Did Jesus Claim to Be Equal with God?
John 5:16-23
As Christians, we worship Jesus Christ as God. We believe that the Bible clearly teaches that Jesus is the Son of God, the second person of the trinity who deserves honor just as God the Father. We know that John, the writer of the fourth Gospel clearly believes that Jesus is God. He made that clear in his opening statement about Jesus. John called Jesus Christ the Word made flesh and said about Him, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God,” (John 1:1).
And studying through the Gospel of John we have seen the works of Jesus and the testimony of others to His identity. In chapter 1, John the Baptist declared that Jesus is the Lamb of God, the Messiah, and the Son of God. The early disciples testify that He is the Christ, the Son of God and the King of Israel. In chapter 2, His authority over the Temple was a declaration that He is divine. His miracles are proof that He is divine: He turned water in to wine, healed the nobleman’s son, and most notably healed the man at the pool who had been an invalid for 38 years. We have witnessed his omniscience, the fact that He knows what people think and He knows their history, never having met them. We have heard the testimony of the Samaritans who heard His word in chapter 4: “this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.”
But as we come to this part of chapter 5, we will now hear it from the very lips of Jesus Himself.
You may have heard liberal professors or theologians say that Jesus never claimed to be God. Many people today may hold Jesus in high esteem and even claim to believe in Him, but they deny His true deity. Some think that Jesus was a great moral teacher and example, but they do not affirm that He is God. Scholars and skeptics have argued the identity of Jesus throughout history. But if we are to take the Bible seriously, we must conclude that Jesus Himself claimed to be equal with God. And in John 5, that claim is crystal clear.
The attack on Jesus’ deity, the fact that He is God, fully God, started with the Jewish leaders here in His own country of Israel during His ministry. They attacked Him for His claim to be deity.
We’ve just studied the story of Jesus healing the man at the Pool of Bethesda (John 5:1-15). It was an outstanding miracle that demonstrated the power of Jesus to heal us from our hopeless, sinful condition. But John also included this story because it illustrates the growing hostility of the Jewish leaders toward Jesus that will eventually lead to His crucifixion.
They began to persecute Jesus because He was doing these things on the Sabbath (5:16). But then they oppose Him mainly because of what He says about Himself. Here Jesus makes some of the strongest statements that He ever made for His deity (5:17-47). J. C. Ryle states (Expository Thoughts on the Gospels [Baker], 3:283): “Nowhere else in the Gospels do we find our Lord making such a formal, systematic, orderly, regular statement of His own unity with the Father, His Divine commission and authority, and the proofs of His Messiahship, as we find in this discourse … To me it seems one of the deepest things in the Bible.”
Listen to what Jesus says in this text. John 5:16-23:
16 For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.
17 But Jesus answered them, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.”
18 Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.
19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.
20 “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.
21 “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to [them], even so the Son gives life to whom He will.
22 “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son,
23 “that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.
In verse 16 the Jews accused Jesus of breaking the Sabbath because He had healed the sick man on that day and had even told him to carry his mat. These things violated their traditions of how they kept the Sabbath.
Now in Jesus’ answer to these Jews He could have pointed out their error in interpreting the Sabbath laws, as He did in the other Gospels (Matthew 12; Mark 3; Luke 6). He could have said that it was right to do good on the Sabbath. But instead Jesus leaves aside the issue of the Sabbath and instead He argues for His authority based on His identity. does is to turn the conversation toward His identity. They make the Sabbath the issue and He uses that as a launch point to discuss His deity and His relationship with the Father. And here, triggered by this miracle on the Sabbath and the immediate hostility the Jews had toward Him, He gives one of the greatest, most extensive declarations of His deity that He gives anywhere.
Our text reveals six ways in which Jesus claimed to be equal with God. First, Jesus claimed to be:
1. Equal with God in His nature (5:17-18).
Jesus responds to the Jews’ accusation that He was breaking the Sabbath in verse 17 stating, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” Then John explains in verse 18, “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.”
Jesus calls God, “My Father.” The Jews took issue with this. They thought it to be blasphemy. They would never have spoken about God in such familiar terms. The Jews would sometimes speak of “our Father,” or the Father of their nation. But Jesus makes it person and speaks of God as His Father in the most intimate of terms. In fact, the Jews rightly concluded that by Jesus calling God, “My Father,” He was “making Himself equal with God.”
Just saying, “My Father,” was enough to bring the indictment of blasphemy because that implies a shared nature. Evil people were called sons of Belial because their nature was Satanic. Angry people were called “sons of thunder,” because their nature was volatile. For Jesus to claim to be the Son of God was to claim to be one in nature and essence with God.
Jesus’ healing on the Sabbath proved this. That is why He said, “My Father has been working until now, and I have been working.” He was saying to them the work of God goes on, it goes on all the time. He constantly works to this very second, God works. Yes, after creating the world in six days God rested from His work of creation on the seventh day. But God never ended His working. His creating work was done, but His sustaining work continues to this day. He never rests from His government. He never rests from keeping everything in orbit. He never rests from His rule. He never rests from His justice and judgment. He never rests from His blessing, mercy, grace, and love.
It was obviously a work of God through Jesus that the man at the pool was healed. God was working on the Sabbath. Jesus was working the works of God on the Sabbath in the same way. He is claiming then to be the same nature as God, the same essence as God. Jesus says, “My Father continues to do His work. I continue to do My work.” God’s work is never restrained or diminished because it is a Sabbath. And Jesus says neither is My work.
The Jews knew exactly what He was saying. They thought it blasphemy. Jesus is saying that as the eternal God does His work all the time, so He is claiming to do the same thing, to work the same way that God works.
Later, Jesus explicitly stated (John 10:30), “I and My Father are one.” As a result, the Jews took up stones again to stone Him. When Jesus asked for which of the many good works from the Father they were stoning Him, they replied (10:33), “For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God.” They understood His claims!
In John 5:19-26, Jesus refers to Himself as “Son” nine times; He is emphasizing His divine Sonship. As the Son, Jesus is equal to and yet functionally subordinate to and distinct from the Father (as the following verses show). The Bible teaches that God is one God who exists as three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
So Jesus claimed to be equal with God in His nature. Secondly Jesus claims to be
2. Equal with God in His works (5:19).
Jesus says in verse 19, “Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.” Jesus uses that phrase “Most assuredly” (“Verily, verily” in the KJV) three times in this discourse (5:19, 24, 25) because He wants us to take special note of what He says.
The first thing he affirms is that “the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do.” Jesus is saying that it is impossible for the Son to act independently of the Father. He can do nothing of Himself. Positively He says that He does “what He sees the Father do.” And He does it He “in like manner.” There is a complete correspondence in their actions. When Jesus worked, it was God working. Whatever Jesus did was an act of God; whatever He said was the word of God. There was no moment of His life and no action of His which did not express the life and action of the Father. He can only do what the Father does. To see Jesus in action is to see God in action. What God does, Jesus does. What Jesus does, God does.
The Jews are saying, “How is it possible for you to speak and act as you do?” Jesus is saying, “If I am God, how is it possible for Me to do otherwise?”
It is impossible for a lion to act like a lamb, for a bear to behave like a bunny rabbit. It is impossible for our Lord to act in any way that is not like His Father. Jesus is one with the Father. He must therefore act and speak like God. Jesus is God. No lesser being could make the claim of verse 19.
Thirdly we see that Jesus claimed to be
3. Equal with God in His love and knowledge (5:20).
In verse 20, Jesus explains how the Son can do whatever the Father does: “For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.” The Father’s love for the Son is seen by His disclosing to the Son everything that He is doing.
The Father loves the Son, and He shows the Son all that He is doing. The Father withholds nothing from the Son. The Father and the Son share all things. Even if Jesus could act independently of the Father (which He cannot), why would He ever want to? He loves the Father and does only what pleases the Father. In John 8:29 Jesus says, “And He who sent Me is with Me. The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do those things that please Him.”
Everything that Jesus did was based on the love relationship between the Father and the Son. Ultimately, it is the Father’s love for the Son that is the whole purpose of the world.
John MacArthur pointed out the startling implications of this verse (“The Most Startling Claim Ever Made,” Part 1, on gty.org):
It might shake you up to hear this, but at the heart of God’s redeeming work is not God’s love for you, not God’s love for me. Not God’s love for the world. Not God’s love for sinners. At the heart of redemption is … the Father’s love for the Son and the Son’s love for the Father.
You say, “Didn’t Jesus die because He loved us?” In a secondary sense, but in a primary sense, Jesus died because He loved the Father. “Didn’t the Father send Jesus to the cross because He loved us?” In a secondary sense. In primary sense He sent the Son to the cross because He loved the Son. You say, “How am I to understand that?”
You’re to understand it this way, that the whole purpose of redemption, the whole purpose of creation, the whole purpose of the world, the universe, human history is so that God can collect a bride to give to His Son a bride that’s an expression of His love…. The Father … will give to the Son a redeemed humanity, collected one day in heaven forever and ever and ever to praise and serve and glorify the Son and always be an everlasting expression of the Father’s love.
The “greater works” that Jesus refers to in 5:20 are in the next two verses: Giving life to whom He wishes and judging all people. We’ve seen that Jesus claimed equality with God in His nature, His works, and in His love and knowledge.
Fourthly, Jesus claims to be
4. Equal with God in His power (5:21).
John 5:21: “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.” This is one way in which Jesus does the works of the Father: He gives life to whom He will. It’s a startling claim! What mere man could claim that he could give life to whomever he wants? Either Jesus is crazy or He is God!
“Life” here refers on one level to Jesus’ ability to raise the dead physically, as He did on three recorded occasions: The widow of Nain’s son (Luke 7:11-17); Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:49-56); and Lazarus (John 11:1-44). Also, at the end of the age, Jesus will give the command and all the dead from all ages will arise, either for judgment or eternal life as He Jesus says later in this chapter (John 5:28-29).
Jesus gave life to a man who had been physically feeble for 38 years. He proved He had power to give physical life to whomever He wills. This demonstrates that He also has the power to give spiritual life to those who are spiritually dead. In John 5:24 he says, “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.”
Jesus claims to have the power of life and death, both physically and spiritually. Only God can make such and claim and back it up. Jesus did just that.
Next time we will see that Jesus claims to be equal with God in judgment and in honor.
Conclusion
That our Lord claims to be God could not be more emphatically stated than it is in our text. If His words are false, then we are foolish to worship Him. We would be obliged to condemn Him as a fraud. But if His words are true, then we must do far more than tip our hats to Him. If it is true, then we should first acknowledge Jesus to be the divine Son of God. We should see all of His actions and all of His teachings as those of God. Most importantly, we should trust in Him as God’s only remedy for sin and His only provision for eternal life. We should believe in Him, knowing that it will save us from eternal condemnation.
It is very clear from our text who Jesus claims to be. The two most important questions you will ever answer are these:
(1) Is Jesus right about who He claims to be?
(2) If He is right, what have you done about it?
There are no more important questions in life than these. What is your answer? The answer of the Gospel of John is crystal clear: Jesus is the Son of God, the Savior of the world. John wrote this Gospel to convince you of this truth (John 20:30-31). Do you believe our Lord and John? If you do, have you trusted in Jesus as your Savior, the One who died in your place, who bore the penalty for your sins? If you believe in Him, your sins will be forgiven, and you will have eternal life. You will also escape from eternal condemnation. If you do not believe, you are condemned already. There is no more frightening future than that which you have chosen by your unbelief.
I challenge you, as the Apostle John does, to consider the claims of Jesus Christ, and then respond to Him in faith by believing in Him for eternal salvation.
