The Son of the Father (John 5:17–30) — A Sermon by R.C. Sproul

0:00 We continue now with our study of the gospel according to St. John, and our scripture today is from John chapter 5, beginning at verse 16 and reading through verse 30. For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, My Father has been working until now, and I have been working. Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.

0:58 And then Jesus answered and said to them, Most assuredly I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself does, and He will show Him greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 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. And 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. And 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. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man. Let me stop at that point, because given that this is Communion Sunday, I'm going to be hard-pressed to cover even this number of verses in our meditation today. But what we have heard, I pray that you have ears to hear. Let us pray.

3:02 Father, now as we turn our attention to this text that is indeed astounding in its content, we pray that You would give us real understanding of it, that we may be moved to the proper response to Christ and to the Father that it demands. For we ask these things in the name of Jesus. Amen. Last week we saw that after Jesus healed the paralytic, that the leaders of the Jews were furious because the man had carried his bed at the instruction of Jesus on the Sabbath day.

3:56 And I mentioned that last week we saw John beginning to introduce us to this deepening hostility of the leaders of the nation toward Christ as they set their minds toward His execution. And so we pick it up this morning at verse 16 where we read, for this reason, for those things that we looked at last week, the Jews persecuted Jesus and sought to kill Him because He had done these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, My Father has been working until now, and I have been working. Part of me wishes that I would not have included so many verses in today's text, and that I could have taken the full time to look at just what I have read so far. because in this statement from Jesus, we have an astonishing declaration that really requires a lot more attention than I'm going to be able to give it this morning. But note verse 17 begins with these words, but Jesus answered them. Now, there are many, many times in the New Testament when we get a record of conversations between Jesus and individuals, Jesus between the authorities, where questions are raised to Christ, and then He gives a response, and the English Bible tells us that Jesus said or that Jesus answered. But what's hidden here behind the English is something exceedingly rare. That in this particular text, when it says Jesus answered them, the form of the verb to answer is exceedingly rare. It is only found in the context of trials and courtrooms when a legal, formal defense is given against charges that are made.

6:12 And so what John is saying here is that Jesus is not just simply asking, answering a question. He is giving His legal defense before the authorities that are accusing Him of things worthy of death. Now, having said that, let's look at what defense Christ uses for telling this man that it's okay to carry his bed on the Sabbath day because his defense is brief but astonishing. He says, "'My Father has been working until now.'" and I have been working. Well, what's so strange about that? Well, what Jesus is reminding the Jewish authorities and the rabbis is of something that they understood, that the Sabbath rest was built into creation because God created all that there is in six days, and then on the seventh day, He rested. And so that set forth the pattern for us to rest in this cyclical manner every seventh day from our common labor. And now Jesus is reminding these theologians, who certainly should know better at least, that when the Bible says that on the seventh day God rested, it doesn't mean that God ceased being active. Now remember the old view of the deists who believe that God was the great watchmaker in the sky who formed the universe, established the laws of the

8:21 universe, and like a clock, He fixed the gears and the machinations of the machine, wound it up, and then stepped out of the picture and allowed the clock to run on its own. That is not the biblical view of God. That is not the biblical view of creation. The very word to create in the first chapter of Genesis is the Hebrew word barah, which my musicians are gone. Olga, help me. Help me preach. Can you preach in English? Preach with your violin. Give me some notes that are staccato plays. Listen. Almost sounds like the William Tell Overture, doesn't it? All right, now give me Sustenato.

9:16 I think we'd rather listen to that than hear the rest of the song. Okay. We all know the difference between staccato and legato or sustenato. The word baro is not staccato. It's not like God just creates a world and steps out of the picture. But whatever God creates, He sustains. He doesn't just bring it into existence, but He preserves it and maintains it. That's why there's still a world. If God would stop working for one instant, the whole universe would be annihilated because in Him we live and move and have our being. Without God's upholding the universe from moment to moment, nothing could continue to be. But that's not the way we think today. We've been overwhelmed with a view, a naturalistic view of science that tells us nature operates under its own steam by its own power, and it may have a debt to God for its origin, but once things are started, who needs Him? And that naturalistic view of God has pervaded the church. I mean, how many times this week I've heard the question, where was God on September 11th last year? And the suggestion behind the question is, He was off somewhere taking a nap, uninvolved with the affairs of human events. And what Jesus is telling these people is, listen, that's not our understanding of God. God is not some nebulous power, greater power or force that just starts things rolling, but He is the Lord God omnipotent who governs everything that

11:24 He makes from moment to moment. We have a lot of weird concepts of God coming to pass in our culture. A few years ago, I told you of an encounter I had on a train where at dinnertime, they seat you with strangers, and I came to this table, and there was a woman on one side, a woman on the other, and the steward put me beside the elderly woman, and this young woman sitting across from the elderly woman was all excited, relating a story to this woman, and she was telling her that she was coming home after two years of training in a camp that indoctrinated her into New Age philosophy. And she was so excited as she told this older lady, she said, do you know what I learned in the latest? No, what's that? She says, I learned that I was God. I didn't say anything. I'm just sitting there minding my own business, listen to this, but she kept glancing over at me to see what my reaction would be, and I was just being calm. And finally she stopped and turned to me and she said, what do you think? And I said, well, this is a new experience for me. This is the first time in my life that I've been able to sit across a table visibly from the Almighty.

12:41 Of course, we do it invisibly every time we come to the Lord's table, but this time, and I said that to her, and she laughed, you know, and then I looked at her and I said, you don't really believe that you're God, do you? And she was so sweet, and she kept on laughing, and she said, well, no, not really. I thank God that in 30 seconds we were able to undo the two years of indoctrination.

13:15 But of course when I said that, you don't really believe that. I mean, I was trying to show her what an absurd notion it is, but it's one that people all over the place are buying into because we have lost an understanding of who God is. That's why this verse is so important because this verse teaches us so much about the nature of God and the nature of Christ. And Jesus said, my Father works until now. Though the work of creation in its initial stages was completed at the end of the sixth day, God's involvement, God's labor with the creation didn't stop.

14:01 It continues, Jesus says, even till now. Now, there's something subtle in this because the Jewish rabbis also had a theory about God's work, and they granted that God continued to labor after He finished creation. And the question was, well, was it okay for God to work on the Sabbath? See, that's the question underlying this encounter. Is it permissible for God to work on the Sabbath day? And in all of the casuistry of the rabbis, they had formulated reasons why it would be okay and legal for God to work on the Sabbath day. Remember last week I told you that the rabbis had constructed 39 laws that defined what worked was okay and what wasn't okay on the Sabbath day, and law number 39 read, you remember, that you're not allowed to move your possessions from one domain to another.

15:15 So now the question is, can God move what He owns from one domain to another? Let me see if I can find in the opening song that we sang this morning. No, I'm sorry. Stretch that. It was in the choral introit. Holy God, we praise Your name. I noticed this. Let me read it to you. Holy God, we praise Your name, Lord of all, we bow before You. All on earth, Your scepter claim, all in heaven above adore You. Now listen to the last phrase. Infinite, infinite your vast domain, everlasting is your reign. Infinite your vast domain. See, the rabbis understood that, and so they justified God's working on the Sabbath this way.

16:12 They said, if you're not allowed to move anything from one domain to another, God rises above that restriction because He is infinite, and His domain is infinite, so whatever He does on the Sabbath day always takes place within the confines of His personal domain. That's theological casuistry at its finest, folks. I have a real appreciation for that kind of thing that the rabbis did with that. But of course, what Jesus says that is so radical here is He says, my Father keeps working, He works on the Sabbath day, so do I. Now, the defense is this. God's allowed to do it, and God is my Father, ergo I'm allowed to do it. And if you argue with what I'm doing on the Sabbath day, you are arguing with God.

17:21 This is not the only place where this issue of laboring on the Sabbath became a major issue between Jesus and the authorities. Elsewhere, you remember He said, the Sabbath was made for man, man was not made for the Sabbath. And He said, I do these things that you might understand that the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath day. Now when He said that, everybody understood what He was saying. When He said, I am the Lord of the Sabbath, everybody knew that it was God who created the Sabbath, and only God could be Lord over the Sabbath. And so when Christ says that He is Lord of the Sabbath day, that is an unambiguous claim to deity, and that's what He's saying right here in this text. The Father works up till now, and I work too. Now what happens? Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but He also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.

18:30 Now listen to this difficult text. Then Jesus answered and said to them, Verily, verily, or most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do. For whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, shows Him all things that He Himself does, and He will show Him greater works than these that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. The Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 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. Let me give the congregation a pop quiz. Pretend you're in seminary. Oh, that's too scary. you pretend you're in Sunday school. That's not as bad, is it, Luke? How many of you have ever heard the word Trinity? Let me see. It's an everyday word. You've all heard the term Trinity, right? Now, what if I were to ask you to distinguish between the ontological Trinity Trinity and the economic Trinity. How many of you, now let's be really honest, if I said, please describe for me the difference between the ontological Trinity and the economic Trinity, how many of you would say, I have no idea? Let me see your hands. There you go. Now those of you who didn't raise your hand, I'm going to ask you to stand up and explain this. All right, let me take a moment to make that decision because it's very important for understanding our doctrine of the Trinity. When we talk about the ontological Trinity, ontology is the study of being. And when we say that God is three in one, that there are three persons in the Godhead,

20:35 we say that the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit are one being. The ontological structure of the Trinity is a unity. There is one being. But when we distinguish in the Godhead of the three persons, we distinguish them in terms of what we call the economy of God, that is, how God operates. It's the Father who sends the Son into the world for our redemption. It is the Son who acquires our redemption for us. It is the Spirit who applies that redemption to us. It's not three gods, it's one God in three persons, and the three persons are distinguished in terms of what they do.

21:37 Now, in Orthodox Christianity, we say that from all eternity, the Son who is equal to the Father in power, in glory, and in being. Remember, this discussion goes back to John 1. In the beginning was the Word, the Word was with God, which would indicate a difference from God, and then in the next breath, the Word was God. And so in one sense, the Word and God are identical, and in another sense, they're distinguished, and those distinctions go Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. From all eternity, the Father sends the Son. The Son doesn't send the Father. The Father sends the Son. Even though the Father and the Son are equal in being, equal in power, equal in glory, nevertheless, there is an economic subordination of the Son to the Father. And that's what Jesus is getting at here when He says, I don't do anything on my own.

22:47 I do what the Father tells me to do. I do what the Father sends me to do. I watch the Father, and I do what the Father does. The Father is preeminent. The Father is the one to whom I am obedient and I am subordinate. And listen to what He says about that. He says, the Son can do nothing of Himself but what He sees the Father do. Whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. because the Father loves the Son, shows Him all the things that He Himself does, and will show Him greater works than these that you may marvel. And as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, listen to this, even so the Son gives life to whom He will. And then quickly He goes on to say, the Father judges no one.

23:41 Now you read that verse, and you might walk out of here saying, well, the Bible says God doesn't judge anybody, because Jesus says God doesn't judge anybody. Maybe that's why people today don't believe in a divine judgment, because the Bible says God doesn't judge anybody, or it doesn't say that. It says the Father doesn't judge. Why doesn't the Father judge?

24:05 Because the Father has delegated the task of judging the world to the Son. The Father judges no one but has committed all judgment to the Son, 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. We live in a country that says you can believe in anybody you want to, that we all worship the same God, that you can come to God in any means possible. You can reject Jesus and still have the Father. you cannot honor the Father without honoring the Son, and the Father has appointed a day where He will judge the world by the one whom He's appointed to be the judge, who is the Son of Man, the heavenly being, who comes to this earth to judge the world. So if you don't honor Christ, you don't honor the judge whom God has appointed. Can you believe this, what Jesus is saying to these people? He's on trial. And He said, hey, fellas, you're talking to the judge here. You're talking to the Lord of the Sabbath.

25:22 You're talking to the one before whom you will stand in judgment. You're talking to the one whom the Father has given the power of life in Himself. And if you don't honor Me, you don't honor the Father." Well, beloved, this is only the beginning of this defense that is really going to go for not just a few more verses, but a few more chapters. And it's heavy going, I understand. It takes us into deep theological waters, but those deep theological waters are at the very heart of the faith of the Christian church. And it's because of these things that we come together to worship Him and to honor Him. And it's because of Him that we are here this morning. We are here to honor the One who has given His life for us and who has invited us to His table.