John 5:18-30: Jesus Is Perfect Just the Way He Is

John 5:18-30: Jesus Is Perfect Just the Way He Is

Please turn in your Bibles to John 5. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 738. For those of you who are visiting with us this morning, we’ve been systematically working our way through the Gospel of John passage by passage. And the passage we come to this Sunday is John 5:18-30. Jesus has just healed a man on the Sabbath. So, as it says in verses 16-17 from last week, “And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” Now, verses 18-30: “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God. So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will. For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 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. Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life. “Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. And he has given him authority to execute judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”

A few years ago, I had a bit of an awkward moment at the gym. I was at the gym and ran into someone I knew from church—actually a lady I knew fairly well. But I had never seen her without makeup before. So she calls out my name and comes over and starts talking to me. But she looks so different without makeup, I don’t have a clue who she is at first. I’m just like, “Hey……how’s it going?” And I’m trying to figure out who she is. And she’s really socially perceptive, so she immediately notices the blank stare on my face before I can hide it, and she kind of smiles and reminds me of her name. Remember, this is a lady I knew fairly well. So of course, I feel terrible for not recognizing her at first, and I do the best I can to kind of “shake it off” and go through the rest of the conversation as normally as possible. Just add that to the list of the hundreds and hundreds of awkward moments I’ve brought on myself during the course of my life. But that’s how different she looked without makeup on. That’s how much makeup changed her appearance.

And that kind of reminds me of the way a lot of people try to change Jesus. So often, it seems like even people who call themselves Christians aren’t satisfied with Jesus as he’s described in the Bible. They don’t think he’s cool enough or relevant enough or enough in line with contemporary cultural values. And so, they have a tendency to alter his appearance and remake Jesus the way they think he should be. So if a certain aspect of Jesus makes them a little uncomfortable, they just kind of leave that part out. And if another aspect of Jesus really resonates with their values and seems like it would be a popular thing for them to say, then great—let’s just talk about things like that. So in the end, what you have isn’t Jesus as he is but rather Jesus as they’ve created him to be. 

But there’s a big problem with that—actually two big problems. Number one, the kind of Jesus they proclaim doesn’t really exist. And number two, you can’t make Jesus better than he already is. I mean, if Jesus is already perfect, you can’t make any improvements to him. You can’t make him better than he already is. And in fact, your task as a Christian is to do the opposite. Your task is to change your own perspectives so that, to a greater and greater degree, the Jesus you love and adore is actually the Jesus of the Bible. Listen to me: the more you grow as a Christian, the more attracted you should be to every aspect of the biblical Jesus. Everything about him should be becoming more and more beautiful to you. 

So let’s look at this text with that in mind. This text begins with one of the strongest statements of Jesus’ deity anywhere in the Bible. Verse 18: “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” So right there, we see that Jesus didn’t just claim to be a great prophet or a great moral teacher. He claimed to be God—plain and simple. And everything else we’re going to learn about Jesus all flows out of that. 

Then after that initial verse, the text records Jesus’ response to the Jews who were after him. And in this response, Jesus says two main things about himself. And we’ll spend most of the time we have left talking about these two things. Jesus says he has authority to give life and authority to judge. Authority to give life and authority to judge.

Authority to Give Life

First, Jesus says, he has authority to give life. Verses 19-21: “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing. And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.’” Now you may get the sense here that when Jesus talks about giving life, he’s talking about more than just physical life. And you’d be right. Jesus is referring to life in a spiritual sense as well. You see, the Bible teaches that our initial state is a state of spiritual death. Ephesians 2:1 says that we’re “dead in trespasses and sins.” 

Think about what it’s like for a person to be dead. I remember the first time I saw a dead body and was old enough to understand what I was looking at. It was when I was a kid and my grandfather died, and the casket was open at his funeral. And I remember going up to my grandfather’s body—a body that had once been very much alive and moving and breathing—and now finding it lifeless and still and cold. It was a strange experience, because in one sense that was my grandfather, but in another sense that wasn’t really my grandfather at all. Many of you have probably experienced what I’m talking about. The difference between a body that has life and a body that doesn’t have life is very striking.

And that’s how the Bible describes people spiritually before Jesus saves them: “dead in trespasses and sins.” No inclination to seek God or hunger to know God. No desire to exalt God or glorify his name. None of the spiritual vital signs that would indicate spiritual life. And on top of that, someone who’s spiritually dead doesn’t have any ability to make themselves not dead. I mean, that’s part of what it means to be dead. You can’t just get up and climb out your casket and start talking to the people at your funeral. It doesn’t work that way. A dead person can’t do anything except be dead. And a spiritually dead person can’t change themselves either. They’re in love with this world and in love with sin and in love with themselves. And left to their own devices, the Bible says, they can’t be anything other than that. They have no ability whatsoever to raise themselves to life. But that’s where Jesus comes in. As he says in verse 21, “As the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” They can’t give themselves life, so he gives them life. They can’t reach up to him, so he reaches down to them. And in an act of extraordinary grace, he saves them. Jesus breathes life into their dead corpse, giving them a desire for God, love for God, an inclination to worship God. It’s amazing. When you think about it, God saving people is just as great a miracle—if not an even greater miracle—as God originally creating this world. Because this time, God’s not just creating out of nothing. He’s taking what’s dead and making it alive. 

And if we look down at verse 26, we see that the reason Jesus is able to give us this “life” is because he has what he calls “life in himself.” He states, “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.” That means Jesus isn’t dependent on anyone else to give him life so he can then give it to us. No, he’s the source. Life originates with him. So when you become a Christian, you’re not giving Jesus something he needs. No, he has “life in himself.” He doesn’t need anything from you. It always works the other way around. Jesus is giving you what you need. He’s always the exalted Giver, and you and I are always the humbled recipients. 

And here’s the interesting thing. Jesus only gives life to people he wants to give it to. That’s what he says back up in verse 21: “the Son gives life to whom he will.” He distributes it according to nothing but his own sovereign will. That’s what the text says. It’s not like Jesus owes something to people, so he has to pay what he owes. No, he’s under no obligation to give anything to anybody. But according to his own sovereign will, he chooses to give life to certain people and, by implication, not to give life to others. And if you’re not quite sure how you feel about that or what to say in response to that, it’s very understandable for you to feel that way. But here’s what I’ll tell you: this is part of what it means for Jesus to truly be God. It means that his authority is so absolute that, honestly, it can make us a little uncomfortable. But that’s okay, because that’s how we should feel when we encounter the true God. It should be an unsettling experience. If it wasn’t, I wouldn’t think we had really encountered God at all. If your “god” is exactly the way you would create him to be if it were up to you to create him, then you probably have created him—at least in your mind. He probably is just a figment of your imagination and not the true God of the Bible. Because the Bible describes God as one who transcends all of our categories and leaves us humbled and in awe of his glory. Like we just sang earlier in the service, our God is a God who is “Holy, Holy, Holy.” So you can either conveniently skip over passages like this that talk about Jesus in these kinds of terms, or you can humble yourself under God’s self-revelation and joyfully worship a God who really is more glorious than our minds can comprehend. 

Authority to Judge

And not only is Jesus glorious in his authority to give life, but he’s also glorious in his authority to judge. That’s the second thing we learn about Jesus from this passage. Not only does he have authority to give life but he also has authority to judge. Look at verse 22: “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, 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.” So often, the only Jesus we ever picture is Jesus as Savior—a Savior who loves us and is merciful towards us and shows us incredible grace. And all of that is absolutely true. But this verse is also true, that the Father “has given all judgment to the Son.” Not only is Jesus a glorious Savior, he’s also a glorious Judge. He’s the one with authority to decide people’s eternal fate. 

Now, there are two things that are necessary for a judge to have: wisdom and integrity. Like if someone wronged you and you took them to court, I’m pretty sure you would want the judge to have both of those things. You want him to be wise so that he wouldn’t be fooled by cleverly devised arguments intended to lead him in the wrong direction. And you would want him to have integrity so that the person who wronged you couldn’t bribe him to give them a favorable decision. Thankfully, Jesus has both of those qualities to an infinite degree. He has infinite wisdom and absolute integrity. 

But here’s the thing: if you haven’t been saved yet and are still in your sin, that’s actually not good news for you. Because Jesus’ wisdom means that he knows every sin you’ve ever committed, even the sins of your heart. Your secret sins aren’t really secret sins. I remember a year or two ago when the website Ashley Madison was breached and a list of all of its subscribers was posted on the internet. For those of you not familiar the story, Ashley Madison is a website for people who want to cheat on their spouse and have an affair. That’s the specific purpose of the website. You pay them money and you’re then able to view the profiles of others in your area who have subscribed because they want to have an affair just like you. It’s a pretty disgusting concept. But some hackers were able to breach this website and get a list of everyone who had subscribed, and they then posted that list publically on the internet. And everybody’s secrets were revealed. Now maybe you’ve never cheated on your spouse, but you do have skeletons in your closet. I remember hearing a preacher one time observe that if your thoughts were recorded for a year and a video of that recording was then displayed for everyone in this room to see, you’d never show your face around here again. That’s how ashamed you’d be. And that may never happen in our present lives, but that’s exactly what’s going to happen in the future when you stand before Jesus as an unsaved person. Every secret will be exposed. Every sin will be brought to light. And because Jesus not only has infinite wisdom but also has absolute integrity, he’s going to give you exactly what your sins deserve in hell for all eternity. That should cause you to tremble.

Conclusion

But I do have good news for you: it doesn’t have to be that way. Yes, Jesus is a just Judge. The Father has given all judgment to the Son. But that’s not all this passage says. In the very next verse after that, verse 24, look what Jesus says, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” You see, Jesus doesn’t desire to condemn you; he desires to save you. 1 Timothy 2:4 states that he “desires all people to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” 2 Peter 3:9 states that he’s “not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.” And Jesus’ desire to rescue you is so great that he gave his own life in order to make it possible. You see, Jesus will always uphold justice. He has to uphold justice if he’s going to remain true to his own righteous nature. So he can’t just sweep our sins under the rug. But there was another way to deal with our sins, and that was to transfer the punishment for our sins off of us and onto himself. So that’s exactly what Jesus did. When he died on the cross, he was substituting himself for us and enduring the punishment for our sin so we wouldn’t have to. That’s how much he loves us. That’s how much he cares for us even though we’ve acted out in rebellion against him. And when he died on the cross, he didn’t stay in the grave. Remember, he has “life in himself.” So he rose up out of the grave, defeating both physical death and spiritual death. And he’s now able to save everyone who will put their trust in him. 

Now wait a second though: I thought we said earlier in the message that Jesus chooses, based on nothing but his own sovereign will, who will receive spiritual life. And that’s true. Jesus teaches that in verse 21. But Jesus also teaches in verse 24 that “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.” So which is it? Does Jesus choose who receives life or do we “believe” in order to obtain life? It’s both. I don’t try to explain it; I just believe it. Remember how we observed that God transcends our categories? This is an example of that. So if you’ll make a voluntary, willful decision to embrace Jesus, Jesus will save you even this morning. 

And if you’ve already received that salvation, my prayer for you is that the Jesus who’s described in this passage will become more and more attractive to you. That’s how you know you’re legitimately growing as a Christian. Is Jesus becoming increasingly attractive, increasingly beautiful in your eyes? I remember hearing a middle-aged man one time describe how, as he got to know his wife more and more through the years, he was attracted to her more and more as well. Of course, his wife aged just like women do over time. But even physically, he said he was more physically attracted to her after all those years than he had ever been. And I assume that the same was the case emotionally and spiritually as well. It seems like that’s just the way God has wired us to function in the context of a healthy marriage. The more you get to know your spouse and the more your hearts are knit together, the more you’re often attracted to them. 

And in the same way, the more you grow in your relationship with Jesus, the more attractive and desirable and glorious he should be to you. And not just the aspects of Jesus everybody’s a fan of like his love and mercy but every aspect of who Jesus is. That means we rejoice in the fact that we have a Judge over this world that never compromises his integrity or perverts justice in any way. We rejoice in the fact we have a King sitting on the throne of heaven who only makes decisions that are good and right. And we rejoice in the fact that we have a God ruling over this world who never uses his power for evil but only for good. And that Judge, that King, and that God all have a name, and that name is Jesus. And yes, he is a Savior as well. 

But listen to me: you don’t have to put makeup on Jesus. You don’t have to cover blemishes or hide flaws or do anything to make him more attractive. Anything you change will only make Jesus less glorious, not more glorious. What you should do instead is pray for eyes to see how glorious and how beautiful Jesus really is. You know, in Revelation 22:5, the Bible says that people in heaven “will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light.” The glory of Jesus is a glory that literally outshines the sun. And because of that, there won’t even be a sun in heaven because Jesus’ glory will be unveiled in a way it’s never been unveiled before. But that doesn’t mean you can’t pray for a corner of that veil to be lifted in this present life so that you see the glory of Jesus in a way you’ve never seen it before. And if that’s happening on a somewhat regular basis, you know your relationship with Jesus is where it needs to be. Why don’t you do this: Go home and over the next week or two, read through the book of Revelation. I know a lot of people are kind of intimidated by Revelation because it has a lot of strange things happening and somewhat confusing symbols. But I don’t want you to focus on any of the strange things or on the difficult symbols. Instead, I challenge you to read it and pick out all the attributes—all the characteristics—you see of Jesus. What do you learn about Jesus? What’s he like? And then, just adore Jesus for those attributes. And see if by doing that, God doesn’t open your eyes to the glory and beauty of Jesus in a greater way.