John 5:16-30
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.
24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. 25 Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. 26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. 27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. 30 By myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and my judgment is just, for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me. [1]
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This passage depicts the close intimate union between the Father and the Son. Jesus states that He can only do what the Father does, and as the Father has life in himself, so the Son has life and will raise people from the dead. In all things, Jesus reflects His union with the Father, stating “for I seek not to please myself but him who sent me (5:30).”
What does this say to us in our task of following and imitating Jesus? We cannot completely imitate Jesus, of course, because He is divine and we are not. We also will never have the complete unity with the Father that Jesus describes in these verses.
But the statement of Jesus in 5:30 does speak to us. What we can emulate is Jesus’ passionate devotion to serving, glorifying and pleasing the Father. It is good to be reminded that we are not the center of God’s plan. The ultimate goal of the mission is the entire renewed creation glorifying God. Jesus embodied this in His life, and as the Risen Lord perfectly depicts this for eternity. We are called to aspire by God’s grace to this reality now by following Jesus in seeking not to please ourselves but Him who sent Jesus. Or, in other words, seeking love the Lord our God with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul, and all our strength.
Lord Jesus, grant me grace today to follow You that I may not seek to please myself, but rather please the Father.
What is the Word leading you to pray about today?
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[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Jn 5:16–30). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.
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