The Son and the Father
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
As most of you are aware, in the Biblical Hebrew worldview the concept of ‘knowing’ doesn’t simply refer to knowing about something, but it means intimately knowing something.
Today we will talk about the relationship between Yeshua and His Father and what we can learn from that.
However, discussing Yeshua and the relationship with His Father often leads into extended covnersations about the nature of God.
So, I want to address that first and get it out of the way.
The nature of God is complex. By definition, we are limited and He is not. So it is impossible to fully explain the nature of God. I can promise you - you will never fully understand the nature of God.
The first thing we need to understand is that this difficulty isn’t a ‘New Testament’ issue. Many make this assumption and critique, unfairly and unjustly.
In the Tanach itself we see things that make us scratch our heads.
The sound of the Lord is heard walking in the midst of the Garden in Gen 3. וַיִּשְׁמְעוּ אֶת־קוֹל יהוה אֱלֹהִים מִתְהַלֵּךְ
Then Noah and all animals entered the ark and it says the Lord shut him in or closed it behind him.
In Genesis 18 the Torah calls God a man - it says three men (ish) appeared to Abraham, these men eat and speak with Abraham, but later in the same story we find out that two of the men travel to Sodom and are actually angels not men, and the man third stays behind to talk to Abraham - and we are clearly told in the Torah that it is actually not a man but Adonai, HaShem, that stands there and speaks to Abraham before going off to investigate Sodom.
And then later it says that Abraham arose early in the morning to stand at the place where he was with Adoani and looked toward Sodom. Adn then further in the story it says that Adonai brought down fire and brimestone on Sodom from Adonai in heaven.
Not to mention that in Ex 24.10 we read a remarkable story:
9 Then Moses and Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the elders of Israel went up. 10 They saw the God of Israel, and under His feet was something like a pavement of sapphire, as clear as the very heavens. 11 Yet He did not raise His hand against the nobles of Bnei-Yisrael. So they beheld God, and ate and drank.
The rabbis clealry had difficulty with this. Rambam and Rashi and other Rabbinic scholars tell us this was simply a vision.
This is by no means all of the questions we could ask from the the first two books of the Bible!
And yet Duet tells us that Israel saw no form on the mountain of fire Deut 4.15-16
15 “So be very watchful over your souls since you saw no form on the day that Adonai spoke to you in Horeb out of the midst of the fire, 16 so that you do not act corruptly and make for yourselves a graven image in the likeness of any figure—the form of a male or female,
All of this is simply scratching the surface found in the Tanach!
Who sits on the throne in heaven? Then why does Daniel 7.9 say that thrones (plural) were placed in heaven and the Ancient of Days was given his seat (by the way he has hair white like wool on his head) and then one like a Son of man is escroted before the Ancient of Days and given dominion.
Did I mention that Ezekiel saw a human (an adam) on the throne in heaven! You can read that in Ezekiel 1.
My point is don’t approach the Apostlic Scriptures and pretend that the complexity about the nature of God and the heavens is something new that ‘Christians invented’. Our Torah says to have equal and just measures so we need to be honest.
I googled the Jewish Viritual Library article on the nature of God and I just laughed as I looked at the Tanach and then read what they said, looked at the Tanach and then read what they said, then laughed again. Some of it was clearly a reaction to Christianity. We know this is not new, the Ten Commandmnets used to be read in syngagogues but the synagoguges stopped the practice after the Christians started it!
John
John
But, just because we can’t fully understand the nature of God, doesn’t mean we can’t intimately know Him. This is what really separates John from the synoptics - John’s desire for us to know the father.
Anyone reading through the first three Gospels—Matthew, Mark, and Luke—will immediately notice their striking similarities. Because of these similarities, these three are called the “Synoptic Gospels” (synoptic means “a common perspective”). The Gospel of John — is unique.
In John’s Gospel, by contrast, parables or exorcisms arent the highlight. Yeshua’s teaching focuses much more on his own identity and his unique relationship with the Father. Yeshua is the eternal Son who has come to reveal the Father. Salvation comes by knowing the Father through the Son.
I would like to focus on the relationship of Yeshua to his Father and as we contemplate the words, relationship and devotion of Yeshua reflect upon what we are invited to learn from their relationship.
Yeshua as the Ultimate Revelation
Yeshua as the Ultimate Revelation
The first thing to understand is that the Apostles emphasize the quality of the revelation we have in Yeshua. The letter to the Hebrews says Heb 1-3
Hebrews 1:1–3 (NLT)
1 Long ago God spoke many times and in many ways to our ancestors through the prophets. 2 And now in these final days, he has spoken to us through his Son. God promised everything to the Son as an inheritance, and through the Son he created the universe.
3 The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven.
Illustration - its like listening to the raio vs watching 4k TV. In other words, what we have in Yeshua is the highest resolution motion picture of who God is.
This is why when we march and kiss the Torah, that was given to us by the Ruach of God, we are just as eager to kiss the writings of the Aposltes that was given to us by the same Ruach. Because in Yeshua we have the ultimate revelation. And so we have no trouble kissing the Torah and no trouble kissing the Apostolic Scriptures. At KMC we are a people that honour the Apostolic Scriptures just as we honour the Torah, while at the same time recognizing that the Apostolic Scriptures is built upon the Torah and the Prophets.
John 5
John 5
Jonn 5 begins with a story about Yeshua having gone to Jerusalem to celebrate one of the feasts, some think it was Shavuot but the text doesn’t say, and while in Jerusalem he heals a man who has been disabled for 38 years. Yeshua heals the man on Shabbat and tells him to ‘pick up his mat and walk’ which upsets the Jewish leaders because their tradition would not permit carrying the mat on Shabbat.
That background leads us to the next part which I’d like us to read John 5.17-18
17 But Yeshua said to them, “My Father is still working, and I also am working.” 18 So for this reason the Judean leaders kept trying even harder to kill Him—because He was not only breaking Shabbat, but also calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
John can be a cryptic book sometimes. What does Yeshua mean when he says ‘my Father is still working, and I also am working’? Yeshua argues that the type of Work that God continues to do on the Sabbath is the same work Yeshua, as God’s special agent, is also doing.
2 And on the seventh day God finished his work that he had done, and he rested on the seventh day from all his work that he had done.
The understanding at the time was that Gen 2:2 as implying that God’s sabbath following creation continues to the present—his works are finished. But that raises a difficulty: how can God be said in the Scriptures to be active, if he keeps sabbath?
Some may have believed God rested from His creation but not his acts of judging the wicked and the rightoues. We also see that some of the later Rabbis (Rabban Gamaliel II, R. Joshua, R. Eleazar ben Azariah, and R. Akiba were in Rome, ca. A.D. 95) believed that God could work in the world without breaking the Sabbath because the entire world was his private residence. Actually in Judaism today an eruv is the extension of a private residence whereby carrying items on a Shabbat is permitted.
Whatever the underlying belief, the point is they were angry with Yeshua. They don’t believe who he is. And becuase they don’t believe who he is they misunderstand him and falsely accuse him.
In the verses that follow Yeshua responds to their charges and explains why they are wrong in their accusations. Let’s read that.
Fixed Eyes
Fixed Eyes
John 5:19–23 (TLV)
19 Therefore Yeshua answered them, “Amen, amen I tell you, the Son cannot do anything by Himself. He can do only what He sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He does. He will show Him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.
21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever He wants. 22 The Father does not judge anyone, but has handed over all judgment to the Son 23 so that all should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
In the these verses, Yeshua responds to their claim that he “makes himself” equal with God. I believe Yeshua directly responds to this charge by arguing that he is not making himself equal with God.
First, to “make oneself” something was to claim authority or identity one did not have, but Yeshua does not “make” himself anything. In fact, if you read carefully Yeshua says the exact opposite is true. Yeshua says ‘he is not able’ to do anything on his own. He can only do what he sees the Father doing. In other words Yeshua’s eyes are so fixed that he can only do what he sees the Father do so he is not making himself anything. And later on we will see Yeshua talks about the testimony that validates his claims.
SEcond, Yeshua is not claiming rank equal with the Father, but rather that he acts in obedience and on delegated authority. Don’t get me wrong, as I said at the beginning, the nature of God is complicated. John is clear that in the beginning was the Word and the Word was God and the Word became a human and lived on this earth, but Yeshua also submits to the Father, whose rank is greater than his own.
So this dialogue about equality is a dialaogue about equality of rank (which is the Hebrew way of thinking) not a dialogue about substance (which is the greek way of thinking). And equality of rank is something Yeshua does not claim to have on the same level as the Father.
But what Yeshua is adamant about is that his eyes are fixed - that he only does what the Father does and is therefore the perfect represetnation of the Father. We can trust our belief and dedication to Yeshua’s words and life because he only did what the Father did.
And so the point is that if you truly want to follow the Father you must follow the Son. This is how Yeshua the Son of God has revealed the Father - he only did what he saw the Father doing in the world. The Father was healing, caring, sustaining in the world even on Shabbat and so Yeshua was as well.
So how do you keep your eyes fixed on the Father? By obeying and following the Son that He sent.
Dependence
Dependence
What is dependence? Dependence is when we fully rely upon or allow ourselves to be fully controlled by someone or something else. Implied in this concept of fixed eyes is that of dependance. Yeshua is fully dependant upon the Father. Yeshua prays to the Father. Yeshua only does the will of the Father.
38 For I have come down from heaven not to do My own will but the will of the One who sent Me.
John 10:17–21 (TLV)
17 “For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life, so that I may take it up again. 18 No one takes it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own. I have the authority to lay it down, and I have the authority to take it up again. This command I received from My Father.”
19 Again a division arose among the Judeans because of these words. 20 Many of them were saying, “He has a demon. He’s insane! Why listen to Him?” 21 Others said, “These are not the sayings of someone who is plagued by a demon. A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind, can it?”
What we learn here is that Yeshua’s dependence was entirely his choice. The Father loves Yeshua because Yeshua decided to fully depend upon God. No one took Yeshua’s life away when he went to the cross, and that inclues the father. The Father gave the command to Yeshua and told him that he has authority to lay down his life. This was entirely his choice. This is what is remarkable about Yeshua and what we can learn. In Yeshua we can see what full reliance and dependance upon God looks like - it means laying down our lives when we have the choice not to.
Indeed this is exaclty what Yeshua commanded us to do. We are to die to our own desires - our own will. When we put our trust in Yeshua as the Son of God who came and laid down his life for us as unrighteous sheep that have gone astray, we are effectively telling Yeshua we want to obey your command and lay down our lives. We are ready to pick up our cross because we only depend upon you.
And when we fully cast our dependance upon God we know the outcome. We have the assurance because we know that Yeshua took up his life again. The Father did not leave him in the grave but delivered on the promise to raise him up in glory.
Col 1?
The Father’s Love
The Father’s Love
vs 20. Yeshua’s fixed eyes are important, but if the Father doesn’t reveal Himself to Yeshua, then Yeshua wouldn’t know how to live. God reveals Himself to those He loves. That is the character of our God. He reaveled Himself and the Torah to Israel at Mt. Sinai because He loved them on account of the forefathers. And so in a much more important way, it is the love that the Father has for the Son He sent into the world that allows Yeshua to observe the acts of His Father and imitate Him. Because the Father loves Yeshua He reveals Himself fully - He shows Yeshua everything.
Notice that the relationship Yeshua speaks about isn’t a one time event. The greek word is the active present - the Father shows him everything He is doing. And Yeshua knows that the Father will show greater works, which means the Son will do greater works. What greater works is he referring to? I belive it is the resurrection and judgement.
So the Father’s special love for Yeshua is what allows Yeshua to carry out the works and signs he did while on earth. As we each put our trust in Yeshua, we by extension demonstrate that we have put our trust in the Father’s love.
I was listening to John McArthur and he was saying that backstage on the set of the Larry King show he was speaking to Larry K who is Jewish and Larry says ‘I think I’m fine’. And Larry beleived that because there are people out there who teach Jews are fine if they believe in the Father but don’t believe in Yeshua. Can you believe there are prominent Christian leaders teaching this nonesense? No one can be in the Father’s love if they reject the Son that He sent into the world.
Here is what Yeshua said to the Jewish leaders that believed:
30 As He was speaking these things, many people put their trust in Him. 31 Then Yeshua said to the Judeans who had trusted Him, “If you abide in My word, then you are truly My disciples. 32 You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free!”
And here is what he said the Jewish leaders that didn’t beleive in him:
John 8:42–44 (TLV)
42 Yeshua said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love Me, for from God I came and now I am here. For I have not come on My own, but He sent Me. 43 Why don’t you understand My speech? Because you’re not able to hear My word!
44 You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks lies he is just being himself—for he is a liar and the father of lies.
The Scriptures, the Father, and the Son are all clear - you cannot love the Father if you do not love His special son that He sent to die in order that we might have life. You cannot claim God as your Father if you reject the Father’s special Son!
Life and Judgement Are The Son’s
Life and Judgement Are The Son’s
Life and Judgement are the Son’s to decide. We read this and might think this soudns strange but this is what the prophecies foretold. I already alluded to Daniel’s prophecy of a Son of man that came and was given dominion over the nations.
We also read in Psalm 2
Psalm 2 (TLV)
1 Why are the nations in an uproar, and the peoples mutter vanity? 2 The kings of earth set themselves up and rulers conspire together against Adonai and against His Anointed One: 3 “Let’s rip their chains apart, and throw their ropes off us!” 4 He who sits in heaven laughs! Adonai mocks them. 5 So He will speak to them in His anger, and terrify them in His fury:
6 “I have set up My king upon Zion, My holy mountain.” 7 I will declare the decree of Adonai. He said to me: “You are My Son— today I have become Your Father. 8 Ask Me, and I will give the nations as Your inheritance, and the far reaches of the earth as Your possession. 9 You shall break the nations with an iron scepter. You shall dash them in pieces like a potter’s jar.”
10 So now, O kings, be wise, take warning, O judges of the earth! 11 Serve Adonai with fear, and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest He become angry, and you perish along your way— since His wrath may flare up suddenly. Happy is everyone taking refuge in Him!
This Psalm is David in the Ruach prophecying about Mashiach Yeshua. The nations rage and the Father simply laughs. The Father’s plan to deal with these nations is to send his Son on the throne. You see, Yeshua knows what is his and what the Father has given him. Yeshua can see this and therefore knows that the Father is demanding that all people on earth must honour the Son just as they honour the Father.
Let’s illustrate this. Let’s suppose there was a nuclear submarine sailing the Atlantic Ocean next to a small rebellious city in the Bahamas called Nassau. The captain on that submarine has a fancy necklace with the nuclear key attached and he struts around like a peacock and everyone knows this is the captain with the nuke key. And one day the captain goes on vacation and leaves the nuke key to the deputy and says use it however you wish. What do you think the people on that small island will say? Oh don’t worry, the captain is on vacation so who cares what the deputy says we can continue to be rebellious. No, they will revere the deputy just as they revered the captain. Perhaps not a perfet analogy but you get the point.
This is Yeshua’s point. John 5:22–23 “22 The Father, in fact, judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 so that all people may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”
The Sent Son
The Sent Son
Have you ever contemplated the full extent of what God and Yeshua have done for you? In veres 23 we read that the Father sent the son.
I can’t imagine sending my son to die for someone else, let alone for sinners like us. And yet that is what God did.
36 do you say, ‘You are blaspheming’ to the one the Father set apart and sent into the world, because I said: I am the Son of God?
Notice it says ‘set apart and sent’. God loved the world so much that He was willing to give up his unique Son and send him for sinners like you and me.
What’s more, the fact that Yeshua agreed to be sent reminds me of the Akeda where Isaac was willing to be a sacrifice for his father Abraham. The level of trust that Yeshua had of his father to agree to come, empty himself from the status of equality with God, and come as a humble man. But we know that it is through Yeshua’s obedience that his is honoured and ultimatley exalted.
Moses was the most humble man the Scirptures tell us. It was that humility that God used to judge the world.
1 So Adonai said to Moses, “See, I have set you as God to Pharaoh, and Aaron your brother will be your prophet.
This passage is after Moses complains about not having circumcised lips and suggests that no one will believe or listen to him. Many translations put like or as in this sentence - have set you as God. But the Hebrew doesn’t say I will make you like God. It says, I will make you God to Pharoah.
2 You are to speak all that I command you and Aaron your brother is to speak to Pharaoh, so that he will let Bnei-Yisrael go out of his land.
It is through the speaking of everything that God commands that enables Moses to be God to Pharaoh. This without doubt is a prophetic picture of Yeshua and what we are reading about in John. The difference is of course that Yeshua was not an ordinary man.
John tells us that Yeshua is the Word of God come down in human form and that the Ruach of God is given to Yeshua without limit. This is why every word he speaks is only and fully the word that the Father speaks.
15 John testifies about Him. He cried out, saying, “This is He of whom I said, ‘The One who comes after me is above me, because He existed before me.’ ” 16 Out of His fullness, we have all received grace on top of grace. 17 Torah was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Yeshua the Messiah.
The Submitted Son
The Submitted Son
In this reply Yeshua gives in John 5 we learn that Yeshua lived a life fully submissive to the father. But it also implies that Yeshua was submissive to the Father even before he was sent from heaven. And in the same way when he was here on earth, Yeshua did not exalt himself, but submitted entirely to the Father’s will. The Father was Yeshua’s authority.
While one might think that a relationship marked by such strict and unequivocal authority and submission would not be marked by love the truth is the opposite, this relationship of authority and submission is filled and overflowing with love. This is also a lesson for us. Authority and submission does not contradict but rather sets the framework in which love is fully revealed.
This is truly remarkable. The Son expresses his absolute, unqualified allegiance to the Father. No question. Strict obedience to every word, every commandment, every desire, and all that the Father called him to do. But the Son does so out of a deep and abiding love for the Father.
This is not a begrudging obedience. He is not saying, “Okay, if I must, I’ll do it.” No, Yeshua says, “It is my food to do the will of my Father.” This is he who for the joy set before him endured the cross (Hebrews 12:2).
2 focusing on Yeshua, the initiator and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before Him, He endured the cross, disregarding its shame; and He has taken His seat at the right hand of the throne of God.
Testimony
Testimony
One more point that I think is important to the story here. John has many themes running through the Gospel. Father is defintely one that stands out. Another is testimony - it is important to John to demonstrate there is valid witness to Yeshua’s claims.
Let’s remmeber the context: Yeshua is challenging their accusation that he is making himself equal rank with the Father. In order to make his case he speaks about testimony. We have mentioned this briefly but it becomes important later in the story. A testimony is somethign given by a witness - it is a delaration that somethign is true. So what declarations does Yeshua point to in order to say that his claims are true?
You remember John the Baptist? He was considered a prophet and a reliable witness by the people. Yeshua acknowledges John the Baptist’s testimony about Yeshua.
26 They came to John and said, “Rabbi, the One who was with you beyond the Jordan, the One you testified about—look, He is immersing, and all are coming to Him!”
Yeshua also acknowledges that the Father testifies about him. How? By the miracles that he accomplished.
36 “But the testimony I have is greater than that from John. The works the Father has given Me to finish—the very works I am doing—testify about Me, that the Father has sent Me. 37 And the Father who sent Me has testified concerning Me. You have never heard His voice nor seen His form.
So that makes two witnesses, which should be adequate. But of course there is further testimony that Yeshua points to - the Scriptures themselves.
39 You search the Scriptures because you suppose that in them you have eternal life. It is these that testify about Me. 40 Yet you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life!
What Scriptures is he referring to? The Tanach of course and some of the very passages that I’ve mentioned today and many more. And so he finishes:
45 “Do not think that I will accuse you before the Father. The one who accuses you is Moses, in whom you have put your hope. 46 For if you were believing Moses, you would believe Me—because he wrote about Me. 47 But since you do not believe his writings, how will you believe My words?”
Passages For Reflection
Passages For Reflection
16 Yeshua answered, “My teaching is not from Me, but from Him who sent Me.
29 My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. And no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. 30 I and the Father are one.”
37 “If I don’t do the works of My Father, don’t believe Me! 38 But if I do, even if you don’t trust Me, trust the deeds. Then you may come to know and continue to understand that the Father is in Me, and I am in the Father.”
49 For I did not speak on My own, but the Father Himself who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and speak. 50 And I know that His commandment is life everlasting. Therefore what I say, I say just as the Father has told Me.”
9 Yeshua said to him, “Have I been with you for so long a time, and you haven’t come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Don’t you believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me? The words I say to you, I do not speak on My own; but the Father dwelling in Me does His works.
31 But in order that the world may know that I love the Father, I do exactly as the Father commanded Me. “Get up, let’s go from here!”
9 “Just as the Father has loved Me, I also have loved you. Abide in My love! 10 If you keep My commandments, you will abide in My love, just as I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love.