Notes on John 5
© David H. Linden, Action International Ministries
John 2-4 reported some early positive response to
Christ. The apostle reported faith in Christ among Jesus’ disciples, among the
Samaritan woman and the people of her town, and the royal official whose son
was healed. Chapter 3 did not say Nicodemus believed, but he did not react
against what the Lord said to Him. In chapter 5 it is very different; hostility
to Jesus increases, and the religious leaders in
4:35 indicates an event that appears to be late in
the year. If so, this unnamed feast in 5:1 can only occur in the next year, “some
time later,” (5:1). It is possible that this healing and its ensuing
controversy is all this Gospel reports in the second year of Jesus’ ministry.
John obviously was not seeking to give a detailed report of Jesus’ activities.
Selecting his material carefully, John was ever the evangelist seeking to
convince people to believe (20:30,31). He also reported in this chapter on the
reality and danger of unbelief. There is no middle ground; we will believe or
reject.
All the signs John chose to write were given to
promote faith in Christ. In the previous section (John 2-4), there was no
visible sign in the sight of the Samaritans, yet they believed. The royal
official believed before he saw or heard that his son was healed. Nicodemus was
aware of Jesus’ miraculous signs (3:2) but in His responses to him, Christ made
no reference to them. At the wedding in
Many know the story of the man told to “pick up his
bed” (i.e., the mat he slept on). Probably fewer know of the controversy
stirred up by this miracle. John gives
more attention to what Jesus said afterwards than he does to the miracle
itself. The miracle was an opening to a weighty revelation of the relation of
the Father and the Son. Miracles may be observed, but only those who heed the
words of Christ understand. It was typical of John when reporting miracles to
convey their significance.
A. The Miracle at the Pool of
5:1 John supplies information for readers lacking
knowledge of Jewish culture. He
describes the feast as one the Jews had – something Jewish readers would not
need to be told. He provides the name of the pool in his dialect and its
location. As an evangelist, John wrote
for an audience not familiar with
5:1-5 Much detail appears in these verses. The miracle
happened during one of Jesus’ visits to
What happened to
v.4? Some Bible translations include information
about how the water was stirred. Such
words seem to make sense of v.7. We should reject this addition to Scripture,
because it is not found in the older manuscripts of the NT. In v.7 the Bible
reports a superstition believed by the invalid, but does not promote it by
agreeing with what he thought. The pool was spring fed, and that could explain
the stirring some thought was the act of an angel. Nothing in the Bible
indicates that anyone who could “race” others would receive God’s mercy before
those who were more weak. (See
Ecclesiastes 9:11.)
For centuries NT
manuscripts were copied by hand. Sometimes comments were written in the margins
of the text. When making copies, later scribes seeing the marginal notes might
incorporate them into the text itself. It is wise to presume that the
shorter and/or more difficult text is likely to be the correct one. Reasons
for this: first, scribes were more likely to add a note than to omit
text. Secondly, when they encountered a difficult text, a few scribes yielded
to the temptation to insert an explanation (or marginal notation) than to leave
puzzling words the way they found them.
5:6 Jesus learned
of the condition of the invalid. As God He knew, but as a man He learned. As
God Jesus needed no support for His life, but as man He needed rest and food.
The orthodox view of Christ is that He is one Person with two natures, divine
and human. The human nature was really human with human limitations, thus in
v.6 Jesus learned.
By choosing to heal this
man – and He healed only one of all the needy persons there – He chose a man whose
situation was desperate. He brought healing to one He was pleased to heal, an
action that fits in His later words in 5:21. Jesus did not come on a superficial
mission to remove God’s curse on sinners by merely healing their bodies, while He
experienced no trouble. Our salvation impacted Him directly. He came to save us by entering into our
plight, assuming as His own our curse and enduring our penalty. This He did when
on the cross He experienced the full weight of our sin. He did not heal all the people He could have.
In John 5, it was only one man! Jesus came to save in a total salvation all
those the Father had given Him.
5:7-9 See “What happened to v.4?” above. The man’s reply
shows his sense of hopelessness. He expected nothing from the kindness of God;
his vain hope was in the speed he did not have to be the first one into the
pool. Jesus’ word to him was a command to get up, pick up, and walk. John does
not report that Jesus touched him. With three imperatives, He ordered him. This
fits in with Jesus’ later defense of His action that He had the authority of
God to act as He did. It also fits in with John’s teaching of the central place
of the word of Christ. (See “Word as a Title for Christ” in my notes on
the Prologue.) In a Gospel devoted to faith in Christ, there is no report of
faith in this man, and later he shows no allegiance to Christ. The blind man
healed in chapter 9 is the opposite.
5:9-12 Because Jesus told a man to carry a load on the
Sabbath, the Jewish leaders challenged this as a Sabbath violation. The man was
not involved in a kind of work such as carrying a load of goods to market. (See
Jeremiah 17:21,22 and Nehemiah 13:15-18.) Taking his bed mat home was not
commerce. In the Synoptics, the Lord was challenged for healing on that holy
day, but here the initial reaction was on the issue of work. The Jews (i.e.,
the Jewish religious leaders) probably perceived Jesus’ instructions to the
invalid as a threat to their position as arbiters of what is permissible. They
certainly wanted to know who had given the invalid such permission.
5:13-15 The Lord healed the man and then slipped away from the
area. It does not appear that He had
been preaching there, which He often did in the temple courts. Thus the man did
not even know Jesus’ name. First, he deflected responsibility for the charge of
Sabbath-breaking to the one who had told him to carry his bed mat. Then when he
found out who He was, he told the Jews that it was Jesus. This reveals a great
lack of gratitude.
The Lord warned the former
invalid against further sin. The consequences of continued sin would be far
worse than lying helpless for 38 years. This implies both things: that his
former trouble was a retribution for sin in this life, and that God punishes
sin. Eternal punishment for sin is
always worse than anything sinners suffer in this life. 9:1-3 shows that we are
unable to discern whether suffering is directly linked to personal sin. All
suffering is related to the first sin of Adam & Eve; this is clear, but we
are unable to read the mind of the Lord for the reason behind specific
instances of suffering.
Sabbath Controversies in the Synoptics More reaction
to Christ related to the Sabbath is reported in the Synoptics than we find in
John. This included Jesus and His disciples picking and eating grain (Matthew
12:1-8), and healing a man with a withered hand (Matthew 8:9-14). See also Mark 2:23 – 3:6. Before sunset on the Sabbath Peter’s
mother-in-law was healed (Matthew 8:14,15). We know from Mark 1:21-31 that it
was on the Sabbath. (According to Mark 1:32-34, after sunset Jesus healed many
more.) To this, Mark 1:21-28 adds
casting an evil spirit out of a man. So
far that is two Sabbath healings in Matthew and three in Mark. Luke reports all
of these and adds two more in Luke 13:10-17 and 14:1-6.
Some of these incidents are simply reported
as events, but the following in the four Gospels are occasions of controversy:
Healing the invalid of 38
years, John 5
Healing the man born blind,
John 9
Picking and eating the
grain, Matthew 12:1-8
Healing the man with the
withered hand, Mark 3:1-6
Healing the woman crippled
for 18 years, Luke 13:10-17
Healing the man with dropsy
in the house of a Pharisee, Luke 14:1-6
B. The Elaboration that Followed, 5:16-30
In the remaining verses of John 5, we have no
quotation of anything Jesus’ opponents said to him. We know they persecuted him
(v.16) and the reason (v.18). Yet all that follows is Jesus’ reply to them –
not as a defense of a Sabbath healing but as an elaboration of His actions as
the Son of God.
This is far different
from how we can justify helping a person on the Sabbath. We can defend merciful
actions from Scripture as He did in Matthew 12:3-8, and with illustrations of
mercy to sheep, oxen and donkeys as the Lord used in Matthew 12:11,12, and Luke
13:15. Further, we can speak of
deliverance from Satan on the Sabbath.
What no other man may do, however, is defend his work the way the Lord
did in John 5. These verses might be Jesus’ most detailed claim of deity. His
enemies immediately understood what He was saying, and so should we. The conversation soon left the Sabbath issue
behind when they saw that He was claiming equality with God.
5:16-18 The Lord’s critics expressed their indignation over a
Sabbath Day healing. The persecution
here is in the form of hostile words. Not all persecution involves physical
harm, but it is always directed against a rejected person. Murder was already
in their hearts and they hoped to be able to fulfill their passion to be rid of
Him forever. The desire to murder Christ in John 5 falls in the second year of
Jesus’ public ministry; in Mark 3:6 it was in His first year.
Jesus’ response to the
religious leaders now moves in a direction very surprising for them. He simply
claimed to be doing the kinds of things God does. He referred to God as “My
Father”, with the singular “My” indicating a unique relationship and
partnership. It would be like someone
saying, “I can do whatever God does, and I have the right to do so!” God rested
from His work of creation on the seventh day, but He has not been inactive ever
since. He ceased from creating, but not from governing, judging, or saving.
Jesus was not only active on the Sabbath in a lawful way, He was acting as God
when He healed.
The leaders were wrong to
assume that carrying a bed mat home was a Sabbath violation, but they were
right to interpret His words as a claim of equality with God. When some say
today that Jesus is not God but only the Son of God, they do not grasp as well
as Jesus’ old enemies did what such a title means. In v.18 when John states
their reasons for wanting to murder Christ, he was simply stating their
reasoning from their perspective.
Verily, verily or
truly, truly These
words are used by the Lord 24 times in this Gospel. In John they are always doubled, but never so
in the Synoptics. The original word comes from a Hebrew word for faithfulness.
This has been transliterated in both Greek and English as the word Amen.
It is used for strong affirmations or to indicate a positive response. The Lord
used it a few times to convey things that might be a surprise (as in 13:21),
but He used it often to emphasize vital truths – most of which had a connection
to Himself. In early writing they lacked some of our means of emphasis. They had no italics; they did not underline; they did not highlight,
and they had no exclamation marks!! Thus emphasis in the original text had to be
accomplished by words alone. I personally wish that the very popular NIV had
retained this unique manner of emphasis. To say, “I tell you the truth” is less
gripping than “truly, truly”, and it makes translation difficult at the one
point in John where Jesus really did use words properly translated as “I tell
you the truth” (16:7).
5:19-23 Jesus gave a long answer to an unstated question
that was nevertheless well understood within this context. It begins with its
main proposition: “the Son can do
nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing.” This is
followed by four clauses beginning with the same conjunction in Greek. Here are
four statements that elaborate on the
main affirmation. In the NIV version that follows, I have revised the
conjunctions to made them uniform.
MAIN
STATEMENT: "I tell you
the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees
his Father doing,
·
FOR [NIV: because] whatever the Father does the
Son also does.
·
FOR the
Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will
show him even greater things than these.
·
FOR just as
the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to
whom he is pleased to give it.
·
FOR [NIV: Moreover], the Father judges no one, but
has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
CONCLUSION: “that
all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the
Son does not honor the Father Who sent him.”
5:19 the Son can do nothing by himself;
The Son is not able to act
on His own initiative. That wodul be against His nature and His relationship
with the Father as His true Son. He does only what pleases the Father (8:29),
and says only what the Father says (12:29).
It is not that He lacks strength; it is that doing anything on His own
is absolutely contrary to Who He is as the Son. He is not the expression of
Himself but the image of Another – His Father. The fullness of the Father is in
Him (Colossians 1:15,19). The Son is the
exact representation of the Father (Hebrew 1:3). Just as there can be no son
unless there is a father, Christ does not exist apart from His Father. He
always thought of Himself in terms of and in relation to His Father. The Son’s
essence is that He is the Father’s complete likeness. This is how we must
define the Son, for it is the way He refers to Himself. To see God the Son is
to see the Father, for He is in the Father and the Father is in Him (John 14:10,11).
5:19 he can do only what he sees his Father doing,
The Father shows Himself
simply by showing Christ. Since this is so, this unity of Father and Son
extends to all the actions of Christ. He cannot be apart from the
Father, and He cannot function on His own. Thus in healing the invalid
on the Sabbath Day, Jesus was doing what He saw His Father doing.
This may not be reversed,
for the Father does not do whatever He sees the Son doing. The Father sent the
Son; the Son does not send the Father. The Son submits to the Father and does
whatever He commands, but the Father does not submit to or obey the Son, though He always does whatever the Son asks (14:16). The Father is the Head of
the Son, but the Son is not the Head of the Father (1 Corinthians 11:3). So it
is that the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his
Father doing.
The
four supporting statements:
1.
For
whatever the Father does the Son also does. (v.19)
It is not the same to say
that He only does what the Father does; it is a clearer expression of His
Sonship for Jesus to say that everything the Father does, He does as well. God
approves of kindness and so do we, but that does not mean that whatever God
does we also do. We do not hold the stars in place or give the horse his
strength as in Job 38,39. What the Father has done in creation was done through
the Word (1:3). If Christ can do and
does do whatever the Father does, He
must be as great as the Father, and He is! Thus the healing at the pool was an
act of God, and the order to take the bed mat and walk was as much the command
of God as it was the word of Jesus.
Since Christ does
everything the Father does, He has implied that He is God. The Jews were
correct to make that conclusion from what He said in v.17. He did make a claim of
equality (v.18). Jesus had just performed an amazing miracle; a man helpless
for 38 years could suddenly walk again. The Father was as active in that
healing as Jesus was. So to criticize Christ for it was a criticism of God the
Father. Since the Son always does whatever the Father does, He did only what
was authorized by the Father that Sabbath Day. Later when Christ claimed "All authority in heaven and on earth
has been given to me,” (Matthew 28:18), He was saying the same thing in
different words: Whatever the Father does
the Son also does.
2.
For
the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he
will show him even greater things than these. (v.20)
Earlier the emphasis was
that the Son does not act on His own; now the point is that the Father out of
love for the Son includes Him in all He does. All the secret things that belong
to the Lord, belong to Christ (Deuteronomy 29:29), because the Father loves the
Son. He knows the Father fully (Matthew 11:27), because the Father has opened, shown
or made available to Him all that is the Father’s. Thus He has granted to the
Son His life (v.26), His authority (v.27), position, privilege, prerogative,
and decisions. All the rights of God have been given to the Son, so that what
He has been shown belongs to Him. In this context, Jesus referred especially to
the activities of God. These unique divine activities will be shown to the Son, bringing the focus to things yet future.
When Christ performs these things in His role as the Son of Man (v.27), the
mockers hearing Jesus’ words that day will later be amazed.
The Father Who loves the
Son is determined that Christ should have the prominent place (Colossians 1:18).
The Father told Him where to sit, at His
right hand (Psalm 110:1; Hebrews 10:12) in heaven. The Father promotes the
Son’s glory (8:54). He shares His throne with His Son (Revelation 22:1) and makes
Jesus’ enemies the footstool of His feet (Psalm 110:1). Nothing is hidden from
Christ; all that God has (Psalm 24:1) belongs to Christ Who is Heir of the
Creation made though Him, by Him and for Him (Colossians 1:15,16). This
includes the new creation as well (Colossians 1:18-20), thus all God has has
been shown and given to Christ.
Jesus healed a man who had
been a cripple for 38 years. This was just a taste of what was to come. His
opponents will be utterly amazed when they see the greater things. More
profound amazement awaits them as the Father, Who is the Executive Head of the
Trinity, promotes Christ more completely in His role as the Son. The Jesus they
scorned in John 5 will raise the dead at His glorious appearing (2 Timothy 4:1),
and then all men will stand before Him in judgment (vv.21,22,28,29); they will
be included in this spectacle of glory for God and terror for them. “Every
eye will see Him and even those who pierced Him…” (Revelation 1:7). Jesus
enemies were very frustrated when He raised Lazarus from the dead in John 11. Yet
He would continue from heaven healing the lame man in Acts 3. He would raise
the spiritually dead (v.25) spiritually by bringing millions of Gentiles
through the gospel to believe in the God of Israel, loving the true God and
cherishing His word. These amazements culminate in the resurrection of all men
and the Judgment Day. The Lord said more of that in vv.21,22.
3.NIV: For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them
life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. (v.21) [or ESV: so also the Son gives life to whom
he will.]
The Lord moves from a
general affirmation (whatever the
Father does, He also does) to two specific examples: a) giving life to the dead
and b) exercising judgment. It is the proper role only of God to give or take
life (2 Kings 5:7). Life from the dead can refer to a physical or spiritual resurrection,
and Jesus claimed that He resurrects in both kinds (vv.25,28,29). In this way Jesus
acts as God, because He is. He gives life, because He is the Son. Further, just
as the Father chooses the recipients of salvation (Ephesians 1:3-6; Isaiah
44:1,2; Romans 8:33), so the Son gives life to whom He wills to give it (13:18;
Matthew 11:27).
Since Christ has all the
authority, rights, and activity of God, this is what He meant when He said My
Father is working and I too am working,” (5:17). Jesus is not just a tool
through Whom God works as He did with the prophets. As the Son of the Father, whatever
He does is God at work. This text does not say that the Father does not give
life, but the Son does. It is that the Father gives life, and so does the Son. The
next sentence presents a contrast.
4. For the Father judges no one, but has
entrusted all judgment to the Son. (v.22)
The surprise here is that
it appears that the Father does not judge and the Son does. There are many
places where God is the Judge. As Judge He actually judges people (Psalms
94,96). What does Christ means by these words that the Father judges no one? When
the Lord is Judge in the OT, such statements cannot exclude the Father.
The Father, Who is always
the Judge, has set Christ forward to be the Judge of all in the Judgment Day.
This does not lessen God’s role as Judge, because (even if we cannot comprehend
this) whatever the Father does the Son does as well. No activity of God
is excluded. (Note 5:30 8:16 & 8:30) By setting the Son forward as Judge, the
Father thereby judges the world through Him in such a way that He needs to add
nothing to what the Son does. When Christ acts, the Father is always acting
through Him. Creation and revelation have come through the Son (1:3,17,18); now
judgment entrusted to the Son, will – in the sight of all men – be by Christ
the Judge. It is Christ Whom the Father has set forth as the One exhibiting the
glory of God on earth in His incarnation (1:14,18), so that to see the Son was
to see the Father (14:7,9). The Father positioned Christ as the Mediator
allowing no other access to Himself than through the Son. In keeping with this,
the Father maintains His unbending operational principle in dealing with
sinners. As Redeemer, Mediator, Savior, Priest, Intercessor and Advocate, Christ
is between God and men. Those who reject Him will find they still face Him in
the wrath of the Lamb. No one gets away from Christ. Though it is “their wrath”
in Revelation 6:16,17 (i.e., the wrath of the Father and the Son), Christ is
the appointed focal point of the Second Coming.
That Day is:
a)
apokalypsis ….“the revelation of Jesus
Christ” (1 Peter 1:7; also 1 Corinthians 1:7,8),
b)
parousia …… “our Lord Jesus Christ at His coming,” (1 Thessalonians 2:19)
c)
epiphaneia ….. “the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Timothy 6:14 see
also 2 Thessalonians 2:8).
These three Greek nouns
used for the Second Coming are all explicitly connected to the Son. The violent
disruption of future history is never presented as the coming of the Father,
because the Father has decided to make it a conspicuous Second Coming of Christ,
“the appearing of the glory of our great
God and Savior Jesus Christ,” (Titus 2:13).
This is not a teaching
peculiar to John 5. It is Christ Who will appear visibly in divine glory. The
setting of John 5 is
That the Father has
entrusted judgment to the Son is taught by the Apostle Paul:
This will happen when the Lord Jesus is revealed
from heaven in blazing fire with his powerful angels. He will punish those who
do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus. They will be
punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the
Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in
his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed, (2
Thessalonians 1:7-10).
That
the Father has entrusted all judgment to the Son is taught in the
Revelation:
Then the kings of the earth, the princes, the
generals, the rich, the mighty, and every slave and every free man hid in caves
and among the rocks of the mountains. They called to the mountains and the
rocks, "Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who sits on the throne
and from the wrath of the Lamb! For the great day of their wrath has come, and
who can stand?" (Revelation 6:15-17)
5:23 The
Father loves the Son and shows all to Him. The Son does all the Father does
from giving eternal life to raising the dead and condemning the wicked. By
making the Mediator between God and man so prominent in divine activity, the
Father has ensured that all will honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
This is His intention. Anything that honors the Son glorifies the Father.
Anything that belittles Christ is a rejection of the Father. If men do not
understand this, God does!
Three
corollaries: This
statement by Christ was fully authorized by His Father, and would not be more
true had the Father descended from heaven to say it Himself. By Christ saying
this, the Father has spoken! (12:49,50).
A.
Thus
we must conclude that any profession of belief in God, such as that alleged in
both Judaism and Islam, is a false profession of belief in the one true God,
because both reject the Son. Every denial of the Son is a denial of the Father
Who sent Him. God cannot be honored unless His Son is honored with the
identical honor due to the Father.
B.
Further,
among professing Christians, I am constrained to say that the tendency to
depreciate theology does us great harm. Some seem to glory in the fact that
they do not confess creeds, when a good creed is a statement of belief in the
true Lord God. All that the Lord has been saying about Himself and His Father
in John 5 is doctrine. How can anyone depreciate doctrine without depreciating
the words of Christ? Or treating what He deemed important as not so. The
Bible’s teaching (or doctrine) is food for our souls, just as much as its
narratives. Some want only what they term “relevant,” and I reply that it is
God Who knows us and what is relevant to us, and He has given us the Word He
has chosen to reveal. Some feel we should just stick to the basics of the
gospel message. The gospel as stated in 5:24 is about the Father sending the
Son. It is also about believing the words of Jesus. It would be strange indeed
to think that salvation comes by hearing His words, while we ignore the words
He gave in the preceding verses! Slicing truth into segments we pay attention
to and truth we neglect, is very dangerous and sinful. Our loss is not a matter
of reducing knowledge; it is a matter of weakening the gospel itself. John 5
connects a mind-challenging section of abstract doctrine (5:19-23) with hearing
such words from Christ, and thus believing and receiving eternal life (v.24).
C.
Material
on the relation of the Father and the Son is very rare in Scripture. We have
been allowed Jesus’ prayer to His Father for us in John 17. Very few Old Testament
promises are specifically from the Father to the Son – such as Psalms 2 &
110. The moment we touch on such things we sense correctly that we have been
exposed to high and holy things. That God would allow us to possess such things
should be a delight to our souls and the occasion of mediation, wonder and
worship. My observation, however, is that what is far better known from John 5
among evangelicals, is the miracle of the healing itself, even though the Holy
Spirit has used it as an opening into a revelation of the Father and the
Son.
5:24 Jesus introduced the following gospel material with
“truly, truly.” We must heed His words, for He declared that salvation comes by
hearing. In this verse hearing/believing is a single response. There are not
two groups: those who hear and those who believe. Since we are to hear Jesus’
words, it would be strange to think we could ignore the theology He just gave
in the previous verses about the Father and the Son. When we believe the gospel,
we begin a life of receiving all His teaching.
The Conversion
Controversy Some
teach that we are justified by means of baptism, simply because – or so they
argue – all who are in covenant are in union with Christ. Part of that
reasoning is that one enters the church by baptism, and if in the church, then
they are by definition part of a body of believers. In this way, as odd as it
sounds, one may become a believer without actually believing. Salvation in this
scenario is inclusion in the church. Baptism replaces the conversion that
consists of repentance and faith. This view is not the way the Lord spoke in
v.24! The one who hears/believes is an individual who converts. Both hears
and believes in Greek are singular participles, so Jesus refers not to a
group response but the faith of one person at a time. Hearing/believing can
only occur in the consciousness of the individual being converted. While the
new birth is passive, since it is what the Spirit does in us – see the notes on
John 3:5 – conversion and faith are not passive. Faith is conscious and
deliberate; a passive response is no response at all. Jesus taught that eternal
life is received by faith. When a person hears Christ’s words, he believes the
Father Who sent Jesus to say what He did; then that individual in a unique
conversion experience passes from death to life.
5:24 teaches that an active response is required, and that
the eternal life received in this way becomes the believer’s present
possession. He has passed from death to life, i.e., from one condition to its
opposite. The perfect tense of “has crossed over” indicates that it is
an event with lasting results. The one who believes leaves death and enters
life never to return to his former death. He will not be condemned in the
future because he has already been acquitted by God with finality, never again
to be in jeopardy of the wrath of God. And what did he do to gain all this? He
simply heard the words of Christ and believed the Father’s promise contained in
them. He was justified by faith alone. Some teach a later “final justification”
in the Judgment Day related to our works. The justification of the final
judgment is God’s public recognition of all believers previously justified.
5:25 Hearing the words of Christ results in having eternal
life (v.24). This same truth is stated in v.25 in similar words. Those who hear
the voice of the Son will live, which is the same as hearing His words.
What is really different in this verse is “a time is coming” which makes us
think of the Second Coming, but then He added “and has now come.” In this way Jesus taught that the eternal
life of the future has already arrived. This life has begun for those who hear
Him. Having eternal life now is the opposite of the future second death in
Revelation 20:14 – i.e., being thrown into the lake of fire. This links to v.24
which also refers to the future when Jesus promised the believer that he “will
not be condemned”. Just as eternal life is present in advance of the future, so
also the condemnation of the final day has been averted eternally the moment
the sinner believes in Christ. It was Jesus the Judge (vv.22,27) of that future
day Who has made this promise to us.
5:26,27 It is obvious that vv.25 & 28 go together. Thus
vv. 26,27 are an explanation of how it is that the Son of God can give
life. He can do it for the simple reason
that He has it! All created life is contingent. In our case we must have air,
food, and sleep. We cannot live in a vacuum, nor in extremes of temperature.
Our lives depend on a variety of necessary conditions. God’s life depends on
nothing. His life is neither derived nor
supported. He not only gives life; He, unlike us, has life in Himself. The Son,
just like the Father, has life in Himself, because the Father gave it to His
uncreated Son.
A Theological
Difficulty: The Father Granted Life to the Son This text also says that the Father granted the Son
to have life in Himself. This of course
puzzles us, because it makes some wonder if there was an event or a time when
the Father granted the Son to receive this life. If indeed the Son is God, He
is by definition eternal. Then as eternal and immutable, this life Christ has
in Himself must have been eternally present. We should be cautious and observe
that this text does not say that there was a time when or a moment when the
Father granted the Son to have this life in Himself. The orthodox solution for
this – and it is deeper than our understanding – is that Jesus speaks here of
something that has always been. (Some of us call this “eternal generation”) So
we affirm that the Father granted the Son to have life in Himself, since the
Son is a perfect reflection of the Father in all things. He is not an
independent God beside God the Father. The Son has life in Himself because the
Father has. The Son is eternal because the Father is. It is “like Father, like
Son”! But in orthodoxy we deny that there was ever a time when the Son did not
have what the Father granted Him. Even God cannot create someone to be God. The
Eternal One cannot make something other than Himself to be eternal! But the Father is and can ever be the source
of the life of the Son. The danger we face is that we may depart from the
Biblical presentation of Christ. We are tempted to impose on the analogies Scripture
employs our finite understanding when thinking of the Transcendent God. It may
be that nothing is as different to our minds and experience as the Trinity
itself. We have been made in His likeness, but we must discipline ourselves
never to imagine that He is in ours.
The Submission vs.
Equality Controversy
These verses show another doctrine that creates much discomfort in
modern times, yet the clarity of the Bible must not be suppressed. Not only does Jesus have life
because the Father has granted it to Him, He judges because the Father has
committed judgment to Him, giving the Son His authority to judge. This derived
authority shows the submission of the Son to the Father, without which we could
never have one God in more than one Person! He can do nothing on His own
(v.30). The authority of the Father is over the Son. Thus we see in John 5 that
both life and authority are granted to the Son. In our day, the assumption is
that authority and submission can only occur where there is superiority and
inferiority. This is a foundation of all
atheistic conventional wisdom. In the Trinity there is authority and
submission without inferiority. The Son is equal to the Father since He is His
exact, complete, and full likeness (Colossians 1:15,19). Yet there is authority
and submission within the Trinity. These roles are not reciprocal. It is not –
as some would attempt to restructure the Trinity – that the Son submits to the
Father, and the Father submits to the Son. Of course this relates to the role
relationship of husband and wife (1 Corinthians 11:3). Man and woman are in the
image of God in this respect also (Genesis1:27). In marriage and in other human
relationships, apart from the perversion introduced by our sin, equality and
submission are not in conflict.
The Son with life promises
life, thus our faith is in One able to keep His word to us. These two verses
show us that Jesus is capable and qualified to do the things vv.24-30 address:
He has life and as the Son of Man, He is Judge. Usually in Greek there is an
article with Son of Man; here in v.27, just as in the Aramaic of Daniel
7:13,14, there is no “the.”
In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. (Daniel 7:13,14)
As Son of Man, Christ must be human. (The
Father and the Holy Spirit could never be called Son of Man.) John 5 parallels
Daniel 7, where the Son of Man is given authority. As One Who is worshipped at
the instigation of the Ancient of Days (the Father), the Son of Man can be
nothing less than God Himself. In ordaining the worship of Christ, the Father
has not instituted a competing worship in violation of the first commandment
(Exodus 20:3). In the authority and worship granted the Son, the Father has not
given His glory to another (Isaiah 42:8); He has retained it for Himself in
Christ Who is and always has been the radiance of His glory (Hebrews 1:3).
5:28,29 The theme of a
time to come resumes. The difference is that in vv.24,25 only some of the dead
heard the voice of the Son of God, namely those who as a result believed. In
this segment, it is all who are in their graves who will hear His voice. Just
as His word brings some to eternal life now, in the Second Coming of Christ, by
the power of His word calling the dead to appear before Him, all the dead will
hear – in a different sense of hearing. All will rise but to two different
destinies. The text does not say that all rise to live, but only that all will
rise. The future is either life or condemnation, but these eternal futures have
been settled in advance. Believers have the certainty of eternal life prior to
the Judgment Day; further, they have been assured in advance in the gospel of
never coming under condemnation (v.24). Now the resurrection of all is either
to life or condemnation. (See appendix below related to v.29, Appendix 5A:
The Good Works Controversy.)
5:30 This verse does not mention the Father,
yet it is because of Jesus’ submission to the Father that He can say what He
did here. The Father has committed all judgment to Him, yet none of it will be
independent of the Father, for He is the One Christ hears. Submitting to Him –
for that theme is repeated here – means that even in judgment the Father’s will
shall be done, and for that reason Christ assures that it shall be just.
C. Reasons for Faith and an Analysis of
Unbelief, 5:31-47
After making a defense of healing on the
Sabbath and ordering the invalid to take up his bed mat and walk, the Lord
continued to speak of another feature of His Father’s activity in Him. The
Father testifies to Christ as the One men should accept. Christ elaborates on
this, giving reasons for faith in Him and showing the horror of sin that would
cause men to reject Him. This is a continuation of the monologue that precedes
it and thus we should think that He is speaking to the same people – the same
ones who challenged Him about the Sabbath and His claim of equality with God.
5:31,32 The immediate problem of translation and
interpretation relates to Jesus’ statement that if He testifies concerning
Himself that it is not true or not valid.
The word in Greek is the regular word for truth, used in Ephesians 1:13.
The NIV, with reason for doing so, translates this as valid, because in John
8:13-18 validity is the point. I think in 5:30,31 Jesus is saying His judging
is righteous because He hears His Father (v.30), and His testimony (v.31) is
true for the same reason. If he did testify on His own He would be dishonest,
since He claimed the opposite, and He would violate all He had just claimed for
His ministry and speech. Thus any independent testimony from Christ would
contradict His claim not speaking on His own, and so could not be true. Those
who speak on their own are false prophets (v.43); Jesus was saying that He did
not operate that way.
The Another Who testifies is the
Father. This constant reference to the Father is such a regular theme in John
that to say the Father each time is unnecessary. A testimony in Jesus’ favor is
one that agrees with what He is saying. Just how the Father specifically
testifies is not given. In Western
culture we dislike generalities, even when it is what we need.
5:33-35 The testimony of John the Baptist Before Jesus appeared on the public
scene, many already knew that a great prophet had appeared among them. They
knew John was a man sent from God (see Appendix 5B). The ministry of John was
for others, so that they might be saved. This shows that to be saved we need a
knowledge of Christ, and we must repent of sins.
The words of Christ in 5:16-47 are
monologue. It seems He was replying to the charge (as in 8:13) that He spoke on
His own authority. One of the oddest things in the NT is that the Jews required
signs (1 Corinthians 1:22) to believe in Him, and they would ask for such signs
just after one had been performed. This is so in chapters 5 and 6!
5:36,37 As important as the ministry of John was, the
mention of him is a parenthesis. Jesus did not need John’s testimony for
Himself; He mentioned it for the benefit it would give them, then He returned
to the testimony of the Father mentioned in v.32.
Jesus said that
the work He was doing was the testimony of the Father. This may seem strange to
us when we expect to hear of some testimony detached from what Jesus did to
support His claims. However, whatever the Father does the Son also does (5:19),
thus the Father’s testimony is inherently present in all that Christ did. We
should not set up our criteria for judging the transcendent God according to
our expectations. This is weightier
testimony.
This work is
very general; it is the entire scope of work the Father gave Him. This
testimony includes but is not confined to miracles. He said, "I have shown you many great
miracles from the Father,” (John 10:32) and “the miracles I do in my Father's
name speak for me,” (John 10:25). Jesus emphasized how convincing the miracles
should be for them, “ Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if
I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may
know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father," (John
10:37,38).
Sometimes it
was the words of Jesus that so impressed His hearers (7:26; Matthew 7:28,29;
22:23; Mark 1:27,28; 12:17). Every time
He spoke He was speaking words from His Father (3:34) and thus the great impact
those words had, was the Father’s testimony concerning Him. All Jesus’ words
were the Father doing the Father’s Work, so our Lord said: “The words I say to
you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing
his work,” (John 14:10).
When Christ spoke of the work the Father
gave Him (John 17:4), this included His sacrifice on the cross, for it too was
work the Father was doing (2 Corinthians 5:19). During the time of the
crucifixion the Father would bear vivid testimony to His Son. The veil of the
temple would be torn in two; the sun was hidden and darkness covered the earth.
The Roman soldiers interpreted it all well when they said what the Jewish
leaders refused to say, “Surely He
was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:45, 51-54). To this we must add the greatest sign of all,
the Father’s reversal of the rejection of Christ when the Father raised Him
from the dead. The resurrection is the
strongest testimony of all that Jesus is the Son of God (Romans 1:4). The
apostles did not report the resurrection as merely a fact of history; they
emphasized that it was the Father’s act (Acts 2:24,32; 3:15,26; 4:10; 5:30;
10:40; 13:34,37).
Summary: Jesus’
claim of being sent from heaven was not an isolated and unsupported claim. The
Father testified to sending His Son by Jesus’ miracles, speaking, and offering
on the cross – in fact, in all of His work.
5:37,38 Three negatives Jesus gave three kinds of encounters with the
Lord that some others have had, but His opponents never experienced: God’s
voice, form, and Word. This has a sharp surprise in it when He included God’s
Word.
·
God’s voice: Few have heard His voice as did Moses
(Numbers 7:89), and all
·
God’s form: Few have ever seen a theophany when God
assumed (temporarily) some form as in His appearance to Jacob 32:30,31[1] “You have never seen His form” is a perplexing
statement especially since God as spirit has no physical form and warned so
much against making any form for God.
Moses reminded
·
God’s word: The Jews (of 5:10,16) might not be alarmed
that they could not replicate the experiences of Moses and
5:39,40 The Lord did not tell them in this instance to
study the Scriptures,[2] rather He
observed that they did study them but did not understand – a frequent criticism
Jesus made of these experts in the law (Matthew 9:13, 12:7; 21:42; 22:29;
23:23). Possibly they felt that they were saved by their alleged compliance
with the law, and agreement with the facts of God’s Word. They were missing
that Jesus Christ is the promised One God would send; then when He had sent the
Christ, they did not recognize Him, in spite of all the reasons to believe
found in vv.31-37 and in the recent healing of the invalid. (See the notes at
John 7:41-43 and 7:50-52.) The problem, as in Matthew 23:37, was in their
willful refusal to come to Christ. Twice Jesus mentions life in vv.39,40; this
they were looking for elsewhere, not in Christ. They had a hope for eternal
life, but it was not Christ, Who is the way, the truth, and the life (John
14:6). By reporting this detail, the Apostle John emphasized that life is in
Christ alone. (For more detail on OT prediction of Christ see Appendix 5C
below.)
5:41-44 In vv. 31-40 Jesus gave reasons why He should be
accepted as the One the Father sent (vv.36,37). He came to what was His own,
but His own people did not receive Him (1:11). In John 5 He gave multiple
reasons why they should believe with a rational mind and a clear conscience. In
vv. 41-44 He tells them why they refuse to come (i.e., believe, 6:35); they
cannot believe when they yearn for the praise of other unbelievers. He knew all
men (2:24) and said He knew they had no love for God, thus they reject the One
He sent, while they readily accept the claims of spurious messiahs. They lived
for the approving praise of those whose favor they lusted after (12:43). The
Lord was very frank: they would follow self-appointed masters. Such charlatans
had no approval in Scripture, no working of the God in their “ministry” and no
introduction by either the prophets of old or John the Baptist, yet the Jewish
leaders would accept people who came in their own name. With Jesus they would
demand a sign after He had given many. When He answered their questions and
objections, they were unmoved. When Scripture pointed to Him, they dismissed
the Word of God. When they had no real reason to reject Him, they remained in
unbelief, which was their settled policy. Hating the light, they loved their
darkness and the support of those who also loved it; (1:4,5; 3:19,20). Jesus
testified to what He had seen and heard at His Father’s side (1:18), but no one
accepted His testimony (3:32).
In contrast to their principles, Jesus
did not accept the testimony of men (v.34), for what motivated Him was the
approval (6:27), will (4:34), work (9:4), love (5:20) and testimony of God
(v.31,36). They lived for the praise of each other, without being born from
above (3:5). In such a condition Jesus asks how they can ever believe; they
cannot. The supposed “free will” of man does not exist unless the will has been
freed by the Lord from its bondage in darkness.
5:45-47 The Lord returned to their reading of Scripture.
Sometimes the OT is referred to as the law and the prophets, sometimes
just law, sometimes by the human author/complier – Moses. They
hoped for eternal life without the Messiah Moses pointed to. Abraham looked
forward to Jesus (8:56), and Moses wrote of Him (v. 46). Scripture was a
testimony to Christ, yet their reading with willful blindness prevented them
from identifying Him. They declined Scriptures’ enlightenment and so would
suffer its accusation on the Judgment Day. Their interpretations had support
among those who agreed with each other in unbelief. The Lord would not need to
accuse them; their guilt would be established by the word they diligently
studied (v.39) and arrogantly refused to accept. The scrolls they read every
Sabbath even predicted the murder they would soon commit:
The people of
Perhaps these words from Deuteronomy in the
law of Moses were in the Lord’s mind when He said Moses would accuse them.
"Now write down … this song and teach it to the Israelites
and have them sing it, so that it may be a witness for me against them. When I
have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, the land I
promised on oath to their forefathers, and when they eat their fill and thrive,
they will turn to other gods and worship them, rejecting me and breaking my
covenant. And when many disasters and difficulties come upon them, this song
will testify against them, because it will not be forgotten by their
descendants. I know what they are disposed to do, even before I bring them into
the land I promised them on oath."
… After Moses finished writing in a book the words of this law
from beginning to end, he gave this command to the Levites who carried the ark
of the covenant of the LORD: "Take this Book of the Law and place it
beside the ark of the covenant of the LORD your God. There it will remain as a
witness against you. For I know how rebellious
and stiff-necked you are. If you have been rebellious against the LORD while I
am still alive and with you, how much more will you rebel after I die! Assemble
before me all the elders of your tribes and all your officials, so that I can
speak these words in their hearing and call heaven and earth to testify against
them. For I know that after my death you are sure to become utterly corrupt and
to turn from the way I have commanded you. In days to come, disaster will fall
upon you because you will do evil in the sight of the LORD and provoke him to
anger by what your hands have made."
Deuteronomy 31:19-29
Appendix
5A: The Good Works Controversy
Two groups facing judgment are described in
5:29: a) those who have done good and b) those who have done evil.
Jesus did not say that doing good is what settles the eternal life of those who
rise to live. When false teachers inject that meaning, they assume a view not
found in this text. In our day there is a resurgence of moralism among
evangelicals, even though moralism is the very antithesis of an evangelical
faith. What Christ does in v.29 is describe the difference in the ones who will
rise at His voice: some have done good and some have done evil. In a number of
places the Bible describes believers as those who love God (Romans 8:28), those
who obey (Hebrews 5:9), and those who look for His coming (Hebrews 9:28). Never
does the Bible teach that we are justified by loving, or obeying, or waiting.
Never does the Bible confuse us by suggesting that the result of faith in
Christ (a sanctified life) adds anything to faith as the sole requirement of a
sinner for justification. Lately some, even in reformed circles, are determined
to distort justification by adding works to faith alone. In that error, works are
required to secure eternal life, rather than reveal that new life
is present. Jesus taught that those who believe are guaranteed that they will
never face condemnation (John 5:24) when they rise to live. Jesus’ words in
5:24 indicate that the “final justification” happens the moment a person
believes.
“Those who have done good” are people with genuine personal
righteousness. The doctrine Christ gave in v.29 is taught in other passages as
well: all who believe have been brought to personal holiness (Hebrews 12:14);
each one produces a good crop (Matthew 13:23). Their fruit shows that
they are His disciples (John 15:8). Sometimes we are identified by our words as
in Romans 10:9,13, but at other times believers are “those who have done
good,” i.e., they are recognized by good works. Christians gain eternal life as
a gift (John 6:27,32,33; Romans 6:23). This gift is so consistently a gift that
requiring works to have it, changes eternal life from a gift of God into wages
earned (Romans 4:4). Those who would live in sin must remember that true
eternal life is active in making its recipients do what is good. When
forgiving, God looks only at their faith without works, but when declaring to
the universe who are really His, He may refer to works as the result of faith.
He will raise “those who have done good to the resurrection of life,” (v.29).
Scripture does not set two virtues against each other. Confession is also very
important as in 1 Timothy 3:16; 2 John 7; and Matthew 10:32,33. Anyone can fake
the words, but works done in loving obedience (14:21,24) are the indicator
Christ pointed to in John 5:29.
Moralists can be very zealous (Galatians
4:17). Some argue the same error from Matthew 25 when it speaks of the final
judgment. In that text, there is again the division of the righteous and the
wicked. Matthew 25 does not say that by means of their righteousness men
inherit the eternal kingdom. When there is no Scripture to teach an error,
there is always a great passion to find one! Matthew 25 is a text often used
this way. Those who receive their kingdom inheritance in Matthew 25:34, receive
it as a gift. We cannot change the gift nature of this inheritance without
changing the gospel itself. (See Acts 20:32; Galatians 3:18 and Ephesians
1:13,14.) The righteous who are told to come to receive their inheritance have
been blessed by the Father. It is not that their works gain this
blessing on that day! The grammar is clear. The verb for blessed in
Matthew 25:34 is a perfect passive participle, therefore: a) the righteous were
blessed by the Lord in a blessing they did not acquire by their action but His.
(That is the passive aspect.) b) the blessing brought to them occurred in the
past and continued from then. “Come, you who have been blessed…” shows that the
blessing itself had happened prior to the Judgment Day. Therefore the Judgment
Day does not finally decide for the righteous whether they will inherit the
kingdom. According to 5:24, their eternal well-being had been secured for them
when they believed. Matthew 25 teaches that
on that Day those who have been justified already will be identified and
recognized before the world as righteous. This righteousness is demonstrated
by the multitude of good works the Lord points to. These good works were not
the object of the trust of the righteous, because they are surprised by the
good they did! (Matthew 25:37-39) Their good works are the result of being
blessed by the Father – blessed with: eternal life, the Holy Spirit’s good
fruit, salvation that began when they believed, and love for their neighbor. It
is this prior salvation and transformation that causes them to be described in
John 5:29 as “those who have done good ” and in Matthew 25:37 as
“righteous”
An illustration: As I type these notes, my wife and I are in a
cottage overlooking the Strait of Juan de Fuca between
Another important place where good works is
taught is James 2:14-26. James warns against a false faith, one without works.
That kind of faith does not save, simply because it is not faith at all. If it
has no works, it is dead. The real faith of Abraham was made complete by his
obedience. James did not confuse Abraham’s faith with his actions, in fact
James speaks of them as distinct. Works are not a synonym for justifying faith
but a complement to it. Abraham had been declared righteous when he believed, and
was considered righteous by observers when he acted. So it is with all mankind.
God declares the sinner righteous when he believes, but shows he is righteous
when he obeys. The ultimate occasion for public identification of the righteous
is the Judgment Day when God will openly display His own before the universe by
the good works that give such evidence of the blessing of salvation. Thus other
Scriptures make the same sober point as John 5:28,29.
Appendix 5B:
John the Baptist, a Lamp that Burned and Gave Light, John 5:35
John the Baptist was a servant of Christ, sent by
God (John 1:6) to serve as His messenger (Mark 1:2) to introduce the Messiah to
Israel (Luke 1:76, John 1:31) and bring many in Israel back to the Lord (Luke
1:16). He was an austere man preaching
in the desert, shunning the comforts of city life (Luke 7:24-26, Mark
1:6). John was the last in the line of
prophets that preceded Christ, one recognized by all the people (Matthew 21:26),
a prophet greater than a prophet (Matthew 11:9), the Elijah promised in Malachi
4:5,6 (Matthew 11:14; 17:11-14; Luke 1:17). He was a lamp that shone brightly
for a brief time (John 5:35). Those who heard and accepted his baptism and
message acknowledged that God's way was right (Luke 7:29,30).
John was sent from God not to perform miracles (10:41)
but to baptize and preach. His baptism
of repentance was unto forgiveness of sins. He preached the good news (Luke
3:18) of the King and His kingdom. He denied with true humility that he was the
Christ (John 1:26,27; 3:27-30), proclaiming that the One to follow was so great
he was not worthy to remove His sandals. He proclaimed Jesus to be the Lamb of
God and the Son of God (John 1:29,34). Only the Apostle John reports John the
Baptist saying that his ministry was predicted in Isaiah 40. By doing so he indicated
that Jesus, Whom he was introducing, was indeed the Lord (John 1:23).
Noted for his courageous and even severe tone, John
not only challenged the people generally, calling the crowds snakes (Luke 3:7),
he did not soften his criticism of soldiers (Luke 3:14) and even Herod (Luke
3:19). His message of repentance was a denunciation of sin. Just as Abel was
the first to die in human history, not Cain, it was John the righteous man who
was imprisoned and beheaded. Jesus
pointed to the rejection of John as a link to the crucifixion that was ahead of
Him.
John’s ministry was a brief and intense moment in
redemption history. He knew only what the Lord had given him when the word of
God came to Him (Luke 3:2). Neither he nor his disciples had the full
revelation of the NT (Matthew 11:2-6, Acts 18:24-26). He knew judgment was
imminent (Luke 3:7-9), and this added great urgency to his preaching, a good
example for all who speak to men today, each of which is going to hell or
heaven forever. John came to show the way of righteousness (Matthew 21:32) and
the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of sins (Luke 1:77).
When God sent this messenger to introduce the
Savior, it was an earthshaking event. Even
Herod liked to listen to him (Mark 6:20). All
Appendix 5C: The Testimony of the Old Testament to Christ
The Apostle John says in five places that the OT speaks of Christ,
without specific quotations (1:45, 2:22, 5:45-47, & 20:9). Jesus did the
same thing in Luke 24:44-47. Good generalities are very helpful! John is simply
saying that the Scripture is about Christ. Of course it is not of Christ in
every word, but the core of all previous promise and revelation was of the
Mediator to come. The religious experts in the law could read, quote and
discuss the words of the text without coming to Christ for life. In Matthew
2:1-8 they told Herod from the Prophet Micah where Christ would be born, but in
Matthew’s record of the visit it was made only by foreigners, not leaders of
Prediction is a powerful way God shows His glory as God (Isaiah
41:26-29; 48:3-7). In my opinion we should emphasize this feature of God’s
revelation more. To make the identity of the coming Messiah unmistakable, God
gave so much detail in advance that the whole quantity of revelation could
apply to one person only, Jesus of Nazareth.
He would be born in
The Messiah would be announced by an Elijah-like man (Malachi 4) crying
out in the desert (Isaiah 40). The Anointed Messiah’s ministry of mercy would
fulfill Isaiah 61. The effect of His proclamation would reach all nations
(Isaiah 42 & 49). He would serve as
a faithful priest (1 Samuel 2:35), not in the line of Aaron but in the order of
Melchizedek, yet He would be king in the line of David, a King Who is the Son
of God (Psalm 2) and Son of Man (Daniel 7). Unlike other prophets, but like
Moses, He would be a prophet who talks with God face to face (Deuteronomy 18;
34:10-12). Thus, Jesus alone in all of
After entering
When Jesus said “These are the Scriptures that testify about Me,” (John 5:39) He stated what ought to be obvious truth, but when the human heart has other interests than the love of God, (John 5:42) men will refuse to come to have life (John 5:40) no matter how clear the revelation. No matter how clear the picture, the willfully blind shall not see it!