A Study of John 5:19-20
"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."
John 5:19-20 ESV
Definitions of the original language in the context of this passage:
-Jesus: "Ἰησοῦς", "Iēsous"; noun, nominative, singular, masculine - Jesus = "Yahweh is salvation"; the Son of God, the Savior of mankind, God incarnate.
-Truly: "Ἀμὴν", "amēn"; particle indeclinable - verily, amen, at the beginning of a discourse - surely, truly, of a truth.
-The Son: "υἱὸς", "huios"; noun, nominative, singular, masculine - a son; used to describe those who are born again (Lk. 20:36) and of angels and of Jesus Christ.
-The Father: "πατέρα", "patera"; noun, accusative, singular, masculine - God is called the Father; the Father of Jesus Christ, as one whom God has united to himself in the closest bond of love and intimacy, made acquainted with his purposes, appointed to explain and carry out among men the plan of salvation, and made to share also in his own divine nature.
-Loves: "φιλεῖ", "philei"; verb, present, active, indicative, third person, singular - to love, to be affectionate towards one.
-Is Doing: "ποιεῖ", "poiei"; verb, present, active, indicative, third person, singular - to do, to make.
-Will He Show: "δείξει", "deixei"; verb, future, active, indicative, third person, singular - to show, to make known; in John 5:20: to show works to one for him to do.
-May Marvel: "θαυμάζητε", "thaumazēte"; verb, present, active, subjunctive, second person, plural - to wonder, wonder at, marvel.
Observation/Summary (short explanation of what the passage says in your own words):
After being confronted by the Jewish leaders for healing a disabled man and telling him to get up, pick up his bedroll and walk on the Sabbath, Jesus equated Himself with God the Father to justify His actions (v.18). In verses 19-20 Jesus begins to explain more about the nature of His relationship to God the Father. He starts by saying that He (the Son) can do nothing apart from the Father's will, and He does what He sees the Father doing. Next, Jesus said the Father loves the Son, and the Son does whatever the Father shows Him to do.
Implication (what does this mean to us):
Verses 19-20 of John 5 are the beginning of Jesus' explanation of His role and authority as God the Son in relation to God the Father. In the preceding verses Jesus healed a man who had been unable to walk for 38 years. But He healed the man on the Sabbath and told him to pick up his bedroll and walk. The problem was this violated the man made traditions of the Jewish religious leaders, and they were very angry. They did not care that Jesus had performed yet another miraculous healing to prove He had been sent by God the Father. They only cared about their man made rules and the continuation of their positions of authority and influence. Jesus had not violated the Sabbath as defined in the Levitical law, or commanded the healed man to either. But instead of justifying His actions along these lines, He takes a more unexpected tact by saying, "My Father is working until now, and I am working." By this He meant that He is equal with God the Father and therefore did not violate the Sabbath. The Jewish leaders understood, at least in part, what He meant by this, and for this reason they wanted to kill Him even more. This is the lead into verse 19 where Jesus begins a longer explanation of who He is in relation to the Father and His work.
In verse 19 Jesus opens His discourse by saying, "Truly truly...". "Truly" in the Greek is actually the word "amen." So John records Jesus as saying, "Amen amen...". This word is used at the beginning of a discourse to emphasize the importance and truth of what is about to be said. And in a language that does not have exclamation points, words or phrases are repeated for emphasis. This is why when we see words or phrases repeated, particularly in ancient Hebrew (OT), but in Greek (NT) as well, it is like the ancient version of the exclamation point in present day English. It is interesting from a literary perspective to note that the other three gospels use a single "amen," (31 times in Matt., 13 times in Mark, and 6 times in Luke), but John uses the double "amen," or as we read it in English "truly, truly" 25 times. This means what Jesus is about to say is very important and truthful, so we should pay attention.
Some theologians have put forward the idea that verses 19-20a are a parable derived from Jesus' experience growing up and learning the carpentry trade from Joseph. Others have said this is not a parable, but rather, a concept that would have been understood by the people Jesus spoke to because they grew up in a culture where sons would typically learn the trade of their fathers. This second position seems more likely because "the Son" is not used generically of Jesus in the gospels. It is an undeniably Christological expression, and the way Jesus used it would have been understood that way by His first century audience. In addition to this, this discourse follows the statement Jesus just made about His unique relation to God the Father. The main point Jesus is making in verse 19-20a is that He is equal with the Father, but He does not operate independently of the Father. He is not an alternate deity. He and the Father are One.
For this reason He says, "the Son can do nothing of His own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing." Jesus says this to communicate that His healing of the disabled man on the Sabbath is the will of God the Father; otherwise He wouldn't have done it or been able to do it. And His reference to Himself as the Son refers to His unique identity as the one and only Son of God, which He also communicated to Nicodemus in John 3:16.
Jesus does nothing independently of the Father. And everything Jesus does, He does willingly, not under coercion. He is fully equal with God the Father (Jesus is Yahweh), but as God the Son, He is subordinate in role. This touches on the doctrine of the Trinity. This is a difficult concept for us to grasp because we each exist as one being made up of one person. But the one true God, Yahweh, is one Being who exists as 3 perfectly unified persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Each member of the Trinity is fully God and fully equal in Deity, but they fulfill different roles. The will of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit is perfectly unified, so nothing any member of the Trinity does is done under compulsion (this includes the cross), so Jesus is subordinate only in His role as Son, but fully equal in Deity. The Father is not the Son and the Son is not the Holy Spirit, but the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are Yahweh. This concept is complex, but not illogical. And we should not be shocked to discover there are aspects of the God of the universe's nature that bend our finite minds at least a little bit.
But the main point in this verse is that while the Jewish leaders are accusing Him of violating Yahweh's law, Jesus tells them He could only do what He did because it was God the Father's (Yahweh's) will. As D.A. Carson puts it while quoting Bühner, "The Father initiates, sends, commands, commissions, grants; the Son responds, obeys, performs his Father's will, receives authority. In this sense, the Son is the Father's agent, though, as John goes on to insist, much more than an agent". God the Son will never contradict or overturn the will of the Father, therefore, as the one and only, unique Son of God, He has not violated Yahweh's law. He is not claiming to be a different but equal deity. He is the perfect representation of the Father's work and desires. He is Yahweh. And more than that, He is not guessing at what the Father's will is. Everything He does is directed by the Father.
This is important for us to understand. Many people separate Jesus and Yahweh; they separate God the Father and His judgment from God the Son and His love; the God of the Old Testament and the God of the New Testament. And this arises from failing to see the love of God in His righteous acts in the Old Testament, and the righteousness of God in His loving acts in the New Testament. Jesus is Yahweh, and Yahweh is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). And the infinitely loving and perfectly righteous Yahweh of the Old Testament is the very same Jesus we find in the New Testament. This is one of the main points Jesus is communicating in this passage. He and the Father are One.
In verse 20 Jesus explains that as the Son, He can do what pleases the Father because the Father loves Him and shows Him all that He is doing. This takes us back to a point that was made earlier. There is no master and slave relationship between the Father and the Son. They exist in perfectly reciprocal, loving unity. This idea was already communicated in John 3:35 where the word "agapaō" is used for love, but here the word "phileo" is used for love. The difference in words is not important in this instance. This is a restating of the same concept: The Father loves the Son, and the Son loves the Father. And the love of the Son for the Father is evident through His perfect obedience to all the Father "shows Him [to do]," even to the point of death on a cross.
This reminds us again of Jesus' words from Matt. 22:37-40, where Jesus said that love for God and others is the foundation for all the law and the prophets. And it is also reminiscent of 1 John 5:2-3 which says, "By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey his commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome." Love and obedience are inseparable in Yahweh's Kingdom. It is not possible to love God without obeying Him, and it is not possible to obey God without loving Him. Jesus is the perfect example of this, and it is only by grace through faith in Him that we can be forgiven for our rebellion and imperfect obedience and love.
The fact that Jesus does all the Father shows Him means He is the perfect representation of the will, work and character of the Father. If we want to know what God the Father is like, we need look no further than Jesus Christ. The God who led Israel through the desert as a pillar of flame and cloud, and who parted the sea and closed it again upon their enemies, is the same God who became incarnate as a Man, and humbled Himself to the point of death on a cross. And in verse 20 when Jesus says, "And greater works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel." He is referring to what comes next in verses 21-22 about raising the dead and judging the earth that will be accomplished by His death and resurrection. The people Jesus ministered to had seen some marvelous works up to this point. But Yahweh came to earth in the person of Jesus Christ to do more than give temporary, yet miraculous healings. He came to restore the broken relationship between Holy God and sinful man. He came because even though He was perfectly relationally fulfilled within the perfect unity and love the 3 members of the Trinity enjoy, He wanted us too.
He did not come to die because He needs us. He came to die for us, because He loves us and He wants us. He wants us to take part in this perfectly loving relationship the Father and the Son enjoy. And He was willing to leave the perfect splendor of heaven, to live the hard life of a 1st century man from a small, rural town, and to eventually die in our place and bear the full wrath, of our righteous and loving God for the sin of the whole world (1 John 2:2). This loving relationship with the God who made us is available to everyone by grace alone through faith alone. Jesus has done all the work. We simply need to repent of our sin and confess Jesus Christ as our one and only Lord and Savior. And at this, we all "may marvel."
Application (How does this change how I think, act and pray?):
This passage should cause us to think of all that Jesus says and does as the perfect representation of God the Father's work, character and attributes because Jesus is Yahweh. Yahweh exists as one Being composed of three perfectly unified persons: God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. Yahweh desired to restore the relationship that was broken between us because of our sin, so God the Son came to earth as fully man and fully God to accomplish this restoration by taking the punishment we deserve for our sin and giving us the reward of His perfect righteousness. He did all this in perfect unity of will with God the Father and God the Holy Spirit. Nothing Jesus does is in opposition to God the Father because He and the Father are One.
This should cause us to respond to the words of Christ with action. No good works will save us or keep us saved; Jesus' work of redemption is what saves us. But we must accept His offer of salvation by grace through faith. We do this by confessing that we are sinners, repenting of our sin, asking forgiveness from Jesus, and by believing in Him as our one and only God and Savior who died in our place and rose back to life three days later (Ephesians 2:8-10, Romans 10:9-10).
Self Reflection:
Do I make a distinction between the Yahweh I read about in the Old Testament (Righteousness and Judgment) and the Yahweh (Jesus) I read about in the New Testament (Love and Grace)?
Where do I see the love and grace of Yahweh in the Old Testament, and where do I see the righteousness and judgment of Yahweh in the New Testament?
Understanding that the Bible is one continuous story from Genesis to Revelation, what are some of the mighty and wonderful works of Yahweh that both took place already, and have been promised in the future that I can marvel at as I contemplate His majesty, power and goodness?
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