Jesus and the Father (John 5:17–24)

Series: John: Life in Christ’s NameText: John 5:9–16

By: Shaun Marksbury Date: March 26, 2023

Venue: Living Water Baptist ChurchOccasion: AM Service

Introduction

One of the most difficult topics of the Christian faith is the Trinity. It can be something that can make your brain hurt. Even the greatest minds have struggled to understand it. For instance, the following story has been told:

Augustine, while puzzling over the doctrine of the Trinity, was walking along the beach one day when he observed a young boy with a bucket, running back and forth to pour water into a little hole. Augustine asked, “What are you doing?” The boy replied, “I’m trying to put the ocean into this hole.” Then Augustine realized that he had been trying to put an infinite God into his finite mind.

We can never fully understand God, but He does expect us to ponder what He has revealed about Himself. So, since early church history, pastors and theologians have gathered for councils to debate all the particular aspects of the Trinity we could, such as the nature of the Godhead, the identity of the Son, and the person of the Holy Spirit. Unlike what you may expect, these debates have, in fact, generated as much light as they have heat, helping us to see the Scripture more clearly.

God has worked through Christian history to help us understand His Word more. There are still debates raging today, most recently over whether the Son was in submission to the Father from all eternity past or if He only started to submit at the incarnation. That might not be a question you’ve ever considered before, but if you have, the answer we find in Scripture is that submission began at the incarnation. We’ll see that as we move along in this passage.

We see the Son explaining to the Jewish leaders His relationship to the Father. We’ll notice today that the Son and the Father are equal, that the Son is also now subordinate to the Father (vv. 19–24), and the Son and the Father save (v. 24). Let’s consider the first of these.

First, the Son and the Father are Equal (v. 17–18)

But He answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.

We’re continuing to consider the aftermath of Jesus healing the man at the pool of Bethesda. Last time, we noted that Jesus seemed to vanish when the man went to point Him out to the Jewish leaders, and that was for the benefit of the healed man. Jesus wasn’t trying to avoid a confrontation with the leaders; He just wanted a chance to shake the guy out of his spiritual lethargy and then warn him, “Behold, you have become well; do not sin anymore, so that nothing worse happens to you” (v. 14).

We see here that Jesus was perfectly willing to confront the religious leaders, too. He gives them a long sermon in response to their accusation that He is in violation of the Sabbath day. In short, Jesus says that He can’t be in violation of the Sabbath because of who He is.

What does He say? “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.” Now, that may be lost on us if we don’t know the discussions of that time. One of them was in regard to the very first Sabbath rest in Genesis 2 — is God still at rest, or does He still work? Well, Isaiah 40:28 says, “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Everlasting God, the Lord, the Creator of the ends of the earth does not become weary or tired. His understanding is inscrutable.” As such, most rabbis answered that God must still work today in some capacity, even on Sabbath days, to ensure the operation of the cosmos. As one commentary notes,

Divine providence remained active on the Sabbath, otherwise, all nature and life would cease to exist. As regards men, divine activity was visible in two ways: Men were born and men died on the Sabbath. Since only God could give life and only God could deal with the fate of the dead in judgment, this meant God was active on the Sabbath. … The Sabbath privilege was peculiar to God, and no one was.

Jesus affirms the ongoing working of God, but He adds, “and I Myself am working.” Now, taken in that light, this is a stunning claim to deity — He can work on the Sabbath because His work is on par with God’s! In case we missed in, John explains in the next verse, “For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.” And, indeed, Jesus later claims to be the Lord of the Sabbath (Matt. 12:8).

This causes the Jews to become angry, and it should if Christ’s claims were false. This would be blasphemous. Yet, Jesus goes on to describe the relationship He has with the Father in detail.

Second, the Son is Now Subordinate to the Father (vv. 19–23)

Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

This is the biggest point, and it may be confusing considering our first point today, but I chose the wording for a reason. If the Son is eternally subordinate to the Father, then that suggests some kind of eternal separation from the Father. There would be a will or set of desires in the Son which would have to be subordinated to the will or desires of the Father since time began. That suggests tri-theism, that there are three separate gods in heaven with theoretically individual wills which choose to allow the Father’s will to guide. However, that is obviously not what Scripture reveals about God — He is one (Deut. 6:4).

So, that means that the Son has always been in perfect communion with God. We read in John 1:1–2, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God.” However, something changed in v. 14 when “the Word became flesh.” This means that He took on a full human nature, and this includes a human will. In Philippians 2:6–7, we read that Jesus was in the form of God “but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men.”

For the first time, the Son of God had two wills within Him, a divine one and a human one. Now, of course, because of the divine will, Jesus never sinned, but as Hebrews 4:15 says, He “has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin.” Consider that this human nature had to grow; in Luke 2:51, we read that as a young man, Jesus “continued in subjection” to Mary and Joseph, and He “kept increasing in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Back in Hebrews, we read, “He learned obedience from the things which He suffered” (Heb. 5:8). By adding this human nature to the divine, the incarnation introduced a unique opportunity for God to experience human temptation and growth, all of which makes Jesus a sympathetic High Priest for us (Heb. 4:15)! He understands what we’re going through in a personal way.

Now, I say all that to introduce you to the following verses. Jesus has already said that He is equal with the Father. Yet, He also clearly says here that He is in subjugation to the Father. The incarnation, which John has already told us about in chapter one, explains how these two realities co-exist. It is in His flesh that the Son submits to the Father, thus fulfilling all righteousness for us.

So, with that in mind, we turn to vv. 19–23. Jesus says He can do nothing of Himself, but that is in His human nature. He could do anything given His divine nature, but He laid aside the glory of that position to take on human flesh. He still retains His divine side, but in choosing to not give into temptation and to exercise faith and obedience in the Father’s will, so setting an example for us.

So, we see in v. 19 this submission. Also starting in that verse, we see four “for” statements which I want you to notice, starting “for whatever the Father does.” In v. 20, we read, “For the Father loves the Son.” In v. 21, we read, “For just as the Father raises the dead.” In v. 22, we read, “For not even the Father judges anyone.” These are statements which explain the “truly, truly” statement in v. 19, giving us four subordinating relationships the Son has with the Father.

Let’s look at each of these.

First, the Son does What the Father Does (v. 19)

In this verse, Jesus emphasizes that He can do nothing “of Himself.” Don’t be mistaken — He doesn’t lack ability, which is what the Arians tried to argue. Jesus is God, not inferior to God. What He lacks is instead is independent initiative, a desire to strike out on His own like Satan did. That’s why He says, “the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing;” He can work, but He only does a work if He perceives, through His communion with the Father, that He should be working in that way.

His purpose is to do what the Father does, which is why He gives the first “for” statement — “for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” He won’t do anything “of Himself” because He only wants to be doing what God would be doing, not what His human nature might want in the moment. Of course, there’s a lesson there for us in that we should also only want to do what God wants. He does so because He has the love of the Father, which is the next point.

Second, the Son has the Father’s Love (v. 20)

He continues, “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing.” Now, it’s worth noting that most of the time, in the original language, we read about the agape love of God, but this is the philos (or phileō, for the verb form) love of God. This is in the name “Philadelphia,” supposedly the city of brotherly love. Whether this particular word for love has any meaning beyond the usual is unclear, but what is clear is that the Father is committed and sees Jesus as His beloved Son (Matt. 3:17).

This love contrasts the hatred the Jewish leadership has for Jesus. It’s no surprise that He would be hated by man. Isaiah predicted that the nation would hate Him (Isa. 49:7). People still hate Jesus today, but they should take note that they hate one that God the Father loves.

Because of the love the Father has for the Son, He shows Him what He is doing so the incarnate Son can also do it. In fact, He shows two things — what He is doing and “greater works than these.” Jesus will do things more spectacular and marvelous than healing a man of an infirmity — in chapter nine, Jesus will give sight to the blind, and in chapter eleven, He will raise the dead. After that, He will raise Himself from the grave and then ascend into heaven!

Jesus says that these works are to make the unbelieving Jews marvel. They think they have it all figured out, and they need something which will strike them speechless. Hopefully for them, the awe will turn into worship, though for many, it will not.

Nonetheless, Jesus continues:

Third, the Son has the Father’s Life (v. 21)

One of the principles of God in the Old Testament is that He is life-giving. In Genesis 2:7, we read, “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being.” He will ultimately be the cause for the coming resurrection of the dead.

We read here that the Son has the same power (incidentally, also the Spirit according to Romans 8:11, one of the many evidences of the Trinity). We read that the Son quickens or “gives life to whom He wishes.” This is interesting, for this is the same word applied to the Father, meaning that Jesus is again placing Himself on the same level as the Father. He even declares autonomy, and we must remember that subordination doesn’t mean that Jesus has given up His divine right.

This is why we can trust in Jesus Christ to give us both eternal life and to raise our bodies from the grave one day. He has the ability to do this. It is granted to Him, as well as one other point:

Fourth, the Son has the Father’s Judgment (vv. 22–23)

Jesus says that divine judgment has been delegated to Him from God. Of course, all authority is delegated from God, meaning presidents and kings and rulers of every stripe are accountable to God Almighty. However, in this case, we see that the Father divests all judgment, passing it all to His Son.

Ultimately, this speaks of a future judgment. In John 3:17, we read that Jesus is there, at that moment, not to judge but to save. We are still in that moment, in a sense — the final judgment has not yet come. We will talk more about this judgment next week, but note that the incarnate, glorified Son will come again one day, and He comes then to judge the whole world.

Note how this plays out in v. 23. We read, “so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.” One of the reasons for this judgement is to give the Son His proper due. In fact, we see this exaltation once again, where the Son and the Father are on the same level of honor (the Son remains God in the incarnation just as the Father is God), though the Father grants authority to judge to the Son. Those who do not accept Jesus as the incarnate Son of God do not honor the Father and will not fair well on Judgment Day!

We’ll talk more about the judgment that the Son has next time. For now, we’ve seen that the Son is subordinate to the Father in the incarnation. Yet, back in v. 17, we saw Jesus make Himself equal with God, because He is. The next verse revisits that thought, helping us to see that the Father and Son share the same mission. For our conclusion, let’s turn there last.

Third, the Son and the Father Save (vv. 23–24)

“Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.”

If you wonder what might be the importance of believing in the divinity of Jesus, we see here that the eternal state of our souls depend upon it. We’ve read here a clear threat of coming judgement, and the Jewish leadership would do well to take it to heart. They may despise how Jesus connects Himself so closely with God, claiming both an equality and a subordination in the flesh. Yet, their hatred and desire for vengeance will be exposed on the last day. They will stand before the Christ they condemn and will realize their error too late.

However, if they were to realize just who Jesus is, they can hear some good news from Him. Similarly, if you realize you haven’t always honored the Son as you should have, you should hear this gospel, as well. The one who hears Christ’s Word and believes God can know that he has eternal life. You can know that, though your sins are many, you do not need to fear coming into judgment. Rather, you can know that the Christ who has life can grant it to you, and that is the whole will of the Triune God for you.

Honor the Son by trusting in Him for salvation today.