GETTING STARTED
There is a story about the son of a monarch of a small European state. This son wanted so desperately to be treated as just another citizen during the time of his father’s reign that he often used a pseudonym. One day, he came upon a horrific accident involving a cart, a horse, and a peasant. As the son rushed to help, a bystander tried to stop him, as it was feared that moving the cart would cause harm to the person trying to help. The son fought back and finally yelled, “I am Charles Limburg, son of John of the House of Luxembourg. I will help if I please.” In that moment, he realized how much relationship matters.
- What is your understanding of the relationship between God and Jesus?
READ THE WORD: JOHN 5:19-24 (ESV)
19 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. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 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. 24 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 has passed from death to life.
English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Crossway Bibles. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
DIGGING DEEPER
- In verse 19, who did Jesus say gave him authority to perform the miracles he had been performing in the previous verses we’ve studied in John 5?
- For what two reasons did God give Jesus this authority (vss. 20)?
- What do verses 21-22 further explain about the relationship between Jesus and God?
- How does verse 24 convey, in no uncertain terms, that Jesus is God?
- How could these verses help you guard against false religions or false teachers who claim to worship God but who discount Jesus?
RESPOND TO GOD
In these verses, Jesus not only responded to the accusation of the Pharisees but, in the minds of the Pharisees, he also did the unthinkable. He presented himself clearly and unequivocally as God. Jesus told them—as he tells us today—that he and the Father are one. They are equal in authority, power, and honor. When we see Jesus in action, we are seeing God in action. And the last verse of this passage reminds us that if we believe this, we will be saved. It doesn’t say we will be saved if we can fully understand it or if we can explain exactly how the concept of a triune God works. It says we will “pass from death to life” if we believe.
- Thank Jesus that he gave up his rightful place as an equal at the right hand of the Father to come to Earth to be mocked, beaten, and killed for you.
- Ask God to help you believe with childlike faith that believing in the Son brings everlasting life.