16 And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. 17 But Jesus answered them, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." 18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath. It wasn’t just one healing of one man but many things that he did on the Sabbath. In Matthew 12:5, Jesus said, “Or have you not read in the Law how on the Sabbath the priests in the temple profane the Sabbath and are guiltless?” (ESV). The priests defiled the Sabbath by working on it as prescribed by God. This then points to two facts. 1) Jesus is indicating that his right to do good on the Sabbath pointed to the fact that he was also a priest. In fact, Jesus is our high priest (Heb 4:14). He is the only mediator between God and man (1 Tim 2:5). 2) Jesus is God in that he has the right to say what does and does not incur guilt by working on the Sabbath.
Jesus identifies himself with God in doing these miracles. He simply calls them work, but the meaning is clear. Jesus has always been working in “natural” ways. In Colossians 1:17 we learn that “He is before all things, and in him all things hold together” (NIV). Also in Hebrews 1:3 we find that Jesus is “sustaining all things by his powerful word” (NIV). It should be noted that most people do not recognize that God in Jesus is making sure the world continues in what we believe to be natural ways. They think that God created the universe, gave it natural laws of physics like gravity, etc. then let it run its course. They are called deists, and quite frankly they are the ones that are responsible for writing our constitution and setting the groundwork for the mess that our country is in right now.[1] There are many of them still around and most don’t even know that they are denying the true nature of God and of Jesus. They don’t realize that creation cannot and will not continue one second without Jesus making sure it does. If Jesus were to stop using his influence over the cosmos it would all disappear. Poof! Nothing. Think about 2 Peter 3:10 “The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything in it will be laid bare” (NIV).
When we have a proper understanding of what Jesus was doing and saying, it isn’t hard to see why the Jews were persecuting him and trying to kill him. Unlike the people of today who say that Jesus never claimed to be God, they knew exactly what he claimed. Their problem is that they didn’t want to believe but they couldn’t ignore Jesus. According to their religion, he had to be killed for his blasphemy. They were in some ways just like our deists. They recognized God but didn’t want him to have any control or interest in current affairs. They wanted to be in control. If Jesus was who he claimed to be, then they would have to bow down to him.
19 So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. 22 The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.
What is missing from the narrative is what the Jews said to Jesus. We can guess it was the same thing as in John 10:18 “‘We are not stoning you for any of these,’ replied the Jews, ‘but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God’” (NIV). Jesus always tells the truth, but here, he emphasizes it by repeating the word, amen. One of the hazards of modern translations (NIV, MSG, and NLT) is that they don’t show this emphasis. Though they express its meaning, it simply doesn’t have the same impact that repeating the word in Jewish culture had.
Jesus confronts the lie of the Jews with the truth of God. It is a glimpse into the relationship of the Father and the Son within the Trinity. They are so much in attune with each other that Jesus essentially is saying he mimics the Father. He has shown the Jews that the Father heals and does miracles. This alone should shut their mouths. God heals even on the Sabbath? Didn’t God rest from his work on the seventh day? If so, he should still be resting. They were pretty much deists themselves, with the exception that their history showed God doing supernatural things. But remember, they hadn’t had a prophet show up for over 400 years. No miracles – no revelations – nothing intervening in their history and now Rome is in control. Now comes this guy and says God is working and he is doing the same things. The invalid at the pool thought angels healed and not very often – they didn’t give credit to God even when a miracle did occur.
Jesus gives two examples of what God is going to do and what the Son is going to do. The first is raise people from the dead. If the Jews include Sadducees, then this was a direct in-your-face slam against what they believed. As far as I know, the only person in the OT who was raised from the dead was the Shunamite’s son (2 Kings 4:32-36). That was a long time ago and the Sadducees didn’t believe in that part of the Bible anyway. It is like people now who think that all miracles have a natural explanation.
The Father and Jesus giving life shows that there is complete agreement between Jesus and the Father when it comes to who gets eternal life. The plan of redemption is the cooperative execution of the Trinity even though the Holy Spirit is not mentioned here.
But judgment is another issue. Clearly, God is not going to let anyone get away with these aberrant beliefs about God. This should be a stern warning to the Jews as well to all of mankind. Jesus will do the judging. All of Psalm 2 is appropriate to read at this point. The Jews are representative of all the nations conspiring against the Son. The end is what they need to understand when it comes to judgment, “Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him” (Ps 2:12 NIV).
There is no question about the fact that Jesus is the only way to the Father. If anyone says he believes in God but doesn’t care for Jesus, there is only one ending for that person. If a person does not honor the Jesus of the Bible but makes up some other version, the same will be their end.
24 Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Another “I tell you the truth.” This is one of the clearest declarations that a true believer in Jesus Christ has eternal life and it will not be taken away. The whoever in this verse does not negate the fact that God chooses who will be saved. The whoever is conditional on two things, hearing Jesus’ word and believing.
Not everyone in the world will hear Jesus’ word. That is a plain fact of life. It is also why we should do what we can to spread the word to as many people as possible. There are some who are really upset that we spend so much money on our own comfortable churches and even money to send missionaries where the word has already reached a significant percentage of the population, but we don’t even spend 1% on places that have virtually no exposure to the Bible.
Not everyone who hears Jesus’ word will believe. This is where election is evident. Though people in some areas of the world have access to the Bible and have heard Jesus’ words, they still don’t believe. I’ve told people about Jesus and his resurrection, and they come off with a comment such as “that isn’t scientific.” They have other gods (science) and are not willing to hear Jesus and respond in faith because they haven’t been given the gift of faith (Eph 2:8-9).
Belief must be in the one who sent Jesus. Too many people want to have Jesus without the Father or vice versa. The Father sent Jesus. He didn’t send Joseph Smith, Buddha, Mohammad, or other religious leaders. If you believe in God then you must believe in Jesus. This requires believing that God the Father is the one who sent him.
If you do believe, you have eternal life. It isn’t temporary life. Everyone has temporary life right now regardless of what they believe. But that life is called death because it isn’t the life that we can have in Jesus. When temporary life ends, what happens? Condemnation is waiting for everyone who has only temporary life (death). Sure, their existence will continue but it will not be eternal life but eternal punishment.
The moment a person believes, they cross over from temporary life to eternal life, from death to life. If person could lose eternal life, then they would not have crossed over from death to life in the first place.
25 "Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man.
One more “I tell you the truth.” The dead will hear Jesus and live. Jesus isn’t talking about the resurrection of the dead. He isn’t talking about raising Lazarus. He is talking about the conversion of souls from death to life when they hear Jesus’ words. He is speaking about all those Samaritans who came to him from the village and everyone who heard and believed at the feast in Jerusalem. They heard and believed, they were dead in their sins and became alive in Jesus. He is talking about everyone from then until now and until he comes again who hear his words and believe.
The life that the Father gives comes from within himself. The Father is self-existent. No one and nothing gave life to the Father. Because the Son is also God, then he must also possess this same quality, or he would not be God. He would be a created being. John 1:4 tells us the same thing, life is in Jesus. John 17:2 tells us that Jesus has the authority to give life to everyone whom the Father has given him. It is a bit confusing that all translations say in one way or another that the Father gave this quality to the Son. However, if you consider the way the Bible says that the Father begat the Son without saying that the Son is created, then in the same way this giving is just another way of saying that the Son has had this ability just as long as the Father has – which is forever.
Jesus is the one to judge all. This is established in Psalm 2. The Son rules and therefore judges. Although Jesus says he judges no one (John 8:15, 12:47) but his words judge because they are the Father’s words (John 12:48-49). Acts 17:31 makes it clear that though Jesus is judging the Father is judging through him. Just as it is impossible to separate the Son from the Father, so it is impossible to separate God’s judgement from that of the Son.
28 Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice 29 and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. 30 "I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
Now Jesus turns his attention to the second concept of giving life. This is physical life in the bodily resurrection. It is connected directly to judgment. By the way, this would indicate that the judgment and rapture may very well occur at the same time. Jesus says there is a time, not multiple times of resurrection. I’m not alone in considering this and the more I contemplate on this the more I’m convinced that the rapture theory coming before the tribulation is less likely. Look at Dan 12:1-2:
“There will be a time of distress such as has not happened from the beginning of nations until then. But at that time your people — everyone whose name is found written in the book — will be delivered. Multitudes who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake: some to everlasting life, others to shame and everlasting contempt” (NIV).
That aside, Jesus will be the judge. The Great White Throne Judgment will be Jesus on the bench. Revelation 20:11 doesn’t say God the Father is on the throne nor does it say Jesus is. But it could well be God the Trinity. However, based on what Jesus has been saying – it appears to be Jesus.
We have both a blessing and a warning in that Jesus only judges as he hears. We know that his judgment is true. If we acknowledge him before men (he hears this) then he will acknowledge us before the Father. If we disown him he hears that also and will disown us before the Father (Matt 10:32-33). Since he seeks to please the Father, his judgment is completely just. Since God is the justifier and he justifies us, we have the blessing at the time of judgment (Rom 3:26).
[1] In a novel I co-authored with K K Corner, The Horses of Carvecchio, I explained how this happened. In the chapter on American Colonies, pages 101-105, Thomas Jefferson is encouraged to perpetuate his beliefs which were included in the constitution. While it is a novel, I believe the concepts are accurate.
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