John 5:16-23

¹⁶ So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him. ¹⁷ In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” ¹⁸ For 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 honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

Your Heart

A doctor once told a patient, “Your heart never takes a day off. If it did, even for a moment, you wouldn’t survive.” The patient nodded, realizing how constant and tireless that unseen work was.

In a much greater way, God never stops working. He is always sustaining life, holding creation together, showing mercy, and bringing about His purposes. And when Jesus walked the earth, He revealed that same tireless work of the Father.

That’s why in verse 17 of our passage, Jesus wasn’t claiming independence from God—He was showing perfect unity with the Father, doing His life-giving work in the world.

1. Jesus does God’s Work

¹⁷ In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.” 

Our passage today shows us that God is always at work.

No Retirement Privilege for God.

What is God doing now?

Last week we read about our Lord Jesus healing the invalid man and since it was on the Sabbath, Jesus explained to the Jews who were persecuting Him why He healed the invalid man.

Jesus is telling us that God is at work and Jesus is the tangible, concrete, physical evidence of God at work.

I am not saying that the work of Jesus is the ONLY work that the Father does.

God is working in the physical realm that can be seen in the work of Jesus and God is also working in the spiritual dimension where humans cannot see.

We cannot see God because He is Spirit.

How do you know that God is working?

Look at Jesus and you will see God is working.

 In verse 18 it reads, ¹⁸ For 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.

Jesus works on the Sabbath because He is the Lord of Sabbath.

What can you understand when it says,

“Remember the Sabbath Day to keep it holy?”

In Exodus 20:8-11 it says,

⁸ “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.

⁹ Six days you shall labor and do all your work, ¹⁰ but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. ¹¹ For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.

Sabbath Day is for the Lord.

Our personal focus should be the Lord.

We should remember God’s goodness throughout the week. The command is for God’s people to set aside the Sabbath for their God.

God is the One making the Order… the Command to make the Sabbath Day holy.

If God is the one to be worshiped on the Sabbath, does that mean that God should obey His own command:

that is to stop working and for Him to worship Himself?

Jesus is the One to be worshiped on Sabbath.

Jesus is God.

Worshipping Jesus is worshipping God.

The Jews understand that Jesus is saying to them that He is exempted from observing the Sabbath Day because Jesus is the Lord of Sabbath that they should worship.

 Now remember that when the Gospel of John uses the word “Jews” he pertains to the enemies of Jesus who were the Spiritual Leaders of Israel…

The Pharisees, Priests, Scribes, Sadducees combined.

These Jews understood well in their conversation with Jesus that Jesus was telling them that He is God.

And the Jews were furious so they persecuted Jesus

They cannot accept Jesus as God because God is Spirit.

The Jews are talented, educated, trained, and dedicated people devoted to the Law of Moses.

In this present generation they are compared to people holding a Doctorate of Philosophy in Theology or

people who hold the degree Doctorate of Philosophy in Jewish Laws.

The Jews were the authorities of what is right and what is wrong among the Israelites.

How can they not get angry with Jesus?

Jesus was a young fellow at 30-years-old.

In Jewish culture, a 30-year-old is considered young or not yet of age. Jesus does not belong to their group… to their circle of teachers of the Law.

In the eyes of the Jews, Jesus had no credibility to command the invalid to carry his mat and walk.

The Law says, “No work during the Sabbath.”

Using your strength on the Sabbath is considered work.

When walking, they should be careful not to have their feet dig into the ground. That is considered ploughing like they were doing farming job.

How can they not get angry with Jesus?

Jesus, the countryside boy is NOT one of the recognized authorities of Jewish Laws.

Jesus did not even enroll in their seminary of Rabbi Gamaliel or the seminary of Rabbi Hillel.

Rabbi Hillel was the grandfather of Rabbi Gamaliel.

In Acts 22:3 Paul claimed to be a student of Rabbi Gamaliel. When Paul was arrested in Jerusalem, He mentioned the name of Rabbi Gamaliel.

… it was an implicit way of telling those who were persecuting him that he was far better than them in relation to the observance of Jewish Laws or Temple Laws.

Paul made sure that those people around him will give him due respect.

Sometimes, we are like the Jews in our passage.

We need to verify if our speaker has great credentials before we listen to Him or to her. We look for talented, gifted, or a popular figure for us to listen to.

Like the Jews we miss what Jesus is telling us because we already have a standard in our mind on which we shall weigh things out for our faith.

In verse 19-20 Jesus gave them this answer,

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.

Whenever you read the phrase,

“Very truly I tell you or I tell you the truth”

…be sure to give a second look because our Lord Jesus is telling something that is beyond human comprehension and is of great importance.

Can you identify the intimate fellowship of the Father and the Son? We can specifically identify God’s work through the work of Jesus Christ.

You have heard many preachers say that to know God’s will you have to check, confirm, and verify the Scriptures to see if that thing [you yourself consider as God’s will] does not contradict the Bible and it is in-line with the teaching of the Bible.

Many of our plans have failed or resulted to tragedy because we fail to check, confirm or verify the Scriptures.

When we plan, we follow the success of others, we imitate other churches or other Christians, we base plans on our past experiences… but end up in problems because we plan first and ask God to bless our plans later.

Proverb 16:3 ³ Commit to the Lord whatever you do,
and he will establish your plans.

Proverb 16:9 ⁹ In their hearts humans plan their course,
but the Lord establishes their steps.

 This is how we usually understand these passages:

We plan and pray, “Lord God here is the plan. Please bless it.”

Many times we are disillusioned because God seems to  be paying NO attention to our plans and prayers.

… Or we say, “I prayed for this plan but it seems that there are a lot of obstructions.”

“I thought… I only need to pray, pray, pray”

Let’s re-check that thinking…

It says in…Psalm 37:4 ⁴ Take delight in the Lord,
and he will give you the desires of your heart.

The first step in planning is to delight ourselves in the Lord. What does it mean to delight?

Be sure you are reconciled with your brother or sister.

Be sure that you are not holding a grudge against your brother or sister when worshipping God.

The second step in planning is to stop asking God to give you the desire of your heart.

Do not ask God… Lord give me this desire in my heart.

Our human nature will always align with sinning and most of the desires we yearn for is not even beneficial or for the betterment of our lives.

Instead… say to God… Lord, please give to me the desire that pleases You.

This means that your heart should be empty… you have no desire yet and waiting for God to fill that empty heart with desires that please Him.

Proverbs 3:5-6 ⁵ Trust in the LORD with all your heart
and lean not on your own understanding;

 ⁶ in all your ways submit to him,
and he will make your paths straight. 

Believing this Proverb is believing that God is at Work in your life… even now as you attentively listen.

God is at work and we associate that with our busy fathers or mothers who do not want to be disturbed.

Nowhere in the Bible can we find a phrase that God does not want to be disturbed.

God is at work not for Himself but for the good of His people. God is doing something good for you today.

 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, Pray without ceasing

God at work does not mean we should not disturb Him.

God is at work means… God is active… He is focused…attentive… paying special attention to your prayers… to your needs.

What is the latest experience you have with God?

What character is displayed in you that shows God is at work in your private life?

What is God shaping in your married life, family life?

In what way do you think God is leading you to serve Him in this church?

If your answer to those four questions is nothing… I suppose you are spiritually in need of spiritual feeding.

Jesus Does God’s Work and…

2. Jesus does God’s Decision

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. 

The NIV used the word “pleased”

The Lord Jesus gives eternal life to those with whom He is pleased. This involves the need for us to please Jesus so that He will give us eternal life.

Other Bible versions use the word “will” instead of the word “pleased.”

Jesus gives life to those He will choose or for whom He intended to. The decision of giving life depends NOT on our action or our personal decision to have it but the decision of giving eternal life depends on the decision of our Lord Jesus.

Remember last week, I warned you that even if you have prayed to receive that eternal life, even if you prayed to receive Jesus as your Lord and Saviour… that is not a guarantee for you to enter heaven… unless you have the seal of the Holy Spirit which can be verified through the fruit of the Spirit.

The Fruit of the Spirit is the Work of God and when that manifests, you will know that Jesus is pleased with you and He had given you eternal life.

It is not enough for us to serve in ministry.

Have you read in the Bible “if you are serving in the ministry you have eternal life”?

Have you read in the Bible that if you are a missionary, pastor, elder, deacon, worship leader, instrumentalist, usher, giver of tithes, avid reader of your Bible… you have eternal life?

Those things are outside manifestations of the work of the Holy Spirit in your life but those things can be easily faked… they can be counterfeited, falsified.

You can imitate the true Christian even if the inside manifestation of the Holy Spirit which is the fruit of the spirit is absent.

Jesus said in Matthew 23:25-26 ²⁵ “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. ²⁶ Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and dish, and then the outside also will be clean.

Many of us are like Pharisees.

Many non-believers do not want to come to church because many of us are like Pharisees.

Former Church

Our former church is one of the more gifted Baptist Churches in the Philippines. Most of its pastors are now pastoring abroad. The present pastor declined an invitation to pastor a large church in New York.

Most members are Medical Doctors, Engineers, Dentists, Lawyers, university Professors, Businessmen. Worshippers who do not belong to the upper class of society cannot stay long because they hardly find their place there.

Their musicians are also gifted because it is their livelihood to teach musical instruments. And some of them are song composers. There were also gifted singers because they were chosen among many as back-up singers for Don Moen’s concert.

Out of all those gifted ministry leaders of our church… there are only a few who were consistent and still active in their Christian life today.

Ephesians 5:18 says, ¹⁸ Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit,

When we put water into the cup… it is inside the cup not outside. To be filled with the Spirit… the manifestation of the Spirit should be felt inside us, our character, our attitudes.

We should not rely on the outside manifestation… where people can appreciate you and tell you…you are good.

Seek to be filled with the Spirit.

Appreciation is good but most of the time it makes us become arrogant and proud.

Verse 22 reads, ²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 

Jesus Christ our Lord is in charge of judgment.

The Father let His Son Jesus Christ decide who He wants to be in heaven.

It is the joy of the Father that when the Son is given due respect… the Father is given due respect.

If we are close friends of Jesus… we are close friends of God. If we listen to the Words of Jesus in the Bible… we are listening to God the Father.

Verse 23 says, ²³ 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.

How will you honour Jesus Christ?

God has given us different kinds of abilities and capabilities to honor Him.

I will leave that for you to pray about.

If you are serious about your faith…

If you are serious about being a Christian…

If you are serious about eternal life…

Take time to ask God to help you know the best possible way of honouring God.

Don’t stop asking God for help until you are very sure that God has given you your prayer request according to His will.