of fun. Okay. And I remember the hill that she's pointed to.

We worship on this hill. I can still see it in my mind's eye memory. All right. In Deuteronomy 18 15 the Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among you from your countrymen you shall listen to him.

So since the Samaritans only recognized a Pentateuch Genesis Exodus Leviticus Numbers Deuteronomy pent five Pentateuch five books and the Jews recognized them and the rest of the the Old Testament. Nevertheless this is the verses from Deuteronomy which is common to both.

So she believed that the Messiah would come and reveal many truths to their people. What Jesus had done at the well of Jacob's. Well where they met is what he had done was he told her her past. That was impressive.

He didn't have to read her palm to do it look at a crystal ball to do it. He did it because he's God. And he says he when he comes will declare all things to us. And it says in verse 26 something interesting.

Jesus said to her I who speak to you when he actually what it says in the Greek is a boy me log on soy. I'm looking at my notes which re when I printed this up they put some blocks in. So I'm probably getting the Greek wrong.

But he's saying a boy me there is a Greek word for he. I think it's out to us. But a boy me is present active indicative. And it's the same phrase used in John 838 when Jesus has before Abraham was I am.

So Jesus said to her I who speak to you M he says I speak to you. I am or I am the one speaking to you. It's kind of a you know I don't know because I'm not a Greek expert. But I don't know if that's significant because it's the same thing that Jesus says in John 824.

Unless you believe that I am a boy me you will die in your sins. So I think it's interesting Jesus uses a going me. Okay. So he just declares himself to be the Messiah. He's saying that's me. That's me.

Yet contrast that with John 615. Now he says to her I'm gonna ask a question why the difference. He says hurt. Yep I'm the Messiah. I'm the one. But in John 615 so Jesus perceiving that they were intending to come and take him by force to make him King withdrew again to the mountain by himself alone.

So wait a minute. He says to her in John 4 yeah I'm the Messiah. I'm the Christ. I'm that prophet. I'm here it's me. But John 6 they want to come in and force him to be that Messiah. And he hides himself.

Why. Why would he do that. Why would he say to her which is interesting to a woman. This is really interesting. He says to a woman he reveals it but to the others he flees from them. And what do the guys want to do in John 6.

The guys want to raise him up to be the king. Kick Rome's butt all right. Now she the woman. And I got some notes about this. A little bit later on I may jump ahead for that about the how women got it have it together generally quicker than the guys do about who Jesus is.

I'll talk about that now a little bit. But why the difference. Why is it that in John 615 Jesus hides himself when they want to carry out his messianic work. What. They proceed to be the messianic work.

And yet here in John 628 sweet John 426 Jesus says that he is the Messiah. Why the difference. Anybody know. I can wait here and get that music. But what timing. What why. Yes that's correct. Why. What timing what.

Right time for what. Mm-hmm not the right time for people to know who he is fully. But he'd already let her know a non-jew a Samaritan woman. Why they killed Jesus. He was proclaiming to be the Messiah.

They wanted to kill him in part for his miracles as well. So it was what they were jealous too. So he could say to this woman. Now I'm not trying to degrade women at all. But is she a threat. She's not a threat now he said to a Pharisee that's different.

A Pharisee's got influence. He can go to the council and say this is what he said to me. And then they can get the Roman guards or whatever. They get their own guards they can get in and they could cause trouble.

But she's a woman who a bad reputation. So who's gonna believe her. Well barely as people do. And I'll tell you we'll talk about that a little bit so not to degrade women at all but her situation is such that they're not gonna really take her seriously.

She's not gonna be a threat. And so I think that's part of the reason. But there's more to it. I think for the proclamation of the Samaritans and the descendants of Abraham will be blessed and get us some a tangent.

I don't have any changes to go into. So it was not time for Christ to be fully revealed publicly. And if he had they would want to have killed him sooner. Now the thing about prophecy is in Micah 5 2 from you Bethlehem Ephrathah too little to be among the clans of Judah.

From you woman go forth for me to be a ruler in Israel. For his goings forth are from long ago from days of eternity. So Micah 5 1 2 it's a prophecy about Jesus coming out of Bethlehem to be the Messiah and that he's eternal in the past sense.

All right. And so why did I bring that up for dang it. Oh prophecy. So some things you can't control unless you're God. But you know I didn't control where I was born or when I was born I was just born.

Wake up. Okay. And here I am now six years later. Well Jesus in a sense could not control always born except we know he's God. Yes he could. All right. That's kind of a cheating thing. But there are instances where it seems to be that Jesus knows a prophecy and is arranging specifically for the prophecy to be fulfilled.

So we know and I'm gonna have to do this sometime. Get the details out about the hundred eighty four three thousand days whatever it is of the proclamation of the coming of the Messiah until he comes in to the city in Jerusalem.

And it's detailed prophecy. And this is another project. I got a research to get it all worked out to make it understandable. But there was a detailed prophecy to the day over a hundred and eighty thousand days in advance or in the past was prophesied.

And Jesus came in exactly when that day was right. I'm sure he knew it was arranged to come in on that particular day. I don't have a problem with that prophecy being being arranged. And Jesus could certainly do that anytime and anywhere he wants.

Why. Because he's God. He's God. Right. All right. So verse 27. At this point his disciples came and they were amazed that he had been speaking with a woman yet no one said what do you seek. Or why do you speak with her.

Now remember we talked about this last week. A man did not speak with a woman that was not his wife or relative. If she was alone out someplace it was impolite. That's kind of what you do with prostitutes though.

And since she'd already had what five husbands and one was once you live with now wasn't her husband. And Jesus had disclosed that to her. And that's why she was not accepted in the morning or the evening to get water at the well in the morning of the evening the cool of the morning or cool of the day she had to go at noon and carry the water which is a difficult time.

And Jesus met her there. All this is breaking social mores breaking social acceptability. And Jesus does this. He's talking to a Samaritan woman. She is just not acceptable. That's not good company. You don't hang around with women like that.

And you know the women especially women who are Samaritans and and who have been all this fornicating and everything else. Jesus what are you doing this. Also we would let her in church. Well they were shocked.

They were amazed that he had been speaking with a woman. And the Greek word there is so module to wonder to marvel be struck with astonishment. It's really a very strong word. They were stunned. He's talking to a Samaritan woman in public now that's important.

I like Jesus. He doesn't seem to think that social mores are all that important sometimes. Now tradition set up by God in the scriptures for fulfillment those are important. But you know the way things are done.

You know I I don't like tradition in churches. Now some people do. I'm not knocking it. I don't like the high church liturgy stand up. We've been doing this for 300 years saying I've sit down touch your nose do five jumping jacks do a couple sit-ups.

And then you go outside. You know I don't like that my wife and I do not like that we dry up it spiritually kills us. I see you have a you have to serve at a church where that was the case. And she would drive home after Sunday service.

She'd be weeping because you know good woman that she was. She you know endured with me. I'm like I know I'm not knocking it. Some people like it okay. And that's fine. I don't understand how they can like it.

But that's just the way I am. You know it's like I don't like country-western. I don't know how anybody could like country-western. I just don't get it like cats and heat fighting in a blender. That's what country-western is to me.

I just got a lots of people unliking me and stuff. But anyway so Jesus he didn't seem to care about traditions and more. A is he cared about people. It was worth his detour from going from where he was to Galilee and going from Judea to Galilee in the count here.

And he went out of his way to go to Samaria and talk to an untouchable and this is the kind of man he was. Was it worth going that far just for her. For one person a woman at that point a Samaritan as well who was basically an adulteress fornicator and yet he wouldn't sought her out.

You know what I have done that no I don't look at my nose at her because I'm more righteous. I'm better than she is. And that's exactly the thing that his actions do it. They expose these things in us.

They expose our sin. They expose our prejudices expose our arrogance our pride our self-righteousness. I'm telling you I got plenty of it in me. I don't want it but it's there. And I like those pictures I see of Jesus.

Not that the blonde here be like occasion version but when he's sitting there and the children are there and the women are with him there's something about this man who's a carpenter who probably is pretty tough and who told off the Pharisees he would sit with the ladies and it wasn't a lustful thing obviously.

But he enjoyed them. Now I wanted to do research on this more. I ran out of time. I got so many things going on. I wanted to find those places where it talks about the women. And I found a couple places versus we go to Matthew 28 5 through 7 the angel said to the woman do not be afraid for I know that you're looking for Jesus who has been crucified.