And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” 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.
There are few chapters in the bible where we are confronted with our own shallowness of understanding and where we see the inability of human language to do justice to the deeper things
of God than we do in these verses. Many commentators argue that this discourse was actually delivered before the Sanhedrin, the ruling counsel of the Jews. This is because in verse 17 and 19 it says that Jesus gave them answer…as if there were a formal charge
being made against Him.
Perhaps that is true, nonetheless Jesus was making it very clear to those listening, that He is the Christ and that He has a unique relationship with the Father; that He alone has that
relationship, and that He has authority, to judge and to give life.
Jesus tells us two things: Who He is in relation to the Father and, who He is in relation to us and it is not fluffy and it is not for the weak of heart. Before I get to that let me make
a comment about the fact that all of this has come about as a result of Jesus’ healing a man on the Sabbath Day, who had been a cripple for 38 years.
Of course, the religious leaders didn’t care at all that a man who had been crippled for 38 years now was healed, they are concerned rather, with their own self-righteousness as we talked
about last time we looked at this passage. Men will either seek to be Christ justified, or self-justified and these two things never can go together. Our Savior’s response to the Jews is interesting, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been
working.”
Jesus is rebuking them for their twisting of the commandments of God as well as revealing to them His own special relationship with the Father, and those listening did not miss the point
He is making. Jesus says in essence: Though my Father rested on the seventh day from his work of creation he has never rested for a moment from his superintendence, His providential government of the world and from his merciful work of supplying all the needs
of all His creatures, especially his gracious work toward His church. Were the Father to rest from such, the whole frame of nature would fall apart. Therefore, Jesus continues, I do not break the fourth commandment when I heal the sick any more than my Father
breaks it when he causes the sun to rise and the grass to grow on the Sabbath.
What really angered the Jews in this text is the little word, “my”. He does not say, ‘our Father’, but MY Father and they knew full well what Jesus meant. Jesus was asserting his own
unity with God the Father. Jesus means that He is the beloved Son of God, and that He and the Father are one in essence, dignity, honor, and authority. Whatever the Father does, Jesus is doing and He has a right to do.
Follow the progression: He upsets the religious authorities by healing on the Sabbath…and then when questioned, tells them that He and the Father are One. Jesus will double down; Not
only does he do the work of the Father, not only is there union between Jesus and the Father that is unique, making Jesus equal to the Father, (which is exactly what Jesus was saying and exactly what they THOUGHT Jesus was saying), but Jesus has the same authority
to give life as the Father has. Jesus is saying, I decide who goes to heaven…Now they are really fuming…AND, He adds, not only do I decide who goes to heaven, but I am the judge of everything.
Here is a presentation of who Jesus is and the authority He has as the King of Kings. This would upset many of the people of His day and it continues to upset people today. Jesus is the
only way to Heaven, the only way to the Father, He gives life and He is the One who is the judge of all things at the end of time. This is important for two reasons:
First, the picture that many have of Jesus, as a kind of Ferdinand the Bull, someone who never makes demands but who just hopes that people will accept Him, prevails today in the minds
of many.
But as David Platt reminds us, we never find a place in the Bible that emphasizes accepting Jesus. “We
have taken the infinitely glorious Son of God who endured the infinitely terrible wrath of God and who now reigns as the infinitely worthy Lord of all, and we have reduced him to a poor, puny Savior who is just begging for us to accept him. Accept him??? Do
we really think Jesus needs our acceptance?
No. Jesus is the King of all Kings and sits over His world and He is coming in power to judge all of mankind, to some there will be life and to others only a Christ-less and lifeless
eternity of suffering. Profess this, proclaim and more importantly live it…and see what happens. See how much this world and its elite, and that includes the religious elite, will rise up against you…but preach this, proclaim this, live this as you must, and
it becomes obvious that you belong to God!
Second, the exclusive claim that salvation is in no other name, only Jesus, is the very thing that our culture is telling us we CANNOT say. Talk about Jesus all we want, love Jesus all
we want, worship Him, no problem with that…but you cannot say that outside of Jesus there is no salvation. Even clergy are giving in to this. There was an editorial in the Seven Lakes paper some time ago that had a minister assuring the readers that God would
never send a sincere Muslim or anyone of another religion to hell, because that just isn’t the God he believes in!
But of course, that is the point of Christianity, and that is the very point that Jesus is making in our text…Christ is the only way to heaven, and He demands our complete and total allegiance
to that truth. BUT as He says in verse 24, the ones hearing NOW have eternal life and then in 25 this life is not only for the future, for the time is coming and now
is! The time for life in Christ is NOW. He has not come so that we might pray a prayer, invite Jesus into our hearts and then live however we want. Jesus wants those
who hear Him to know that He has that power…to raise up, unto everlasting life those who hear His voice and follow Him. There is therefore, a bond between Jesus and those whom He has given life…it is not just a profession of faith, it is a life of faith…it
is a union with Jesus because of who He is, because of what He has done and is doing!
Let me conclude this morning with Rev. Platt’s words: “As a Christian it would be a grave mistake to
come to Jesus and say, ‘Let me hear what you have to say and then I will decide whether or not I like it.’ If you approach Jesus this way, you will never truly hear what he has to say. You have to say yes to the words of Jesus before you even hear them.”
I want to pause and make sure that has landed: We have to say yes to the words of Jesus even before we hear them. Is that you? The author continues: Then
second, you need to commit to obey what you have heard. The gospel does not prompt you to mere reflection; the gospel requires a response. In the process of hearing Jesus, you are compelled to take an honest look at your life, your family, your church and
not just ask, ‘what is He saying?’, but also ask, ‘What will He have me do?’” (David Platt: Taking Back Your Faith From the American Dream)
Prayer: Father, the authority of the Savior reaches into every aspect of life and I have domesticated Him and acted as though His commands and calling are options; forgive me. Help me
to not only bow my knees in submission to Him but to embrace Him in joy! Give me a heart that desires the pleasure of my Lord knowing that His pleasure is my joy, rest and peace, through Him who lived, died and resurrected for me, Amen.
Hymn: All Praise to God Who Reigns Above