Daily Devotions
John
The eternal relationship between the Father and Son
Text: John 5:16-47
THE ETERNAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE FATHER AND SON
You can imagine how The Jews must have grimaced in shock and horror as Jesus expounded the eternal and intimate relationship He sustained with His Father. Traditional Jewish theology was straightforward, almost simple in its singularity. God was simply ONE. God has no one with whom He shared anything. Yet, here was a young Rabbi found teaching the most profound and revolutionary thoughts. How could they accept what Jesus was teaching?
1. GOD HAD A SON WITH WHOM HE SHARED EVERYTHING
Jesus preached a very developed idea of the Father-Son relationship! He declared simply but with great conviction that God shared everything He did with Him, simply because He was the Eternal Son.
“For the Father loves the Son,
and shows Him all things that He Himself does;
and He will show Him greater works than these,
that you may marvel.”
John 5:20
Jesus claimed that there was a very special relationship sustained with God. The Lord was Father in the truest, deepest and most intimate sense of the word. No human being could speak with this same sense of closeness and intimacy!
In this climate of intimate love, the Father shows or reveals to His only begotten Son all the things that He does. No prophet, no matter his stature, could make such a claim! Jesus was saying that His Father was sharing with His Son what He was doing and what He was planning to do! He knew that they would indeed marvel at these words of revelation! Who had ever heard that God would reveal all that He did to a man? But was Jesus only a man? They marveled as the words of Jesus sank in!
2. BOTH THE FATHER AND SON HAVE THE SAME POWER TO GRANT LIFE
Jesus did not stop there. He went on to make even more astonishing statements.
“For as the Father raises the dead, and gives life to them,
even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”
John 5:21
That God was the Giver of Life was not a difficult doctrine to understand. God was Creator, wasn’t He? Of course He could give life. God had demonstrated that power to grant life through His servants the prophets from time to time. Two of the most famous prophets, Elijah and Elisha, raised people from the dead.
Elijah has raised the son of the widow of Zarephath from the dead (1 Kings 17:17-24). Elisha who was given a double portion of the spirit of Elijah also raised the dead. He brought back to life the son of a Shunammite lady who had expressed great practical kindness to him (2 Kings 4:8-37).
What was Jesus saying? He was not merely comparing Himself with the prophets of old. He was comparing His own powers with that of the Father! As God had power to give life to the dead, so the Son had this awesome power to give life to whom He will! Jesus was claiming equality with God! There was no mistaking the implications of these words!
3. GOD HAD GIVEN THE PREROGATIVE OF JUDGMENT TO THE SON
There were certain prerogatives that went with being God. One of them was that He was able to give life to whom He will. The other was that He had the right to be Judge.
“For the Father judges no one,
but has committed all judgment to the Son.”
John 5:22
The Jews were very familiar with the idea of God being Judge. The Psalms spoke of God as Judge very often. Many of the Psalms were in fact used as prayers to God as the Righteous Judge.
“The LORD shall judge the peoples…”
Psalm 7:8
“God is a Just Judge…”
Psalm 7:11
What did Jesus mean when He said that God has committed all judgment to the Son? If that was true, then they must seek to understand who Jesus really was!
4. GOD HAD DECREED THAT ALL WERE TO HONOUR THE SON
The Jews must have reeled with shock at what they were hearing. Either Jesus was very correct in what He said or He was a heretic! In shocked silence they heard Jesus explain further what He believed God had decreed.
“That all should honour the Son just as they honour the Father.
He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent Him.”
John 5:23
This part of the exposition of the relationship that the Son sustained with His Father was very pointed. The Jews had obviously not honoured the Son. They had instead persecuted Him. They now plotted His death! How would they be judged for their disregard for not just the Son, but indeed the Father Himself, whom they pretended to worship and honour. Did they really understand the God they said that they worshipped and honoured?