So the week before Christmas, we read how Jesus had healed a man that had been lame for 38 years laying by the Pool of Bethesda.  But because it was the Sabbath, the Jews harassed this man for carrying his bed as he walked.

 

The man had answered the Jews and told them, look, the One who made me well told me to take up my bed and walk…if you have issue, take it up with Him. 

 

And so they did…they find Jesus later and John tells us in verse 16 that they were so angry with Him breaking the Sabbath, they wanted Him dead. 

 

They engage Jesus beginning in Verse 17 and Jesus begins by telling them there in Verse 17…My Father (or Pate-ar) has been working until now, and I have been working.  In other words, God the Father doesn’t rest from His work, and neither do I…

 

Jesus said to the Pharisees in Mark 2:27 that the Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath > but you Jews have turned it into a display of your own righteousness rather than a blessing from God to His people…we see that even still today.  With charlatans espousing spiritual gifts such as healing or prophecy and so they exploit the flock of God rather than healing, serving and feeding them…

 

And so Jesus says God is my Pate-ar…which we know by verse 18, Jesus was saying that He and God are equal…

And so with Jesus’ statement back in v17, understand that Jesus is beginning a profound yet simple teaching on His relationship with God the Father and He begins by telling the Jews that He was and is a perfect and complete reflection of God the Father.  Jesus is saying here that if you’ve seen Him, you indeed have seen the Father.

 

John tells us that this statement from Jesus enraged the Jews and they sought all the more to kill Him.

 

And so Jesus continues in Verse 19 by saying, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 

 

By saying this, Jesus is not stating that He is limited, or that He is lesser…that would be inconsistent with several other of Jesus’ statements such as John 8:19 when Jesus said, “If you had known Me, you would have known My Father also” and John 10:30 when Jesus said, “I and My Father are One.” 

 

Reading this verse alone, you could read it in such a way as to conclude that Jesus is saying that He can’t do anything on His own…but that’s not what He’s saying here…He’s revealing a second aspect of His relationship with the Father…and that is not only is He a perfect and complete reflection of the Father, but He is also, look, wholly dependent on the Father.  He and the Father are One.  So as the Father wills, He wills...as the Father does, He does...

 

And so we have in our study…Jesus, the perfect and complete reflection of the Father, and Jesus, wholly dependent on the Father…

 

And so Jesus continues in Verse 20, For the Father loves (phileo) the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.

 

Jesus says the Father shows the Son all things…that word for all in the Greek is the word Pas which literally means, “each and every thing, the whole, everyone, all things, everything collectively and individually”…there is nothing done in secret between the Father and the Son, there is nothing known individually within the Godhead…they are boned in perfect unity, and they are bonded in perfect love.

 

And Jesus says, “greater works than these are coming!”  And I believe what He is speaking of here is the work of the Holy Spirit through man > as this is the same sentence structure and word combination used in John 14:12 where Jesus says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater than these he will do, because I go to the Father.”

 

 

 

 

 

Up until now…it is God the Father working through Jesus Christ, in perfect unity with Him, to heal the woman at the well, to raise the lame man to his feet…but there is coming a day, a day in which we ourselves live, where mere mortal men, will raise the lame to their feet, will call the dead as if they were living and will set lives free through the working of God the Father, by the grace given to us through Jesus Christ, with the power and authority of the Holy Spirit…with the hands, feet and mouths of mere mortals. 

 

Greater works than these God will show through Me, Jesus says, because now My Father works and I work but listen, I will give rise to a race of mortal men and women that as My Father works, and as I work, so shall they work…and that’s you and I…If we would but place our faith, our trust, and our lives – our decisions, our days, even our hours in the hands of the One who is able to redeem them…then great works God will do even through you!

 

Jesus said in John 14:23, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.”  That is marvelous don’t you think?  What did Paul mean when He said it is no longer I that lives but Christ that lives through me…He meant, I am more!  I am alive!  The works which I do, the words which I speak, the power that sets entire cities and houses free…none are mine but I am full of marvel as I watch God work through me…that is to live homes…

 

Jesus continues in Verse 21, For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  The phrase here in the Greek for “gives life” can also be translated “He quickens” and a neat way to consider that or understand that is to think of smelling salts.  He makes them aware of what is really going on...

 

Now keep in mind, Jesus has not yet raised anyone from the dead...but He will.  He has however raised folks from their beds, from their situations, from their circumstances...

 

And He continues in His work still today...setting us free from the penalty of sin, eternal torture and anguish > but also from the power of sin, raising us from our addictions and spiritual poverty and sinful ways that hurt, destroy and isolate us...

 

Isolation is an interesting thought…because it is typically self-imposed…someone is alone, yet, in reality they are not alone...their pride separates them and leaves them to decay.

 

Verse 22, For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment (crisis) to the Son, that all should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. 

 

He says plainly to the Jews who want to kill Him for making Himself equal to the Father, look ya'll better recognize...your desire is not to kill me, it is rather to kill God Himself!  He is the One who puts a damper on your self-exaltation!

 

Verse 24, Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.

 

The hearing ear and the believing heart are the consequences of having eternal life….not the qualifications.  So many struggle with wanting to be adequate Christians or well learned or well esteemed…but the truth is that a heart bowed to God, a human will submitted to God’s word, is a heart that is growing in God’s grace, at God’s pace…

 

And Jesus here says if one will receive My word and believe in My Father then that one has everlasting life > the word “has” that Jesus uses is in the present active indicative tense…meaning right now…real life, exuberant life, life that Jesus came to provide!  John 10:10 life > yet we squander this promise don’t we…with pride.  With our own wills.  With petty strife…I must have my way or I’m taking my ball and going home…how this rips us off…

 

And Jesus says look if you don’t hear Me and believe in My Father who sent Me then you shall come under judgment…who’s judgment?

 

 

 

 

You are condemning yourself  > we judge ourselves…yes Jesus said back in verse 22 that all judgment has been committed to the Son however later in Chapter 8 verse 15 Jesus will say that He Himself judges no one…why…because the free gift of eternal life is offered to all.  It is God’s forbearance, long-suffering and goodness that leads men to repentance, Romans 2:4 says, not God’s heavy thumb of condemnation…and so it is not God who sends people to hell, who judges man to burn and suffer for eternity, it is us…we judge ourselves…

 

And that judgment is, do we or do we not accept the free gift of peace with God through Jesus Christ?  That’s it.  There’s no other way.

 

We all judge Jesus, not the other way around…We judge Jesus to be either the Son of God or not, either the Savior or not, either Lord or not…but in reality, as we cast this judgment upon the Christ, we are judging ourselves because we are the ones whose destiny will be determined by our decision….not Jesus’….His destiny is unaffected.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever…it is we who judge ourselves…

 

Paul and Barnabas at the end of Acts 13 said to the Jews who had rejected Christ, (this is Acts 13:46), “you judge yourselves unworthy of everlasting life.”

 

 

So the question to you is, do you judge yourself worthy?  It’s not God who must judge you worthy…He has displayed that you’re worth it…Romans 5:8 “God demonstrated His love for us that while we were yet sinners Christ died for us.”  You must decide for yourselves…just as Jesus says here back in our text…receive His word, believe in God > you judge yourself worthy and therefore there is no condemnation to those that are in Christ Jesus but you pass from death to life. 

 

Ultimately, the choice is yours.  Follow you, or follow Him.

 

Verse 25, Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live.  Now later Jesus will raise Lazarus from the dead, He will raise a widow’s son from the dead and He will raise a 12-year-old daughter of a temple official named Jairus from the dead…but Jesus is also talking about those that would hear His word and believe…He has the power to grant them everlasting life…right now…didn’t have it, now you do…so death to life.

 

Verse 26, For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself.  It’s important that we understand what Jesus was saying here because this statement can be confusing…again possibly sounding like the Son is less than the Father, or that the Son was lacking in something but that is not the case. 

 

 

Jesus says here that the Father has life in Himself…you and I have been given life…not God, He is the Giver of life…no one gave Him life…life originates from Him…and notice we also know that Jesus is the same…Look back at chapter 1 verse 4, John says In Him was life…and the word “was” there in the greek is “en” presented in the imperfect indicative tense which means that the verb is continuous…so you could read John 1:4 like this…In Him life was, always was…and so Jesus also, was not given life but equal with God, is the Giver of life…

 

And so when Jesus says here that God has granted the Son to have life in Himself…He is not saying that He is less than God the Father but rather that God has didomi or has appointed Jesus to an office and that office or position is the mediator between God and man as we learn in 1 Timothy 2:5…interestingly that word didomi is in the Aorist Active Indicative tense which denotes a situation that is simple and/or undivided…just as the office given to Jesus as the Christ, the Mediator, was not just the Father’s unilateral appointment, but was God the Father and God the Son once again working in perfect unity. 

 

So understand, peace with God, everlasting life, God’s prescribed and only way, is offered to all through a here-and-now, real-deal, personal relationship with Jesus Christ, who indeed is God.

 

 

Jesus continues, verse 27 and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  The office of mediator, the position of Savior, Jesus is so very qualified because He lived among us, He understands us not only completely as our Creator, but also empirically, and therefore He is the One through which man must be saved.

 

Verse 28, “Do not marvel at this, (the look on their faces must have been very telling) for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth…those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation. 

 

Jesus changes gears a bit just for a moment to speak of the coming day of final judgment…in which all will obey the command of the Lord and come forth…many may choose to disobey the call of the Lord now but it is to their demise because one day they will not have that luxury and all will come forth…

 

Those that are saved will approach the throne seat of grace for their works done in the Lord to be tried by fire…or judged and those that remain, rewarded…those that are not saved will approach the throne seat of justice, or the White Throne Judgment Seat, and receive the sentence of eternal condemnation…which they have secured for themselves…

 

 

Verse 30, Jesus now returns to His teaching on His relationship with the Father, I can of Myself do nothing.  As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

 

Couple things here as we finish up.  First, you’ve probably heard many times, especially from the world, “hey look man, doesn’t the bible say judge not lest ye be judged first?” and you’ve even probably had a fellow Christian offer this verse up (which by the way is Matthew 7:1) in defense of either themselves or someone else…or the T-shirt…

 

But Jesus sets the record straight here and I want you to be very clear on this topic of judging others…we are most certainly to use our judgment in serving and loving others…however be very clear that the judgment the bible directs us to carry out must be a) righteous and b) carried out by one who is, as Jesus says here, not seeking his own will.

 

Ok so what is righteous judgment?  Great question.  Important question.  Jesus here in John 5:30 gives us a partial definition when He says My judgment is righteous because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.  Therefore, righteous judgment seeks the will of the Father, not the will of the follower…

 

 

 

 

Now, turn over to John 7:24, here Jesus will complete the definition of righteous judgment as he states, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge (see that, Jesus commands us to judge) with righteous judgment.”  And so righteous judgment is not according to appearance which appeals to your senses, your sensual self, your flesh, but listen, judge based on the Word of God and then go and prayerfully confront a brother or sister or whomever seeking the will of the Father alone…that is to set free! 

 

Righteous judgment is the application of the wisdom of God…and the wisdom of God is (as James put it in James 3:17) is pure, peaceable, gentle, reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

 

If your judgment is peppered with strife, frustration, anger, heat, or hardness…then search your heart, question your motives…it may very well be because your judgment, that sharp correction you’re offering…is not righteous > which means there is a bit of your will being sought…

 

Think of it as Paul did in his correction or judgment that he offered to the Corinthian church there in 1 Cor 7:25.  Paul says I give judgment as one whom the Lord in His mercy has made trustworthy…powerful…Are you trustworthy of the Lord in your judgment?  If not, you may be offering words of bondage rather than words of wisdom…

 

 

And so we finish today on this verse as Jesus says here that He does not seek His own will, but the will of the Father, and so in other words, He is submitted to the Father.  Yet another key aspect of Jesus’ relationship with the Father…and maybe you’ve picked up on this already, but these are not only aspects of Jesus’ relationship with the Father, but they are also essential conditions for our own spiritual growth…our own sanctification…

 

V17 > Jesus is a perfect reflection of the Father.

V19 > Jesus is wholly dependent on the Father.

V20 > The bond is love and unity…which in us will breed security and trust...

V30 > Jesus is submitted to the will of the Father.

 

And so sanctification, spiritual growth, to reflect God, to depend upon God, to be submitted to God...to have proven trust in Him…and then the results...you're out of this world, freed from the finiteness of this temporary tent and powerfully effective as a witness to the Truth!

 

And so next week we’ll finish up our in-depth look at Jesus’ conversation with the Jews in which He will continue to lay it out clearly for them exactly who He is and what He has come to do…set right the wrongs and establish the glory of His Father rightly in the eyes of His people…14 times, Jesus uses the phrase My Father referring to Yaweh in the latter parts of Chapter 5…so clear He is being…and I believe He is being clear to you today also…to give it over to Him…all of it.