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March 9 | John 5:16-29


DAILY READING


REFLECTION

 

Who Is He?

By Dave Mann


On Sunday mornings, we are studying Jesus’ signs recorded by John -- actions that point to Jesus as the divine Son of God.  In this text, we see that Jesus’ teaching also points to his divinity.

 

If Jesus were not God in human flesh, the kinds of things that he said would certainly cause a ruckus.   Jesus words would cause a card-carrying Pharisee to pick up a stone or two. 

 

Here are the words of Jesus (in italics), followed by the possible thoughts of the Pharisees (in regular font).

 

  • Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath. Jesus said, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”  If God gave us the sabbath as one of the Ten Commandments, only God himself could change it.

 

  • He was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.  If Jesus is equal to the Father, i.e., God himself, this sounds like blatant blasphemy!

 

  • "Whatever the Father does the Son also does." How can Jesus say that he does everything that God the Father does?

 

  • "For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does." How can a mere human claim that everything the Father does he shows to him who claims to be the Father’s Son?

 

  • "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."  Certainly, it is true that God has the power to give life.  But how can Jesus have this same power?  Jesus has the same power as God.

 

  • "Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son."  God has given Jesus all authority to judge?  Does he mean on the final Judgment Day?

 

  • "...that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him."  He can’t really mean that the same honor that we give to God, we should give to Jesus.  Really?

 

  • "For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself."  This is too much!  The only One who has life inherently in and of himself is the Creator.

 

Is Jesus crazy?  A liar?  A blasphemer?  The only remaining option is that Jesus is the one and true God in human flesh.

 

PRAYER

Lord Jesus, you have been called many names both when you walked the earth and by philosophers over the ages.  The highest titles that I can imagine that are appropriate are the ones I uttered as I bow before you, “My Lord and my God.”  Amen, may it be so!


ABOUT THE AUTHOR


DAVE MANN

I am a Pastor for Internationals (retired) in the UALC community. I am married to Pam, father of four, and grandfather of seven. Pam and I have lived twenty of our years in other countries including France, Cameroon, Haiti, and Morocco. In retirement, we continue to enjoy writing devotionals, learning languages, and teaching English to internationals.



 
 
 

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