John 5:16-30. Is Jesus the Only God?

In the West there is a major debate being pursued in our churches of nearly all denominations. There are many leaders, including Archbishops, who will not stand for the uniqueness of Jesus Christ. Bishops, ministers and emissaries have been appointed who do not believe in the fundamental creeds of the Christian churches such as the virgin birth, the physical resurrection of Jesus and his claims to be the one and only incarnation of the one true God.

Jonathan Petre, the Daily Telegraph Religion Correspondent, published in 2002 an article that summarised the findings of a survey amongst Anglican clergy. It is most disturbing.

A third of Church of England clergy doubt or disbelieve in the physical Resurrection and only half are convinced of the truth of the Virgin birth, according to a new survey.

The poll of nearly 2,000 of the Church's 10,000 clergy also found that only half believe that faith in Christ is the only route to salvation.

While it has long been known that numerous clerics are dubious about the historic creeds of the Church, the survey is the first to disclose how widespread is the scepticism.

Few bishops would now share the views of the former Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev David Jenkins, who caused a scandal in the 1980s when he contrasted the Resurrection with a "conjuring trick with bones".

Nevertheless liberal clergy, who represent about one in eight of the total, remain profoundly uncertain about the Church's core doctrines. In the survey, two thirds of them expressed doubts in the physical Resurrection and three quarters are unconvinced by the Virgin birth.

Similar levels of belief were found in organisations such as Affirming Catholicism, a liberal Anglo-Catholic group of which the new Archbishop of Canterbury, Dr Rowan Williams, is a founding member.

Although Dr Williams holds firmly orthodox views on the Resurrection and the Virgin birth, the proportion of members of Affirming Catholicism who believe without question in the two doctrines is 35 and 24 per cent respectively.

Doubts are even greater among members of the Modern Churchpeople's Union, a liberal group whose president is the Bishop of Lincoln, the Rt Rev John Saxbee: only a quarter believe in the physical Resurrection and just eight per cent in the Virgin birth. 

The survey, carried out by Christian Research, did find that clergy were more orthodox on other doctrines.

More than 75 per cent overall accept the doctrine of the Trinity and a similar proportion believe that Christ died to take away the sins of the world. More than 80 per cent were happy with the idea that God the Father created the world.

Unsurprisingly, the organisations whose members were the most traditional were Reform, a conservative evangelical group, and Forward in Faith, a traditionalist umbrella body.

The Rev Robbie Low, a member of Cost of Conscience, the traditionalist organisation which commissioned the survey, said: “There are clearly two Churches operating in the Church of England: the believing Church and the disbelieving Church, and that is a scandal.”

"Increasingly, positions of authority are being placed in the hands of people who believe less and less. It is an intolerable situation where the faithful are increasingly being led by the unfaithful." He added that doubts about the core doctrines of the Church were higher among women priests and their supporters.

Only just over half of the admittedly small sample of female clergy in the survey said they believed in the bodily Resurrection and the figure fell to exactly a third when it came to the Virgin birth.

The Rev Nicholas Henderson, the general secretary of the Modern Churchperson's Union, said he was not surprised by the figures. Clergy, faced with intelligent and educated congregations, increasingly had to think "very carefully" about how to present complex doctrine credibly.

He was also critical of plans by the bishops to revive heresy trials for clergy who publicly questioned key Church teachings.

Dr Peter Brierley, the executive director of Christian Research, said the survey had been undertaken among 4,000 churches and reflected a representative sample of clergy, in terms of churchmanship and belief.

In findings reported earlier this month, the survey also showed that a quarter of the clergy still described themselves as "implacably opposed" to women bishops. This means that three quarters of Anglican clergy question the authority of Scripture.

It is a great concern that people are being ordained to lead churches, who do not accept the basic tenets of the faith.

John answers such thinking in the second section of John 5. Those who want to be considered as teachers of the ‘apostolic faith’ need to take note of what John, the Apostle, is saying.

16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. 17 In his defence Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 18For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.

19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, 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. 20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23 that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Whoever does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him.

24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, 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. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.

28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. John 5:16-30

John includes this account because the divinity of Jesus is central to the gospel. John records the healing of the lame man at Bethesda as one of his selected miracles for a particular reason. Towards the end of his book he explains this.

“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30-31

The miraculous signs John selected were just a few of many. The last verse of the book says,

“Jesus did many other things as well.” John 21:25

Describing these signs and the discussions around them was intended to lead people to two conclusions. Firstly they are intended to lead people to ‘believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God’. But to believe that is, in itself, not enough. God wants this knowledge to lead on to a new life, a genuine experience of the living God that is given to us as we walk daily with Jesus as our Lord and Saviour. Intellectual convictions alone are not enough. Even Satan knows the truth.

Jesus uses three main arguments to make clear what he is saying.

1. Jesus is God of The Sabbath

The Sabbath was meant to be a reminder that God’s people have a future rest with God to look forwards to. There will be a new earth without any weeping, any death or any sickness. There will be no ‘H’s’ in heaven - no handkerchiefs (no weeping), no hearses (no death) and no hospitals (no sickness).

This is why we keep one day in seven to remember our Lord, all he has done for us and all we have to look forwards to in the future. What a shame it is when those who have made commitments to Christ in the past focus on the here and now and are not looking forward to being with the Lord in heaven.

However Jesus deliberately provoked the Jewish leaders by persistently healing on the Sabbath. He did this to teach three facts.

“My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”

The Jews clearly understood what Jesus was claiming,

“For this reason the Jews tried to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” John 5:18

At a Bible Study on this passage a friend bravely said,

“When I was young I went to a Sunday School and I had RE lessons at school, but I had never understood until tonight that Jesus was God himself.”

Jesus then goes further to confirm who he is and what he had come to do. He is the perfect revelation of God, he is intimately associated with Him,

“Jesus gave them this answer, ‘I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can only do what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.” John 5:19

2. Jesus is God who can give life

Everybody knew that only God can raise the dead and give them life. These are the ‘greater things’ that people would see Jesus do. For Jesus to raise the dead was further confirmation that he was God.

“For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.” John 5:21

Jesus had the same creative power as God himself. When Jesus was on the earth, he raised four people from the dead. He raised the widow’s son in the village of Nain (Luke 7:15), the 12-year-old daughter of Jairus, a ruler of the synagogue (Mark 5:42), and Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha in Bethany after he had been dead four days (John 11:44). Finally he raised himself from the dead after he had been crucified.

However Jesus is not just talking about giving life to the physically dead, he longs for people to experience spiritual life which is just as much a miracle. Those who are spiritually dead can now hear what Jesus teaches, believe in him and so receive spiritual life.

“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.” John 5:25

This is the Christian message. God has appeared on earth in the person of Jesus Christ and he came with a purpose,

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16

What a disaster it is when churches become just an extension of the social services with a message just about how to live in the here and now. Christ’s message is a message of hope for eternity, it is a message about a new life that can start now and goes on into eternity.

There are just two orders of being in God’s world that are separated by a thick line. God, the creator, is above the line and we, the created, are below it. The creator has life in himself; the created have life derived from God. The two are completely separate. Yet Jesus is saying that he is above the line - his miracles prove it.

3. Jesus is God who will be our judge

“Moreover the Father judges no-one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father.” John 5:22

The right to judge men belongs to Christ because he also is a man who has been tempted just as we are,

“And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man” John 5:27

This is why the debate amongst church leaders and theologians is so important. All Christians must stand for the uniqueness of Jesus. It is hopeless to say that ‘Jesus is Lord for all who call themselves Christians’ but refuse to say that Jesus is Lord for everybody in the world. To reject the son of God is to reject salvation, and this is a personal choice,

“Whoever believes in the son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on him.” John 3:36

This is why Jesus warned the healed man,

“Stop sinning or something worse may happen to you.” John 5:14

The point is clear, Jesus gives life and Jesus executes judgment. These are the attributes of God alone.

The artist Paul Doré was travelling in Europe but mislaid his passport. He explained his problem to a customs officer, promising that he really was Paul Doré. The artist then said,

“Let me prove it. Give me a pencil and pad.”

He sketched the people standing in front of him in his unique style. That evidence was enough and he was allowed to pass through. His action proved who he was.

Similarly, Jesus’ actions proved who he was. The paralysed man did walk but Jesus’ claims support his action.

v. 19 Jesus claims to do just what his Father does

v. 20 Jesus claims divine knowledge

v. 21 Jesus claims to have divine prerogative

v. 22 Jesus claims divine authority

For all these reasons he demands to be honoured as God. The following verse deserves repeating as it is crucial.

“ . . . that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. He who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father, who sent him.” John 5:23

In 1977 a book was published which was called ‘The Myth of God Incarnate’. A group of theological professors were denying that Jesus really was God. John Stott, a leading Bible teacher met up with some of the authors. In the queue for lunch John Stott asked one of the authors,

“Do you worship Jesus?”

“Of course not!” came the reply.

If Jesus is right, this professor is on a deadly path. We honour the Father by honouring the Son. We must take Jesus very seriously indeed, we must take his words to heart, we must believe in him.

“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 passed from death to life.” John 5:24

Note the tenses. We hear and believe now. We are given eternal life now. Yet the judgment is still to come for those who reject Jesus.

What is our reaction to Jesus? Is it like the healed man who took all that Jesus did for him thanklessly and did not follow Jesus? The alternative is to listen to Jesus and commit ourselves to trust and follow him. If we respond by accepting him we have the word of God, God’s promises, to depend on. What a gospel, what a Saviour we have.

“Yet to all who received him, to those who believed on his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1:12

Sadly some will reject Jesus but they cannot deny him forever. For a time is coming, according to Jesus, when we will all stand before him in a judgment that cannot be avoided.

The question Jesus asks the paralysed man is important. He doesn’t say,

“Will you believe in me?”

Instead he asks,

“Do you want to get well?”

The deepest problem all people face is the problem of our sinful hearts. His first question to each of us is the same,

“Do you want to get well?”

Our problem is that our old ungodly lives are precious to us, a part of us enjoys living selfishly. But the offer is there for all of us who recognise that now there is someone who can help us.

John surely wants to teach us something deeper by the way he recounts this story. He wants his readers to find a new life through their faith in Jesus. Very few people become Christians for purely intellectual reasons, usually there is a personal need that makes the claims of Christ attractive. However the validity of Christ’s claims then need to be substantiated because all faith should be evidence based. One major piece of evidence is to see how Jesus does change people’s lives for the better.

BVP