On 5.16-23, for a sermon I've entitled, The Stunning Claims of Jesus of Nazareth. This is after Jesus had healed a man who had been lame for 38 years, and then sadly the guy went away to inform against Jesus to the religious leaders. And we pick up in verse 16, and this is what it says, For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. But he answered and said to them, My Father is working until now, and I myself am working. For this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because he was not only breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to him, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of himself unless it's something he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all things he himself is doing. And the Father will show him greater works than these, so that you may marvel. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life also to whomever He wishes. For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son. And so that all will honor the son, even as they honor the father. He who does not honor the son, does not honor the father who sent him. You know, if you follow the news at all, I'm sure that you're aware that almost every day there's a new story that comes out about President Trump, Elon Musk, and the Doge team regarding their attempt to cut spending. Now, Trump is following through on his campaign promises, but he's faced legal challenges at almost every step that he's taken. As of March 24, 2025, lower district courts have issued 15 nationwide injunctions to halt or to block his executive orders. Now, to put that in historical context, there were only six injunctions placed on George Bush The second, George Bush, during his entire eight years, 12 on President Obama for his two terms and 14 for Joe Biden over his four years. But during the first presidential administration of Trump, he was subject to 64 nationwide injunctions. 92% of those cases, the judges presided over them, were appointed by Democrats. Now most of the major news media has been trying to spin the story as one of a constitutional crisis. As those on the left see it, President Trump is overstepping his authority by defying the courts, and they're simply trying to act as a check on his abuse of power. Now I would agree that somebody's overstepping their authority, but it appears to me that it's the judges, not the president. Let's do a little civics review. The brilliance of the U.S. Constitution is that the power of the federal government is divided among three branches, the legislature, the executive, and the judicial branches, each with enumerated powers. So the legislature writes the laws, the executive branch is tasked with implementing and enforcing those laws, and the judiciary is responsible to make sure those laws do not violate the Constitution. And because our system is one that has certain checks and balances in it, each branch of the government has some ability to push back on the powers of the others. So the Congress can pass laws, but the President can veto them. But they can overcome his veto by two-thirds majority vote. The president chooses his own cabinet members, but they must be confirmed by the Senate. The Supreme Court justices are also appointed by the president, but they also must be confirmed by the Senate. Once in office, the justices on the court serve for life, but they can be impeached and removed by Congress, as can the president. And so the main task of the Supreme Court is simply to review the laws to determine whether or not they fall within the bounds of the Constitution. Now ours is the longest lasting constitution in the world and it's worked pretty well up until now. But the problem is lately you have lower court judges infringing on the power of the executive that is the president. The first line of the second article of the Constitution says this, the executive power shall be vested in a President of the United States of America. Did you know that the President is the only politician who is elected to office by all voters in America? I mean, think about it. Congressmen, the House members, they're voted in by those from their district. Senators, by those from their state. Supreme Court justices are appointed. They're not voted in at all. But did you catch that? It's all power of the executive is vested in one person, the president. the president alone. So he's the boss of everyone who serves under him, and he's also the commander-in-chief of the military, and that's why all military are to salute him when they meet him. So here's the problem. When Donald Trump came into office, he fired a number of people in the executive branch, holdovers from the Biden administration. And one of these people that he let go went to a lower court judge, who then ordered President Trump to reinstate the man. And then the fired man said that he was going to bring back all the people who were fired alongside of him. In other words, the judge ruled that the president does not have sole authority over the executive branch, but he must share that power with whoever the judge determines he must. With another executive order, President Trump disallowed transgender people to serve in the military because he said they were not combat fit. But another judge ruled that the president cannot take that action even though he's the commander-in-chief. And on and on it goes. Now, it's not just that the lower court judges are ruling against the president, attempting to strip him of his constitutional power. It's also the case that these judges are overstepping their own authority. I mean, a judge has jurisdiction over that area over which he or she was appointed. They have no right to make blanket rulings which apply across the nation. I mean, think about it. The referee officiating a game between the Vikings and the Lions has no authority to make calls concerning a game in another city played by the Packers and the Jets. So there is a constitutional crisis, or at least there will be, if the Supreme Court or Congress doesn't step in to rein in the power of these lower court judges. So the issue, though, of authority and a person's right within it to take certain actions is one that came up with Jesus after he healed the lame man at the pool. For the religious leaders charged him with breaking the Sabbath. But Jesus not only defends himself against that charge, but he also makes some stunning claims about himself in relationship to God. Nowhere else in the Bible is the deity of Christ more clearly affirmed than here where Jesus claims not only this stunning authority, but also he enrages his listeners by what he says. So today, in order to understand again the claims of Christ about himself and also his claims over our own life, we want to look at this passage. So let's pray and get into the text. Help us look at this to see the greatness of what Jesus is claiming about himself and then to respond appropriately to it. For we ask now in Jesus' name. Well, in this verse, you'll find that the word father is used nine times and son is used six times. The whole section is dealing with the relationship between God the Father and Jesus, his son. And the first thing we learn about them is that there is an equality of essence. This is going to be found in 16 to 18. There's an equality of essence. It says, for this reason, the Jews were persecuting Jesus because he was doing these things on the Sabbath. Now the Jews mentioned here are specifically the religious leaders whose task it was to be the guardians of their faith. Part of the religion that was revealed by Moses was the keeping of the Sabbath. The fourth of the ten commandments says this, remember the Sabbath to keep it holy. Six days you shall labor and do work, but on the seventh day it's a Sabbath to the Lord your God. On that day you shall do no work, neither you nor your son or your daughter, nor your male or female servants, not even your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns. For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth and the sea and all that's in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the Lord blessed the Sabbath and made it holy." Well, that's pretty straightforward. One out of seven days, you and your family members and even your animals get to rest from working. But here's the question. What constitutes work? Would going out into your field to reap or sow be work? Well, yeah, obviously. How about what constitutes plowing? Do you know one rabbi said if you push your chair back from the table when you're done eating, you might make a groove in the floor, and that would constitute plowing. So you can't do that. Or if you were to brush your beard on the Sabbath, you might have a hair come out and that would constitute harvesting. So that would be prohibited. You can carry things, or you can't carry things this way, but you can carry them on the back of your hand if you want. I remember watching a guy recently who came out of the Amish religion, and he was talking about all the rules that they had to keep and try to gain God's approval by observing these man-made rules. So women had to wear bonnets to be modest. You can't wear bright colors because that might be a sign of pride and draw attention to yourself. Men have to cut their hair a certain way. They're not supposed to wear belts because that's too worldly. You're supposed to wear a suspender. Now, some Amish groups only allow you to wear one suspender. Some allow for two. But even among those who allow for two, some allow a clip between the suspenders, and others, they don't. This man, of course, knew that you couldn't use electricity because that would draw you away from God. But he said they did use battery-operated drills until they joined another group that didn't allow for battery-operated drills. And it's also the case that you can have phones now for some of the Amish, but they have to be outside of your house in an outhouse area called a shanty. That was allowable. If you had a baby doll and you were a little girl, you had to make sure it didn't have eyes on it because that would be idolatry because you're making a graven image. So rule after rule, man-made rules, not found in the Bible. And it was hoped that by keeping these rules that somehow you would merit or earn eternal life. And so it was a works-based, legalistic religion. Well, that's what the religious leaders had done with the Sabbath laws. So rather than it being a blessing and a day of rest and refreshment, they turned it into a big burden to weigh down the people. So as the religious leaders saw this, Jesus was guilty of breaking the Sabbath by healing a man on that day and then commanding the man to pick up his pallet and go home. And these are the charges he had to defend against. And he starts his defense in verse 17. Look what it says. But how is that a defense? Well, the commandment not to work on the Sabbath was given back in Exodus chapter 20, but the rationale for that command goes all the way back to creation where God rested on the seventh day. But here's the question. Does that mean that God stopped from all activity after that? I mean, is the God of the Bible like the deist? They believe that he just wound up creation and let it go on its own and not interfere with it afterwards. No, that's not the way God is presented. The God of the Bible, we're told in Psalm 36.6, it says, So God didn't cease all of his work after creating. He sustains his creation. But he also works through history to bring about his plan of salvation. It says in Isaiah 25.1, I will exalt you and I will give thanks to your name. For you have worked wonders, plans formed long ago with perfect faithfulness." The Bible tells us that he works out all things after the counsel of his own will. Does God take one day off per week? Does he keep a Sabbath day himself? That's what the rabbis wondered. No, because God's the one who gives life, and he says babies are born on the Sabbath, so obviously he's working in that sense. Others argue that God himself was not bound by the commands he gives to men. I mean, think about it. If you work at a business where they have a policy where you have to wear a suit every day, but then the owner of the business comes in in a t-shirt and sweatpants, would you go to HR and ask them to write him up? No, of course not. He's not bound by the rules even though he was the one who made them. So some commentators say Jesus is taking it this way. He would be saying, you know, God the Father doesn't keep a Sabbath, so why should I as God the Son? If I want to violate the Sabbath, that's none of your business. Now if that's what Jesus was saying, he would still be claiming to be God in that statement, making himself equal with God. But I don't think that's what Jesus is getting at. Because think about it. Jesus was the Son of God, and as such he wouldn't be required to keep the Sabbath. But Jesus was also a man, a Jewish man, under the Mosaic law, which would mean he was responsible to keep the Sabbath. So Jesus wasn't violating God's law, but their misapplication of his law. The fathers continued his work in showing and doing acts of mercy and kindness. And since my father is working until now, Jesus said, I myself am working. I mean, wasn't it an act of mercy when He healed the lame man on the Sabbath? And as Jesus saw it, if the Father was working, it's inconceivable that He, as the Son, would not be working alongside Him. Let me illustrate it this way. Suppose you have a farmer who has a son. It's mid-August, and the hay has been cut, it's drying out in the field, but there's a storm that's going to be coming through the next evening. The farmer's out there, he's raking it to get it into rows. When he gets it ready to be baled, where's his son going to be? Is he going to be in the house watching TV? Is he going to be off at the neighbor's house playing games? No, there's no way that's going to happen. He's going to be on the back on the hay wagon catching the bales as they get shot out of the baler to stack them. Now, I watched a YouTube video just to make sure I got all this right because I'm not a country kid. And then I read all the comments below. The first one said this, unless you've baled hay yourself, you have no idea how much work this is. Square hay bales weigh between 40 and 60 pounds. My brother-in-law, Joe, was at one time a boxer or a bouncer at a bar. And at the time, he was into powerlifting. He got hired by a farmer to bale hay. He said he never worked so hard. He was never so tired and sore as after he had done that for a day. And yet, among those who left the comments on the video, every person who said that they had baled hay as a kid looked back at it with fond memories and deep satisfaction knowing that they had learned how to work hard and that they did work hard. Well, Jesus wasn't a reluctant son, belly aching about having to join His Father in the work of redemption. Do you remember when the disciples came to Him and urged Him to eat when they were by the well in Samaria? They wanted Him to eat something, but Jesus said, no, my food is to do the will of Him who sent me and to accomplish His work. And when He hung on the cross and cried out, it is finished. Jesus, despite all the pain, must have had a deep sense of satisfaction in knowing that he had accomplished the work that the Father had sent him to do. It says on Isaiah 53 11, As a result of the anguish of his soul, he will see it and be satisfied. By his knowledge, the righteous one, my servant, will justify many. And he will bear their iniquities. So whether or not the religious leaders caught the significance of Jesus saying that he was working, even as the father is working, they certainly were stunned when Jesus called him, my father. It says, for this reason, therefore, the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was calling God his own father, making himself equal with God. I remember the Jehovah Witnesses coming to my house once when I was younger. And the lady, I showed her this verse, and she said, no, they just misunderstood and thought Jesus was claiming to be equal with God. Really? If that's the case, then why didn't Jesus correct them at the time? The reason he didn't correct them was because they had properly understood what he was saying, that he was equal with God. And that's the central claim of Christianity, that Jesus is God incarnate who came to this world to die for sins. You know, the Muslims will ask this question. They say, well, show me, show me in the Bible where Jesus says, I am God, worship me. It's right here in this chapter. In a few verses, he's going to claim that God's intent is that everyone would honor the Son even as they honor the Father. Now, if these claims of Jesus were false, then he deserved to be stoned on the spot for speaking blasphemy. But if they're true, these religious leaders should have called off the rebellion and fell at his feet and worshiped him. It's not only an equality with the Father in essence, but also there's a concord in their works. It's their second point, verses 19-20. By the way, what do you think about when you hear the word concord? Do you think of a city in Massachusetts? Do you think of a certain type of grapes? If you're older, perhaps what comes to mind is a supersonic jet that they used to use to fly between Europe and the United States. The 747 will fly at about 600 miles per hour. The Concorde jet flew at 1,350 miles per hour. You could get from London to New York in under three hours. They don't fly them anymore. Now, Miriam Webster's dictionary defines concord as a state of agreement, harmony. Dictionary.com defines it as an agreement between persons, groups, or nations, concurrence in attitude, feelings, unanimity, and accord. So here Jesus tells us there's a concord between him and the Father in the work of which they do. Look what it says in verse 19. Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, Truly, truly, I say to you, the Father can do nothing of himself unless it's something he sees, or the son can do nothing of himself unless it's something he sees the father doing. For whatever the father does, the son does also in like manner. For the father loves the son and shows him all things that he himself is doing, and the father will show even greater works than these so that you'll marvel. So Jesus is equal to God the Father, but he's not independent of him. He works in perfect harmony with the Father. You know, part of the problem for the Trump administration in the first one was that President Trump had all kinds of people working for him who were actually working against him. What we would call the deep state. This time he made sure to get loyalists who would do his bidding rather than their own. Now, that isn't a problem with God the Father in his work with his son, because he's completely loyal and always does the Father's bidding. If you've seen the movie, the Mafia movie, The Godfather, the main character is Don Corleone. He has three sons, Sonny, Fredo, and Michael. Sonny gets killed. Fredo's a dope, but Michael, the youngest, is the one the Godfather trusts and confides in. He puts all of his hope into Michael. And so as Don Corleone is dying, he knows that he's leaving the family business in good hands. But you know, their business was an evil business, a criminal business. But in the family business for the Holy Trinity, it's good and righteous, and God the Father knows that it's left in good hands when His Son went to carry out the plan of redemption. And this relationship between the Father and the Son is one of love and full disclosure. But think about it, if you have an infinite God, the only one he could fully disclose himself would be another infinite person. One God subsisting in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Now Jesus had already performed many miracles by this time, and yet he tells us that the Father will show greater works than these that you might marvel. So is he talking about feeding the 5,000 in the next story? Is he talking about the healing of the man who was born blind? Or perhaps he's talking about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Actually, in the context, the greater things that he will show the Son, or through the Son, are mentioned in the next couple of verses. And what we find out is he shares, the Son does with the Father, divine prerogatives. Now, I don't know if you remember the American Express credit card commercials they used to have. Their slogan, membership has its privileges. Well, membership in the Godhead has its prerogatives. The Collins Dictionary defines prerogatives as something that certain people are able or allowed to do, but not possible or allowed for everyone. When Jesus mentions one of the prerogatives he has in verse 21, look what it says. Now the rabbi said that there were three keys or three powers that God retains for himself. The sending of the rain, the opening of the womb, and the raising of the dead. And yet, stunningly, Jesus claims here that as the Son, he shares that last power as a prerogative with the Father. In Revelation 1.18, the resurrected Christ appears to John and says, Then he placed his right hand on me and said, And I hold the keys to death in Hades. In the 11th chapter of this Gospel, standing beside the grave of her brother, Lazarus, Jesus says to Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? When Jesus says that he gives life to whomever he wishes, what kind of life is he talking about? Is he talking about spiritual life or physical life? As we go through this text, you're going to find out it's both spiritual and physical. Because as you get towards the end of the chapter, he talks about raising people from the dead on the last day. By the way, wouldn't you like to be at Arlington Cemetery when that happens? 400,000 grave sites, and all of a sudden the ground rumbles, and the graves open, and all these people come out. Of course, to be resurrected to eternal life rather than to face eternal punishment, you need to have a heart change. You need to be born again before you leave this life. If you die without trusting Christ's death on the cross as the payment of your sins, you will perish and be condemned forever. That granting of life, that prerogative which the son shares with the father, but there's another prerogative that the son has alone. And that brings us to the next thing we see, his unique role. his unique role. And this is verse 22. By the way, down in the cities, there's a number of secondhand shops called the Unique Thrift Store. I don't know what makes them unique. They all have the same junk as every other thrift store and they smell the same too. Jesus is making clear in his relationship with God the Father that he shares certain things. An equality of essence, a harmony in will and work. They both can give life. But there's one role that Jesus fulfills all by himself. The role of judge on the last day. Now, if you would have asked any Jew living at that time, who will you stand before on judgment day to give an account, they would have said Yahweh, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. For it says in Isaiah 33.22, for the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law keeper, the Lord is our king, he will save us. And as one of the experts on the Jewish Talmud points out, none of the rabbis anywhere taught that the Messiah would act as the final judge to whom all humanity must give an account. Yes, he'll rule over Israel as a king forever, but yet, since he's a mere human, he's qualified not to be the judge of the earth. Only God is qualified for that role. Now that's true, but here's the problem with what they're thinking. Jesus of Nazareth, in this passage, is claiming to be God, and entrusted by the Father with all judgment. To put it in the words of Paul in Acts 17.30-31, Therefore, having overlooked the times of ignorance, God is now declaring to men everywhere that they must repent, because he has fixed a day in which he will judge the world in righteousness through a man whom he has appointed, having furnished proof to all men by raising him from the dead. It says in 2 Corinthians 5, 10, No, that's not only true for unbelievers. That's true for us as Christians as well. What a sobering thought. Everything you've ever said or done or thought will be revealed for all to see. Now, that's a sobering thought for Christians, But if you're an unbeliever, that should be a terrifying thought, of appearing before Him with your sins not forgiven. You can't stand before Holy God in your own righteousness, in your own record of law-keeping, because your righteousness isn't good enough. We have to have a perfect righteousness, and the only one who has that is Christ. And that's why you have to give it from Him. So Jesus, the Son of God, shares certain divine prerogatives with the Father, but he holds a unique position as the final judge to whom all must give an account. That brings us to our last point though, the ultimate goal. What's the end game? What's the final goal that tells us that the Father is aiming towards in his plan of salvation? We're told in 23, it says, So that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. So Jews say they worship the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, but they reject Jesus' claim to be their Messiah. Most believe that he was a false prophet. But the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was the father of Jesus of Nazareth, who himself is God incarnate. Muslims say they honor Jesus as a great prophet. But they denigrate Him by denying who He claims to be. God the Son. Jehovah Witnesses see Jesus as a lesser God, not Almighty God. But here Jesus said that if you do not honor Him even as you honor the Father, you are not honoring the Father at all. In the 4th century, there was a controversy which arose in the church about the nature of Jesus. On the one side, they were led by a man named Arius, who, like the Jehovah Witnesses today, claimed that Jesus was a created being, a lesser God. On the other side were people like Athanasius of Alexandria, who insisted that Jesus was the eternal Son of God, equal to the Father in power and glory and honor. Well, the emperor Constantine, who had legalized Christianity as a religion, didn't want all this dissension in his realm. And he was sympathetic towards Arius' position. So not wanting to have division, he called for an all-church council to be held at the city of Nicaea. And when Athanasius arrived, he bowed down before the emperor, but he didn't bow down before his son, the prince. Angered, the emperor said, you do not honor me if you do not honor my son. To which Athanasius responded, and you don't honor God the father if you don't honor his son. You know, there's a lot of people today, even secular people, who at least tip their hat to Jesus. They see him as a great moral teacher, an example to be followed. But he claimed to be the son of God, the giver of life, the judge of all the earth. If those stunning claims are not true, and he lied about his identity, he's not a great moral teacher. He's a deceiver and a megalomaniac. But if he is who he claims to be, then you and I owe him everything in obedience and honor, just as our Creator. But for those of us who've come to faith in Christ and received His grace and mercy, we owe him eternal praise and gratitude. Let us believe Jesus is who he claims to be and show that we believe it by the way we live. May God give you the grace to do just that. Let's pray. Oh, Father God, you pray for grace and mercy. These are amazing claims that Jesus makes. But if they're true, then he's everything. There's a reason, Lord, we divide history between A.D. and B.C. Because He is the dividing line of all history and He's the dividing line for all eternity as well. Because how we respond to Him is going to determine where we spend forever. So we pray for a blessing for those who are here today and those who are going to hear over the internet, Lord, that You'd work in their hearts so that they would have faith as well. For we ask now in Jesus' name. Amen. I'm singing hymn number four.