The Perfect Father-Son Relationship
John 5:16-29
Fathers. We all have one. For some, father was a no show. He wasn't there. He gave his DNA, but that was all. For others, father was there, but they wished that he wasn't. He may have been abusive or unpleasant. Others had good fathers. When they think about their fathers, they have nothing but fond memories.
No matter what kind of father we had, there is a model father-son relationship for us to look at, Father God and His Son, Jesus. We usually don't think about their relationship. We just think that they both are God. They are one. But they were father and son. And they did have a father-son relationship. Jesus tells about it in this passage. In fact, He says a lot about it. We can say that it was a perfect father-son relationship.
For those who want to become better fathers and for those who want to become better children, we will look at what Jesus said about His relationship with His Father and pull out some father-son tips for you.
Now I am saying father-son, but this also applies to a father-daughter relationship. And if there is no father, they also apply to the mother-child relationship. So just know that. If father or son does not fit for your situation, insert what does.
1. The Father and Son Work Together
John 5:16 So, because Jesus was doing these things on the Sabbath, the Jewish leaders began to persecute him.
What Jesus was doing on the Sabbath was healing. In this case, He told the lame man who was laying beside the Bethesda pool to get up, pick up his mattress, and walk. Certain Jews considered healing and especially carrying a mattress or any heavy object to be work. It wasn't, but.... Work was forbidden on the Sabbath. That's the problem here.
John 5:17 In his defense Jesus said to them, “My Father is always at his work to this very day, and I too am working.”
John 5:18 For this reason they tried all the more to kill him; not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
The Father and the Son were working together. That's what Jesus said here. You would think that once Jesus came to earth, that the Father would stop working and let the Son do it all, or that the Son would come to this earth, lounge around, and let His Father do all the work. He is God. But the Father was working and the Son was working. They worked together.
My dad did not do this. Growing up, my dad did all the work. He went to work at 8 in the morning. He came home at 5. I didn't even know what he did there. It wasn't until I was an adult that I knew what an engineer did. When he came home, he worked on different projects, but us kids were never a part of it. He didn't want to be bothered by us.
There was a time when I had checked out one volume of the Popular Science Do-It-Yourself Encyclopedia from my elementary school library. I was paging through it at home. I liked to look at the pictures and dream about building the projects in it. I was looking at some different motor projects. My dad saw me and said, “We can make one of them. It will be a father-son project.” I was excited. This would be fun. We went out in the garage. My dad got the materials out, cut out the parts, put it together, and worked on getting it to work. I just watched.
That was how my dad worked. He worked. We did something else.
In the perfect father-son relationship the father and son each work. They work together.
To you fathers who are raising children, it takes patience on your part to teach your child how to do something. It is harder to let him do it and maybe mess up. But that is how you get to eventually working together. Don't get mad. Be kind. Eventually, your child will figure it out. Then you can work together. Share your work with your children.
2. The Son Only Does What He Sees The Father Do
John 5:19 Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, 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.
John 5:20 For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed.
The Son can do nothing by himself. He can only do what He sees His Father do. The Son watches the Father and does what He does. This is what Jesus said. It is about Him and His Father, Father God. It is also true of us.
There have been many Like Father-Like Son commercials. The father is on a ladder painting the house. The son is below with a paint brush mimicking his father. The father is driving the car. The son sits in his car seat turning a play steering wheel just like his father. The father is mowing the grass. The son pushes his little plastic mower. And on and on they go. It is a truism. Children mimic their fathers.
It seems almost blasphemy, doesn't it, to say that Jesus mimicked His Father, that He watched His Father and did what He did, but He did. He said so Himself. He said that the Son could do nothing by Himself. He said that the Son watches the Father and does what He does. This is what He did.
Sons should do the same thing. They should watch their fathers and do likewise.
Of course, that means that fathers should be setting the right example.
The son only does what he sees the father do. That's point two.
3. Both the Father and Son Give Life
John 5:21 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.
What does this mean? The Son gives life to whom He wants to? Is Jesus going around doing CPR? Bringing dead people back to life? When Jesus said this, He had not yet brought anyone back to life as far as we know, but He had given life to people. He had turned people from destructive lives to good lives. He had given sad people a happy life. He had taken people living a useless life and had given them a purposeful life. He gave people life. Jesus promised to give us life and that more abundantly. If you will follow Jesus, He will give you life, a life worth living.
One of the greatest miracles that I have the privilege to see being in the ministry is a changed life. To see someone who was ruining his life, to see God turn that person around, and that person start living a good productive life: that is a miracle. That is what God does. That is what Jesus does. They turn people around. They give life.
The Father and the Son give life, not death, not sadness, not boredom. They give life. Do you want life? Follow the Son. Follow Jesus.
A father-son team should also be working toward good, not bad, toward giving life, not death.
4. The Father Turned Certain Responsibilities Over to the Son
John 5:22 Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son,
If a father is working with and teaching his son, there should be a time when he starts turning certain responsibilities over to his son.
God did this with Jesus. He turned all judgment over to His Son. The Father does not judge you. The Son does, the Son who lived for thirty-three years on this earth, the Son who has experienced the same troubles and the same hardships that you have, the Son who lived the right way, the Son who knows that living the right way works. This Son judges you. The Father has turned that responsibility over to Him.
We also should turn certain responsibilities over to our children.
5. Value the Son to Value the Father
John 5:23 that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.
Why did the Father work with His Son? Why did the Son watch His Father and only do what He did? Why did the Father and the Son give life? Why did the Father turn certain responsibilities over to His Son? So that everyone would honor the Son, that they would find value in Him, the same value that they find in the Father. Those who do not value Jesus, do not value Father God.
In the same way, a good father turns certain responsibilities over to his son so that people will find the son just as valuable as they do the father. A good father is not jealous when his son is valued. And when the father has properly trained his son, if people do not value the son, they also do not value the father. Value the Son to value the Father.
6. Listen to the Son's Message and Trust the Father
John 5:24 “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.
Did you get that? This is a plan of salvation. There are just two steps. Hear the Son's word, Jesus' word, His message, what He said. And believe, which is trust, trust the Father. Trust God. Live a life that trusts Him.
Two things to get saved. Hear the Son. Trust the Father. That's it. Do you hear what Jesus is saying here? Do you listen to what He says in this book? Will you trust God? If so, there are some results. They are given here too, three of them. You have eternal life. You will not be judged. And you have crossed over from death to life.
How simple is that? How definite is that? Listen to what Jesus said. Trust God. And you have eternal life, you will not be judged, and you have crossed over from death to life. I didn't say it. Jesus said it. Maybe we should listen to it. Maybe we should do it. A simple plan of salvation. Let's read on.
John 5:25 Very truly I tell you, 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.
John 5:26 For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.
John 5:27 And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
Jesus is declaring that salvation starts here, that salvation starts now. Are you dead? When it comes to spiritual things, to God, to Jesus, to the church, are you dead? Are you dead to them? Listen to the Son and live. Let's read on.
John 5:28 “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice
John 5:29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.
Do not be amazed at this plan of salvation, this simple plan of salvation.
Do not be amazed at the fact that listening to the Son and trusting the Father will give you eternal life. Do not be amazed. A time is coming when the Son of God will speak again. His voice will echo from the top of heaven to the deepest grave on earth. His words will rumble around the earth shaking every grave. Get up! Come to life! It is time for your date with destiny. Those who have done what is good, who have listened to the Son, who have trusted the Father, they will live. Those who have done the useless things, those who have not listened, who have not trusted, will face condemnation.
Which one will you be? It all depends on what you do now, on what you do with this simple plan of salvation. Will you do it? Or will you fake it?
On that day, you won't fool God. God knows what you really are like. Your good works that don't listen to Jesus, that don't trust the Father, they may fool everyone here, but they won't fool the Father. Change your ways. Listen to the Son. Trust the Father. Be ready for that day.
That is the conclusion of the perfect father-son relationship. The Son speaking and all souls, all people, dead and alive, hearing and being judged according to how they treated this perfect Father-Son relationship. What a conclusion! What a relationship!
Our fathers did not have that perfect of a relationship with us. Some were better than others. We who have been fathers were not that perfect either. Again, some better than others. You who still have children at home, these tips will help you have a better relationship. Work together with your children. Know that they are watching you. Have a life that gives out life to others. And turn responsibilities over to your children.
