The Equality of the Son to the Father

Read

John 5:18–29 (ESV)

18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

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 For 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.

25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, 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 also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.

28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Opening Prayer

Setting the Stage

In v.17 Jesus has declared His equality with God.

And, this morning I want us to begin looking at how Jesus defines such equality.

The religious leaders knew exactly what He was declaring.

And, they considered it blasphemy and worthy of death...

And, it was blasphemy…UNLESS Jesus is actually equally God.

And, so, if Jesus is God…which He is.

How are we to understand this declaration?

Is there more than One divine being?

God has always declared Himself the One, true God.

The OT & NT are explicitly monotheistic.

So, how do we relate Jesus being God...

With the Father being God.

Well, Jesus clarifies and declares His relationship as God with the Father, who is also God.

Jesus uses the remainder of John 5...

To Protect the Doctrine of God

Jesus is clarifying the truth that He is not an OTHER God.

Jesus is not equal with God as another God or as a competing God.

He is the God.

Jesus is describing this unique relationship that He has with the Father.

Jesus is not declaring independence from the Father.

To be independent would be to declare yourself a separate God.

Jesus explicitly and repeatedly teaches that He and the Father are One.

Not two, but One.

Now, the first thing I want to do is lay a foundation for the doctrine of the Trinity and of the God-Man, Christ the Mediator.

First, we speak of the Trinity in two ways...

Mode of Existence & Mode of Operation

We speak in these two ways because the Scripture speaks of the Triune God in His mode of Existence or Being and the Triune God in His mode of Operation or Action with Mankind.

Mode of Being/Existence = Each are Fully God, three person in One Godhead

Mode of Operation/Economy = They execute the will of the Triune God in different ways.

So, we can say according to Scripture...

The Father sent the Son, the Son came and secured redemption, and the HS applies the redemption of Christ to His bride.

Each with a different role in the economy of God or the Operations of God with Mankind.

In our Confession (1689), we read...

Of the Triune God

2.3

The divine and infinite Godhead consists of three persons: 1) the Father, 2) the Word or Son, and 3) the Holy Spirit. At the same time, these three persons have the same substance, power, and eternity [mode of being]. They are each fully God, yet God is undivided. The Father is not begotten of nor proceeding from anyone. The Son is eternally begotten of the Father. The Holy Spirit proceeds from the Father and the Son. All three are infinite and have no beginning, so they are all only one God, who is not divided in nature and being. The three persons are distinguished by several unique characteristics and personal relations [Father, Son, HS]. The doctrine of the Trinity is the foundation of all of our fellowship with and comforting dependence upon God.

Of Christ the Mediator

8.2

The Son of God is the second person of the Holy Trinity and:

is fully and eternally God

is the brightness of the Father's glory

is of the same substance as the Father and equal with the Father who made the world

sustains and governs everything he made

At the proper time, he took on a human nature, along with all of its essential properties and common weaknesses, except sin. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the womb of the Virgin Mary when the Holy Spirit came down upon her and the power of the Most High overshadowed her. He was born from a woman of the tribe of Judah and was a descendent of Abraham and David, according to the Scriptures. In this way, two whole, perfect, and distinct natures were inseparably joined together in one person. One nature never converts into the other, and the two natures are completely pure and unmixed. This person is fully God and fully human, and at the same time one Christ. He is the only mediator between God and humanity.

Very important truths explained that are taught clearly in Scripture.

Carefully worded to stay within the bounds of Scripture...

And, yet leaving the mystery of it so as to not fall into man’s philosophy and violate God’s revelation.

So, the Bible teaches us something we cannot fully comprehend...

And, in order to fully comprehend God you would have to be God...

And, we are not.

So, the Scripture teaches us...

God = One Nature, three persons

Christ = One person, two natures

When we read Christ’s words in the NT, we are confronting God and man in one Person throughout.

When He speaks of His unity and equality with the Father, we know this not to be true of His human flesh and soul but rather of His divine nature...

Just as when we read of His lack of knowledge, we know He is speaking of His human nature.

It goes both ways.

And, both are true.

When He dies on the Christ, His divine nature does not perish.

That would make God mutable, and He is not.

The eternal Son of God does not change when He takes upon flesh.

He adds a human nature to Himself.

One Man, two nature.

Without mixture or change of either.

We do not throw out the Simplicity and Impassibility of the divine nature.

When Christ teaches...

He is no more always presenting Himself as true God than He is presenting Himself as true man.

The Gospel is that He is both.

The Jews understood what Jesus was claiming, that He was God...

Equal with Jehovah.

But, they needed clarification.

Christians would not hold to multiple Gods any more than the Jews.

But, what we have is a distinct Christian form of monotheism.

A monotheism that was revealed in seed form in the OT...

And granted glorious clarity in the NT.

Jesus Explains

John 5:19 (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.

So, Jesus begins this discourse on the nature of His relationship with His Father.

We notice that in v.19 we see a declaration followed by for “Because” statements that may be translated as “For”.

We notice that Jesus opens His statement with Truly, truly.

This is the equivalent of saying…I most solemnly assure you

And He says I have...

No Independent Will

There is not a separate agenda in Jesus.

There are not two agendas or wills at work here.

There are not differing motives here.

There are no competing deities.

The Son does nothing of His own accord.

The Son only does what He sees the Father doing.

So, here we see this beautiful picture of:

unity of will.

unity of motive.

unity of redemption.

There is not one itoa of separation, only unity.

It’s not just that the Son does not act independently from the Father...

It is that He cannot act independently from His Father.

Why?

Because they are the same God in essence and being.

What a beautiful picture of the Father and the Son working in perfect harmony...

For the glory of God and the redemption of Christ’s bride.

Now, let’s look at the...

The First Because

John 5:19 (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.

Think about what is being said here.

Everything that God the Father does...

That very thing...

The Son does in the same way.

Meaning with the same efficacy, will, motive, result.

The omnipotence of God the Father...

Equally displayed in God the Son.

—> He is the Perfect Son.

Perfect Sonship involves perfect identity of will and action with the Father.

The Son does the same things with the same power and in the same manner.

The Son Can Do All that the Father Can Do and He Does

Act of Creation

God

Genesis 1:1 (ESV)

1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.

Christ

John 1:3 (ESV)

3 All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.

Providence

God

Romans 11:36 (ESV)

36 For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.

Christ

Hebrews 1:3 (ESV)

3 He [Jesus] is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

Miracle

God

Psalm 72:18 (ESV)

18 Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, who alone does wondrous things.

Christ

John 20:30 (ESV)

30 Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;

Salvation

God

John 5:21 (ESV)

21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.

Christ

John 5:25 (ESV)

25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.

Raising the Dead

God

Ezekiel 37:13 (ESV)

13 And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people.

Christ

John 5:25–26 (ESV)

25 “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, 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 also to have life in himself.

Jesus can do anything that God does.

Only God can do what God does.

So, we are being taught here that to do whatever the Father does...

The One doing such, must be as great as the Father...

And, as divine as the Father.

How is it that the Son can do whatever the Father does?

The Second “Because”

John 5:20 (ESV)

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.

Perfect Love, Perfect Knowledge

The love of the Father for the Son is displayed in the continuous disclosure to the Son of all the Father does.

The love of the Son for the Father is displayed in the perfect obedience that climaxes in history at the cross.

What a beautiful picture painted here of the relationship between the Father and the Son:

Perfect love.

Perfect trust.

Perfect knowledge.

Same will, same mission, same goal.

Let’s think about this...

If the Father, out of perfect love for his Son, shows Him all that He does...

And the Son, out of perfect love for his Father...

Obeys him perfectly and does whatever the Father does, such that people observe the Son and wonder at what he does...

Then there is an important truth that follows:

1) The Son by his obedience to his Father is acting in such a way that He is:

Revealing the Father

Doing the Father’s deeds

Performing the Father’s will.

The Son is actually interpreting/expositing the Father to creation.

So perfectly, that the Son can say, if you have seen Me you have seen the Father.

And Jesus concludes the second Because with this...

20...And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel.

You think healing an Invalid is something...

You haven’t seen anything yet.

We’ll start tackling that next Sunday.

Let’s think about this...

What we see pictured and taught to us in this passage and the whole of the NT...

And, beloved this is beautiful.

This is the gospel.

1) Jesus as more than a Man, God incarnate...

He has the power and authority to grant life, judge, save, secure.

So we rejoice that...

—> Our Savior has the Power & Authority to Save.

—> And, we are saved by Him.

2) Jesus as Man, taking upon Himself a human nature...

He fulfilled the obligation of mankind to perfectly obey and depend fully on God.

He has fulfilled what it is to be the perfect Son, the perfect child of God.

So, we rejoice that...

—> Our Savior took upon Himself the Nature to Represent Us.

—> And, did so with perfection.

We are secure in Jesus.

The scripture concludes:

You cannot hear the Father without hearing the Son.

When you hear the Son, you also hear the Father.

If you love the Father, you love the Son.

If you love the Son, you love the Father.

You cannot love either, without loving both.

If you reject the Son, you reject the Father.

As Christians we have the Son, which means we also have the Father.

The Triune God is ours to behold, love, trust, cling to...

And, better yet we are theirs to be loved, protected, led by, and secured in.

Hallelujah, what a Savior!

Closing Prayer

Lord’s Supper