John 5:18 This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill [Jesus], because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
I’ve been looking at this verse a lot this week as I discuss it with some people online. You know how it is. The more you look at a passage of Scripture, the more you see. We’ve been talking about Jesus’ natures, how He is both God and man. This verse shows both natures side by side.
Jesus is called the Son of God 45 times in the New Testament and by everyone from Satan himself to Jesus’ personal claim to the title. Demons, Jews, His disciples, even an angel call Him the Son of God acknowledging His divinity.
In John 5:18, the Jews saw a man before them, and He is a man, but that man claimed God was His Father which, according to John, also requires that He is equal with God.
So, the Jews got angry at the apparent blasphemy and wanted to kill Jesus.
Lev. 24:36 Whoever blasphemes the name of the Lord shall surely be put to death. All the congregation shall stone him. The sojourner as well as the native, when he blasphemes the Name, shall be put to death.
We see this issue for the Jews repeated here:
John 10:31-33 The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.
And Jesus, after they had earlier (John 5:18) recognized his claim of equality with God, then in John 10:33, they accuse Him again, he didn’t deny it but doubled down saying the claim is proven through His works:
John 10:36,37 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me;
Why is this important?
The title “The Son of God” in the New Testament is loaded with meaning. It is the powerful claim that Jesus and the Father are equal in nature. This did not go over well with the Jewish leaders nor does it go over well with those who wish to deny Christianity and its claims.
I know I point to Philippians chapter two maybe too often but only because the passage is so important concerning Who Jesus is.
Phil. 2:5-8 Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, 6 who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, 7 but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. 8 And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.
Jesus’ claim to be equal with God (the Father) is clarified here. He existed in the same form as the Father before He emptied Himself of His glory (John 17:5), this included the use of His divine attributes, and took human form. Jesus was and is both human and divine.
Though God by nature, Jesus became voluntarily submissive to the Father. He is inferior currently in position or rank. Apparently this was necessary for God’s plan to be accomplished.
We as Christians, need to understand well the two natures of Christ. He took on human form so He might pay the ultimate price for our sins, yet He never ceased to be God. Had He been able to do that, there would have been a time with the trinity would not have existed.
There isn’t a lot of application to this posting. But, a better understanding of the God we serve is always a new arrow in our quiver of defenses.
Believers Armed and Dangerous 