Nepaug Bible Church - http://www.nepaugchurch.org - Pastor's Sermon Notes - http://www.nepaugchurch.org/Sermons/zz20050821.htm

JOHN: TRUSTING IN JESUS AS MESSIAH AND GOD
Part XVII: Trusting In Christ's Own Words Regarding His Full Deity
(John 5:15-47)

Introduction: (To show the need . . . )

How do we claim as central to our Christian faith that Jesus is God when some assert that He Himself ever held to this belief?

(1) One of the religious groups that deny the full deity of Christ is "the Way, International" that was founded by Victor Paul Wierwille. He taught in his book, Jesus Christ Is Not God , that Christ is not the Lord [Gary L. Wall, "A catalogue of cults: Where they stand on the deity of Christ," Moody Monthly, July-Aug., 1979, reprint].

A key REASON for this denial of Christ's deity became clear to me in a conversation I once had with a follower of this system: she claimed that Jesus never clearly claimed to be God. Yes, she was aware that Scripture has Jesus claiming to be the "Son of man" (John 5:24) or the "Son of God" (John 4:41) in what she thought was a state of somethin less than God. Similarly, Freemasons, Mormons and Jehovah's Witnesses hold Jesus was "a Son of God", a being who is than the eternal diety of God the Father. (Ibid.)

It is true that Colossians 2:9 states Jesus was fully God on earth, for there Paul writes of Him: "For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," and Dr. Charles C. Ryrie notes in his footnote to this verse that "In Jesus Christ, deity (the divine attributes and nature) dwelt in His earthly body -- a strong statement of the deity and humanity of the God-man." (Ryrie Study Bible, KJV, 1978 ed., ftn. However, a follower of "the Way" or of another group would respond: "Sure, Paul saw Jesus as eternal God, but Jesus Himself never did!"

(2) Now, it is important that we discern what Jesus Himself felt regarding His identity! After all, the New Testament in 1 Corinthians 12:3 KJV claims " . . . no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." By that statement, the Apostle Paul revealed that our Christian faith is built upon the confession that Jesus is GOD! We need to be sure, then, that Jesus HIMSELF felt He was God if we would be confident in our Christian faith as revealed in Scripture!



DID Jesus HIMSELF ever VIEW Himself to be FULLY equal with the Father as the Eternal GOD?!



(We turn to the sermon "Need" section . . . )



Need: "Some deny Christ even CLAIMED to be God, and since our faith is built on confessing the belief that He IS God (1 Corinthians 12:3), HOW do we KNOW Jesus HIMSELF thought He was God?!"
  1. people
    1. Since Jesus called God His "Father" in John 5:17, He made Himself equal with God in the minds of Jerusalem's religious leaders, so they sought to kill Him for UNRIGHTEOUSNESS and BLASPHEMY against God, John 5:18 (as follows):
    2. Jerusalem's religious leaders felt Jesus' John 5:17 statement that He was continuing the work of His heavenly Father was an evil claim of arrogant independence from God made by a pagan polytheist:
      1. The Hebrew Talmud named 4 men who made themselves "equal with God:'" the Gentile rulers Hiram, Nebuchadnezzar, Pharaoh and the Hebrew King Joash, Ibid., Bible Kno. Com., N. T., p. 290.
      2. Thus, Christ's John 5:17 claim to continue the work His heavenly Father had begun seemed to Jerusalem's religious leaders like pagan polytheism, a belief in multiple gods: they thought He was guilty of "arrogant independence" from Israel's God by making himself into another god that competed against the Father, Ibid.
    3. The religious leaders thus also thought Jesus was guilty of blasphemy:
      1. The Greek New Testament at John 5:18 uses the word, "idion" to modify the word, "Father," so the last phrase of the verse is best rendered, ". . . but He was even calling God His own Father, making himself equal with God." (ESV,NIV) (U. B. S. Grk. N. T., 1966 ed., p. 339; Thayer's Grk.-Eng. Lex. of the N. T., p. 296-297.
    4. Thus, Jesus' John 5:17 words caused the leaders to think He had claimed family identity with the Father; in that culture, this made Jesus claim to be equal with God the Father, John 5:18b!
    5. These leaders then sought to kill Jesus for blasphemy, John 5:18a!
  2. In RESPONSE, THOUGH He DEFENDED His UPRIGHTNESS as a NON-PAGAN MONOTHEIST Who MEEKLY SUBMITTED to God the Father, Jesus YET EXTENSIVELY SUPPORTED the view that He was EQUAL with God the Father as FULL DEITY (as follows), John 5:19-47:
    1. Jesus corrected the religious leaders' conclusion about His being an arrogant polytheist: He stated He did not work independently from the Father, but in close relation and complete submission to Him as a firm supporter of monotheism, the belief in One God, John 5:19-20a!
    2. On the OTHER hand, in John 5:20b-47, Jesus EXTENSIVELY UPHELD the view the leaders possessed about His claim to equality with the Father, and that by BROADLY AFFIRMING that HE WAS GOD (as follows):
      1. In John 5:20b-21, 24-30, Jesus told how He would give eternal life to the spiritually dead and physically raise them, works that only God could do and that had been committed to Jesus by the Father!
      2. Jesus said this would occur as the Father sought for men to honor Him as God's Son just like they honored the Father, Jn. 5:22-23!
      3. Jesus then supplied several evidences supporting His witness to be God's Son Who was equal with the Father, cf. John 5:31-47:
        1. Christ claimed His works (like having healed the man who had been lame for thirty-eight years, John 5:5-9) bore witness that He was sent from the Father, a witness greater than John the Baptizer though all Judah had once followed John, Jn. 5:31-36.
        2. At Christ's baptism, the Father had testified that Jesus was God's Son, John 5:37 with John 1:33-34; Matthew 3:16-17.
        3. Last, Jesus said Scripture verified He was from God and spoke the truth when claiming to be God, John 5:39; yet, Jesus noted the religious leaders did not heed God or His Scriptures, so they would not accept Him as the God Scripture showed Him to be, John 5:40-47! [Isaiah 35:4-6 taught the healing of the lame that occurred in John 5:5-9 signaled God had come; then, Deuteronomy 18:15-19 predicted Israel was to heed her Messiah when He came, and the healing of John 5:5-9 in fulfillment of Isaiah 35:4-6 meant Jesus was Messiah and God!
Application: (1) In view of Jesus' own EXTENSIVE testimony to this end, may we trust in Him as God and Messiah to have eternal life, John 3:16; 5:24; 20:31. (2) Then, may we tell others Jesus EXTENSIVELY claimed to be God in John 5:17-47 that men might TRUST in HIM to be SAVED!

Lesson: In keeping with the culture of His day and in accord with the Old Testament Scriptures His hearers knew so well, Jesus affirmed that by calling God His OWN Father, (1) He was NOT asserting arrogant independence from God as another god, a view held in pagan polytheism; (2) rather, by His (a) miracles, (b) the Father's own words (c) and His fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies, Jesus EXTENSIVELY taught He was equal with the Father as God, (3) and that so men might TRUST in Him as God and Israel's Messiah that they might receive eternal life!

Conclusion: (To illustrate the sermon lesson . . . )

 Since Jesus stated in John 5:17 within its cultural context that He was equal with the Father as God, I've perused the REST of John's Gospel to find the remaining passages where Jesus referred to God as His Father to see how often His claim to deity appears in this form. I found 40 MORE passages [Strong's Exh. Conc. of the Bible , p. 337f]:

John 6:32 "my Father giveth you the true bread"; 6:65 "it were given unto him of my Father"; 8:19a, b "Ye neither know me nor my Father: if ye had known me, ye should have known my Father"; 8:28 "as my Father hath taught me, I speak"; 8:38 "I speak that which I have seen with my Father"; 8:49 "I honour my Father"; 8:54 "my Father honoureth me"; 10:17 "Therefore doth my Father love me"; 10:18 "I received of my Father"; 10:29 "My Father , which gave them me, is greater"; 10:30 "I and my Father are one"; 10:32 "I shewed you from my Father"; 10:37 "the works of my Father"; 11:41 " Father, I thank thee"; 12:26 "him will my Father honour"; 12:27 "Father, save me"; 12:28 "Father, glorify thy name;" 14:7 "ye should have known my Father"; 14:12 "I go unto my Father"; 14:20 "I am in my Father"; 14:21 "shall be loved of my Father"; 14:23 "my Father will love him"; 14:28 " my Father is greater than I"; 15:1 "my Father is the husbandman"; 15:8 "Herein is my Father glorified"; 15:15 "I have heard of my Father"; 15:23 "He that hateth me hateth my Father also"; 15:24 "both me any my Father"; 16:10 "I go to my Father"; 17:1 "Father, the hour is come"; 17:5 "O Father"; 17:11 "Holy Father, keep through thine own name"; 17:21 "thou, Father, art in me"; 17:24 "Father, I will"; 17:25 "O righteous Father"; 18:11 "the cup which my Father hath given me"; 20:17a, b "Not yet ascended to my Father . . . I ascend unto my Father"; 20:21 "as my Father hath sent me, even so send I you."

So, in view of His words in John 5:17 that, in light of the context and culture, Jerusalem's religious leaders understood were a claim to equality with God the Father, Jesus AFFIRMED for 40 MORE times in John's Gospel that He, Jesus was GOD!

Be SURE that in the CULTURE and CONTEXT of the day, Jesus not only THOUGHT He was God, but OFTEN STATED this belief unto others! May we then confidently share with others their need to trust in Him for salvation!