The following excerpt from John chapter 5 is crystal clear that Jesus, in defining Himself as the Son of God, is declaring that He and His Father are the One True and Living God.
Let me take you through it, and then I’d be glad to hear your thoughts.
The chapter begins with Jesus healing a man at the pool of Bethesda, who had been ill for 38 years. Note, first of all, the authority with which Jesus speaks:
8 Jesus said unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
He doesn’t invoke the name of the LORD, or attribute the miracle to God, but seems to act by His own will and in His own authority. The problem was … Jesus had healed the man on the Sabbath day, an act that the religious leaders classed as work, and therefore illegal.
9 And immediately the man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked: and on the same day was the sabbath. 10 The Jews therefore said unto him that was cured, It is the sabbath day: it is not lawful for you to carry thy bed. 11 He answered them, He that made me whole, the same said unto me, Take up your bed, and walk. 12 Then asked they him, What man is that which said unto you, Take up your bed, and walk? 13 And he that was healed did not know who it was: for Jesus had conveyed himself away, a multitude being in that place. 14 Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said unto him, Behold, you are made whole: sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto you. 15 The man departed, and told the Jews that it was Jesus, which had made him whole. 16 And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.
In His defense, Jesus makes an astonishing statement!
17 But Jesus answered them, My Father works hitherto, and I work.
What does He mean by this? Well, we don’t need to guess, for the Jewish, religious leaders, experts in the Law of Moses, had no doubt what Jesus meant, immediately identifying it as blasphemous. They claimed that Jesus was essentially saying, ‘I am God’.
IF YOU THINK DIFFERENTLY, I’D LIKE TO HEAR YOUR EXPLANATION BELOW.
18 Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.
Some make the point that these are Jesus’ enemies speaking, so why should we believe them? A fair question, but Jesus Himself goes on to clarify His meaning, drawing the union between Himself and His Father ever clearer. Instead of denying their claim, He confirms it by pointing out the unity of action: ‘as the Father … even so the Son’. It is this unity of mind, purpose and action that is the point of the phrase in v19, ‘The Son can do nothing of Himself’.
(ADAM TO BEGIN WITH, THEN ALL THE REST OF US, MAKE FREE CHOICES TO ACT OUTSIDE THE WILL OF GOD AND/OR DISOBEY HIS WORD, FOR JESUS CHRIST, THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE! HE CANNOT ACT ‘OF HIMSELF’; OF HIS OWN ACCORD, OUTSIDE OF THE FATHER’S WILL AND PURPOSE, FOR HE AND THE FATHER ARE ONE GOD.)
19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father do: for what things soever he does, these also does the Son likewise. 20 For the Father loves the Son, and shews him all things that himself does: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. 21 For as the Father raises up the dead, and quickens (makes alive) them; even so the Son quickens whom he will. 22 For the Father judges no man, but has committed all judgment unto the Son:
Not only does Jesus confirm their understanding, but in this last verse enhances it, by pointing out the consequences of it for the Jewish leaders themselves: they cannot say they are honouring God, if they do not honour the Son.
23 That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honours not the Son, honours not the Father which has sent him.
How do you honour God, the Father?
Well, because the Father loves His eternal Son, He desires that you honour Jesus Christ, the Son, in the same way, for they are One God, and there is only one response: to bow down and worship!
(courtesy of forwardinhope.com)
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