The 5th chapter of John is one of the seminal passages of the Bible that
deals with THE DEITY OF CHRIST. The passages deals with some of the most
astounding events of the
developing ministry of Jesus. It comes in the context of Jesus' healing powers-
specifically His healing of the paralytic- the OT prophecies had claimed that
Messiah would be a healer.
The growing tide of the Jewish opposition in response to
this display of Messianic power were both unreasonable and is indicative of
what happens when sin overrides an intelligent persons otherwise rational
approach to issues in life. We
cannot fault the Jewish nation alone
for their refusal to understand- they were representative of the rest of
the human race even to this day in dealing with God.
We get a report of Jesus’s unambiguous claim to
deity- and this flies in the face of liberal theology that claims that somehow
Jesus somehow evolved a realization of messianic calling in the process of His
ministry on earth- that is completely refuted here- He knew what his mission on
earth was from the beginning.
The gospel of John affirms Jesus’s claims to deity
by quoting Jesus himself.
Note that after a year of scrutinizing Jesus, His
accusers could not find one positive issue by which he could be denied the
Messiahship. The only issue they could find was that He did good on the Sabbath-
His explanation of why He could do so enraged them.
When Jesus
used the term "My Father" (v. 18) the Jews recognized clearly
that it conveyed His claim to deity. A year earlier He had used the same term
with the same result (2:16) and also in the recounting of the healing of the
paralytic lowered through the roof that John does not cover. So, two years in a
row, at the passover, jesus had claimed to be God! The "persecute" of
verse 16 means "chase after". They decided to hound him from this
point.
In verses 19-24 Jesus explains the Father/Son
relationship. Note that Jesus made the claim, not by boasting, but by declaring
His abilities to be within the will of the Father. Verse 19 describes the perfect
harmony they enjoyed as well as Jesus' dependence on the Father. The end of
verse 20 shows that they even know what each other is thinking of doing!
The word "loves" here in verse 20 is notably
not agape as in verse 3:35 of John- this is phileo, which emphasizes the deep
emotional bond between the Father and Son.
Verse 21 is an amazing verse- Jesus had not yet raised
anyone from the dead- so this was quite a claim- who else has ever claimed this
in advance and vindicated himself with
performance? He claimed
this to be proof of:
1.
His
Sonship to God the Father(v. 21)
2.
His
right to judge (v. 22)
3.
His
right to offer eternal life(v. 24)
4.
His
right to preside over the resurrection of the justified(v.28)
5.
His
right to preside over the resurrection of the unjust (v.28)
We see the
unwillingness of man to change from a system with which he is comfortable-
Jesus calls for changed lives and men then as now resist this. Jesus
represented a new system of man relating to God through forgiveness, and
imputed righteousness where there was none by faith.
The life Jesus speaks of in verse
25 is ETERNAL life. It is hard to grasp, but this is so beyond the temporal
life that they shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence. We tend to want to
read this verse as referring to mortal life, but it cannot literally be so.
Verses 28-29 make it clear that the righteous (believers) are not condemned but
resurrected into life. Unbelievers are resurrected unto judgment. These two
resurrections are separated by the millenium. (Rev 20:4-5)
Jesus
Christ's claims to deity
1.Possessions
claimed. These are claims that would be inappropriate if made
by one who is less than God, and therefore blasphemous.
a. His
claim to possess the angels:
1.
Matthew 13:41, Luke 12:8‑9
2. these
same angels belong to God: Luke 15:10
b. The
claim to possess the Kingdom
1.at the
table Luke 22:30
2.at the
trial John 18:36
c. He had the attributes of deity.
1. Omnipotence (Matt.
28:18).
2. Omniscience (John
1:48).
3. Omnipresence
(Matt. 28:20).
4. Truth (John 14:6).
5. Immutability (Heb.
13:8).
2.
Prerogatives claimed. This authority would be impossible for anyone
less than God.
a.
Claimed to have authority to forgive sins.
1. John
5- The forgiving and healing of the paralytic
2. Mark
2:1-12 “No one can forgive sins but God alone”
b.
Claimed to be the judge of the world
1.
Matthew 25:31‑46. Divides
the sheep from the goats
2.
Determines eternal destiny
3.
Determines the spiritual condition of men's hearts.
c.
Claimed to have authority to redefine the status of God's law
1. Status
of the Sabbath Mark 2:27‑28
2.
Claimed to be the fulfillment of the law.
3. "You have heard it said.... but I say" passages. Jesus
places his words on the level of the old testament scriptures. He also never
said "The word of the Lord came to me saying" as did the prophets
d. He performed the works of God.
1. He creates (John
1:3).
2. He sustains the
universe (Col. 1:17).
3. He forgives sin
(Luke 7:48).
4. He raises the dead
(John 5:25; 11).
5. He judges (John
5:27).
6.
He
sends the Holy Spirit (John 15:26)
e. He is seen as an equal with
the Father and the Spirit.
1. With the Father
(John 10:30 14;16).
2. With the Father
and the Spirit (Matt. 28:19; II
Cor. 13:14). The Greek
construction makes it an even stronger case.
3.
Privileges claimed. These are relationships to God that are available
only to God Himself within the trinity
a. John
10:30 "I and the Father are one"
b. To
know and see Jesus is to see the Father. John 14:7‑9
c. He Himself claimed to be God.
1. At His trial (Mark
14:61-62; Luke 22:70).
2. He claimed
equality with the Father (John
5:17,18,23,24; 8:19,58; 10:30-33; 14:9).
3. He asked for and received
worship.
a. The Leper (Matt.
8:2).
b. The man born blind
(John 9:35-39).
c. The disciples
(Matt. 14:33).
d. Thomas (John
20:27-29).
4 Preexistence claimed.
1. John
8:58. "before Abraham was, I Am" (Exodus 3:14‑15)
2. John
3:13"No one has ascended from heaven but the son of man"
a. Mt.
26:23. "You will see the son of man seated at the right hand of power,
coming on the clouds of heaven"
b.
Simultaneity and coexistence with God‑ John 14:23. "If a man loves
me he will keep my commands, And my Father will love him and we come to him and make our abode with him"
c. John
20:29. Accepted Thomas' worship." My Lord and my God"
d. Power
over life and death‑ I Samuel 2:6. Psalm 119, John 5:21 Jesus claims this
power for himself "as the Father, the Son gives life to whom he will".
John
II:25 "I am the resurrection and the life."
c. I am the
Alpha and the Omega‑attributes ascribed only to God earlier in Rev.
5.
Presuppositions of Christ‑ other revealing reasons
a.
He never denied the charges made by the Pharisees that he claimed to Be God. To
allow a lie to be perpetuated would not be in keeping withGod's holiness.
b.
He accepted Peter's estimation of Him as "The Christ the Son of the Living
God"
c.
He linked His will with that of the Father John 5:2‑18
The
witness of secondary sources
1. The
witness of John
a.
The word was made flesh and dwelt among us.
b.
The word was with God and the Word
was God
2. The
witness of the writer of Hebrews
a.
Exact representation of the invisible God. Hebrews 1:3
(
"character tes hupostaseos auton")
b.
Hebrews 1:3 God created the world through him
c.
v. 3 Upholds all things by the word of his power
d.
v. 8 The Son is addressed as God
e.
Superiority to angels, men, high priests. He is God.
3.
Witness of Paul
1.
Christ's deity declared
a.
Col. 1:15‑20 the Son is the image (eikon) of God
b.
Col. 1:17 In Him all things hold together
c.
fullness (Pleroma) of Godhead dwells bodily
d.
Col. 2:9 Whole fullness of deity dwells fully
2.
Christ's claims confirmed ( Matthew 25:31‑46)
a.
2 Timothy 4:1, 2 Corinthians 5:10 speak of the Judgment seat of Christ
b.
These OT passages declare that God is the judge of all the earth (Genesis
18:25) and the judge of the
nations (Joel :12)
c.
Philippians 2: 5‑11 the form (morphé) of God means all that is the
essence of God
d.
Philippians 2:6 the preexistence of Christ
4.
Witness from general argument
a.
The title Lord is one of the highest sense. The apostles use Old Testament
passages in reference to Christ
1.
Acts 2:20‑21
1
Romans 10:13 (Joel 2:31‑32)
3.
1 Peter 3:15 (Isaiah 8:13)
b.
Other uses of kurios (LORD) in the NT for God the Father as well as God the Son
1.
Used to denote the Father‑ MT.1:20. Mt. 9:38, Mt. 11:25, Acts 17:24, Rev.
4:11
2.
Jesus‑ Luke 2:11, John 20:28, Acts 10:36, 1 Corinthians 2:8. Philippians
2:11, James 2:1, Rev 19:16
5. The
witness of the resurrection
a. The
resurrection was evidence that God confirmed the earthly ministry of Christ.
b.
Resurrection identified Jesus as the Son of Man
c. No
denial by Jews of the empty tomb
d. Jews
saw resurrection of Messiah as the end of the world
e.
Christianity as a historical event was determined by the resurrection.
f. 500
witnesses proclaiming the resurrection changed the world
g. The
martyrs gave their life for truth, not a conspiracy
6. the witness of the fulfillment of Prophecy.
1. On Good Friday 33
prophecies were fulfilled.
2. Psalm 22 contains
57 parallels to Christ's
crucifixion.
3. There are around
300 prophecies fulfilled by
Christ at His first coming.
If only 48 of these
were fulfilled by the same person, it would be a
probability of 1 out of 1 followed by 181 zeros.
7.
Conclusion: What are the alternatives?
a. That He was not an
historical figure is
contrary to evidence.
b. That He was just a good, moral
man will not
hold water because of His claims and
teachings. Example: He lied
many times if
He was not who He said He was.
c. C. S. Lewis says
there are only three
alternatives:
"I am trying here to prevent anyone
saying the really foolish thing that
people often say about Him: `I'm ready to
accept Jesus as a great moral teacher,
but I don't accept His claim to be God.'
That is the one thing we must not say. A
man who was merely a man and said the
sort
of things Jesus said would not be a
great moral teacher. He
would rather be
a lunatic --on a level with a man who
says He is a poached egg--or else He
would
be the devil of men. You must make
your choice. Either this
man was, and
is, the son of God: or else a madman or
something worse."
(From MERE
CHRISTIANITY, pp. 40-41)
Jesus was either a Liar, a Lunatic, or
Lord of all.