Scripture Daily

Context No. 2322 of 4322 · John

Context · Reflection

John 5:18-23: in context

18For this cause therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the Sabbath, but also called God his own Father, making himself equal with God. 19Jesus therefore answered them, “Most certainly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise. 20For the Father has affection for the Son, and shows him all things that he himself does. He will show him greater works than these, that you may marvel. 21For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom he desires. 22For the Father judges no one, but he has given all judgment to the Son, 23that all may honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He who doesn’t honor the Son doesn’t honor the Father who sent him.

When Jesus' opponents seek to kill him for calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God, Jesus does not deny it but explains the relationship. The Son does nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he does. The Father raises the dead and gives life, and the Son gives life to whom he will. The Father has given all judgment to the Son, Jesus says, so that all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father; whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.

The claim Jesus makes here is staggering: that he is to be honored with the very honor due to God the Father. The Father has given the Son the divine works of raising the dead, giving life, and executing all judgment, so that all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father. Jesus is not claiming to be a great teacher or a mere messenger, but to share fully in the honor due to God, to be honored as the Father is honored. And he draws the sharp conclusion: whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. There is no honoring of God apart from honoring Christ. This confronts any attempt to honor God while setting Christ aside. Some would honor God, the Father, the Creator, while regarding Christ as a lesser figure, a teacher, a prophet, but not one to be honored as God. Jesus' words forbid this: whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father. To dishonor or set aside the Son is to dishonor the Father who sent him; there is no way to honor God that bypasses Christ. The Father wills that the Son be honored as he is honored, and to reject the Son is to reject the Father. Whoever denies the Son, John says, does not have the Father; the one who confesses the Son has the Father also. This searches whether we truly honor Christ, or set him aside. It is possible to profess honor for God while withholding from Christ the honor due to God, treating him as less than he is. But Jesus is to be honored as the Father is honored; to withhold this from him is to dishonor the Father. The one who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father. And so our honoring of God is tested by our honoring of Christ: do we honor Jesus with the honor due to God, confessing him as Lord, worshiping him, obeying him? At the name of Jesus, Paul says, every knee shall bow, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father; the honoring of the Son is to the glory of the Father. This calls us to honor the Son as we honor the Father. Jesus is to be honored with the very honor due to God, and whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him; there is no honoring of God apart from Christ. Let us honor the Son as we honor the Father, giving Christ the honor, worship, and obedience due to God, confessing him as Lord; for to honor the Son is to honor the Father, and to dishonor or set aside the Son is to dishonor the Father who sent him. In honoring Christ we honor God; and there is no true honoring of God that does not honor his Son.

Do I truly honor Christ with the honor due to God, confessing him as Lord and worshiping and obeying him, or do I in some way set him aside, professing honor for God while withholding from the Son the honor due to God, and can Jesus' word that all may honor the Son even as they honor the Father, and that whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him, move me to honor the Son as I honor the Father, recognizing that there is no honoring of God apart from honoring Christ?

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