I AND MY FATHER

John 5:17-20

Morning Meditation 10/6/2015

"But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel."

It has been said that the Gospel of John is the "Holy of Holies" in the tabernacle of the New Testament. John could no more invent the things taught in this book than he could make a ladder that would reach unto Heaven. There are several important truths that I want to point out in this passage.

HE WAS LOVED BY THE FATHER

John 5:20, "For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel."

Jesus knew that He was loved by the Father.. Every believer is loved by the Lord and should dwell on it. The Father was never out of Jesus' mind. He knew he was loved and this gave Him great comfort in a world that hated him.

Do you feel that the world is against you? Are you depressed because your message of salvation to those around you is completely rejected? You hazzard your life to go to people who do not want you to come, and care nothing of your message. When you are down and can't seem to rise remind yourself, "The Father loves me and He is pleased with what I am doing."

HE WAS SENT BY THE FATHER

John 5:37, "And the Father himself, which hath sent me, hath borne witness of me. Ye have neither heard his voice at any time, nor seen his shape."

John brings this out in John 4:34, "Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work."

Christ, as the Son, "proceeded forth, and came from God," but not of Himself, as independent of the Father's desire and purpose (John 8:42). What a comfort this must have been in sorrow's lone hour. All Christ's servants are sent just as the Son. John 17:18, "As thou hast sent me into the world, even so have I also sent them into the world."

HE CAME IN THE FATHER'S NAME

Verse 43 says, "I am come in My Father's Name. He came as the Father's representative among men, and because of this "they received Him not." To come in the Father's Name implied that He also came in His Father's nature. John 14:10, "Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works."

HE FOLLOWED HIS FATHER'S EXAMPLE

John 5:17-19, "But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God. Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise."

This verse implies that all the miracles and wonders that Christ performed were first done by His Father. We might put it this way. The father worked the miracle in the unseen world, and Jesus was able to see and know what the Father had done, and Jesus then followed the Father's example to work the miracle in the material world. The eyes of the Son, as a servant, were continually towards the Father, as His master. The Father was Christ's example, even as Christ is ours.

HE QUICKENETH WHOM THE FATHER WILL

John 5:21, "For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will."

Jesus gave life to the living. It is possible to be physically alive and spiritually dead. This is the condition of mankind. Jesus quickens the dead when He saves them.

HE CLAIMS EQUALITY WITH THE FATHER

John 5:17-18, "But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work. Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God."

The enemies of Christ understood exactly what Jesus was claiming here and they sought the more to kill him.. He say in John 5:23, "That all men should honour the Son, even as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not the Son honoureth not the Father which hath sent him."

May the Lord bless these words to our hearts.

In Christ

Bro. White