Daily Devotions
John
The difficult question of the Godhead
Text: John 5:16-47
THE DIFFICULT QUESTION OF THE GODHEAD
The Jews were caught in a difficult theological dilemma. They knew that Jesus had virtually trapped them when He said these words.
“My Father has been working until now,
and I have been working.”
John 5:17
What Jesus said was plain. What He meant was something else. What did The Jews hear that they became so incensed and infuriated?
1. Did they object to the idea of God being called “Father”?
Surely not! The concept of God being “Father” was taught, both implicitly and explicitly in the Old Testament Scriptures.
a) Implicit reference to God as Father
Moses compared God to a father caring for his son, when He led Israel out of Egypt.
“And in the wilderness where you saw how
The Lord your God carried you,
As a man carries his son, in all the way that you went,
Until you came to this place…”
Deuteronomy 1:31
b) Explicit reference to God as Father
God Himself said that He would be as Father to Solomon.
“I will be His Father, and he shall be My son…”
2 Samuel 7:14
c) Application of the Concept of God as Father
Isaiah cried out to God as “Father” in prayer.
“Doubtless You are our Father…
You, O Lord, are our Father…”
Isaiah 63:16
“But now, O Lord, You are our Father,
We are the clay, and You our Potter
And we are all the work of Your hand”
Isaiah 64:8
2. Wherein was the objection of The Jews?
The Jews would not have found fault with any of the above texts cited from the Scriptures. What they objected to was the way in which Jesus made reference to God.
a) An unacceptable comparison
Jesus made an unacceptable comparison to God as His Father as far as the Jews were concerned. How dared He compare Himself to God. Man couldn’t be compared to God. The Lord may and does indeed work, for He does not need to rest up! But how could Jesus compare His working with God’s way of working?
b) A hidden innuendo
As The Jews listened to Jesus, they caught the hidden innuendo in the way He spoke of God as His Father. He was too familiar with God. Of course they would not even consider the possibility that He could have come from the very bosom of God (John 1:18), let alone think that He the Word of God, who was always in existence with God (John 1:1).
One may speak of being close to God, one may even call God ‘Father’, however, to actually speak with such a sense of familiarity could only mean one thing. That person was suggesting equality with God! To the Jews, this was unthinkable! Perish the thought! Had the nation of Israel not been taught that there was but One God? Had they not repeated The Shema often enough,
“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God,
The LORD is One!”
Deuteronomy 6:4
The thought of there being another Person in the Godhead just could not be considered, let alone accepted!
THE PERSISTENCE OF JESUS IN TEACHING ABOUT HIS SONSHIP
While the Jews could not contemplate what Jesus taught about His Sonship, neither could He back away from this vital truth! He could not teach anything less than the whole truth. Their horns were locked in battle. There was no backing down. The issue of the Eternal Sonship was even more significant theologically than the Sabbath issue.
The doctrine of the Eternal Sonship of the Messiah was fairly “new” to The Jews. They had their own ideas of the Messiah. They acknowledged that there would be a Messiah sent from God. He would be their King. There was a term used eschatologically with reference to the Messiah. He was known as “The Son of Man” (Daniel 7:13). However Jewish theology was particularly weak with reference to the explanation of this Son of Man.
It was left to Jesus to expound this concept to Israel. Who was the Messiah? What was His origin? Jesus introduced theological truths that shocked the theology of The Jews to its foundation! They had never heard such things before! They heard Jesus explain His relationship with His Father in the most intimate of terms.
“Most assuredly, I say to you,
The Son can do nothing of Himself,
But what He sees the Father do;
For whatever He does, the Son does in like manner.”
John 5:19