Sermon Discussion Questions:
1. Read John 5:19-29. Jesus is God, Judge, and Savior.
2. If you were trying to defend the divinity of Jesus from this passage, what verse would you use?
3. What is the significance of Jesus being "the Son of Man" when it comes to Him judging?
4. How does this passage help the Christian who cannot shake their feelings of condemnation?
There was an article in the New York Times this morning about America’s tension of needing and loving religion, but of not wanting to conform or yield on previously held beliefs. The writer profiles a woman who left her church over its views on women (no specifics given), but who says she deeply misses all the benefits that religion once provided her: the connection with the divine, the meaning, the community. The author of the article, says this woman represents many who “left religion because they disagreed with something in it politically or socially…And in today’s political climate, it can be difficult to be part of a group that doesn’t align precisely with your personal preferences or the identity you’ve created for yourself.” And then the author quotes the woman: “I would love to find a way to have what I had then without compromising who I feel I am now.”
We may not be aware of it and we may not say it as bluntly as that woman does, but that perspective is how all of us first approach Jesus. It is natural for us to come with a set of preconceived ideas and assumptions about what He is like, and to have a set of cherished beliefs that we feel we cannot compromise on—and assume that religion in general, and Jesus in particular is here, or at least should be here, to affirm those beliefs. But when we read the Bible, when we read the very words of Christ, we find Him often uninterested in our cherished beliefs. We find Him talking in ways that seem confusing or irrelevant—sometimes, He is outright offensive.
Here is the best analogy I can think of for what our encounters with the real Jesus is like: we approach Jesus because we hear He is a skilled landscaper. We have heard other people share about how He has helped them and we want that too. And we can see problems in the gardens and lawns of our life; that dead spot, the weeds growing over there, and we would so like some flowers here. We aren’t happy, we are overwhelmed, and we would love to have the kind of freedom we see in others, the seemingly manicured life and happy families you see church people have. So, we come to Jesus and say: Here’s my plan, can you help me with that? And friend, the good news is, He is. But not in the way you expect. Instead of flowers or weeds, Jesus starts talking to us about geological strata and tectonic plates. He doesn’t seem to be interested in your plans that much. He is confusing you. You try to stop Him and say, Hang on, are you going to help me?
And he replies: Of course. But your life is built on shifting sand. If I help you, an earthquake is going to come and it is going to shift around the very ground we are standing on. Only after that can we begin to think about the flowers and weeds.
As we turn to our passage today, we are going to find Jesus saying many things that sound strange, that sound like they have no practical bearing on our life. Jesus isn’t going to help us manage our addiction to our phones today or teach us healthy work-life balance or how to find a spouse. He is going to talk about the most foundational, tectonic truths of reality—what determines everything else our life consists of—who He is.
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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. - John 5:19-29
Just to refresh you of the setting of this conversation: Jesus has just healed a crippled man on the Sabbath and we are told: “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,” (John 5:18).
And what we have here is Jesus’s simple and staggering response. There are three “Truly, truly,” statements in this section. Let’s drill into each and see what the real Jesus.
Jesus Is God
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. 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. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will - John 5:19-21
There are many unique claims Jesus is making here.
Jesus claims unique power. He is planning on *greater works—*that is, greater than what He has just done in healing the crippled man at the pool—that will make the crowds marvel at him. Vs. 21 perhaps is alluding to the final miracle we see before Jesus is arrested: the raising of Lazarus from the dead. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. This probably means more than just the physical act of resuscitation, but extends also to spiritual life, or as John 3 told us, new birth, but we will come back to that later.
Jesus is claiming to have a unique perspective. Vs. 19 says He can “see” what God the Father is doing, and imitate Him. This is how He performs His miracles (the “greater works” He mentions later); this is how He does everything—the Son can do nothing of his own accord. Jesus is being accused by the Jews for breaking God’s Law; Jesus replies: The only reason I did this was because the Father told me to. And I can tell you right now, there are far greater things to come.
Jesus claims to have a unique relationship with God. Earlier, we saw that one of the reasons the Jews were seeking to kill Jesus was because He was calling God “Father,’ making himself equal with God. Here, Jesus doesn’t shy away from this familial relationship. He claims “the Father loves the Son.” Jesus isn’t just claiming that He loves the Father, that He thinks of God as a Father. He is daring to state what God thinks of Him. Think of someone great. It’s one thing to say: I love C.S. Lewis. It would be quite a declaration to claim: C.S. Lewis loves me.
But probably the most unique claim Jesus makes is this: “whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” Whatever God the Father does, anything that the Father is capable of doing—like, as vs. 21 states, raising the dead. The Father will raise the dead and give them life at the resurrection of the dead on the last day. And, whatever the Father does, the Son can do likewise; so, Jesus can raise the dead. But notice Jesus makes a universal claim: whatever the Father does—like, creating the world, governing history, sustaining all of life, giving the law, accepting worship—the Son can do the same. If a man says, I can do anything the Father does, that is blasphemy. Yet, Jesus is claiming exactly that. Why? Because Jesus is not just a man.
Sometimes critics will point out that in John’s gospel Jesus doesn’t directly claim to be God, it is only His opponents who accuse Him of this, like in John 5:18. And there is a kernel of truth in that. Jesus is usually rather cloaked in His language of divinity, alluding to it indirectly here and there. He will forgive someone of their sins and someone listening will say: Hang on, only God can forgive sins. Or, like in John 5:18, Jesus will claim that He can work on the Sabbath because that’s what His Father does, and the Jews say that He is making Himself equal with God. People are inferring from what Jesus is claiming, saying Hang on, the implications of what you are saying make it sound like you are claiming to be God. And to every accusation like that, Jesus never says: Oh no, no, I am not God; I didn’t mean that. His reply to the accusation of John 5:18 is this section we are reading now: Whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. It is an oblique but strong affirmation of the opponents’ basic hunch: Jesus is claiming to be God.
Why didn’t Jesus make more plain, outright claims to being God in the flesh? Because He knew that as soon as He did that He would be killed. He needed more time, so He speaks in indirect but controversial ways that perceptive listeners slowly pick up on.
But one of the clearest affirmations of the deity of Christ is found in verses 22-23: “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,” (John 5:22-23).
If you honor anything in the same way you honor God the Father, that is the definition of idolatry. Idolatry is elevating any part of God’s creation—be it an angel, the sun, a person, an animal—up to the same level of honor as God. God makes it clear repeatedly throughout the Bible that He does not share His honor with anyone else:
I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
- Isa 42:8
Many religions in the world today actually pick up on this and use this as an argument for why Jesus cannot be God:
Islam teaches in Surah 4.171 “The Messiah, Jesus, son of Mary, was no more than a messenger of Allah and the fulfillment of His Word through Mary and a spirit ˹created by a command˺ from Him.”
The Watchtower Society (Jehovah’s Witnesses) teach: “We worship the one true and Almighty God, the Creator, whose name is Jehovah. He is the God of Abraham, Moses, and Jesus…We follow the teachings and example of Jesus Christ and honor him as our Savior and as the Son of God. Thus, we are Christians. However, we have learned from the Bible that Jesus is not Almighty God.”
Joseph Smith, the founder of Mormonism, taught that while Jesus is the Son of God, He is not equal with God the Father but is a created being.
And yet, Jesus is unequivocal: If you fail to worship Him, you don’t worship the Father. If you fail to honor the Son in the same way you honor the Father, you do not honor God. So, every religion—Islam, Mormonism, Jehovah’s Witnesses—that fails to honor the Son as the Father, does not know the Father.
Jesus is God. He is the God who spoke out of the fire on top of Mount Sinai, who dwelt in the temple in Jerusalem. He is the God who led Israel out of Egypt. He is the God who spoke to Abraham, to Isaac, to Jacob. He is the God who walked with Adam and Eve in the cool of the garden.
Which means that He is the fulcrum of all reality, the pivot point which moves all else. Archimedes, the great mathematician of antiquity, once claimed that he could lift the Earth off its foundation if he were given a place to stand, one solid, immovable point, and a long enough lever. As we encounter the real Jesus we have a choice to make: we can make our own preferences that immovable point and try to shift everything else—Jesus included—according to it; or, we make Jesus the immovable, fixed point, and we let Him move us.
Jesus Judges
“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. - John 5:25-27
An hour is coming—and is now here! (more on that later)—when the dead will hear the voice of the the Son of God, will come to life (because the Father has granted the Son power to give life), and the Son will execute judgment. Why? Because He is the Son of Man. What does that mean?
That phrase “Son of Man” is a very Hebrew way to describe a human being. But this is a title that Jesus particularly likes using because of a prophecy in the book of Daniel. In Daniel 7, the kingdoms of men are described like monstrous beasts. They are violent, exploitative, destructive— literally inhumane. But they are are judged and destroyed, and then the kingdom of earth is given to “The Son of Man,” a human being who is worshipped as if He was divine (see Dan 7:13-14).
But the fact that Jesus is given authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man is worth considering. Because Jesus is not only divine, but is a human being, a son of man, He has the authority, the right to judge. Why? If someone judges you, you may shoot back at them: You don’t know what its like to be in my shoes!
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. - Heb 4:15
How could Jesus be tempted “in every respect” as we are? Sin may have many tributaries that flow through time that branch into different iterations, but the headwaters—where the current is strongest—remains the same: pride, sloth, greed, wrath, lust, idolatry—Jesus faced every one of those. And because He didn’t give in—which would have alleviated some of the pressure of temptation—that means that He experienced the most powerful forms of temptation.
He knows what it is like for us to live this life, to face temptation, to face weakness, to face trials, to face opposition—He knows. So His judgments are not coming from an aloof distance or cold detachment. It is fitting and right for the Son to judge because He Himself walked this path, knows firsthand what it is like to experience the temptation to sin, and so can judge accurately and appropriately when He evaluates each person.
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. - John 5:28-29
An hour is coming when every one who is in the grave will hear the voice of the Son of God. Mohammed, Joseph Smith, and me, and you, will be brought before the Son of God and our lives shall be judged by the God-Man, Jesus Christ. If we honor Him, we honor the Father; if we fail to honor Him just as we honor the Father, we don’t have the Father. We don’t know God.
How do we honor Jesus? We listen to Him and obey His word. “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life; whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him,” (John 3:36).
Consider: “You have heard that it was said to those of old, You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, ‘You fool!’ will be liable to the hell of fire.” - Matt 5:21-22
There are only two outcomes possible: the resurrection of life or the resurrection of judgment; heaven or hell; to be brought close to God, or to be pushed away from Him.
Jesus Saves
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. - John 5:25
What does Jesus mean by “and is now here”? In what way is the “hour”—the judgment day when the “dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and live” now here?
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. - John 5:24
Whoever hears Jesus’ word—what have we seen Jesus’ words do so far? Jesus’ words are powerful. He can simply speak, and He can heal instantly—as he did with the crippled man, as he did with the son near death at the end of chapter four. But all of those healings are pointing to a greater healing—*greater works than these—*that Jesus has come to give. The ominous reality that Jesus is getting at is that until we hear His word and believe…we are dead. We are in the realm of death. Our souls, which were made to commune with God, have had their intakes clogged by sin, and so we are suffocating.
But Jesus has come to bring eternal life, to re-oxygenate our souls with the life of God. To re-connect you with the God you were made for. How?
He takes your judgment away. 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.
Jesus took your judgment away by bearing it for you. The hour of judgment that was counting down for you was zeroed out when Jesus’ hour came. All throughout John’s gospel, Jesus speaks about His death as His “hour.” It is the hour of judgment that Jesus, the righteous judge, faces. You and I have failed to obey the Son as we ought, and Jesus taught us that there is “wrath” that comes our way. But at the cross Jesus takes the cup of wrath from our hands, takes the “hour” of judgment from our place, and bears it Himself. He dies for our sins.
Which means:
- You can be forgiven right now for your sins, forever. Repenting of the sin in your life is a lifelong process. It feels like trying to pull up the roots of an oak tree. You keep tugging, keep digging, keep finding more. That’s sanctification, that’s the process that every Christian commits to for their life. But that IS NOT how forgiveness from God comes, that is not what justification is. The instant we come to God in simple, childlike faith, the instant we say: God, I have sinned against you; please forgive me. Right then! Our sin is forgiven. The Bible tells us that there is therefore now no condemnation for those in Christ Jesus (Rom 8:1). Removing the presence of sin from our life is like yanking the roots of a tree; but removing the penalty of our sin? God can reach down and pull it up as tenderly and effortlessly as pulling a weed from a pile of sand. And it is not a year from now, not ten years from now, not when your life is a little more put together, not when you’ve started tithing or discipling your kids or evangelizing your neighbor or when you’ve broken all your addictions and habits. You can cross over from death to life today, and enjoy that peace forever.
- All you need to do is believe. Jesus said that whoever hears and believes has eternal life. Later, crowds will ask Jesus: “ 28 Then they said to him, “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” 29 Jesus answered them, “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent.” (John 6:28-29).
What does it mean to believe? Trust Him. Let Him be the Archimedean point. Let Him be the still small point around which your whole world turns.
