I) The divinity of Jesus is a fundamental and essential tenet of Christianity. It is also one of the most difficult aspects of Christianity for the world to accept.
A) A survey conducted in 2020 by Ligonier Ministries found that 52 percent of U.S. adults believe that Jesus is not God. Not only does this present an obstacle in evangelizing, but this worldly view has also heavily influenced many who call themselves believers. The same survey showed that nearly one third of evangelical Christians believe that Jesus is not God.
B) Dan Brown’s thriller novel The Da Vinci Code gives us a clear example of this line of reasoning. Here is a conversation from the book in which Sir Teabing discusses the 4th-century Council of Nicea. "'My dear,' Teabing declared, 'until that moment in history [the Council of Nicea], Jesus was viewed by His followers as a mortal prophet, a great and powerful man, but a man nonetheless. A mortal.' 'Not the Son of God?' 'Right,' Teabing said. 'Jesus’ establishment as "the Son of God” was officially proposed and voted on by the Council of Nicaea.' 'Hold on! You’re saying that Jesus’ divinity was the result of a vote?' 'A relatively close vote at that,' Teabing added."
Like Dan Brown’s characters, many would have us to understand that the early Christians did not believe that Jesus was divine, and that it was only much later that believers declared Him to be so.
C) Of course, the apostle John wrote his gospel largely to answer this very question, as he clearly states near the end of the book. In John 20:30-31 he says, “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name” [NKJV].
And in the 5th chapter of his gospel John presents one of his many proofs of Christ’s divinity.
II) John 5:1-18 The Events
A) In the first nine verses of John 5, John describes Jesus’ healing of an invalid man who had been sick for 38 years. Read John 5:1-9. “5:1 After this there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem. 5:2 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches. 5:3 In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water. 5:4 For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had. 5:5 Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years. 5:6 When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, ‘Do you want to be made well?’ 5:7 The sick man answered Him, ‘Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; but while I am coming, another steps down before me.’ 5:8 Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk.’ 5:9 And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked. And that day was the Sabbath.”
B) The fact that this was done upon the Sabbath became the first objection of the Jews. In verse 16, John says, “For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.” Jesus’ answer in verse 17 did nothing to defuse the situation. “But Jesus answered them, ‘My Father has been working until now, and I have been working’” [John 5:17].
Jesus points out that though God took the Sabbath rest from His work of creation, God never ceases His work of preservation and redemption, and neither would Jesus. If that were not true, the Jew would not have been able to expect God to be able to respond to a prayer for help on the Sabbath.
C) But the Jews noticed that Jesus did not say “your Father” or “our Father,” but “My Father.” They rightly understood that Jesus was claiming a special relationship to God, and they took exception with that as well. John 5:18 reads, “Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was His Father, making Himself equal with God.” Now they accused Him of blasphemy as well as breaking the Sabbath.
III) John 5:19-29 Jesus’ Claim of Divinity
A) Accused of claiming to be deity, not merely a child of God as was every faithful Jew, but THE divine Son of God, Jesus in essence answers, “Yep! I sure am!” He does so by making a number of startling claims.
B) The first of those claims is that Jesus is in perfect harmony and communion with God the Father. Read John 5:19-20. “5:19 Then Jesus answered and said to them, ‘Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner. 5:20 For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and He will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel.’”
Jesus says that the accusation that His healing of the man was in opposition to God is nonsense; “the Son can do nothing of Himself.” If God was opposed to the healing on the Sabbath, how would Jesus be able to accomplish it? It obviously took God’s power, that would not be given to one in opposition to God.
Jesus claims to be able to see what God is doing, so that He does the same, and even that God reveals to Him what He is doing. And thus Jesus can tell them with assurance that God is going to show them things much greater than the healing that has them so riled up now. Jesus clearly states that His relationship with God is not that of a mere man, but that of a Son in close communion with His Father.
C) The second claim of Jesus is that He possessed power over life and death. John 5:21 says, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.”
Surely only God as creator has the power to raise someone from the dead. Yet Jesus claimed boldly that He possessed that same power as God the Father. The Jews recognized that God alone had the power of life, as seen in Deut. 32:39 “Now see that I, even I, am He, And there is no God besides Me; I kill and I make alive; I wound and I heal….”
Taken in context with His promise in the previous verse that they would be shown greater works than the healing, Jesus is in fact saying that they will see Jesus raise the dead. Note the word “for” (or “because”) linking this verse to verse 20. Paraphrased, the passage says, “You are going to see still greater things, because I have the divine power to raise the dead!” Like God, and unlike a man, Jesus has the power to give healing and indeed life to whom He will.
D) Jesus’s 3rd claim is that He is the one who will judge mankind, and that in fact God the Father judges no one apart from the judgment executed by Jesus. John 5:22 reads, “For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son….”
The people are accusing Jesus of acting in opposition to God’s will and therefore of being subject to God’s judgment. But Jesus responds that not only is He acting in perfect harmony with His perfect awareness of God’s will, but He is Himself that one that God has appointed to be judge.
E) The next claim makes it even clearer that Jesus claimed to be divine; He states that we must show Him the same honor that is due to God the Father. Returning to the beginning of the sentence in verse 22, we read, “5:22 For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, 5:23 that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”
Not only does Jesus declare himself to be worthy of the honor due to deity, of worship, but He says that we cannot honor God without recognizing the honor due to Jesus. What is required, He says, is not the honor due to a great man, or even a great godly man, but honor “just as they honor the Father.” Jesus claims to be worthy of our worship.
F) That is as clear a statement of the divinity of Jesus as one could ask for.
1) He is in perfect and unfailing harmony with God.
2) He possesses the power of life and death.
3) He will execute eternal judgment upon mankind.
4) He is to be honored and worshipped as God.
Jesus leaves no room for us to claim that He was merely a great godly man, for a great godly man could never make such claims and be godly.
G) Jesus goes on, as John records in verses 24-29, to say that a final judgment is coming in which only those who heed Jesus’ word (including, in context, His claims of deity), will escape judgment, for God has given into Jesus’ hands the power over life and death and the authority to judge mankind.
IV) John 5:31-47 The Witnesses to Jesus’ Divinity
A) In John 5:31, Jesus says “If I bear witness of Myself, My witness is not true.” Jesus is not saying that He is unable to tell them truly who He is. In fact, in John 8:14 He tells another group of Pharisees “Even if I bear witness of Myself, My witness is true, for I know where I came from and where I am going; but you do not know where I come from and where I am going.”
Jesus is rather here acknowledging that His word should not be accepted solely upon the basis of that fact that He said it, or at least that it will not be so accepted by His audience. The Law established that it took a plurality of witnesses to convict a man. Deut. 19:15 says, “One witness shall not rise against a man concerning any iniquity or any sin that he commits; by the mouth of two or three witnesses the matter shall be established.”
Nor would the testimony of a man about himself be accepted as proof, and it is possible that this legal requirement is what Jesus refers to; in fact, a man who claimed himself to be God would generally truly be guilty of blasphemy. It is also possible that this is spoken sarcastically, since He is speaking to those who are repeatedly challenging Him. “Since I say it, of course it must not be true.”
So Jesus now offers a number of witnesses as to His divinity.
B) First, Jesus offers John the Baptist as His witness. Let’s continue our reading with John 5:32-35. “5:32 There is another who bears witness of Me, and I know that the witness which He witnesses of Me is true. 5:33 You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth. 5:34 Yet I do not receive testimony from man, but I say these things that you may be saved. 5:35 He was the burning and shining lamp, and you were willing for a time to rejoice in his light.”
Jesus refers in verses 32 and 34 to testimony that doesn’t come from man, the source of which He will identify in the verses that follow. But first He speaks in verses 33 and 35 of John the Baptist.
Jesus says in John 5:33, “You have sent to John, and he has borne witness to the truth.” He refers to the delegation that was sent from the priests and Levites in John 1:19-28. Let’s read from that. “1:19 Now this is the testimony of John, when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, ‘Who are you?’ 1:20 He confessed, and did not deny, but confessed, ‘I am not the Christ.’” And then skipping down to verse 26, “ 1:26 John answered them, saying, ‘I baptize with water, but there stands One among you whom you do not know. 1:27 It is He who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose sandal strap I am not worthy to loose.’”
Beginning in John 1:29, John ties His previous statements to Jesus. (Read John 1:29-34). “1:29 The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him, and said, ‘Behold! The Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! 1:30 This is He of whom I said, “After me comes a Man who is preferred before me, for He was before me.” 1:31 I did not know Him; but that He should be revealed to Israel, therefore I came baptizing with water.’ 1:32 And John bore witness, saying, ‘I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and He remained upon Him. 1:33 I did not know Him, but He who sent me to baptize with water said to me, “Upon whom you see the Spirit descending, and remaining on Him, this is He who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.” 1:34 And I have seen and testified that this is the Son of God.’”
Thus John testified that Jesus was the Son of God. Jesus says that He doesn’t personally need the testimony of men (5:34), but He offers John’s testimony for their sakes, since they were at least willing to listen to John for a time (5:35), while they seem to be unwilling to hear Jesus.
C) In John 5:36, Jesus offers an even more convincing witness: not merely the words of a man, but the miracles that Jesus performs, such as the healing that they have just witnessed. “But I have a greater witness than John’s; for the works which the Father has given Me to finish—the very works that I do—bear witness of Me, that the Father has sent Me.” As Nicodemus noted and John recorded in John 3:2, “… no one can do these signs that You do unless God is with him.” The miracles of Christ were irrefutable evidence that He had access to God’s power, and that God must therefore concur with Jesus’ claims about Himself.
The presentation of that miraculous evidence was a large part of the purpose of John’s gospel, as he tells us in John 20:30-31, which we read earlier. “And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”
D) The third witness that Jesus offers is God Himself. John 5:37 begins, “And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me.” Not only had God given His indirect testimony through the power behind Jesus’s miracles, but He had testified directly of Him as well. Included in this testimony was the voice that came from heaven at Jesus’ baptism, declaring “You are My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased” [Mark 1:11].
But, like so many today, Jesus says in 5:37-38, that they had failed to listen to God’s testimony or to recognize His form in Jesus. “5:37 And the Father Himself, who sent Me, has testified of Me. You have neither heard His voice at any time, nor seen His form. 5:38 But you do not have His word abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe.”
E) Finally, the primary testimony of God is through the scriptures. As recorded in John 5:39, Jesus says, “You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me.” He says, “These are they which testify of Me.” The Old Testament scriptures are filled from beginning to end with hundreds of prophecies concerning Jesus, which Jesus fulfilled minutely.
But more importantly, the Old Testament also spoke of the Christ as deity. Here are just a few examples.
The existence of a separate divine being from God the Father is mentioned in the very first chapter of Genesis, when God says in Gen 1:26, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.”
In Psalm 45:6-7, speaks of God on the throne, of His kingdom, and then of His God who has anointed Him. “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever; A scepter of righteousness is the scepter of Your kingdom. You love righteousness and hate wickedness; Therefore God, Your God, has anointed You With the oil of gladness more than Your companions.” Heb 1:8 applies this to Jesus specifically.
Isaiah 9:6-7 says, “For unto us a Child is born, Unto us a Son is given; And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace There will be no end, Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom, To order it and establish it with judgment and justice From that time forward, even forever. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.” Notice that one of the Son’s titles was to be “Mighty God.”
I could go on with many more examples.
F) So Jesus in essence says, “Do I claim to be God? I sure do! I am in intimate communion with God, I control mankind’s life and death and their judgment, and I am worthy of honor and worship with God the Father. If you don’t believe me, you have not only the testimony of John, but the testimony of God directly, of God through My miracles, and of God through the scriptures.” This chapter leaves no room for anyone to conclude that Jesus was just a man.
V) I am going to conclude this lesson with a quotation from C.S. Lewis which I believe sums up this chapter and this lesson very eloquently. He wrote in Mere Christianity, “I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: I’m 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 the 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. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.”
