22.02.09 John 5:19-30 (NASB)
Audio Sermon File: John 5:19-30
Going Deeper: Study Guide
'Like Father, Like Son' - Equal Authority
As most of you know - I am originally from Toronto - and as I usually do when I visit Toronto I get a haircut. It is not that the haircutting is better in Toronto, but it is that I get my hair cut free. On this occasion and like on many other occasions during my haircut, the topic of discussion would lead to comparisons between me to my father. Sometimes the hair cutter would say that I think like my father - sometimes she would say regarding my appearance… that I look younger than my age, just like my father. Likewise most of us have been approached by another person at one or more times in our life and most likely it is by friends of your parents, or even relatives…and they say the same kind of thing….you sound like your father…or that you are like your father or like your mother in such and such a way. We are being compared to our parents. That is why we have such expressions as ‘Like father, like son,’ ‘your a chip off the old block.’ These expressions are really saying that you remind me so much of your father. Whether we are young or older, I think that sometimes we do not like to be compared to someone else. When someone says this kind of thing we may not take it as a compliment - and perhaps when we were kids or teenagers we took it as an insult. The reason for this is that we all like to maintain our own individuality.
But today we find that when it comes to Jesus - the saying ‘like father, like son’ becomes very important for us to understand. Last time when we finished with chapter 5:1-18, towards the end of the passage it became evident by verse 16 that there was clear and open OPPOSITION to Jesus by the Jews. In context of this chapter, OPPOSITION erupted when Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath. Jesus doesn’t distance Himself from any comparisons between Himself and God, but rather He emphasizes the unique relationship He has with the Father - ‘like Father, like Son.’ Jesus by healing the man, was clearly asserting his authority to do so as the Son of God through claiming a direct EQUAL relationship with God. The Jews immediately picked up on the clear assertion of Jesus’ response. In the corrupt minds of the Jews - in their erroneous assessment - not only was Jesus a repeat offender for Sabbath day violations - but He also was a blasphemer by calling God His own Father! The outcome of this verbal exchange was that … the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him.
What we have in the next section of chapter 5 is Jesus’ own claims to His EQUAL AUTHORITY to the Father. These claims should lead each one of us to a response to Jesus. I guess two possible questions that we should ask our self at the end of this sermon is: How am I going to respond to who Jesus is? What things in my life need to be impacted/be changed because of Jesus' identity?
In today’s passage we will find 2 realities: THE AUTHORITY which Jesus intrinsically possesses; and second - THE IMPACT OF THE AUTHORITY.
Let us turn to our passage and as we read it we will see...
1. THE AUTHORITY
19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless [it is] something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. 20 "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and [the Father] will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. 21 "For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. 22 "For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 24 "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
2. THE IMPACT OF THE AUTHORITY
25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 "For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; 27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is [the] Son of Man. 28 "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those who did the good [deeds] to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil [deeds] to a resurrection of judgment. 30 "I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.
Today we are going to look at Jesus’ claim to His identity. We can know who Jesus is by looking to the statements that He has made in chapter 5. In short, Jesus is asserting to the Jews, and us the reader that He possess EQUAL AUTHORITY with God the Father. Jesus already starts His case in verse 18, which set the stage for what we are to examine through this Scripture - and we could even go back throughout the first 5 chapters of this gospel and pick up on the individual puzzle pieces which will form the whole picture, by the end of the Gospel of John. As we continue in this gospel a complete picture will emerge that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name (Jn. 20:31).
In our passage, through 4 areas, we see Jesus making claim to:
EQUAL AUTHORITY (v.19-24)
a) Dependence Upon The Father’s Will
v.19 As we begin our passage we have Jesus answering the Jews. He begins His statement with - ‘Truly, truly, I say to you’ - and if you remember that in this gospel it signifies that something important is to follow. What Jesus is going to say is an important affirmation of His authority. We discover that Jesus can do nothing by Himself - He is fully dependent upon the Father in doing things. Whatever Jesus does, He is copying the will of the Father - that is why Jesus healed the man by the pool, mentioned just in the prior verses. In other words, Jesus in healing on the Sabbath was doing what the Father, who is full of compassion and mercy, had willed to do. The Jews charged Jesus with making the assertion that He was making Himself equal with God - in verse 18 - therefore here in our passage - Jesus doesn’t reject that charge, but fearlessly builds upon the reality of the assertion by the Jews, that He is indeed equal to God. Jesus is telling the Jews that what they believe He is stating is indeed true that - Jesus does what the Father does because He is as great as the Father.
b) The Father’s Love For The Son
v.20 The relationship that Jesus has with the Father is based upon the Father’s continual and ongoing love for the Son. Likewise, alongside the relationship, is an uninterrupted revelation from the Father, to Jesus. God the Father, desires and shows Jesus the Son everything - anything that God is doing is made known to Jesus. In fact Jesus is going to demonstrate the power He has as - [the Father] will show Him greater works than these - than what they have already witnessed to this point.
c) Divine Right To Impart Life
v.21 Continuing, Jesus, explains in greater detail about His authority. Jesus like the Father, whom raises the dead and gives them life - Jesus is the One who imparts life to those whom He chooses. In the Jew’s mind and understanding they would clearly understand that the One who gives life is God. Perhaps in their minds they would be thinking back to the Pentateuch in Deuteronomy 32:39 where God declares - ‘See now that I myself am He! There is no god besides me. I put to death and I bring to life, I have wounded and I will heal, and no one can deliver out of my hand.’ So with OT knowledge of God’s Word, the Jews would be having serious trouble with what Jesus is declaring. Jesus makes a claim to ultimate EQUAL AUTHORITY, on the level of God, because Jesus gives life to whom He wishes. Jesus is claiming for Himself authority which is solely a Divine right. If we think back to John chapter 1 verse 4 we recall the Statement that the Apostle John makes about Jesus - In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
d) The Power To Judge People
v.22-23 To add injury to insult - in the minds of the Jews anyway - Jesus goes even further in His assertion to authority. Jesus clearly states that any judgement upon men by God comes through Jesus - Jesus has [been] given all judgment powers. Jesus is saying that not even the Father need to judge anyone because it may be accomplished through Him. This is what it says about Christ’s power and authority in regards to judgment in Matthew 25:31-33: "When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
All judgement has been given to Jesus for the very purpose of bringing glory to God - as it states in verse 23 - so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. In making this statement Jesus fearlessly deals with the Jews accusations that Jesus is a blasphemer. The purpose of why Jesus is given the authority to judge, is that Jesus can be honored at the same level as God - because He is God. The word ‘honor’ used in verse 23, means ‘to value.’ So Jesus’ rebuttal is that if the Jews or anyone else for that matter does not value Jesus, then they don’t value (or reverence) God. This is true because, since they do not accept Jesus as the Son of God, they are not accepting God as He has revealed Himself to man - and this is blasphemy - it is a sin that leads to death (Matt. 12:31). If people don’t have a proper view of Jesus then it goes without saying that they don’t have a right view of God.
Having given the basis of His authority, Jesus moves to reveal:
THE IMPACT OF THE AUTHORITY (v.25-30)
Who are the most powerful people in the world? Some might now list the person who visited Canada this week - Barrack Obama as the most powerful politician since he really has world wide admiration and support. In the business world some people would say that the most powerful person is Bill Gates who gave billions of dollars to noteworthy charities in the past decade. What about in Canada? Who is the most powerful person? It is argued that Stephen Harper is the most powerful man. But it seems that power is equated more to business than politics. Arguably before retirement, Paul Desmairis is Canada’s most powerful man - even the corporation that he built would attest to that - his company is named Power Corporation. He had such influence that Prime Ministers seek his counsel and he has major political clout. More recently in the news was Conrad Black, but he got himself into some hot water over some business dealings. And Conrad Black had to answer to those who seem to really hold the power - which are the judges. Through judges all matters are decided and disputes settled. Even the right to life is decided through judges. The Supreme Court of Canada makes the ultimate decisions that will affect and bind all Canadians. Yet above the Supreme Court there is a power which is greater than any human court - I am speaking about Jesus. Jesus has been given the right to dispense life and also is One who will judge life in power and in righteousness.
Jesus has established His AUTHORITY up to verse 24 and now we find THE IMPACT OF THE AUTHORITY which Jesus possesses…
v.24 Once again Jesus frames His words with Truly, truly, I say to you…so something important follows. This time and into the next few verses Jesus expands on the extent of authority that He has. Now Jesus begins delineating His authority in 3 critical areas a) He gives life and; b) that He delivers judgement; c) that He is God.
a) He Gives Life
Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life. So what Jesus is saying is that the person who receives His message and receives God who sent Jesus to earth….that person will have eternal life. In order for a person to be ‘born again’ (Jn. 3:3) - that person must hear and believe the gospel. The hearing and believing can be equated to the mark of a genuine Christian - in the sense that one who is born again will inevitably submit to God’s Word and walk in a life of obedience to it - this is true belief. This eternal life that Jesus speaks about and that He offers, begins in a person’s life right away. The person who receives Christ as Lord and Saviour enjoys the blessings of being saved and will not come into judgment - that is that he/she will not be condemned - a guilty charge will never be brought against you again for sin. Eternal life is a change in being and state - as it states in this verse - but has passed out of death into life.
When Christ saves you from your sins, you leave the state of spiritual death - and eternal judgement - and you enter into the blessed reality of spiritual life - forever, for eternity, there will be no end of God’s blessing in His presence and in Christ’s presence in heaven, when we pass away from this world. Imbedded in this verse is an implied reality - that reality is the promise of the assurance of eternal security in Christ, for those who come to a true belief in Christ and the One who sent Him. If we are truly born again we could say that we will never cross over from life to death - or revert from new life in Christ to eternal death apart from God - it just can’t happen.
v.25 Something important is to be stated again which presses the ultimate point that Jesus is making - that He has EQUAL AUTHORITY to God because Jesus is God. Jesus makes a double level reference to time. The first reference is to the future - an hour is coming; and following reference is one which deals with the present - and now is. Yet the tension that exists in this dual reference, both deal with the dead. What Christ is drawing attention to is the resurrection of the dead.
The first reference is the end times resurrection - one which will be physical. The second time reference is to the current state of man - that as in Ephesians 2:1 states that the person who is not born again is spiritually dead. We could also express this reference in this way - that those who hear the voice of the Son of God - that is that they are born again… are spiritually alive or resurrected. Yet in the future, believers will also undergo a physical resurrection. Christ has the authority to call unbelievers to Himself and those who hear will live - in other words Jesus has the authority to grant a spiritual resurrection in those He is pleased to give it to (v.21) - those whom Jesus chooses.
v.26-27 The basis of what Jesus has stated is grounded on the character and nature of God. That in God is life in Himself which speaks to the self existent nature of God. This brings us back to chapter 1 once again - to the first four verses. If you remember we spent a lot of time in the prologue - the first 18 verses of chapter 1 - because the prologue really sets the stage for what is to follow - such as our passage today. Please turn to chapter 1 and follow along, as I read to you the first 4 verses:
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of men.
Just as God is pre and self existent, and just as the Father has life in Himself - the same is true of Jesus - the Son also [has] life in Himself. So here we have a definitive statement that Jesus has EQUAL AUTHORITY because He is God, and He grants this life to us.
b) Jesus Delivers Judgement
Those who reject Jesus, Jesus has the authority to execute judgment, because He is [the] Son of Man (v.27). The expression Son of Man is a self-appointed name for Jesus, and Jesus refers to Himself in this way 94 time in the New Testament. The Jews who heard this expression would have been familiar with it from the book of Daniel in the OT - chapter 7. This is what it says there, and is a fitting image of who Jesus is… 13 "In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed."
When we really take to heart what our passage is teaching us we should be full of praise. As Christians we are on Jesus’ side because God has adopted us as His children through Jesus.
We don’t need to live in fear since we have been granted favour with Christ. We don’t need to panic when things around us go bezerk….Jesus is in full control of life and our lives.
v.28-29 The fear of judgement has been permanently removed for those who have eternal life in Christ - those who are born again. The judgement that Jesus speaks of will take place in the future - "Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, 29 and will come forth; those who did the good [deeds] to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil [deeds] to a resurrection of judgment. Everyone who is alive and those who have died - all will be resurrected. The righteous will be resurrected and so will the wicked. The righteous will rise to live - they will have eternal life in God’s presence - and the evil will be resurrected and face condemnation.
We should note that verse 29 is not teaching salvation by works. The good that is done is produced in the new nature received when a person is saved. These are the good works which are spoken of in James and Ephesians - works done in response to -and as a result of our salvation. These good works evidence saving faith in Christ, they don’t effect or merit saving faith. Those who do evil are unbelievers, those who reject Jesus, and as a result will do evil deeds. So whether a person is saved or unsaved, all people will be resurrected.
c) Jesus is God
v.30 Our passage closes off with Jesus emphasizing His Oneness with the Father. Jesus now gets to the point of this discourse of His EQUAL AUTHORITY with the Father, by making it clear that ‘the Son’ references are references to Himself. Jesus switches from the indirect to the direct - by using the first person - ‘I.’ And what Jesus is saying is that everything that He does is dependent upon the Father, and what He reveals. The judgement that Jesus dispenses is just - it is fair - it is right, because it is in full accord with the will of the Father. Jesus is One with the Father -‘Like Father, Like Son.’
Jesus reveals to us that He is God veiled in human flesh, through the EQUAL AUTHORITY which is an intrinsic part of His nature. In our passage Jesus clearly asserts to the Jews what they knew He was claiming….yet the Jews could not accept as being a reality - because they were spiritually dead. They may have been religious, but they had no life because they rejected the Christ. What the Jews missed was the fact that they didn’t need religion, but they needed a relationship with the Messiah. The Jews were greatly offended by Jesus’ statements. The truth was that Jesus was sent by the Father (v.23), acted in full obedience to the Father (v.30), and brings complete glory to the Father (v.23). Jesus exhibits EQUAL AUTHORITY to the Father through: Dependence Upon The Father’s Will; evidenced by: The Father’s Love For The Son,
The Divine Right To Impart Life, and The Power To Judge People.
Going back to verse 18 of chapter 5 - we see that Jesus also was equal to God in His nature. Jesus has EQUAL AUTHORITY to the Father because Jesus is God the Son. For the Jews they had the opportunity to examine the claims of Jesus. The Jews addressed, were the religious establishment and they dismissed the serious and immense implications of believing the claims of Jesus. As a result they were not committed to Christ and headed for judgement. When you honour God in Christ then you can have the personal assurance from God’s Word that you have been snatched out from just condemnation for your sins - for in Christ you have eternal life. You and I have the reality that we who are in Christ, have been and will be resurrected to life - and we can be supremely thankful that we will not be resurrected unto judgement. The life that we live and the works that result will be an indicator of faith in the Christ we possess… or the Christ that we reject. Both opposition to Jesus and acceptance of Jesus have its rightful implications. Each of us are given an opportunity to hear Jesus’ voice through His Word. Each of us are given the opportunity to respond to Jesus….this is a wake up call to us today….that we need to respond to the claims of Jesus.
If you repent of your sin, and rightly respond and honour Jesus - who is the granter of eternal life and judge, you will be able to please God in everything that you do. Yet for the unbeliever, this is a hard thing to do because we all want to be individuals - we want to be autonomous, and we don’t want to be that ‘chip off the old block.’ Even as believer’s sometimes we find that we don’t want to be told what is right or wrong - we especially don’t want to be told that we are sinning - even if it comes right off the pages of Scripture.
But the identity of Jesus, forces our hand…it leads us to make a decision…to follow Him as your Lord and Saviour of everything - or not to follow Him - or even worse to follow Him half heartedly. As a pastor the most difficult thing in ministry is to see half hearted Christians.
If we faithfully follow Jesus we are going to offend people…we are going to be persecuted - isn’t that what Jesus faced for being uncompromising about the truth - in chapter 5? The alternative is - if we choose not to follow Christ faithfully we will fall into worldliness - people will likely accept us because we have the kind of truth that all can accept…. but wins no one.
Brother and sisters - let us be reminded that Jesus has EQUAL AUTHORITY with the Father, because He is God the Son. Jesus grants life and He rightly judges life too.
(For a full explanation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ - click here - http://www.doihaveeternallife.blogspot.com/)
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