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Jesus taught that there was only one God. We will see shortly that He claims to be God, and in other studies we will discover that Jesus and the Father are one God, along with the Holy Spirit. That is, God is a plural-one or a trinity. It is a concept that we do not understand; but should we be able to understand God? If we could understand Him completely, then He would not be God. There is a study at this website called “Who Is God?” which will help to explain this truth further for those who are interested.
Father Loves Jesus. After Jesus told the religious leaders that He mimics the Father, He told them that He and the Father are friends. Wow, what a shocking statement to the leaders!
For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel. (NASB) John 5:20 The Greek word that Jesus used for “love” was PHILEO. This word has the idea of friendship love. Jesus does not have a cold, lifeless, business relationship with the Father. They are friends. The religious leaders must have been angry over this statement because they hated Jesus. Just think - they hated Jesus, but God the Father loved Him.
Then Jesus added a powerful statement by declaring that “you have not seen anything yet.” That is, Jesus promised them that they would see greater miracles, greater healings, and greater signs in the future. They had only seen the minor stuff so far. They had no clue what Jesus was able to do. More was coming, and some of it would be spectacular!
Jesus’ Spectacular Works. One of the spectacular miracles Jesus would perform would be the raising of the dead.
For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. (NASB) John 5:21 Did the religious leaders doubt that He could do this? Most of us probably would have had we been there. Many today would doubt. Yet, Jesus raised the dead. In coming studies we will see Jesus raise the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-17), the daughter of Jarius (Matt. 9:18-26), and Lazarus (John 11:1-46) from the dead. If the Father raised the dead and since Jesus mimics the Father, then Jesus will raise the dead too!
The last six words of Jesus’ statement, “. . . gives life to whom He wishes,” are significant. Jesus was not a little boy who only does what daddy says. Jesus had the ability and the freedom to perform miracles, perform healings, perform signs and wonders, and raise the dead. This was and is the mark of God and not of a human being.
Jesus Will Be Judge. The religious leaders must have been furious by now, but Jesus was not finished.
For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him. (NASB) John 5:22-23 The religious leaders believed that God was the final and ultimate judge at the end of life. So Jesus surprises them when He says that He will be their judge. The Greek word Jesus uses for “has given” in the statement “has given all judgment to the Son” is in the perfect tense. This means that Jesus was already the judge of the world. He was not waiting to become the judge at some time in the future. The judge was standing in front of these religious “bullies,” and the “bullies” were going to be judged by the one they were “bullying.” |
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| Life & Heart of Jesus | ||||||
