John 5:19-24; 26-27; 30
Jesus said to them, “Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own but only what he sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomever he wishes.”
The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Anyone who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life does not come under judgment but has passed from death to life… for just as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man.”
“I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek to do not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
Last week we heard the story of the lame man who had waited long years at the Pool of Beth-zatha (sometimes given as Bethesda or Bethsaida, it depends on your translation) but had never managed to receive the healing promised there. Until the day Jesus happened to be there and, upon hearing the man’s story, simply told him to ‘pick up his mat and walk,’ and he did.
When the authorities (the Jews) heard this story and realized that it was done on the Sabbath, they were determined to track down the one who had broken this rule so that he would be properly punished. When the “guilty one” was found to be Jesus, he simply explained that his Father was still working on that day and so therefore was he. The Son can do nothing on his own but only what he sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise – in effect naming himself as the Son of God and equal to Godself. For this “crime” the authorities set out to find a way (since they did not have that power themselves) to bring about his death.
This is where we ended last week.
In today’s reading Jesus goes on with an expanded message explaining that he has every right to do such things as heal a lame man, whether it be the Sabbath or not, because his Father has given him this right. He is the Son of his Father, doing his Father’s work.
In John’s gospel, Jesus IS God’s Word to us. As Frederick Buechner puts it: “Matthew quotes scripture, linking Jesus to holy writings from the past, Mark lists miracles, showing us what Jesus does among us, and Luke reels off parables, teaching us as Jesus did.” All three spoke of the 30+ years Jesus lived among us here on this earth.
But Buechner goes on to say, “When God wanted to say what God is all about, and what man is all about, and what life is all about, it wasn’t words that emerged, but a man. Jesus was his name. He was the Word of God.”
In John’s gospel, we don’t often hear the familiar stories told by Jesus or told of Jesus, the ones we hear in the three Synoptics. Instead, John’s version takes us back to the very beginning of everything and reminds us who it was who was already present at that magical moment when all that is first was. The One who is the Son of the Father. The Father has given him everything and he is here living among us and BEING the Word of God. Jesus does the things he does because he can, and he can because of who he is.
Perhaps the best way to understand just who Jesus is and why he can do the things his does will be to hear the answer from Jesus himself, in the form of the “I AM…” sayings, and that is more than we can cover in our remaining time today so I think that is what we will tackle next week.
When the authorities (the Jews) heard this story and realized that it was done on the Sabbath, they were determined to track down the one who had broken this rule so that he would be properly punished. When the “guilty one” was found to be Jesus, he simply explained that his Father was still working on that day and so therefore was he. The Son can do nothing on his own but only what he sees the Father doing, for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise – in effect naming himself as the Son of God and equal to Godself. For this “crime” the authorities set out to find a way (since they did not have that power themselves) to bring about his death.
This is where we ended last week.
In today’s reading Jesus goes on with an expanded message explaining that he has every right to do such things as heal a lame man, whether it be the Sabbath or not, because his Father has given him this right. He is the Son of his Father, doing his Father’s work.
In John’s gospel, Jesus IS God’s Word to us. As Frederick Buechner puts it: “Matthew quotes scripture, linking Jesus to holy writings from the past, Mark lists miracles, showing us what Jesus does among us, and Luke reels off parables, teaching us as Jesus did.” All three spoke of the 30+ years Jesus lived among us here on this earth.
But Buechner goes on to say, “When God wanted to say what God is all about, and what man is all about, and what life is all about, it wasn’t words that emerged, but a man. Jesus was his name. He was the Word of God.”
In John’s gospel, we don’t often hear the familiar stories told by Jesus or told of Jesus, the ones we hear in the three Synoptics. Instead, John’s version takes us back to the very beginning of everything and reminds us who it was who was already present at that magical moment when all that is first was. The One who is the Son of the Father. The Father has given him everything and he is here living among us and BEING the Word of God. Jesus does the things he does because he can, and he can because of who he is.
Perhaps the best way to understand just who Jesus is and why he can do the things his does will be to hear the answer from Jesus himself, in the form of the “I AM…” sayings, and that is more than we can cover in our remaining time today so I think that is what we will tackle next week.
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