Good Afternoon Everyone- hear is some introduction information and additional thoughts for this week's reading......
John chapter 5:17-30
Jesus is Divine – The Father and Son Sermon.
The Starting Points
of the Faith: What we confess and believe:
- As Christians we
confess that the God is One and that God is also three in one. God is a Trinity (God is
one, God is Father, Son, Spirit). This is something that we confess to be true
and that we believe is revealed to us in the Holy Scriptures. John chapter five
and indeed much of John shows us that God the Father is God and that Jesus is
also God (and the Spirit is also God, but that will be discussed in later
passages). We confess and trust these
beliefs as starting points in the Christian faith.
-If God is God and we are not then it stands to reason that He
will have to show Himself to us for us to understand. This God showing Himself
to us is what we call revelation. We
believe that Jesus is God revealed to us. Jesus says that if you have seen me
you have seen the Father. The New Testament writers declare that in Jesus we
have the fullness of God. We also confess that the Scriptures that talk about
Jesus are God’s revelation to us. We believe that God is able to reveal himself
to us and he has done so in Jesus Christ and in the scriptures. Our starting point is Faith (trust) and then
that faith seeks to understand. We can’t demand understanding before faith. We
must trust that some of these core beliefs are true first and then see how life
looks with these beliefs. This is a bit like the hypothesis in scientific
theory. You have to believe that some base things are true and then test those
beliefs out in real life.
-In the Chronicles of Narnia C.S. Lewis puts it this way.
Things are “far bigger inside than they are outside.” And “ The farther up
and the farther in you go, the bigger everything gets. The inside is larger
than the outside.” Christian faith is like that. You must decide to go into it.
It doesn’t look that big from the outside. It might not make sense from the
outside (things like the Trinity, God becoming man, the death of Jesus for us,
God suffering, the resurrection, strength
by weakness). But you have to trust that these things are true or at least
might be true. You have to walk into them and see how every thing fits. When
you decide to trust you walk inside this glorious faith and as you get inside
you realize it is much bigger than you anticipated.
-Don’t get too overwhelmed with trying to completely
understand this. Though we confess it and trust it, it does not have to be
something that we fully understand, nor can it be. If you think that you have
God completely figured out that means that you have a god of your own
making. Keep going further up and
further in.
John 5:17-30
Summary and Major Themes:
Summary:
In John 5:17-30 we see Jesus giving a mini sermon
(presumably to his followers and some of his opponents). In this sermon we
learn about his relationship with his father, the authority and power that he
has and he tells his listeners (opponents, disciples and us) how they are to
respond in faith to Him.
The Relationship of the Father and Son
-This short sermon
says a lot about the relationship of the Father and Son (and indeed in John’s
gospel Jesus will say a lot more about this relationship and we will see how he
interacts with the Father over and over again throughout the rest of the
gospel). For now lets focus on what we see in these verses:
-Jesus works because the father works (17)
-He definitely thinks he is God’s son. This gets him
death threats (v18-19)
-He can’t do anything on his own. He does what he sees
the father do
-The Son can raise the dead and give life, just like the
Father (21)
-The Father gives all judgment to the Son so that the Son
can receive as much honor as the Father(22)
-The Father sent him (24) – He represents God
-They both have life in and of themselves (Father gives
it to the son)
-The son has authority to execute judgment because he is
also the son of man(27)
-Jesus can’t make
judgments on his own but he make
judgments as he hears them. (29-30)
-He listens to the
father and does everything fairly -30
Fire and Light
-A helpful analogy of their relationship is that of Fire and Light. When a fire starts
it bring light immediately. When there is no fire there is no light. The fire
and light are completely joined. You can not have one without the other, but we
are also able to call them two different things. You can only see the fire by the light that it
gives. If there is no light given by the fire then you could never see the fire
in the first place. Jesus is light. We have no way of seeing the Father apart
from His light. (I use this analogy for 2 reasons. One, the church Father St.
Augustine uses it. Two, in the scriptures God is called a consuming fire and
Jesus is called the light of the world.)
Jesus is equal to the
Father and Submissive to the Father
“We are even being introduced to the
mysteries of relations in the Godhead . . . [S]ubmission describes not just a
30 year lowliness assumed by the
historical Jesus, but it describes the Son’s eternal relation to the Father. And because his subordination is so entire
and so perfect, so is his equality.” –Bruner 312
-We think of
submission as meaning that you are lower or lesser. People thought that in
Jesus’ time as well. On the cross Christ’s mockers declare that if he really is God’s Son and the Messiah then
he will prove his godliness by coming down from the cross. Surely God can’t be weak and be
killed by mortals? Surely God can’t submit to others. But Jesus believes and shows us that perfect submission and perfect
trust to God the Father is part of what makes him equal with God, This is a
radical idea. In God’s relationship with himself there is a relationship of
submission. Submission does not mean higher or lower. In fact Jesus proves
himself to be equal to the father is his perfect submission and obedience to
Him. Consider some of the ramifications of this truth for how we are called to
live as followers of Christ:
1-We need to submit to the father
and son. We will be raised up as we
submit (God gives grace to the humble, the first shall be last, and the last
first, the beatitudes in Matthew 5).
2-In our relationships with one
another we don’t need to prove ourselves to be higher than others. Submitting to others faithfully is part of
our growth into being who God created us to be (reconsider Ephesians five in light of the
possibility that submission does not mean lesser). We are free to submit to one
another without concern for being lesser or greater (I need to think about this
one a lot more!).
The Authority and Power of Jesus (3 major recurring things)
In these passages (and in passages to
come in John) it is clear that Jesus has power and authority over three huge
aspects of life and humanity. He has the authority to give life. He has the
authority to judge and to choose to withhold judgment. He has authority and
power over the resurrection.
How To Respond in Faith
Though much of this passage can be confusing or challenging
(and that is ok, God is God and we are not), how we are called to respond to
Christ’ is quite simple. In verse 24 Jesus gives us simple instructions. We are
to hear His words and believe the one who sent Him. We are to
hear and believe. That is what Jesus always asks from us. Listen the Word and
genuinely believe and put your trust in Him. Listen and trust, even and
especially if, you
don’t fully understand.
