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In Nature & Power

[PRINT HERE] John 5 (9-27-17) Lecture Notes

St. Joseph Missionary Baptist Church

Wed Night Bible Study

JOHN 5:17-21

Dr. E.C. Gregory, PhD – Bible Facilitator                                9-27-17                             Dr. H.T. Rhim, Pastor

JESUS EQUAL TO GOD

[In Nature & Power]

John 5:17-21 (KJV) 
17  But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.
18  Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbathbut said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with 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 seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.
20  For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than thesethat ye may marvel.
21  For as the Father raiseth up the deadand quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.

5:17. God rested on the seventh day (Gen. 2:2-3) from His work of Creation. But Jesus pointed to the continuous work of God as a justification for His Sabbath activity. God sustains the universe, creates life, and brings judgments on the wicked. It is not wrong for His Son to do works of grace and mercy on the Sabbath. The words My Father should be noted. Jesus did not say “your Father” or even “our Father.” His opponents did not miss His claim to be the Son of God.

5:18. The Sabbath controversy was enough to cause them to hate Jesus, but the implication of His claim that God is His own Father was impossible for them to accept. To them, God has no equals. Jesus’ claim, in their thinking, was a monstrous blasphemy. To be equal with God suggested, they thought, two gods and therefore polytheism. To make oneself “equal with God” was a claim of arrogant independence. In the Talmud (Old Testament) four persons were branded as haughty because they made themselves equal to God: pagan rulers Hiram, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh, and the Jewish King Joash.

5:19. Jesus explained that He is not independent of or in opposition to the Father. His activities on earth are not of His Own Will but of His Father. The Father directs and has sent the Son. The Son’s activity imitates the Father, and the Two always work together.

5:20. The Son is in no way independent of or in rebellion against the Father. Their relationship is one of continuous love. The Son is not doing simply a part of God’s will; He has a full disclosure of all the Father’s works. By the Father, the Son will do even more amazing works than physical healings.

5:21. Jesus, being the Son of God had the right over life and death. (A king of Israel asked Naaman, “Am I God? Can I kill and bring back to life?” [2 Kings 5:7]) One of Jesus’ “greater” works (John 5:20) is the giving of life. The Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it. The giving of life includes spiritual (eternal) life and a resurrected body. The resuscitation of Lazarus (chap. 11) would illustrate both.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.

In Nature; Power & AUTHORITY

[PRINT HERE] John 5 (10-4-17) Lecture Notes

St. Joseph Missionary Baptist Church

Wed Night Bible Study

Dr. E.C. Gregory, PhD – Bible Facilitator                                10-4-17                              Dr. H.T. Rhim, Pastor

JESUS EQUAL TO GOD

[In Nature; Power & AUTHORITY]

John 5:22-30 (NKJV) 
22  For the Father judges no onebut has committed all judgment to the Son,
23  that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
24  “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.
25  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, 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 to have life in Himself,
27  and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.
28  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice
29  and come forth–those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
30  I can of Myself do nothingAs I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.

5:22. The Son’s ability to give life is tied with His right to judge mankind (v. 27). The Father has placed this in Jesus’ hands.

5:23. Jesus’ unity with His Father is so complete that the honor of God is tied to Jesus. To reject or dishonor God the Sonis to reject and dishonor God the Father.

5:25. Jesus’ life-giving power can call a person out of the grave (Jn. 11:43), everyone from their tombs (5:28-29), or anyone in spiritual death (v. 24) to eternal life.

5:26-27. In the Incarnation God the Father delegated to Jesus the authority to judge. As the Son of Man  (Dan. 7:13), authority is given to Him.

5:28-29. Jesus said His hearers should not be amazed at His claim that right now those who believe pass from death into life (v. 24), because in the future there will be a universal physical resurrection at His command. This universal resurrection is clearly taught in Daniel 12:1-2. Other passages show that the resurrection to life, “the first resurrection,” will occur in stages (the church at the Rapture, and Tribulation saints at the Lord’s second coming at the end of the Tribulation), and that the resurrection of those who will be condemned will occur at the end of the Millennium (Rev. 20:11-15). John 5:28-29 is one of the few passages in this Gospel which expressly teaches eschatology.

5:30. This verse is transitional; it concludes the section on Jesus’ unity with the Father (vv. 19-30). The section ends the way it began, with the point that the Son can do nothing apart from the Father (cf. v. 19). His judgment, as everything He does, is from the express will of the Father. He is the perfect Spokesman for the Father and His effective Executive. Jesus’ will is to do the Father’s will (cf. 4:348:29), which shows that He has the same nature.

The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures by Dallas Seminary Faculty.