DIVINE AUTHORITY
John 5:19-30
GIVE THE FATHER THE CREDIT
V: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.
What you and I need the most is the truth. We don’t need to know what someone
said. We don\’t need to know people\’s opinions. We don\’t need to know the current
trends. What’s needed is the truth. You cannot always rely on what people say or what they
think or have heard, it may be wrong. You have to know the truth for yourself.
The truth about everything comes from the Lord. The Word of God never changes.
Jesus healed a man who had been lame for 38 years on the Sabbath. The Jews who
heard about the healing and saw the proof of His power questioned Jesus and want to
have Him killed. Not only did Jesus heal, but He called God His Father. The leading
Jews could not Jesus because He claimed a higher authority.
The leading Jews studied the Law (the first 5 books of the Bible), and could recite it, but did not know the spiritual truths of the Law. They relied on their traditions.
Mark 7:9-10
And he said to them: \”You have a fine way of setting aside the commands of God to observe your own traditions!
Many Christians study the Word of God but change the truth to fit their standards when
applying it to their actions. We have to be careful that we don’t judge others according
to our revised righteous standards.
The Jews complained about one of their own being healed, who healed him and
the day he was healed. Instead of praising God, they judged Jesus based on their
traditions. Instead of seeing the good news, they focused on finding fault. When
people want to minimize you, they find fault.
Jesus\’ objective was to do the will of His Father. Even though He and His Father
are one, He humbled Himself and claimed all His actions and power came from
the Father. Jesus followed the Father’s example.
Make your objective the will of the Father.
Acts 17:28
\’For in him we live and move and have our being.\’
There is nothing you and I have accomplished on our own. We have the help of
God whether we recognize it or not. We must learn to give God credit for what’s
happening in our lives. Every good originates in the Lord.
THE FATHER IS OUR DIRECTOR
V: 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.
God is love. The Father’s first love is His Son. His second love is mankind. He loves
us so much that He planned to sacrifice the Son for fallen mankind. For the Son to do
the things of the Father, He has the same character and power as the Father. From the
beginning, the Father and the Son created life from nothing (John 1). It would certainly
be no problem for the Son to raised from the dead His creation.
Before the first coming of Jesus, The Father raised the widow\’s son through Elijah (1 Kings 17:22) and the Shunamite son through Elisha ( 2 Kings 4:32)
Jesus though his own will, raised the ruler\’s daughter (Mark 5:35) and Lazarus
(John 11:44). some of the greater things that Jesus does is the forgiveness of sin,
the giving of salvation to all believers, and the creation of a new heaven and earth.
It pleases Jesus to bring salvation to His chosen.
Our objective should be to please Jesus by patterning ourselves after Him.
One writer wrote, “The Father shows, the Son sees, The Father purpose, the
Son executes”.
Throughout the Bible are God’s examples for us to follow.
JESUS, THE GREAT JUDGE, HONOR HIM
V: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.
Jesus the great judge came down out of Heaven to dwell among us, to experience from
a human perspective our frailties, experience the results of our sins. our fears,
worries, and unbelief. Since Jesus knows us from a fleshly perspective, He is best to judge us. His grace and His mercy cover us.
From a human perspective. Jesus experienced honor and dishonor from His people He came to serve. As the supreme example, He honored His earthly mother and father with love and obedience. He experienced love from His disciples and hate from many who followed Him.
Those who knew Him as a teacher loved the Father. Those who rejected Him as a teacher rejected the Father. The concept of Jesus being the Son of God and Messiah was new to Jewish belief. His followers accepted it. Eleven of the twelve disciples He selected were looking for the Messiah when it was revealed to them. One hated Him.
A lesson to each of us is this, we cannot love the Son without loving the Father. We cannot love the Father without loving the Son. The two are one and work in unison to build the body of Christ. Many religions claim the Father, but deny the existence of a Son. Many of us accept the Son without honoring the commands of the Father.
THE FOUNDATION OF OUR FAITH
V: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.
Notice it is belief in the Father and the Son, not one or the other.
John chapter 1 explains the first part of this truth. In the beginning, was the Word,
and the Word was God, and the Word was with God and become flesh and dwell
among us. It was God the Father who sent God the Son to be with us.
Since we cannot separate God the Father from God the Son, you cannot separate
the love of the Father from the love of the Son. Those who believe in Jesus have
died to themselves and been resurrected in the newness of eternal life. We were once dead
in our sins, but now are alive in Jesus. To hear the Word means to believe
in Jesus. It is the belief in the Son that brings life to the lost. We honor the Father
by loving the Son who was sent for us.
Christ can judge between the living and the dead because He knows the
hearts of every individual. Life in Jesus was granted by the Father. Jesus grants
all believers eternal life.
THE JUDGMENT AT THE RESURRECTION
V: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.
Jesus presents the truth while humbling Himself before the Father for all mankind to
see. Other writers of the Gospel confirm Jesus\’ second coming.
1 Thessalonians 4:16-17, The Apostle Paul
16 For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first:
17 Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Revelation 20:12, Saint John
Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged according to what they had done as recorded in the books.
Revelation 20:15
If anyone\’s name was not found written in the book of life, he was thrown into the lake of fire.
The final work concerning man will be done in unison between the Father and the Son
IN CONCLUSION, THE LOVE OF GOD IS THE LOVE OF THE SON WHO
LOVES US TO ETERNAL LIFE.
Rev. M. Mitchell
