Greetings, all of you who are watching or listening today, and if you're just listening,
tuning in for the first time, I'm glad that you are.
We've been working through the Gospel of John, the story of Jesus as a church together,
and we're going to continue on in that story today.
If you have a Bible, I encourage you to grab it and to open it up to the Gospel of John.
We're in chapter 5 of the Gospel of John.
And as we continue on through this, we're about to get into a section here that is really a goldmine.
It's a place where, I mean, we've seen all kinds of glorious truth about Jesus revealed up until this point
through the narrative sections that we've looked at.
But in these verses, Jesus, all the way from verse 19 to 47, it's all Jesus' words.
And so this section is just loaded with rich statements from Jesus,
which reveal all kinds of wonderful truths, which we're looking forward to seeing.
Jesus is going to tell us a little bit more about this mysterious and wonderful relationship that he has with his Father.
He's going to talk to us about the extent of his authority and power and where it comes from.
He's going to talk to us about the gift of eternal life and what we need to do to receive it.
He's going to talk to us about the gift of Jesus.
He's going to talk about various testimonies which confirm just who he is.
He's going to talk about how the religious leaders have missed the mark and why, a little bit of why.
And he's also going to reveal just what he knows is going on in their hearts.
So this is a loaded section.
It's a gold mine.
We could just set up shop here.
We could read and study and meditate and memorize and then go back and do it all again
and still not get to the end of all that's here.
So I'm hoping that as we begin to dig into these words today that we'll see something of the riches that are here for us
and really we'll just be scratching the surface.
But I hope that as you start to see all of these deposits of glorious truth here
that you'll kind of be aware of them so that you can begin to dig into those on your own.
At home.
So let's go to the word.
But before we do, let's pray.
Father in heaven, we thank you that you have given us these precious words which your son Jesus spoke.
And now as we read and listen to them, Lord, would you help us to see and understand what you want us to see and understand here.
Would you allow our hearts to feel the weight of these words and press them into our spirit and our souls.
Help us to see the glory of Jesus and the glory that you have.
We ask this in his name.
Amen.
All right.
So verse 19 is where we are at today.
And it says this.
Jesus gave them this answer.
Now, this comes in the context of a larger story.
We should probably just remember where we're at.
Jesus is in Jerusalem.
Jerusalem.
And he has just recently healed a man who couldn't walk for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda.
And he did that on the Sabbath day.
He told him to pick up his mat and carry it.
The man was healed and he was carrying it.
And when the religious leaders heard that Jesus was the one who had done this and told him to carry his mat on the Sabbath, they began to go after Jesus.
And John tells us to persecute him.
There's a larger story going on here.
The religious leaders were already going after Jesus.
They wanted him dead.
And John tells us that this charge of breaking the Sabbath was the way that they were trying to get at him and to secure that outcome.
So we saw last Sunday how they went after him back in verse 16, 17, 18 and charged him with breaking the Sabbath.
What are you doing working on the Sabbath?
And Jesus gave this wonderful defense.
My father is always at his work to this very day.
And I too am working.
So he didn't deny that he was working.
He admitted to working on the Sabbath.
And kind of got himself off the hook in a sense by saying, well, God isn't guilty for working on the Sabbath.
My father and neither am I.
And this response really got to the religious leaders.
John told us back there in verse 18 that because he said this, they tried all the more to kill him.
Not only was he breaking the Sabbath, at least in their view, but he was even calling God his own father, making himself equal with God.
So this is the thoughts that are going on in their hearts and minds.
Like, who does this guy think he is doing these things, working on the Sabbath and then claiming God as his own father?
And that's why he can do these things on the Sabbath.
And we had a bit of a look at what Jesus really was, I think, saying here.
God isn't guilty for working on the Sabbath because that law doesn't apply to him or his work.
And Jesus says, neither am I.
And the reason that we pulled out there, drew out, was because the work that Jesus does is God's work.
It is the Father's work.
And so the law of the Sabbath doesn't apply.
And this comes through even more clearly in another passage in John, John 14, verse 10.
Jesus says this,
So he's not guilty for breaking the Sabbath.
Why?
Because it's the Father living in him who is working.
This is God at work here.
And so the Sabbath laws don't apply.
Well, the religious leaders are upset by this.
They hear in this a claim from Jesus to be divine, to be on the same level as God, to be equal with God.
How does Jesus respond to this?
That's what we read about in verse 19.
Jesus gave them this answer.
Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself.
He can do only what he sees his Father doing.
Because whatever the Father does, the Son also does.
Now we want to slow it down and just look at these words.
We really want to understand this relationship between Jesus and his Father.
I mean, this is something that we've already seen glimpses of already up to this point through the gospel.
Let's remember a few of those.
Back in chapter 1, verse 14, John wrote this.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.
We have seen his glory.
Glory of the one and only Son who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
So, Jesus, the divine Word, the Word who was with God and was God at the beginning before anything was made,
he became flesh.
He took on human flesh and lived among us.
He is the one and only Son, John says in verse 14, who came from the Father.
There are other ways that Jesus coming from the Father is described.
Probably the most familiar is John 3, 16.
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.
So, his coming from the Father into our world is described as being given by God to the world.
In the next verse, verse 17.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
Not only has he come from the Father and has he been given by the Father, but he has been sent by the Father into the world.
We see the intentionality of God in this.
These all describe how Jesus, this man that we see walking among us, got here, where he is from.
But why has he come?
Well, we've seen a number of answers to that question so far in John's Gospel as well.
In John 3, 16.
He gave his one and only Son in order that whoever believes in him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
So, God gave his Son to the world so that people of the world might believe in him and be spared what they deserve.
That is, to perish because of their sins against God and instead receive this good gift of eternal life.
We see this spelled out for us again in verse 17 of chapter 3.
For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.
So, he has given and sent his Son into the world in order to save people of the world.
Jesus has come from the Father on a rescue mission.
He has come to rescue.
And not only has he come to rescue, but he has come to reveal to people who God is.
And we saw this back in John chapter 1, verse 18.
John wrote this,
No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God, and is in closest relationship with the Father.
He has made him, that is the Father, known.
So, the one and only Son has made the Father, God, whom no one has ever seen, known.
So, Jesus, not only has he come to rescue, but he has come to reveal just who God is.
And we hear in these words that the Son is in closest relationship with the Father, says John.
There's this closeness, this deep intimacy.
There's this relationship between Father and Son.
And we see glimpses of this relationship throughout the Gospel.
We've seen a few already.
We saw it when Jesus was in Jerusalem at the temple courts.
As he was flipping the tables and driving out the sellers and the money changers.
He said, Stop turning my Father's house into a market.
We saw this passion, this love, this fierce loyalty to his Father.
And to his Father's glory and honor.
We saw it again in, kind of from the other side of the relationship in John chapter 3, verse 35.
John writes there, The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands.
And now, as we come to verse 19, we're going to see a lot more in these verses which follow.
A lot more about this relationship between the Father and the Son.
So Jesus gave them this answer, Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself.
He can do only what he sees his Father doing.
Because what the Father does, the Son also does.
Now I want to be careful with these words.
Let's listen to them again in another translation.
One that's a little more word for word.
The New American Standard Bible has it this way.
Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself.
Unless it is something he sees the Father doing.
For whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does.
In like manner or likewise.
Now what does that mean?
What does Jesus mean as he says this?
All kinds of questions arise.
What does Jesus mean when he says that the Son can do nothing of himself?
Unless it's something he sees the Father doing.
What does Jesus mean when he says, sees the Father doing?
In what sense does he see the Father doing the things that he's doing?
What does it mean that the Son likewise also does the things that the Father does?
We have all kinds of questions as we come to these words.
And I think the first place to go with these questions is to our knees.
And just humbly acknowledge.
We're talking about the mysterious relationship between the Divine Son of God and God the Father.
We don't know just how all this works.
How this relationship works.
This is on a whole other plane of understanding, realm of existence that is so foreign to us as creatures, as human beings.
And so we want to start with humility and realize that this is not something that is easy to understand.
I can guarantee you that the disciples are probably scratching their heads at this moment and wondering,
what does that mean, Jesus?
Probably having the same questions as we do.
And we know this because a little later in the story of John,
one of the disciples will have a conversation with Jesus and kind of give away that he still doesn't get it,
this relationship between Jesus and his Father.
And Jesus will kind of explain it again and try to help him see it.
And so we're not the only ones who come to these words and are wondering,
what does Jesus mean by this?
So we want to be careful with these words.
But what can we say from these words?
Well, I think at the very least we can say that Jesus seems to be saying that he,
as the Divine Son of God, does not act independently from the Father.
Jesus, as the Divine Son of God, does not act independently from the Father.
Now, where do we get this from?
Well, let's bring into focus the larger context of the conversation with the religious leaders.
They're upset with him.
Why?
Because he has claimed that God is his own Father,
and that just as his Father is not guilty for breaking the Sabbath,
so he, because he is the Son of the Father,
is not guilty for working on the Sabbath day.
So they understand him correctly.
He is claiming to be divine.
And if he wasn't, Jesus could very easily just say,
very truly,
I say to you,
I am not claiming to be equal with God.
I am not claiming to be the Divine Son of God,
but he doesn't say that.
You can imagine what the Jewish leaders are thinking in this moment.
They're thinking of perhaps some of those words from the Scriptures.
Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God,
the Lord is one.
There is only one God,
and so who are you, a man,
standing in front of us,
claiming to be divine with your words?
There's only one God.
I think there's a bit of an answer to that
in what Jesus says here in verse 19.
Very truly, I say to you,
the Son can do nothing of himself
unless it is something he sees the Father doing.
I think,
and this is my paraphrase and take on it,
that there's a sense in which Jesus is saying,
I'm not claiming to be divine in the sense that there are two gods.
I'm not claiming to be another God
who the Sabbath law does not apply to.
No, there is one God.
I, as the Son of God,
am not someone who can just act independently from him.
There's a connection between us and our work.
Very truly, I say to you,
the Son can do nothing of himself
unless it is something he sees the Father doing.
So there's this connection,
there's this union
of my work
and his work.
And in some sense
that goes beyond our understanding,
Jesus seems to be saying that
he is watching what his Father is doing
in any given moment,
it seems as though he's saying.
And unless he sees his Father doing it,
he can't just go off
and do it on his own,
of himself.
Their work,
their action as Father and Son
are unified.
They're in harmony
and synchronized with each other.
And we see a little more of this
in the second half of verse 19.
Kind of confirmation,
almost a flip side of the coin way of saying it.
For whatever the Father does,
these things the Son also likewise
does.
That's quite the claim
when you think about it.
I mean, the first one,
okay, we can see that.
You're not
claiming to be a second God,
one who acts independently
from the one true God.
No,
you're kind of saying
that you are
in your work
tethered to his.
but now you're saying
it's as if Jesus is saying
whatever the Father might do,
decide to do
and do,
the Son also likewise
does that thing
or is doing that
as well.
There's,
again,
this is,
Jesus seems to be saying
there's this unity
unity
to his action
and the Father's action
and perhaps the place
you could just
conceive of this best
is in a miracle of healing.
In some sense,
since we don't understand,
it's as if
the Son is watching
what the Father is doing
and seeing what he is doing
and as he sees
the Father
stretch out his hand
toward a person
to heal them,
he too
at the same time
stretches out his hand
to heal.
The picture we get here
is that there are
two distinct persons
at work
and yet in this
one action
there is
one God
at work.
Now,
I'm not going to pretend
to have this all
figured out
or to fully understand
how this works,
what this is like
or feels like
to Jesus.
This
is
a mystery.
I honestly
have no idea
but this seems to be
what Jesus
is saying
here.
And this is really
the key truth
for today
that
Jesus
the Son of God
has this
wonderful,
special relationship
with God the Father
that there is a unity
to their work,
to their action
such that the Son
does not act
independently
from the Father.
In fact,
it's even stronger
than that.
Cannot act.
The Son
can
or is able
to do
nothing
of himself
unless
it is something
he sees
the Father
doing.
There's a
harmony,
a perfect
synchronization
of the Father
and Son
as they act.
Why?
Well,
we're going to see
this a little bit
today
because
there is
a union,
a deep
connectedness
between the
Father
and the Son
such as
is out of this
world,
something that
we just
goes beyond
what we can
even fathom.
So,
where do we
see this?
Well,
let's look through
a few other
scriptures
just to see
this truth
that we've
seen here
from Jesus'
words affirmed
again,
but also
some additional
details
that will
kind of,
I think,
bring this
into focus
for us.
So,
the first
place we
want to
look at
is
John
chapter 5
verse 30.
This is
just a little
ways down
the end
of this
section.
Jesus will
say a very
similar thing
here in
John 5
verse 30.
He says
this,
By myself
I can do
nothing.
I judge
only as I
hear,
and my
judgment
is just,
for I
seek not
to please
myself,
but him
who sent
me.
So,
again,
very similar,
in fact,
almost identical
language,
of myself
I can,
I am able
to do
nothing.
In his
action,
which is
specifically
related to
judgment,
that the
Father has
entrusted
to him,
which we'll
talk about
another
message,
in his
action,
he doesn't
do it
of himself.
Why?
Verse 30,
For I
seek not
to please
myself,
literally,
I seek
not to
do my
will,
but the
will of
him who
sent me.
So,
here we
see again,
the son
cannot act
independently
from the
Father.
Even though
he has
been entrusted
judgment
from the
Father,
he does
not do
it of
himself.
He does
it in
unison,
in
synchronization
with the
Father,
what he
hears from
the Father.
And we
see another
added detail
here,
this added
detail of
how the
son is
voluntarily
submitting
himself
to the
Father.
He's not
living to
do his
own will,
but to
do the
will of
the one
who sent
him,
to please
him.
And we'll
see this
in more
places than
just this
as we go
on.
Let's fast
forward to
John chapter
8.
John chapter
8,
verse 28
and 29.
Again,
Jesus is
having
conversation
with people
and he
says this,
when you
have lifted
up the
Son of
Man,
then you
will know
that I
am he
and that
I do
nothing
on my
own,
but speak
just what
the Father
has taught
me.
The one
who sent
me is
with me.
He has
not left
me alone,
for I
always do
what pleases
him.
Here again,
you see this
idea again
that the
Son does
not act
independently
from the
Father.
I do
nothing on
my own.
In fact,
he doesn't
even speak
independently
from the
Father,
but I
speak just
what the
Father has
taught me.
What he
says to
me,
I say
to you.
There's a
unity,
a harmony,
not just
to the
work that
the Father
and Son
do,
but to
the words
that the
Son speaks.
They are
the words
that he
has received
from the
Father to
say.
And again,
we see this
idea of
submission,
voluntary
submission,
for I
always do
what pleases
him.
There's this
commitment
not to
do his
own will,
but to
do what
pleases
the Father,
to do
the will
of his
Father,
the work
of his
Father,
to say
the words
of his
Father.
Let's
fast forward
again to
John
chapter 12
verse 49.
Again,
Jesus
referring to
his previous
words says
this,
for I
did not
speak on
my own
or of
myself,
but the
Father who
sent me
commanded me
to say
all that
I have
spoken.
Last
half of
verse 50.
So,
whatever I
say is
just what
the Father
has told
me to
say.
Again,
we see
the Son
does not
act
independently
from the
Father.
He does
not speak
independently
from the
Father.
They are
one in
their work.
They are
one in
their
words.
The Son
says what
the Father
has commanded
him to
say,
what the
Father has
told him
to say.
And again,
this idea
of the
Son
submitting
himself to
the Father's
commands
and obeying
the Father.
And probably
the thing
that will
bring this
most clearly
into focus
is what
Jesus
says in
John
chapter 10
verse 30
because he
says it's
so directly
there.
We're going
to get
there later
in this
series,
but this
is what
Jesus
says in
John 10
30.
He says,
I and
the Father
are one.
I and
the Father
are one.
This is
what is
at the
heart
of this
unity
in their
work
and in
their
speaking.
being.
It's
this
deeper
reality
that in
their
very
beings,
being,
singular,
Jesus
and his
Father
are one.
Two
persons,
one
God.
Jesus
will explain
it like
this in
verse 36
of chapter
10.
why then
do you
accuse me
of
blasphemy
because
I said
I am
God's
son.
Do not
believe me
unless I
do the
works of
my
Father.
But if
I do
them,
even though
you do
not believe
me,
believe the
works that
you may
know and
understand
that the
Father is
in me
and I
in the
Father.
Couldn't
be said
more
clearly,
I don't
think,
than this.
There is
a oneness,
a unity,
not just
of their
works,
not just
of the
words,
but of
who they
are.
Father
and son
together,
one
God.
So
truly
does
the
son
make
known
who
the
Father
is
and
is
united
with
the
Father
that
Jesus
will
say
this
in
conversation
with
Philip.
Philip
will
ask
Jesus,
he'll
say,
show us
the
Father.
And this
is
Jesus'
answer.
John
14,
9,
don't
you
know
me,
Philip,
even
after
I've
been
among
you
such
a
long
time?
Anyone
who
has
seen
me
has
seen
the
Father.
How can
you say,
show us
the
Father?
Don't
you believe
that I
am in
the
Father
and that
the
Father
is
in
me?
Here it
is again,
the words
I say
to you,
I do
not speak
on my
own
authority,
me.
Rather,
it is
the
Father
living
in
me
who
is
doing
his
work.
If
you've
seen
me,
says
Jesus,
you
have
seen
the
Father.
That's
how
one
they
are.
So,
yes,
we do
see
this
truth
all
through
the
Gospel
of
John,
that
Jesus
as
the
Son
of
God
has
this
wonderful
relationship
with
his
Father
in
which
they
are
two
persons
distinct
from
one
another
and
yet
one
God
acting
together,
working
together,
speaking
together
in
perfect
harmony,
in
perfect
unison
and
at the
same
time
there's
this
element
of
it's
the
Father's
will
that
governs
and
that
directs
and
he's
the
one
who
commands
and
the
son
is
the
one
who
submits
and
watches
and
acts
in
perfect
harmony
with
the
Father.
These
are lofty
truths
about
Jesus
and
the
Father.
Where
do
these
truths
hit
us
today?
Well,
they hit
us in
a couple
of
places.
And
I think,
now,
I've
said this
before in
this
series,
but I
want to
say it
again.
If
Jesus
is
just a
mere
man,
then it
matters
very little
if we
listen to
him or
take his
words
seriously.
If
Jesus
is a
prophet,
then it
matters
much
if we
listen to
him or
take his
words
seriously.
But if
Jesus
is,
as we've
seen,
the very
Son
of
God,
who
when he
speaks,
it is
God who
speaks
through
him,
then it
matters
massively
whether we
listen to
his words
or take
them
seriously.
If we
choose to
ignore the
words of
Jesus or
reject the
words of
Jesus or
disregard the
words of
Jesus,
we are
choosing to
reject and
ignore and
disregard the
words of
God, the
Father himself,
the creator
of the
universe.
And that's
not a place
that we want
to be.
But the
flip side of
this is
also true.
If Jesus
speaks the
very words of
the Father,
of God
himself,
then this
means that
it is not
just Jesus
who offers
living water
and eternal
life and
resurrection from
the dead to
people, but
it is God
himself,
the Father,
the creator,
who is offering
these good
gifts.
And if it's
God who
offers them,
we can be
certain that
he will
deliver because
only God can
do these
kinds of
things, can
give these
kinds of
gifts to
people.
Finally, we
read earlier
in John
chapter 1
verse 18,
these words,
no one has
ever seen
God, but
the one and
only Son
has made
him known.
Do we
realize
just how
wonderful this
is?
That
Jesus, as
the Son of
God, has
come into
our world
so that we
could have
the gracious
opportunity to
know the
unseeable
one, the
God who
has never
been seen.
If they
have this
kind of a
oneness, like
has been
talked about
here, then
truly by
looking at
Jesus, the
one who
walked among
us, we
can know
God.
What a
wonderful
thing.
Are we
taking
advantage of
this
opportunity
and looking
at him
and listening
to his
words?
He does
not just
speak on
God's
behalf, he
speaks God's
words.
He does
God's
works.
And this
is a
wonderful and
gracious gift.
We've been
talking all
through this
series about
how Jesus
is full of
grace and
truth.
God's
grace and
truth.
He's not
gracious and
truthful in
his speech.
He is the
very embodiment
of God's
grace and
God's truth
given and
spoken to
us.
What an
amazing gift.
God's
love and
God's
love and
God's
love and
God's
love and
spoke among
us.
I hope and
I pray that
we do.
I want to
close with
these words
of Jesus
from John
chapter 5
verse 24.
This is back
in John 5
and we
didn't get to
that yet but
this is what
Jesus says.
Hear these
words.
very truly
I tell you
whoever hears
my word
and believes
him who
sent me
has eternal
life and
will not be
judged but
has crossed
over from
death to
life.
do you
hear the
word of
Jesus?
Do you
believe the
one who
sent him?
I hope and
I pray that
you do.
Let's pray.
Father in
heaven thank
you for
sending your
son.
Thank you
for the
words he
has spoken.
We pray and
ask that you
would
continue to
help us see
more of
the truth
in his
words and
understand them
better so
that we
might know
you God
deeper,
more than
we ever have
before.
We ask that
you'd seal
these words in
our hearts
in the weeks
ahead.
In Jesus
name.
Amen.
we're
going to
next
week.
in
the
bye.