Jesus: The Quickener
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I want to read 3 passages of scripture from the KJV:
For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom He will (John 5:21).
Ephesians 2:4–6 (AV) But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, 5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) 6 And hath raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
Colossians 2:13-14 (KJV) And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses; 14 Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross;
In each of these passages I want to draw our attention to a single word:
Quickeneth or quickened
These KJ words have lost some impact as they are translated into modern English:
John 5:21 (ESV) For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.
Ephesians 2:4-5 (ESV) But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Colossians 2:13-14 (ESV) And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, 14 by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.
Now, in the case of John 5:21 the Greek word for quickeneth is slightly different than the other 2 passages.
That Greek word is used 12 times in the NT.
But in the case of Ephesians and Colossians, a single Greek word used is only in those 2 passages.
In all three of these passages we hear a basic truth:
Before we had relationship with Jesus we were dead spiritually.
Our sin separated us from God and eternal life with Him.
Apart from Jesus we were without hope.
But then Jesus, The Quickener, the Life-Giver entered the picture.
The Quickener has delivered us from our former state.
Ephesians 2: 4-6 really illustrates what Jesus has done.
Verse 5 helps us know that being in relationship with Him means identifying with His death so that we, as verse 6 tells us, together with Jesus are raised to new life in resurrection.
Verse 6 also tells us that gain, together with Jesus, we ascend from this earthly plane to sit in heavenly places in Christ.
What a spiritual position we have been given.
Let’s take advantage of it the same way Jesus does, for the benefit, for the blessing of others.
It is from that position in the heavenlies that Jesus intercedes and supernatural help and provision is dispatched.
Who does Jesus do these things for?
According to John 5:21, Jesus quickens whom He will.
The context of John 5:21 is the healing of a man who had been sick for 38 years.
For 38 years he had come to the Pool of Bethesda — and yet he persisted.
I would guess that logically, apart from faith in God, there was no reason for him to even go.
He wasn’t getting stronger and better able to be the first to enter the pool when the water was stirred by an angel of the Lord.
But he kept going anyway.
Maybe that is what attracted Jesus to Him to ask: “Do you want to get well?”
The man gives a valid reason that he will be unable to be healed — someone else will beat me to it.
But then Jesus speaks the man’s healing and his response to it: “Get up, get your sleeping bag and walk.
Immediately, immediately the man was healed, picked up his pallet and walked — even though it was the Sabbath.
I’m guessing the Jewish religious leaders would have said nothing if an angel stirred the waters to allow healing — but when Jesus spoke healing — that was another matter.
They hated Him!
But it was in connection with these events that Jesus makes his statement that, like His Father, He quickens whomever He wants to quicken.
Charles Rolls tells us that in the first chapters of John’s Gospel Jesus we see Jesus minister His quickening, life-giving power to 7 people. Rolls says:
Every one of these seven characters was outside the range of human ability to furnish the requirements necessary for entrance into the kingdom of God.
The Lord made each individual case an occasion for expressing various aspects of His quickening power and other divine prerogatives.
Notice carefully each one is distinct in itself.
The feature stressed with Nicodemus shows Christ’s quickening power regenerating and initiating the ruler into newness of life.
To the woman at the well He portrays His quickening power, redeeming from all iniquity and implanting a well within, springing up to everlasting life, after exposing the racial sin of the Samaritans (see 2 Kings 17:24, 29, 33).
With the nobleman’s child He makes known His quickening power in ransoming from the hand of the grave (Hosea 13:14 margin).
For the man at the pool He exhibits quickening power in raising up and imparting a life that enables him to carry the bed that had carried him for thirty-eight years.
To the woman in the Temple court He displays His quickening power by reconciling her to a life in which there is no condemnation.
On behalf of the man born blind His quickening power is active in revealing, in order to bestow a life that perceives the deity of the Son of God and bows in worship.
At the grave of Lazarus His quickening power is demonstrated in resurrecting from the dead, to show forth eternal life, over which death has no dominion.
Christ, the Quickener of this entire group, manifests a glory that transforms, transmutes, and transcends.
Let’s go to the Quickener, to Jesus in prayer, asking Him to speak life into death.
Miracles into hopelessness.
Revival into spiritual lethargy.
Again as Charles Rolls says:
… the work of this Quickener doesn’t cease after He has imparted life to the individual soul.
We all need His continued activity for empowerment, endowment, enlightenment, and enjoyment …
By virtue of His quickening ministry, He is able to change our many deficiencies into manifold abilities.
May we now turn to the One who quickens and plead not just our own case, but the case of others in desperate need!