John 5:19-30
19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out — those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
Observations for living today:
Jesus answers the charge of the righteous leadership who in Jn 5:18 accused Him of:
1) breaking the Sabbath;
2) calling God his own Father; and
3) making himself equal with God.
When You See Jesus You See The Invisible God (19-20, 30)
> Jesus does nothing apart from the Father: he could do nothing by himself.
> Everything He did, He already saw the Father doing: Jesus does what the Father does.
> Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does: Father showed Jesus everything.
When You Honor Jesus, You Honor God Who Sent Him (21-24, 26-27)
> Father gave Son the power to have life in Himself: Jesus can raise the dead and give them life.
> Father gave the Son the authority to judge: Father judges no one, judgment delegated to Jesus.
> Whoever hears the words of Jesus and believes God who sent Him will have eternal life: you have crossed over from death to life and will not be condemned on judgment day.
The Miracles Of Jesus Are Small Compared To What God Is Going To Do (20b, 25, 28-29)
> A time is coming and has now come, those who are dead have a chance to hear the truth spoken by the voice of God; those who can hear it will live: the Son of God makes the truth of God known, those who believe Him will live.
> Another time is coming when all in their graves will hear His voice, good and bad alike, and will rise to face the judgment of Jesus: those who believed the voice they heard when He spoke to them will have a good day, while those who would not honor Him, not so much (Dan 12:1-3; Rev 20:11-15).
Reality in Christ:
Everything Jesus did/does shows his love for the Father; everything the Father did/does shows his love for his Son. Everything testifies God loves His Son and the Son loves the Father. God is at work to this day and His Son also is at work—to convey a very simple message: God loves you and wants you to understand how much. Jesus is God’s Christ, the Son of the Living God (Mt 16:16). He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His Being (Heb 1:3). When you see Jesus, hear Him and know Him, you see, hear and know God. The Father sent the Son so you could see and understand the character and purpose of God.
Jesus loved God – 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. When He spoke to those who opposed Him Jesus said, 26 "I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world." 27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [the one I claim to be] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." (Jn 8:26-29) When He spoke to His friends just before His Passion He said, 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. (Jn 14:30-31)
God the Father and His Son made sure we could clearly know and understand the scope of God’s love for us. The Father wants us to know He loves us just like He loves His Son Jesus. In Christ we can participate completely in the love of God – this goes beyond just knowing about it – it includes becoming immersed and completely taken up by it. Consider Jesus’ prayer Jn 17:20-24: 20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their [Apostles’] message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Therefore, carefully consider the voice of God, “He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.”
Fact – If you want to honor God you will honor the Son
Critical question – How do I honor the Son?
Before you answer, consider what Paul wrote in Hebrews, remembering what Jesus said to His disciples on the night He was betrayed: “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing” (Jn 14:12). If you live in the Reality in Christ, you are under the new covenant He sanctified with His blood, about which the Holy Spirit says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (Heb 10:16-17; Jer 31:33-34)
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, 'Here I am — it is written about me in the scroll — I have come to do your will, O God."
8 First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:5-14)
God did not want offerings and sacrifice, He wanted man to do His will, obey Him, love Him; in Christ we can. The answer to How do I honor Christ? will be found in your response to Jesus’ word: whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. The Reality is – “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:3-4).
19 Jesus gave them this answer: "I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. 21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. 22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25 I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 "Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out — those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me.
Observations for living today:
Jesus answers the charge of the righteous leadership who in Jn 5:18 accused Him of:
1) breaking the Sabbath;
2) calling God his own Father; and
3) making himself equal with God.
When You See Jesus You See The Invisible God (19-20, 30)
> Jesus does nothing apart from the Father: he could do nothing by himself.
> Everything He did, He already saw the Father doing: Jesus does what the Father does.
> Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does: Father showed Jesus everything.
When You Honor Jesus, You Honor God Who Sent Him (21-24, 26-27)
> Father gave Son the power to have life in Himself: Jesus can raise the dead and give them life.
> Father gave the Son the authority to judge: Father judges no one, judgment delegated to Jesus.
> Whoever hears the words of Jesus and believes God who sent Him will have eternal life: you have crossed over from death to life and will not be condemned on judgment day.
The Miracles Of Jesus Are Small Compared To What God Is Going To Do (20b, 25, 28-29)
> A time is coming and has now come, those who are dead have a chance to hear the truth spoken by the voice of God; those who can hear it will live: the Son of God makes the truth of God known, those who believe Him will live.
> Another time is coming when all in their graves will hear His voice, good and bad alike, and will rise to face the judgment of Jesus: those who believed the voice they heard when He spoke to them will have a good day, while those who would not honor Him, not so much (Dan 12:1-3; Rev 20:11-15).
Reality in Christ:
Everything Jesus did/does shows his love for the Father; everything the Father did/does shows his love for his Son. Everything testifies God loves His Son and the Son loves the Father. God is at work to this day and His Son also is at work—to convey a very simple message: God loves you and wants you to understand how much. Jesus is God’s Christ, the Son of the Living God (Mt 16:16). He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His Being (Heb 1:3). When you see Jesus, hear Him and know Him, you see, hear and know God. The Father sent the Son so you could see and understand the character and purpose of God.
Jesus loved God – 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. When He spoke to those who opposed Him Jesus said, 26 "I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world." 27 They did not understand that he was telling them about his Father. 28 So Jesus said, "When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am [the one I claim to be] and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. 29 The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him." (Jn 8:26-29) When He spoke to His friends just before His Passion He said, 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. (Jn 14:30-31)
God the Father and His Son made sure we could clearly know and understand the scope of God’s love for us. The Father wants us to know He loves us just like He loves His Son Jesus. In Christ we can participate completely in the love of God – this goes beyond just knowing about it – it includes becoming immersed and completely taken up by it. Consider Jesus’ prayer Jn 17:20-24: 20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their [Apostles’] message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Therefore, carefully consider the voice of God, “He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.”
Fact – If you want to honor God you will honor the Son
Critical question – How do I honor the Son?
Before you answer, consider what Paul wrote in Hebrews, remembering what Jesus said to His disciples on the night He was betrayed: “Anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing” (Jn 14:12). If you live in the Reality in Christ, you are under the new covenant He sanctified with His blood, about which the Holy Spirit says: “This is the covenant I will make with them after that time, says the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and I will write them on their minds. Their sins and lawless acts I will remember no more.” (Heb 10:16-17; Jer 31:33-34)
5 Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said:
"Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; 6 with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. 7 Then I said, 'Here I am — it is written about me in the scroll — I have come to do your will, O God."
8 First he said, "Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them" (although the law required them to be made). 9 Then he said, "Here I am, I have come to do your will." He sets aside the first to establish the second. 10 And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.
11 Day after day every priest stands and performs his religious duties; again and again he offers the same sacrifices, which can never take away sins. 12 But when this priest had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God. 13 Since that time he waits for his enemies to be made his footstool, 14 because by one sacrifice he has made perfect forever those who are being made holy. (Hebrews 10:5-14)
God did not want offerings and sacrifice, He wanted man to do His will, obey Him, love Him; in Christ we can. The answer to How do I honor Christ? will be found in your response to Jesus’ word: whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. The Reality is – “His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires” (2 Peter 1:3-4).
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