John 5:18-24

John 5:18-24

Therefore because of this, the Jews were seeking even more to kill Him since He was not only breaking the Sabbath but He was also calling His own father God while making Himself equal to God.  Therefore Jesus answered and said to them, “Amen, amen, I say to you that the Son is not powerful enough to do anything from Himself except that which He should see the Father doing.   For that which He sees, the Son does this in a like manner.  For the Father loves the Son and He shows all things to Him – that which He does.  And He will show to Him greater things than these in order that you all should be amazed.  For just as the Father raises up and makes alive the dead, thus also the Son makes alive those whom He desires.  The Father judges nobody, but He has given all judgment to the Son in order that all should honor the Son just as they should honor the Father.  The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  Truly, truly I say to you that the one who hears my word and who believes by the one who sent me has eternal life and he does not come into judgment.  But he will be changed out of death into life.

Thoughts for Today

First Thought:

Now we see some truth about the Jewish leaders.  They sought to kill Him.  Notice what they were offended at.  Yes, they were bothered that Jesus worked on the Sabbath.  But what really bothered them was that He called Himself equal to God.  Of course, I can’t help but wonder what I would think if someone came into my life claiming to be equal to God.  I’m not trying to give the Jewish leaders an excuse, because Jesus did some amazing things to back up His claim!  What I am trying to do is to raise the awareness of what Jesus claimed.  He claimed some very incredible things about His identity and His character, things that few before and few after have had the boldness to claim.  Jesus was not just a healer or a teacher; He was the Son of God.

How do you respond to Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God?

Second Thought:

If we look at Jesus’ claim carefully we can see two really neat lessons.  First, we see that Jesus looks to the Father in order to imitate.  Jesus  says that the Son cannot do anything other than that which He sees the Father also doing.  Imitation is innate to the follower of Christ.  However, this imitation then leads into obedience.  Jesus’ identity as the Son of the Father means that He does what the Father has created Him to do.  Not only does the Son imitate the Father, the Son is obedient to the Father as well.

How do you imitate God?  How are you obedient to the Father?

Third Thought:

We also hear Jesus speak about life and judgment and honor.  Jesus is confident that God can give life.  Jesus is confident that those who believe in the one who sent Him have nothing to fear from judgment.  Jesus is confident that honor will be given to Him in spite of what will be done to Him.  These are all things that we can be sure of in Christ.  When we are in Christ, we can know that we shall be delivered from death into life.

Are you confident that you can claim these promises?  Do you believe in the one who sent Jesus?  How is this demonstrated in your life?

Passage for Tomorrow: John 5:25-29