Jesus and the Witness of His Father, Part 1

Before we get into the message I want to look back at verses 5-9, if you will read those verses with me...

Did you notice that last phrase in verse 9, “…And on the same day was the sabbath.”?

Hang on one minute! Did not God institute the sabbath of rest back in Genesis 2? Did not God command Moses to command the people of Israel to keep the Sabbath holy, to do no work in it? Do not we stand and tell others that Jesus was the only man who ever was able to keep the entire law? Notice here that He healed this man on the sabbath day! Look now at verses 10, 16...

Who was right? On one had, the Jews demanded the blood of Jesus because He had the nerve to heal this man and them command him to take up his bed and carry it on the sabbath day. How dare He! If it was unlawful to carry any burden, then Jesus told this man to break the law, and therefore Jesus is guilty of breaking the law. However, I draw your attention now to verse 17...

This is as clear a statement on the deity of Jesus Christ as you will find in the Bible. If you will look at verse 18 you will see the Jews had no problem understanding what Jesus was saying. And they were infuriated! They accused Him of breaking the law, and now they will accuse Him of outright blasphemy. How dare they!

These men just stepped into the courtroom and accused the Judge.

Court is now in session, and Jesus will have the final say.

There are in this passage four witnesses which Jesus calls upon to prove His innocence, and to proclaim His right as being equal with God. Today we are going to look at only part of the first witness Jesus called, the witness of His Father!

Jesus’ statements first show us that He is...

Equal With the Father in Working

The Father and the Sabbath vv. 17-18

The word “equal” in verse 18 means “identical”

It is plain that they Jews understood what He meant

They wanted to kill Him, not only for healing on the Sabbath, but for claiming to be God!

Jesus was not claiming to be almost like God or nearly like Him, He was stating plainly that He is God!

What a great illustration He gives here, going all the way back to Genesis 2!

God completes His work of creation and then the Bible says “he rested”. He rested, not because He was tired, God never gets tired. He rested, because His work was complete, there was nothing else that needed to be done. Never happened to me before. But, something happened that messed up God’s rest in Genesis 3…Adam and his wife, sinned against God when they disobeyed His command. Ever since then God has been working His redemptive work to bring people back into a right relationship with Himself. This is the work God does, and this is the work Jesus was referring to in verse 17!

The Father and the Son vv. 19-21

Notice in verse 19 the words “Verily, verily.”

These words in the Greek are “Amen, amen”

It is a phrase which means, “so let it be.”

What Jesus is saying in this passage is true, will be true, and cannot be any other way!

Notice also in this passage here, that Jesus’ accusers are silent!

They no longer have anything to say once Jesus begins His refutation

I want y to listen to me now, there is coming a day when Jesus will sit upon the GWT and if you are not save you will stand before that holy and righteous judge to give an account of your sins, and there will be nothing you can say to Him!

What does He say here?

He plainly says here that what He does, is what the Father wants Him to do

This verse tells us that Jesus never once acted independently from God.

When we get in trouble, when we enter into sin it is when we begin to act independently from God

Jesus never acted on His own

Consider that when Jesus saw this cripple man at Bethesda He saw a need

He looked to the Father, the Father looked at Him, they both looked at the man and Jesus knew it was the Father's will to heal him

Jesus was fully submitted to the will of God.

We desperately need believers to be submitted to the will of God today.

Jesus only did what God the Father Himself would have done in the same situation

The One who created the Sabbath cannot violate the Sabbath

I for one am glad that MY GOD NEVER TAKES A DAY OFF!!!

The love of the Father for the Son v. 20

Their relationship was so complete that the Father would show the Son things He would/could show no one else

What an unbreakable relationship that was!

Jesus did not act independently of the Father nor did He act alone from the Father

It was not just Jesus which commanded this man to get up, walk, and carry his bed

It was both Jesus and the Father, acting together at once and in harmony

The Life which the Father and the Son give v .21

Notice the phrase in verse 20: “…and he (the Father) will shew him (the Son) greater works than these, that ye (the Jews) may marvel (to be amazed by).”

Jesus then goes on to in verse 21 tell them that He can do anything the Father can do!

How this must have got right under their skin!

He tells them that God is the giver of life and He as the giver of life can choose whom to give life to

Now, understand that if God is the giver of life and can give it to whom ever He chooses, then God can also heal whomever He chooses, any day He chooses

Jesus, as the Son of God, can do the same as well.

Scripture records for us at least three people Jesus raised from the dead, physically

But, more importantly, there are countless numbers of people He has raised spiritually!

It is the overall thrust of this passage to demonstrate the deity of Jesus Christ, His Sonship and equality with God and above all His power and right to heal on the Sabbath day.

Church, you could have heard a pin drop up to this point, and if it is possible, it is about to get even quieter!

Not only is Jesus Equal with the Father in works, but He is...

Equal With the Father in Worship

Blood pressure is rising, tempers are flaring, and heads are about to spin, but Jesus keeps on going! He refuses to back down to the fact that He is the Son of God and equal to the Father. I hope that you have the same affinity to truth today.

Jesus now drops His biggest bombshell yet: He is to be worshiped, just as His Father is to be worshiped! We see this in:

The Judgment He is given

There is coming a day of judgement which no man will escape

There is coming a time when every God-denier, every unbeliever will stand before the throne of God, but...

It will not be the Father sitting on that GWT

It will be the Son!

Let it be known today that the only way Jesus can or could be this judge would be if He had intimate knowledge of anyone and everyone who as ever lived: which He does

There is the judgment He is given, and...

The Honor He is to receive

The word for honor is one that means to give reverence to

One title often given to pastors is “Reverend” - personally I do not use this title. I believe it is reserved for God alone

Psalm 111:9 “He sent redemption unto His people: He hath commanded His covenant forever: Holy and reverend is His name.”

Let that sink in, because that is what Jews were doing as Jesus was talking

Jesus was saying that the Father is to be worshiped, and so is the Son

He went on to say if they were unwilling to honor the Son, then they were unwilling to honor the Father.

We see the judgment He is given, the honor He is to receive, and...

The Salvation He offers

To these self-righteous Jews that were moe concerned with a man who had been crippled carrying a blanket on the sabbath day than the miracle itself, Jesus heaped shame on them

If they would not open their hearts and eyes to Him, they would never see heaven

But - anyone who would behold Him and believe on Him would be saved!

It is that simple and easy today believe on Jesus and be saved or reject Him and spend eternity in hell.

Conclusion:

Jesus is only beginning in this passage to present His argument, but if you leave here today and never return to GBC, I want you to now this one thing: Jesus is God! He is equal with Him, and because He is equal with him, He can do what He has promised to do.

Today if you know Jesus as your Savior then you can put your finger on verse 24 and claim that for your own: Right now you:

Have eternal life

You have assurance that you will never enter condemnation

You have passed from the place of spiritual death to eternal life

Now, today if you are here and you have never put your trust in Jesus, you cannot say this. However, no matter who you are, no matter what you’ve done, you can leave this place today having put your trust in Jesus, knowing your sins are forgiven and your name is written down in heaven.