"Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He seeth the Father do: for what things soever He [the Father] doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." John 5:19
Many times I believe we read scripture too quickly to absorb what is being said. If the scripture says, "Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God" then I think EVERY WORD that comes out of God's mouth is critical to us and needs to be meditated on a bit, rather than rushed through. For example, in the scripture that opens this posting – John 5:19 – the words "The Son can do nothing of Himself." Now, what does that mean to us exactly? What is it the Holy Spirit would like for us to glean from these words for our benefit – and for the glory of God?
Let's break it down a bit.
"The Son". Clearly, that is Jesus. The Word tells us that He was conceived of God and born of a virgin; meaning one half of his parents was GOD, the other half of his parents was a virgin woman whom we know to be Mary (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-35; John 1:14). Therefore, Jesus IS the Son of God.
"Can do nothing of Himself" – well, Jesus did a LOT, so this doesn't mean He can't (or didn't) DO anything. But it means He can't do "of Himself". What does that mean exactly?
That's a little tougher to figure out. It could mean "on his own," in other words, as He would be inclined to do if He were the one making the decisions. But Jesus did "nothing of Himself" meaning He did NOT what He (His flesh) was inclined to do (obviously His flesh did not want to suffer), but instead He did what the Father wanted Him to do.
In fact, when you read the next part of the scripture "but what He seeth the Father do," now we see that what is meant is that Jesus is "duplicating" the Father. He isn't doing His own thing. In fact, He is doing "nothing" of His own thing. NOTHING. Not even a little bit? No, the Word says "nothing".
"For what things soever He doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise." That speaks to me of such a close relationship, a truly close Father-Son relationship. It brings to mind little boys and how they emulate their Dads. They don't look to Mom to emulate her; they look to Dad. They watch their Dads, how they walk, how they talk, the things that they say and do. And they follow the instructions their Dads give them, as He trains them to grow up to be "just like Dad." So also did Jesus watch and listen and do exactly as He was told by His Father. And as the Father is holy, so then was the Son holy.
But the son did NOTHING of Himself. Yet, He displayed all the holiness of God Himself for the whole world to see.
So, again what does that tell us? Well, it depends on whether or not we also want to display the holiness of God through Jesus Christ, our Savior and Lord. If we do, then this tells us that we, as followers of the Way (Jesus said, "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life"), should do NOTHING unless, as followers of Him, it is done HIS way. Should we then, as Jesus did with His Father, be doing only what we see Jesus doing in His Word? Should we be paying attention to the Words that Jesus spoke? So that all that is done is NOT of us, does not originate in us at all, but is of JESUS?
If that is so, then how do we do that? If Jesus was the example for us that I believe He was, then it would appear the first thing we must do is to SURRENDER all of OUR own desires and take up only HIS. It appears that Jesus did not follow His own desires. He followed the desires of the Father. Completely.
But how do we SURRENDER ourselves to Jesus?
I can't tell you. To me it seems an impossible thing. But the Holy Spirit, the third member of the community that contains the Father and the Son, reminds me that "All things are possible with God." The Holy Spirit was visibly present at the baptism of Jesus "descending like a dove, and lighting upon Him" (Matthew chapter 3:16-17). And His appearance was immediately followed by "a voice from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." The Holy Spirit, the Comforter that Jesus sent to be with us when He left this earth and went to sit by the right hand of the Father til it is time for Him to return for the second time (the Second Coming), comforts each and every one of us by making possible within us what it not possible "on our own." We might want to look to Him for the answer.
Perhaps when the Holy Spirit has "lighted" upon us, we also will be called "beloved" by the Father.
We are studying Exodus in our weekly bible study. We are at the point prior to the “golden calf” episode when God is telling Moses of his vision of the Tabernacle (the Ark, the Table, lampstand, the Altar of Burnt Offerings, etc. God is very precise in his descriptions of what each item is made of, how long, wide, tall, coloring, etc. For instance, the Ark’s poles were to be placed in the four golden rings (two on each side) and NOT to be removed. I thought this a little curious. Was it because God knew they would be “wanderers” in the desert for 40 years, was it because He thought they might be left behind or lost in the desert? Whatever the reason, God was precise in his direction to his people.
ReplyDeleteI think God knows we are weak, foolish creatures. Easily influence by others and things. I think God (through Jesus) gives us examples to follow, knowing we need guidance in our daily lives.
If, as believers, we believe Christ is part God, part human; then He within himself had the power solely to perform miracles, etc. He could have taken center stage, but He doesn’t. Remember when Jesus was tempted by Satan in the desert…Jesus had been fasting for forty days at this point. What does Satan say to him, “If you are the Son of Go, tell these stones to become bread.” Surely, Jesus could have done this, but what was his response, “It is written: Man does not live by bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Here, Jesus knows God provides everything for us. God only desires our obedience and relationship with him.
As Christ emulates God (“..for what things soever He [the Father] doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.”), we are to emulate Christ. Jesus tells us “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:28). We are to do as Christ did, do the work of our Father while on Earth, share his message to those who will listen, be a Christ-like example for others, and communicate with the Father regularly. While these are easy to figure out, putting them into practice is the hard part. Too many times, “the yoke” seems anything but “easy”.
It is through God’s unyielding love He heals wounded hearts! GW
Thank you, GW, and since you're studying the Tabernacle and the items in it, items which were later put into the temple (at least the same ark was) you might be interested in checking out www.templeinstitute.org There is a new committee formed in Jerusalem that has serious plans to rebuild the next temple. On this website you will see all the items that they have already designed and built that go into the temple. They wanted to jump ahead and begin offering sacrifices this past March, but were unable (most likely unable to do so on the Temple Mount which is of course occupied presently by Muslims and the Dome of the Rock, on the very site where the original Temple stood). Anyway, it's all very real and verey interesting, as the bible propecies that there must be a place for the Abomination of Desolations to happen by the anti-Christ before the Lord's return. It will be an interesting website to follow. They have formed another Sanhedrin (71 religious leaders) as well. But that's another website whose address I don't have at the moment. Just google on Sanhedrin and you'll find it. These are exciting times watching prophecy unfold.
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