THE AUTHORITY OF THE SON

John 5:19-30

Key Verse: 24

“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.”

Last week we learned that Jesus healed an invalid for 38 years. Jesus said to the man, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” Then the man was healed immediately. He got up, picked up his mat and walked in full view of people there. Jesus’ word had authority to heal the man. Numerous sick and disabled people at the pool of Bethesda saw him healed. They witnessed the great work of God through Jesus on that Sabbath. However, the Jewish religious leaders who saw God’s amazing work through the man criticize the man for carrying his mat on the Sabbath. Later, they knew that Jesus healed the man on the Sabbath and began to persecute Jesus and tried to kill him. Today’s passage is Jesus’ answer to these religious leaders. Jesus helps them by giving his life-giving words. He teaches them about the authority of the Son of God. Jesus really wants the religious leaders to have eternal life, by knowing Jesus and accepting his words. Through today’s study, let us accept Jesus’ authority and have eternal life.

As we studied last week, the Jewish religious leaders challenged Jesus with 2 charges: #1) breaking the Sabbath and #2) blasphemy for calling God his Father. The religious leaders were so angry that they wanted to kill Jesus. But how did Jesus respond to these angry people? Instead of leaving the place to avoid the conflict with them, or instead of scolding them severely with his divine authority, Jesus taught them the words of God so profoundly. It is quite amazing that Jesus explained about himself straightforwardly, hoping that these stubborn leaders would know him and believe him.

Look at verse 19. “Jesus gave them this answer: ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.’” Here the Son is Jesus, and the Father is God. Jesus, the Son of God has a beautiful love relationship with God the Father. There is no secret between God the Father and Jesus Christ. Jesus and the Father God are one. Jesus does whatever God does.

Sinners do not know what God is doing. So they doubt about God and complain to him. But Jesus knew the heart of God and did the work of God exactly following the will of God. Jesus did what God wanted to do. Jesus did not do what God didn’t want to do. For example, Jesus healed the invalid because that was exactly what God wanted to do. By healing the man, Jesus revealed God’s love, power and glory. By the same principle, Jesus underwent the way of the cross which was unbearable, because it was what God wanted to do to save the world. But when the devil tempted him to make bread out of stones to fill his hungry stomach, Jesus didn’t do it because it was not what God wanted to do. Likewise, Jesus did everything God wanted him to do.

Here we learn about Jesus’ life principle. Jesus had divine almighty power. John 1:3 says, “Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.” Jesus is the Creator of the universe. But he didn’t exercise that power for his own benefit. He humbly followed God’s leading. He participated in God’s heart and his life-giving work humbly. He sacrificed his life for God’s world saving work. Jesus knew that God so loved the world. So he loved the world although the world rejected and murdered him. Jesus knew that when he healed the man on the Sabbath, the religious leaders would reject him and try to kill him. But he knew that God wanted him to heal the man. So he healed the man.

We are spiritually blind and often cannot see what God was doing. Moreover, we have a self-centered desire to do whatever we (not God) want to do. But Jesus’ people must first know what God wants them to do, instead of being engrossed with their own selfish and sinful desires and benefit. The Bible shows very brightly what God wants us to do. The Bible shows that God wants us to love God with all our hearts, mind and strength and to grow as disciples of Jesus. The Bible shows that God wants us to feed God’s flock of sheep as our love confession to Jesus Christ. The Bible shows that God wants us to go and make disciples of all nations. May we humbly participate in God’s heart as his children and co-workers and do the work of God. God does his own work through the humble obedience of his servants.

Look at verse 20. “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.” God showed Jesus all he was doing. God’s work is a life-giving work. When we see or experience God’s life-giving work, we are marveled and elated. God blessed our Bible workshop last Friday. Most of all, we heard God’s life-giving work in S. Andy’s life and S. Daniel’s life. When we see what God is doing we are greatly encouraged and inspired, and we want to grow as God’s hearty co-workers. Prophet Isaiah was a man of deep despair seeing the corruption of the people of Judah. He thought that the glory of God left his people. But when Isaiah saw God in the temple one day, he realized that the whole earth was filled with God’s glory (Is 6:3). He became God’s co-worker and delivered God’s message to his people who were unrepentant and unspiritual. God is doing his marvelous work in Matthew Vander-Kooij through one to one Bible study. God is doing his gracious work in UTSC through weekly group Bible study and one to one Bible study. God is doing his amazing work in China and Muslim nations through our missionaries’ life-giving spirit and effort. Let us see God’s ongoing work and participate in his amazing work.

Let’s move on. Look at verses 21-23. These verses show us that Jesus has absolute authority. These days, the word “authority” is not always popular. Many young people totally disregard the authority of parents, teachers and even police officers. They want absolute human freedom. As S. Andy said in his message last Friday, there is no absolute human freedom. We encounter the authority in our daily life whether we like it or not. Sinful human beings can become proud when they become authority figured and exercise their authority abusively. But Jesus’ authority is life-giving, just, legitimate and unchangeable. In particular, Jesus has two kinds of authority. First, he has authority to give life. Second, he has authority to judge all people so that Jesus would be honored by all peoples of all nations. Jesus tells these two kinds of authority more specifically in the following verses.

First, Jesus has authority to give life. Jesus’ authority is truly awesome and powerful. There is a saying, “Absolute power corrupt absolutely.” It is true because sinful people use their authority for themselves, disregarding others under them. But Jesus uses his authority to give eternal life. Look at verse 24. “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” Jesus gives eternal life to those who hear Jesus’ word and believe God. So we can have eternal life at the moment we believe. There was a very notorious robber who committed all kinds of crimes. He was sentenced to death through crucifixion. He was crucified right beside Jesus. On the cross, he heard Jesus’ last seven cries. He believed that Jesus is the Christ and asked him to remember him. Then Jesus said to him, “I tell you the truth, today you will be with me in paradise. (Lk 23:43)” This robber was crucified in the morning, received his eternal life in the afternoon. He became a child of God through his faith in Jesus. We can have eternal life right now. How? When we hear his word and believe in God through him.

S. Daniel had been wandering a lot from his boyhood. He had suffered both physically and spiritually. As a country boy, he had worked hard in his family farm. He often thought that life is an endless toil without weekend break. He didn’t know why to eat and study. He enrolled the university because others did so. But he received eternal life as soon as he accepted Genesis 1:1 through one to one Bible study. He experienced life within himself. He had eternal life as well. Likewise, when we hear Jesus’ word and accept it as the word of God, we have eternal life. This eternal life begins at the moment we believe. Eternal life liberates us from the fear of death and all anxiety. We are free to have true peace and true joy.

Look at verse 25. “I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” Jesus is the source of life. Jesus breathes life into our souls through his word. Primarily Jesus came to the world to give helpless sinners eternal life. Again how can we receive eternal life from the Son of God Jesus the giver of life? We must hear Jesus’ voice. How can we hear Jesus’ voice? Do we have to go to a mountain top or seashore of the ocean? No. We must come to the Bible and study it. The scripture will speak loudly as we study it. We can hear his voice as we study the word of Jesus. When I studied John’s gospel during my university study, I could hear his voice clearly. After hearing his word, my life has been dramatically changed. I began to have real life and kingdom of God (eternal life). Truly, those who hear Jesus’ word will live. Therefore, sharing the word of life with perishing souls is the most important work in the world today. Jesus’ word is the word of life. Whoever hears Jesus’ word will live. Only Jesus gives eternal life through his word. May we hear Jesus’ voice. May we share Jesus’ word with others so that they may also have eternal life.

Second, Jesus has authority to judge. These days, many people deny God’s judgment groundlessly, saying, “God is love. How can he judge people?” But the judgment of Jesus is not the invention of clever people. The scripture proclaims it crystal clearly. Look at verse 27. “And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.” Here the authority to judge pertains to eternal destiny. The first time Jesus came to this world, he came as a good shepherd. However, after his resurrection from the dead, Jesus ascended into heaven and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Heb 12:2). The time is coming when Jesus will come to judge each person according to what he has done (Ro 2:6-7).

Look at verses 28-29. “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.” At the final judgment, everyone who has ever lived will be present. Jesus will give a word of command and those who are in their graves will come out. Death is not the end. After death, there is judgment, and Jesus is the Judge. Both good and evil, both sinner and saint will stand before him and he will separate the sheep from the goats (Mt 25). There is no mistake in his judgment. It is absolutely right and it is final. “Those who have done good,” are those who accepted the gospel as the absolute truth of God. “Those who have done evil” does not merely refer to murderers and the sexually immoral. It refers to those who lived without God in unbelief. They may have seemed to be good morally, but they were men and women of unbelief. No matter how good their lives and actions seemed, without Christ, they are evil in the sight of God. They will be condemned. This is eternal punishment in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.

It is important for us to believe the final judgment of God. Without believing the final judgment of God we cannot believe in God properly. The question of many unbelieving people is, “Why do the righteous suffer and the wicked prosper?” Without believing the final judgment of God, we cannot answer these questions. But the final judgment of God assures us of absolute justice for all mankind. It also makes us aware of the true state of perishing mankind, and God’s desire to preach the good news of Jesus.

As a conclusion, let’s look at verse 24 again. “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.” According to this verse, those who hear the word of God and believe have eternal life. Hearing the word of God is therefore a matter of life and death. But many people close their ears and do not hear God’s word, following after their own sinful desires. We all want to have eternal life. May we hear Jesus’ words through deep Bible study and accept him so that we may have eternal life.