John 5:18-29 “Like Father, Like Son”

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Great, great passage this week.

We read last week of Jesus healing a man on the Sabbath day, which causes controversy

that leads to Jesus saying, my Father is working, so I also am working.

And the Jewish leaders are upset because they hear Jesus equating himself with God.

He's going to explain some more about his identity now in response to their murderous threats.

Before we read it, I hope that we can all acknowledge how hard these concepts are to wrap our minds around.

I don't want to pretend that's not true.

I still remember when I was a kid and someone at church asked me, who died on the cross?

And I said, God did.

And I remember that person saying, actually it was Jesus.

And that was really confusing to me.

Kids, I don't know if you've had an experience like that.

It was hard for me to understand.

It felt like Jesus was God and was not God at the same time.

That's hard.

Kids, many of you picked up this coloring sheet this morning.

Some of you have this.

Wave at me if you've got a coloring sheet that looks like this with the triangle on it.

Yep, I see you.

Maybe some adults want one.

There's extras in the back if you want.

Yep, you too can have a coloring sheet.

It has this triangle to show you one way of remembering that God the Father is God.

Jesus the Son is God.

The Holy Spirit is God.

All one God, which is maybe hard.

If that seems hard to you kids, know that that's hard for us adults to understand too.

But also know this.

This morning, we're going to focus on this bottom corner of the triangle, the Son.

Jesus the Son being God himself.

That's what we're going to focus on.

And as hard a concept as that is, that is one of the holiest concepts.

One of the most amazing things.

One of the most helpful things that you could possibly learn.

Because it means that when you know Jesus, you actually know the one true God and what he is like.

When you learn more about Jesus, you learn more about that God.

When you know how much Jesus loves you, then you know how much the God who created the whole universe loves you.

Because Jesus is God.

And that is incredible.

And really helpful and really hopeful.

Jesus gives us a window into realities that are beyond this world.

Beyond our full comprehension.

Because nothing and no one else is exactly like them.

Even the triangle.

Let's listen to John 5.

Beginning at verse 18.

This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him.

Because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own father.

Making himself equal with God.

So Jesus said to them,

Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing.

For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.

For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing.

And greater works than these he will show him, so that you may marvel.

For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.

That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.

Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life.

He does not come into judgment, but is passed from death to life.

Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God.

And those who hear will live.

For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.

And he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man.

Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out.

Those who have done good to the resurrection of life.

And those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

This is God's word.

Let's ask for his help.

Father, indeed, these are things too marvelous for us to comprehend, for me adequately to explain.

So, Holy Spirit, would you help us?

Would you speak to our hearts in ways that we can understand that we may not just learn more about Jesus,

that we may know more deeply, more rightly, more passionately the God who made us and who loves us.

We ask it in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

One of the first things to notice here in this passage is how Jesus does not respond to those who are wanting to kill him.

Think how you might respond.

They wanted to kill him because he said he was equal with God.

And that seems to me like the easiest and safest way forward would have been to say,

no way.

Listen.

You are misunderstanding me.

Of course there is only one God.

We're all good Jews here.

Everyone knows that.

I'm not the one.

Not in the way you're thinking about it.

But Jesus doesn't say any of that, does he?

He does clarify some things that we'll come back to in a minute.

Distinctions between father and son.

But in these verses he is affirming in no uncertain terms that he is God.

John has told us already that the word was with God and the word was God at the same time.

And now here is Jesus, the word made flesh, equating himself as the son with God the father, his father.

He first says it generally in everything.

Whatever the father does, that the son does likewise.

The same things, the same way, whatever.

All of it.

Human sons may be a chip off the old block, we say.

They may remind us of their father's mannerisms or skills or occupation sometimes.

But they certainly have to grow into that.

Jesus perfectly reflects the image of God and reveals the very nature, the very person of God.

As the church has affirmed in the Nicene Creed for nearly 1700 years,

Jesus is the only begotten son of God before all worlds.

The world's very God of very God.

Not made of the same substance as the father.

There is nothing God does that is beyond the power and the reach of Jesus.

And as if to drive that point home, Jesus then gives two examples here of things that most clearly belong to God.

Everyone listening would have known that.

The beginning of things and the end of things.

The giving of life and the final judgment.

Jesus says, I do them both.

Giving life.

Verse 21.

Jesus has already healed people.

We've seen it.

But greater works are coming, he says, including raising people from the dead.

Just wait.

We're going to get to read it in John.

For as the father raises the dead and gives them life,

so also the son gives life to whom he will.

He is himself able to make the dead live.

To give life.

Verse 26 says, because like the father, the son actually has life in himself.

No one else, no one else is the Lord and giver of life but God.

But then at the other end, Jesus will also be the judge of all.

The father has given judgment to him.

Verse 22.

And the authority to execute final, eternal judgment.

For sure, a divine prerogative.

Why?

Because he is the son of man.

Yes, the one who has himself lived, been tempted, and obeyed the father.

But more particularly, the son of man is the one in the book of Daniel who comes on the clouds of heaven.

When the books are opened for divine judgment, here's a divine figure who reigns with the ancient of days.

Jesus is doubling down, not backing down on claims of equality with God.

Giving life.

Judging the world.

And then verse 23.

Right at the heart of this argument, the coup de grace, if you will.

Jesus does all these things the father does with the goal that all may honor the son just as they honor the father.

Honor.

Wow.

Honor.

Honor.

What we might call worship of someone as worthy of the reverence due to the king, the creator, the judge, is due to the son.

In fact, without honoring the son, you can't honor the father because he sent the son.

You understand, I think, that this makes Christianity distinctive from all other monotheistic religions, doesn't it?

Judaism, Islam, and others would teach that the best way to honor God is to honor him exclusively.

At the heart of Christianity is the teaching that the way to honor God is to honor the one he sends.

That's how equal, how united, how inseparable are the father and the son.

No other person like that.

Honoring one honors the other.

They can share honor without either losing honor because, as Jesus later says, they are one.

See, Jesus doesn't want you to think that he's just talking himself up as great and powerful as God, that here they are alongside one another.

Perhaps he is running.

He's in the running for speaker of heaven.

He's a rival candidate for greatest God.

Maybe that's how some would take this.

So right as he claims equality, he highlights their relationship, father and son, and the role that he plays.

So that we will know Jesus is not a rival to God.

First notice that all of these things he's doing are possible because the father loves the son.

Verse 20.

A peak, just stop and reflect on that for a minute.

Peek into the eternal Godhead wherein perfect love has always existed.

From whom perfect love has continued to flow.

Wow.

That love between the father and son is the fount of so much comfort and assurance and wonder for us.

But then notice repeatedly how Jesus is not competing with God, but rather submitting to the father.

Verse 19.

Verse 19.

The son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the father doing.

Jesus, being equal with God, has from eternity past agreed to submit his will wholeheartedly to the will of his father.

In love, they hatch the wonderful plan of redemption so that the father, notice even just in this passage, sends the son.

He gives him authority for judging.

He shows the son what he does so that even when the most excruciating thought of being separated from his father

means that drops of blood are pouring as sweat from Jesus, from the flesh of the incarnate son.

He says what?

Not my will, but yours be done.

Do you hear that?

Do you hear in his words?

Do you hear Jesus in full equality with his father saying,

I do the will of my father.

I've come to accomplish his work.

This is how our relationship works, father and son.

The British author and theologian of the last century, C.S. Lewis, popularized an argument

that while it has some limitations, I'll explain in a minute,

is still really powerful when you consider claims like the ones we read in this passage.

It's referred to as the trilemma.

Trilemma, not a dilemma, two things, but a trilemma, three options or possibilities.

It's referring to when Jesus makes these claims of deity that we're just reading.

You may read those and just say, well, that's just what he says about himself.

Anybody can say anything, right?

Lewis says if he's saying things like that, he is either a liar, a lunatic,

or the Lord.

Three options and that's all.

First, he's wrong and he knows it.

Liar.

Second, he's wrong but he just doesn't realize it.

He's a lunatic.

Or third, he's right.

And he really is the Lord, the Lord of all.

Lewis uses this trilemma

to address the notion that I hear often these days

that Jesus is a good moral teacher and that is all.

No more, no less.

Not actually divine,

but as a man I spoke with recently told me,

quote,

someone whose teachings and example shaped Western society for the better.

That's all.

Here's what Lewis said about that in his book,

Mere Christianity.

You must make your choice.

Either this man Jesus was and is the son of God

or else a madman or something worse.

You can shut him up for a fool.

You can spit at him and kill him as a demon.

Or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God.

But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense

about his being a great human teacher.

He has not left that open to us.

He did not intend to.

In other words,

no matter how many good things you may say,

if you falsely claim to be God,

if you tell people to give their lives

for things that you say,

for a false hope,

if you mislead millions,

you're not a good teacher

or person for that matter.

Not at all.

Jesus cannot be just a good person.

He's either the son of God as he claims

or he is a very bad person indeed.

Right?

There seem to be none of these

middle of the road responses to Jesus

in his day either, right?

I mean, once people hear him clearly,

some of them bow down before him in worship.

Others plot his death

or pick up stones to kill him,

but really nothing often in between.

I think it's a good indication

that if we find ourselves

between seemingly extreme options like that,

we are at least hearing Jesus' claims correctly.

Three options.

Lewis concludes this way,

now it seems to me obvious

that he was neither a lunatic nor a fiend.

And consequently,

however strange or terrifying or unlikely it may seem,

I have to accept the view

that he was and is God.

Now the most common objection to this trilemma

is one I addressed briefly a few weeks ago

in talking about the historical reliability

of the biblical accounts.

It's the idea that Jesus is not liar,

not lunatic, and not lord,

but rather a fourth option,

rather he's legend, if you will.

That what we read here about Jesus

is not actually how Jesus understood himself.

He did indeed do lots of good things

and taught lots of good things,

and then it's his followers,

it's all their fault.

They made up these bits,

these small little snippets here and there

where he claims to be God

so that they could turn it into a bigger following

and a more exciting thing to be a part of.

There are so many reasons

to dispute this currently very popular line of thinking,

including the historical nature of the gospel accounts,

the eyewitness timing of the stories,

and many more,

but one I want us to consider this morning

as we try to think about

what Jesus was teaching about his deity,

it's that Jesus so lived this idea

of being equal with God

that it is on nearly every page

of every gospel account.

In our passage here in John 5,

he states it directly.

He's teaching about the nature of it,

but in basically every chapter,

he'll do or say something

that indirectly indicates that he is,

that he must be equal with God.

I'm just gonna name a few

and not give text

because most of these he does multiple

or even dozens of times,

but they're important.

Jesus forgave sins,

and who can forgive sins

but God alone,

the one alone against whom

every sin is committed,

and Jesus pronounces forgiveness himself.

Jesus taught on his own authority.

Every good prophet said things like what?

Thus says the Lord,

or hear the word of the Lord.

Jesus said over and over what?

Truly, truly, I say to you.

In fact, you have heard it was said,

but I say to you.

And just as God's word will be fulfilled,

so Jesus says heaven and earth will pass away,

but my words will never pass away.

Big claim.

Similarly, Jesus performed miracles

on his own authority.

Again, as a rule,

prophets and apostles

give glory to God for miracles.

Jesus heals with his own word,

at his own will,

and receives the glory for himself.

That is a no-no for prophets, isn't it?

What happens when Moses receives glory

for himself for a miracle?

When he tries to take the credit,

he gets significant punishment.

Jesus repeatedly takes credit

with no divine lightning strikes.

Nothing jumps in to correct him

when he takes the credit for himself.

Every time,

one of these miracles that he's performing,

it's as though Jesus is slapping,

you know,

hashtag,

I am God.

He doesn't have to say the words.

What he's doing

is making that statement.

Jesus applied Old Testament passages

about Yahweh,

the one true God,

to himself.

For example,

when the children are praising Jesus

in the temple

after the triumphal entry,

Jesus doesn't stop them.

In fact,

he explains to the chief priests

and the scribes

that this is Psalm 8

happening right in front of them.

Out of the mouth

of infants and nursing babies,

you have ordained praise.

Psalm 8,

a Psalm of praise,

of course,

to Yahweh himself.

Oh Lord,

our Lord.

And Jesus says

it's happening right now

when they praise me.

Jesus connected eternity

with relationship with him.

Life eternal in him.

In fact,

he tells his followers

to love him

and keep his commands

even if it costs them their lives,

even to the point of death.

You are not a very good teacher,

I would say,

unless you've got something

for them after that death.

Jesus received worship

willingly.

Now certainly many saw

and heard Jesus

and they wanted to kill him

for blasphemy.

But some would throw themselves

at his feet

like the leper he healed

who came back praising God.

When that happens,

before other good men

and angels even,

they refused such worship.

They repeatedly

in the New Testament

say,

stand up,

stop worshiping me,

I'm just a man like you.

Jesus doesn't seem

to have a problem with it.

After all,

he doesn't want to point

our worship away

from the one

who's truly worthy of it.

And he is God himself.

I could keep going

on all of these ways,

but Jesus' understanding

of his equality with God

is throughout his life

and ministry.

If you want to cut out

the references,

you will have very little

of the gospels

left in your Bible.

Very few pages uncut.

And you'll have very little

left of a good teacher

or a good person.

He and his claims

to deity

are not a legend.

And most agree,

he doesn't seem like a liar

or a lunatic.

He's calling us

to bow before him

as Lord.

doing that really

is as simple

as trusting yourself

to him.

The one who is God himself

who can truly,

because of that,

give you life.

Jesus says,

verse 24,

that as we hear his word

and believe the one

who sent him,

we have eternal life.

Deliverance from death

and a new life with him.

by believing.

If that sounds like

what I say every week,

good.

Don't forget it.

You have life

by believing in him.

Period.

These things were written

that you might not just

become more moral

and attract God's attention

and affection

because you're such

a good person,

but that you might

believe that Jesus

is the Christ,

the Son of God,

that you might have

life in his name,

that you might realize

that God's attention

and affection

are already

so much yours

that Jesus came

for you.

I want you to know

him

and know that life

because you know him.

And listen,

when you do,

when you believe him,

when you experience

that life,

knowing him,

trusting him,

receiving his love

is so good

that your life

absolutely will change.

When you start

experiencing that new life,

it makes you

completely new.

Let me say it this way

in light of our conversation

about who Jesus

is this morning.

Think of it this way.

If Jesus can't be

just a good person,

you can't be

just a good person either.

If Jesus can't just

be a good person,

you can't just

be a good person

either.

If Jesus

must be

God himself,

if he is your king,

you follow

him.

And if he does,

what does he do?

only

what the father

is doing,

if he

submits

his will

to the father,

then believing God,

then following Jesus

means you give

yourself up to

all of it.

You say you found

life in God,

then

everything

changes.

Submit to his

will in

everything,

right?

Jesus did

too many people

in buildings like

this are content

at being

pretty good

people.

Thinking life

consists,

this is where

life is,

it's in not doing

anything that's

too bad.

It's in coming

to church services

with reasonable

regularity

and doing

some good things

for other people

and that's

life.

I'll go enjoy

myself and do

what I want.

Jesus says in

not so many

words,

that's not an

option.

That is not

a reasonable

option.

Call him a liar,

call him a lunatic,

call him a legend

and it's an option.

You can go on

being a pretty good

decently moral

person.

That's just fine.

But if you call

him Lord

and God,

you must

submit to him

in all of life,

obeying every

word,

reordering every

priority,

right?

That's who he

is.

You've passed

from death

to life,

so now live

like someone

with a new

life,

who knows

the true

king,

who has

eternal

security,

who has

hope today

and purpose,

who has joy

that is worth

sharing and a

hope and eternity

worth sacrificing

for whatever it

costs right now.

Live like that

person,

with reckless

abandon,

fully submitting

everything you are

and all that you

have to Jesus

and his kingdom

and know

that at the end

of the day,

your relationship

with Jesus

does not rest

on how well you

perform at submitting

to him.

Believe in him

and you get

his perfect

submission

to the Father

given to you

as well.

You get that

for your security

and for your

life.

See,

Jesus is not

the first person

in the Bible

referred to

as God's

son.

He is the

true and only

begotten

son of God

who stands

where other

sons have

fallen

and failed.

Adam was

a son of God.

He was

supposed to

reflect God's

image perfectly,

to trust

and obey

God in

everything.

He doubted

God's goodness,

obeyed the

desires of his

eyes.

He failed.

The kings

of Israel

were sometimes

referred to

as sons

of God

who were

to lead

God's

people

and following

after God

and pursuing

his law.

They followed

other gods.

They led

God's people

astray.

They failed.

The people

of Israel,

the whole

group of

them are

sometimes

called

God's

son

who were

supposed

to live

in relationship

with Yahweh

and be a

light to

the nations.

They often

cared more

about themselves,

wandered in

darkness

after other

gods.

They failed.

So,

God sent

his only

begotten

son

who

perfectly

reflects

the image

of the

father,

always

trusts his

plan even

to death,

obeys God's

will in

everything.

He's the

true son.

Jesus is

the true

son who

always leads

God's people

toward the

father and

his good

law that

directs our

paths.

Jesus is

the true

son who

shines as

a light to

the nation

so that they

run to him

and find

life in

him.

So that when

you and I

fail to

bow down,

when we

fail to

measure up

and we

think that

we will be

hopelessly

without life,

we can

trust again

the true

son and

find life

and actually

be welcomed

back to

the father

as sons

and daughters

by faith

in the

one and

only divine

son who

loved us

and gave

himself for

us.

Let's pray.

Jesus,

we bow

before you

in worship

as the

one true

and awesome

God,

the one

worthy of

all of our

praise,

not just

when we

come in a

building and

sing to

you,

but every

moment

of every

day,

with all

of our

lives,

all we

are and

all we

have.

Oh,

help us.

We've

confessed we

often don't

treat you

that way.

We don't

live as

though that's

true.

Help us,

Jesus,

by your

divine power,

your spirit

at work

within us

that we

might really

know life

with you.

Experience it

now that we

might share

it with those

around us

and look

forward to

celebrating it

forever.

We ask this

in your name.

Amen.

For more

information,

visit us

online at

southwood.org.

redesigns,

not

in there,

not

anymore,

let the

thing in

here

is

above

and

all

in the

way.

Underfriages,

in the

ess