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Liar, Lunatic, or Lord
Everybody has an opinion about Jesus. Many see Him as a compassionate man. Some call Him a wise teacher. Others regard Him as a great prophet. But what did Jesus say about Himself? He claimed to be God.
Several years ago C. S. Lewis, in his book Mere Christianity, wrote these words concerning the identity of Jesus:
I am trying here to prevent anyone from saying the really foolish things that people often say about Him: “I am ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don’t accept His claim to be God.” That is the one thing we must not say. A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher.—C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 41
If I claimed to be the Son of God, equal with the Father, and fully God, you would say I was either lying or a lunatic, and rightly so. But what about Jesus? Was He lying? Was He a lunatic? The only other option is that He is the Lord.
In John 5, Jesus healed a lame man. You would think that would be a reason for the Jewish authorities to celebrate. But instead they were angry that this healing took place on the Sabbath.
So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jews persecuted him. Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at work to this very day, and I, too, am working.” For this reason the Jews tried all the harder to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God (vv. 16-18).
God in Three Persons: The Trinity
Deuteronomy 6:4 has become the Jewish confession of faith: “Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one.” The Jews were, and still are, unshakably monotheistic. God Himself declared, “I am the LORD, and there is no other; apart from me there is not God” (Isaiah 45:5a). When Jesus claimed to be equal with the Father, they thought He was claiming to be another God. To the Jews, this was the most serious crime a person could commit and was punishable by death.
The Jewish authorities didn’t understand the doctrine of the Trinity. Three statements summarize the this doctrine:
1. God is THREE persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
The Father is not the Son; the Son is not the Holy Spirit; the Holy Spirit is not the Father. They are distinct persons. “In the beginning was the Word [Christ], and the Word was with God…” (John 1:1). Jesus is God but distinct from the Father (“with God”).
2. Each person is FULLY God.
“…and the Word was God [no less than the Father].”
3. There is ONE God.
“…and the Word was God [not another God].”
A Common Error
Sometimes I act as a husband; sometimes I act as a father; and sometimes I act as a pastor. Some people believe that God is like that. Sometimes He acts as the Father; sometimes He acts as the Son; and sometimes He acts as the Holy Spirit. This belief (known as modalism) rejects the first statement: God is three persons. Its fatal shortcoming is the fact that it must deny the personal relationships within the Trinity that appear in so many places in Scripture (including today’s passage).
In John 5:19-30, we read of Jesus’ answer to those who accused Him of breaking the Sabbath by healing the lame man.
19Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, 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. 20For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things that these. 21For 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. 22Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, 23that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
24“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life. 25I tell you the truth, 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. 26For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself. 27And 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 29and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned. 30By 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.
The Son’s relationship to the Father:
• Equality of NATURE
• Unity of PURPOSE
• Subordination of WILL
“The Son can do nothing by himself [on his own initiative]” (v. 19). The Father initiates, sends, commands, grants authority; the Son responds, performs, obeys, and receives authority.
The relationship is not that of a master and slave, nor of employer and employee, but of a Father and a Son who are united by love.
Jesus said that He had received authority from the Father to do greater things than healing a lame man—things that would amaze the Jews (v. 20).
Two amazing claims:
1. “I am the one who gives LIFE to the DEAD.”
The Jews believed that only God could do this: “The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:6).
“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” (v. 21).
a. There is a present giving of SPIRITUAL life.
“I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned. I tell you the truth, 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. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself” (vv. 25-26).
b. There will be a future giving of PHYSICAL life.
“Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out—those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned” (vv. 28-29).
In this context, to do good is to accept Jesus, and to do evil is to reject Jesus. “Jesus said, ‘The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent’” (John 6:29). Jesus is not teaching salvation by works.
2. “I am the one who is the JUDGE of all people.”
The Jews believed that only God could do this: The Lord is “the Judge of all the earth” (Genesis 18:25),
“Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son” (v. 22).
“And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man” (v. 27).
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).
“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” (v. 30).
Why did the Father give Jesus the authority to give life to the dead and be the Judge of all people? The answer is found in verse 23: “That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.”
“I am the LORD; that is my name! I will not give my glory to another or my praise to idols” (Isaiah 42:8). But the Father does desire that Jesus be glorified. The fact that the Father and the Son (as well as the Holy Spirit) are one God means that when the Son is glorified, the Father is also glorified.
“Let all the world look to me for salvation! For I am God; there is no other. I have sworn by my own name; I have spoken the truth, and I will never go back on my word: Every knee will bend to me, and every tongue will confess allegiance to me” (Isaiah 45:22-23 NLT).
“God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11).
To accept Jesus is to accept God; to reject Jesus is to reject God (v. 23).
To accept Jesus results in ETERNAL LIFE; to reject Jesus results in CONDEMNATION.
Christ’s Claims: The True Identity of Jesus
John 5:19-30
When Jesus claimed to be equal with the Father, they thought He was claiming to be another God. The Jewish authorities didn’t understand the doctrine of the Trinity. Three statements summarize this doctrine:
1. God is _______________ persons: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
“In the beginning was the Word [Christ], and the Word was with God…” (John 1:1).
2. Each person is ______________ God.
“…and the Word was God [no less than the Father].”
3. There is ______________ God.
“…and the Word was God [not another God].”
The Son’s relationship to the Father:
• Equality of _________________
• Unity of _________________
• Subordination of __________
“The Son can do nothing by himself [on his own initiative]” (v. 19).
Two amazing claims:
1. “I am the one who gives ___________ to the ____________.”
The Jews believed that only God could do this: “The LORD brings death and makes alive; he brings down to the grave and raises up” (1 Samuel 2:6).
“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” (v. 21).
a. There is a present giving of ____________________ life (vv. 25-26).
b. There will be a future giving of ____________________ life (vv. 28-29).
2. “I am the one who is the _______________ of all people.”
The Jews believed that only God could do this: The Lord is “the Judge of all the earth” (Genesis 18:25),
“Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son” (v. 22).
“And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man” (v. 27).
“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed” (Daniel 7:13-14).
Why did the Father give Jesus the authority to give life to the dead and be the Judge of all people? “That all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him” (v. 23).
Compare Isaiah 45:22-23 with Philippians 2:9-11!
To accept Jesus is to accept God; to reject Jesus is to reject God (v. 23).
To accept Jesus results in __________________________; to reject Jesus results in ______________________.
Life Group Questions
Warming Up
1. What is the most outrageously false claim you’ve ever heard? Why didn’t you believe it?
2. Read John 5:19-30.
3. Review Sunday’s sermon notes. Which claim made by Jesus in this passage do think is the most amazing? Why do we believe the amazing claims of Jesus?
Look to the Book
4. Read John 10:30; 12:45; 14:9. How could these verses be used in an attempt to disprove the Trinity? What is the real meaning of these statements?
5. The Old Testament gives three signs of the coming Messiah. In John 5, we discover that Jesus has fulfilled all three signs. Compare 5:27 with Daniel 7:13-14. Compare 5:20, 26 with Isaiah 35:6; Jeremiah 31:8-9. Compare 5:21, 28 with Deuteronomy 32:39; 1 Samuel 2:6; 2 Kings 5:7. What were the three signs?
6. What is the irony of verses 18 and 23?
7. Ephesians 2:8-9 states that salvation is by faith, not by works. Does verse 29 contradict that passage?
So What?
8. Based on this passage, what present realities and future expectations do followers of Jesus Christ possess?
