19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.
20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.
21 For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes.
22 For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son,
23 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.
24 “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.
25 Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.
26 For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself;
27 and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.
28 Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice,
29 and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment.
30 “ I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me
(John 5:19-30 NASB)
Theme: Seven properties the Son shares with the Father so you will better understand His nature as equal with God.
I. He does the same works as the Father vv. 19-20
A. They are works that He sees the Father doing
B. They are works done in the same manner as the Father does them
C. They are a sample of greater works the Father will show Him
II. He is loved by the Father vs. 20
III. He imparts life like the Father vs. 21, 24-25
Two Kinds of Life
1. Resurrection Life
2. Spiritual Life
IV. He executes judgment instead of the Father vv. 22, 27, 30
V. He receives the same honor as the Father vs. 23
VI. He has life in Himself from the Father vs. 26
“The personal property of the Son is that He is eternally begotten of the Father . . ., and shares with the Father in the spiration of the Spirit.”
“. . . suggested by the Biblical representation of the first and second persons of the Trinity as standing in the relation of Father and Son to each other. Not only do the names ‘Father’ and ‘Son’ suggest the generation of the latter by the former, but the Son is also repeatedly called ‘the only-begotten,’ John 1:14, 18; 3:16, 18; Hebrews 11:17; 1 John 4:9.”
1. It is a necessary act of God
2. It is an eternal act of the Father
3. It is a generation of the personal subsistence rather than of the divine essence of the Son; though in that subsistence the divine essence is also communicated “in it’s entirety” – “it was one indivisible act”
4. It is a generation that must be conceived of as spiritual and divine
“It is that eternal and necessary act of the first person in the Trinity, whereby He, within the divine Being, is the ground of a second personal subsistence like His own, and puts this second person in possession of the whole divine essence, without any division, alienation, or change. Louis Berkhof, Systematic Theology, 93-94
“The nature of the eternal relationship existing between the Father and the Son is commonly spoken of as ‘generation,’ while the relationship between the Father and the Son, on the one hand, and the Holy Spirit, on the other, is spoken of as ‘procession.’ By ‘eternal generation’ is meant ‘eternal emanation.’
“spoke of an eternal communication of the life of the Father to the Son.”
Henry Thiessen, Lectures in Systematic Theology, 98
VII. He raises the dead for judgment like the Father does vv. 28-29
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