527: The Son Can Do Anything on His Own Accord | Tim Henderson

Introduction

How many of you guys are fans of the TV show Stranger Things? Some get proud here, some of you. I know there's a bit of controversy, thank you, Alan. I know there's some controversy about this show and not everybody likes everything, but I think it is pretty fantastic. It is dark and if you're just in season one, you're like, "It's not that dark, we'll just wait, okay?" It gets darker. By season four, it's like, "Oh gosh, okay?" And there are some things about it that trouble me, but nothing is all good. And by and large, I think this show honors courage and friendship and loyalty. It has fantastic themes of sacrifice and suffering. And it also just happens to be, for 55-year-old men, a bullseye of nostalgia. I was the exact age of these kids at the exact year this thing was set, so the nostalgia pump is like super heavy for me. And I am just a sucker for a good coming-of-age story, and it's all those things. If you're not familiar with Stranger Things, it's about a group of high school kids, and like the American Midwest, they're in this supernatural battle against evil.

And it does, I said, it gets dark as it goes on, but it's a great show, and I recommend it to you with, you know, caveats. [laughter] If you watch through it, if you don't like the show, you don't get to vote. But if you do like the show, who are your favorite characters? Are there kids that you like best? Steve Harrington. He got a shout out in the first service too. Dustin. Dustin won the first service, and Steve came in second, which is kind of interesting. Dustin will be my favorite, although I like them all, all these kids, they all have different strengths, you know, it's a bit of a team unit to it. Why do you guys like Dustin that are on Team Dustin? Do you know why or what it is that you admire about him? [inaudible] You say he's "assaultive"? Impulsive. I'm like, he beats people up. Yeah, he is. I think Dustin is a great kid, and I won't give away too much, but Stranger Things is done. Season 5 just came out, and the finale is already out. But there is a scene in season 5 where Dustin is getting picked on by a bunch of jocks because he's wearing his Dungeons and Dragons T-shirt. And the kid just doesn't back down, right?

And in fact, that really is true of this whole band of high school kids. They have fought against such ridiculous odds, and against such powerful foes, they have suffered so much, and they have prevailed so much so that a group of high school bullies, it just doesn't really impress them, you know? It's like, "Well, I'm bringing it on. What do you got?" And Dustin not only does Dustin never back down, but he just takes the battle to the bully. He kind of survives this particular encounter, and instead of leaving well enough alone, he goes and he graffities that kid's locker, and then he puts a live snake in it, which we have to admit is probably over the line. But Dustin just pokes the bear, right? And he knows that if he keeps it up, he's probably going to get beat up, which he does pretty severely. And I would just say if that kind of pluck that Dustin has, this fearless resolve to press in and to never be cowed, then you will love our passage this morning.

The Character of Jesus and His Boldness

Because Jesus never backs down from a fight. Time after time after time. His people are gunning, the people are gunning for him, and he just never stops. He never backpedals. Whenever he gets challenged, he doesn't soften his message. He just makes it worse. He just leans in and gives his antagonizers more ammunition. For the last couple of weeks, we were in the same passage. We've been in John chapter 5 where Jesus has healed a man at a pool, and as tends to happen, it spun into a controversy, because Jesus was doing this particular miracle, this act of grace, this sign on the Sabbath, on a Saturday. And I sort of just ticked off all of his religious peers, and they go after him. And when he is confronted, he claims the right to violate their understanding of the Sabbath, because in his words, "My father is always working, and I am always working too." His detractors caught the implication, and they realized that he was calling himself equal with God. And as a result, John comments, "They tried all the harder to kill him." And when that happens, true to form, that Jesus doesn't back down. He doesn't back off, he doesn't try to appease, he doesn't just try to find common ground, he just puts a snake in their locker. And his response to be sure purchases for him crucifixion, the way he responds to them leads inexorably to his death. But what it purchased for us, because we get to overhear it, we get to see his words, is a masterclass on the relationship between the father and the son.

John is very interested in making sure that we understand how the father and the son relate. And what Jesus is going to give us in this passage is a two-part framework. You've got to hold onto both pieces. If you're really going to get your head around, the reality that Jesus and the father have equal value, but distinct roles. The role that exists in the life of the son is subordinate. But the value that the son has with the father is perfectly quality. He is equally worthy of worship. He is equally glorious. Jesus is equally brilliant. He is equally God. And yet, in another sense, the son is subordinate to the father. As Jesus says, he can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the father doing. This duality that you've got to hang on to both of these things is one of the many themes that pervades John's gospels.

As we've said before, John is deeply interested in persuading you that Jesus is God. He begins his gospel. In the beginning, the word in the word was God. He is making the case for the full deity of Christ. He's going to show Jesus saying, "Before Abraham was born, I am," as he invokes the covenant name of God. And says, "Yeah, that's me. I am Yahweh." Jesus is going to identify himself as... I mean, can you imagine saying this? He says, "I am the light of the world." He says, "I am the bread of life." John wants you to understand that Jesus Christ is God over all, forever, praised, and he knows it. And John is going to say over... He's going to capture Jesus over and over saying things like this, right? He wants to show us that just as much as Jesus is equal to the father, he is also working with the father to achieve the father's purposes. Jesus is not only God, he is also with God.

And he is with God in some subordinate sense. That's why he says things like this. "I do nothing on my own, but speak just what the father has taught me. I always do what pleases him. For I did not speak of my own accord, but the father who sent me has commanded me what to say and how to say it. Whatever I say is just what the father has told me to say. The words I say to you are not just my own, rather it is the father living in me who is doing his work. The words you hear are not my own. They belong to the father who sent me. And finally, the world must learn. And we must learn as well that I love the father and I do exactly what my father has commanded me."

Jesus' Unique Responsibilities

In our passage here in John 5, Jesus is going to mention several things that he does specifically in imitation of and in obedience to the father. Everything that we're going to look at, everything on this list of things that he's going to do are absolutely unique. No one else in all of human history is qualified to do any of these, much less all three, all of these things that he gets from the father that are his to complete his unique tasks are absolutely inseparable from his relationship with the father.

He's competent to do them because he is God and he is compelled to do them because he obeys the father. All right, here's the three things. Jesus says he has been uniquely granted the following three responsibilities:

1. He will raise the dead.
2. He will judge the world.
3. To some, but not all, he will give eternal life.

Can you imagine the audacity of a human being saying, I will raise the dead. I will judge the world and I will grant eternal life? These things are braided through the passage. I’m going to read you the whole thing, you hear it all. And then we're going to kind of extract them. We'll talk about each one of these three incredible responsibilities granted to the son.

For as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whom he will.
Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is here when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live.
For as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whom he will.
For the father judges no one, but is given all judgment to the son 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.
Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is here, 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 also to have life in himself.
And he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man.
Do not marvel at this. For an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out.
Those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

Jesus Will Raise the Dead

The first responsibility is that Jesus will raise the dead. This shows up in verses 21, 25, and 28.

For as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whom he will.
Truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is here when the dead will hear the voice of the son of God and those who hear will live.
Do not marvel at this. For an hour is coming when all who are in their tombs will hear his voice and come out.

Now, this does not mean what Jesus is saying is that when you die, you go to heaven. A lot of people will just kind of translate this to this. That's not what he's saying. That is also true for those who are in Christ; we do die when we go to heaven.

My own mother died this week on Monday. This is me and my mom when I was in high school. That's probably like 1987 would be my best guess. And my mom was a really, really good mom. She gave me, by any reasonable account, a perfect childhood. She loved me incredibly well. She delighted in me, and every, the root of every good thing in my life is because of her. To grow up under her love and under her care was an incredibly rich gift. And she loved Jesus. She followed him her whole life, and we were going through her room this week. You know, we found all these notes to herself, lyrics of hymns and sermons and notes and her own thoughts and reflections and books about the Lord that she's read and highlighted.

And you guys, she is right now with him. Paul said to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Right now she is with him. Paul said, "I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far. For those that are in him, to depart from this body is to be with him." So that is great news, this is incredible news for my mom, and she is presently in his joy. But that is not the end of her story and it is not what Jesus is talking about.

The good news of the gospel is not only that we get to go to heaven when we die, but much more significantly, it's that when Jesus comes back to the earth, he will bring with him those who have fallen asleep in him. He will raise the dead, and my mother's body will be reanimated, resurrected just like Jesus was. That is much, much, much better news than we get to go to heaven when we die. And if you are in Christ and if you die before he comes back, you too will be raised.

If you're alive when he comes back, you won't die and then be raised, but your body will be transformed for we will all be like him. We have a tendency to think perhaps that one of the most extraordinary things about Jesus is that he raised from the dead, but that's not what is extraordinary about him. Everyone will be raised from the dead. It will be as calm in his life and death. What is weird about Jesus is that his resurrection came so early. He went first, but when he comes again, we will all be raised. And I do mean all, the resurrection will happen for everyone, including both those who follow Jesus and those who do not, all who are in their tombs will hear his voice and come out.

And when that happens, not at the moment of death, but at the moment of resurrection, we will be judged, which brings us to the second task, uniquely entrusted to the Son. He will judge the world. This is in verses 22 and 27.

For the Father judges no one, but is given all judgment to the Son, and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of man.

I think probably Jesus' clearest teaching on this is in Matthew 25. Here's how he describes it there:

When the Son of man comes in his glory and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory, and all the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.

Jesus goes on to describe this separating of people into those who follow him and those who do not. And what he says is in this trial that is coming and this sifting that will come. The evidence that will predominate in this trial to determine if we knew and trusted him will be the way that we loved other people. It is awesome. It is terrifying. And it will be without question the most binary moment in all of human history, because the vast differential in the outcomes are so unimaginably vast, so huge.

And it should make you deeply interested in how to survive such an examination.

The Promise of Eternal Life

Because number three, to some, but not to all, will be granted eternal life. This takes going to possibly be higher. Verses 21, 24, and 29.

For as the father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the son gives life to whom he will.
Truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
All who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out. And those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

The starkness of these outcomes is unmistakable. Eternal life is a gift. You do not already possess it. It's not automatic. But eternal life is granted by the Son to any, to all, but to only those who trust him.

And I wonder, do you ever think about the eternal part of eternal life? It is a long, long, long, long time. Do you ever daydream? What does that mean? What will they, what will we be doing for so incredibly long?

There's a TV show that tries to imagine this, that explores this question. It's called The Good Place. It was out, it's been out for a long time. It started Ted Danson and Kristen Bell and maybe some other people whose names I don't know. The whole show is an exploration of the philosophy and the religion of varying beliefs about heaven and asks the question, what makes for a good life? And principally, it asks the question, who is worthy of enjoying eternal life? I won't spoil it all for you. There's a lot of twists and turns, but I will tell you that in the end, I am going to spoil a lot of it, okay? Too bad. In the end, the main characters, through all kinds of twisty things, finally make it to The Good Place. They get there and everlasting joy is theirs, but there's one very peculiar trait to this show, and that is that Jesus is never once mentioned in the entire story.

Fifty-two episodes over four seasons, and we hear from Socrates and Plato and Aristotle and Kant and Hume and Kierkegaard. It is a study of philosophy and ethics, and no, although the entire framing of it assumes the Christian worldview. Jesus never comes up, never mentioned — there's no sign of him anywhere, there's no discussion of his teaching, nothing, no Jesus. Nevertheless, the protagonists make it to The Good Place. Jesus does not get them there, and he's not there when they arrive, but they get eternal life in an otherwise perfect world.

And would you like to guess what they do when they get there? I kid you not, they kill themselves. That is how the show ends. They each stay in the happy place of perfection until they are bored, and whenever they've had enough bliss and they're tired of it all, they walk into this forest and are obliterated out of existence.

When I watched the show, I was initially shocked, but then I realized, what is happening outside? It is like a, is that rain or snow? What is happening? It's like, okay, glad we're inside. Right here, look at me. Come back, come back, come back, come back. It looks very windy, but this is like the emotional climax of this whole message. So come here. Okay.

I was shocked. Like, what are they doing? But then I realized, you guys, you guys, come here. The writers are exactly right. They are exactly right. I don't know. I really, I'd love to know. Are there Christians secretly writing this show? I don't know if they understand how true their art is, but you guys, a priceless eternity of mere amusements would prove futile, empty, despairing, and meaningless, and it would end where nihilism always ends and suicide.

They're exactly right. Just look around. How many people live meaningful lives in their vocations? They have a calling to which they give themselves too fully. Or maybe they're raising their children, which perhaps is the loftiest calling of all. And then they become empty nesters. They retire from their jobs. They get bored and they die. If you can't handle 10 or 20 years of ease, what are you going to do with a million? What will you do with a billion? What will you do with a trillion? Will this ever stop?

You guys, if the world to come is mere amusement, you will long to kill yourself, for you will have found yourself in hell. But it's not. It is not mere, Christless amusement. It's not pointless. It's not boring. It's a person.

Jesus says this in John 17:3:

This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.

You guys, Jesus will raise the dead. He will judge the world. He will grant eternal life. And then he will delight you forever because there will always be more of him. He is infinite and you will never get to the bottom. He will never become boring.

God has designed for you a vast universe. Have you ever wondered why is this thing so unreasonably huge? Like, it's so big. It just goes on forever. It's just massive, massive, massive.

My best theory is that the reason the universe is so big is that you will have forever to explore and to discover the delights that he's scattered throughout it for you. In a billion years, you will still be discovering more of his love and creativity. There will be challenges. There will be tasks. There will be vocations and callings and work. There will be love and relationships. There will be beauty and intimacy and adventure and above it all and beneath it all and through it all, there will be him.

You are not headed toward infinite time filled with infinite boredom. You are heading for an endless progressive discovery of the infinite God who will exalt you to the status of kings and queens so that you might be made worthy to commune with him in all of his greatness.

Many of you know that one of my great theological heroes is Jonathan Edwards. He's just so, so brilliant. Jonathan Edwards was the Joe Rogan of his time and as much as Joe Rogan can do a three and a half hour podcast, Jonathan Edwards would preach like three and a half hour sermons. These things go on forever. You should read Edwards' sermons. How much time did they have for this thing? Whenever I read Edwards, I always want to quote him. I always want to make you guys read Edwards because there's so much beauty.

I'm going to read you an unreasonably long portion of one of his sermons, but it's like 5%. It's like a fraction of what he really says, but it's still really good. So just stay with me. I only thought about doing this this morning so there's no slides, so grow up. Come on in. This is what he says. This is in a sermon called, what is it? The portion of the righteous. He talks about what do we get? What is it going to be? And in that one fraction of his whole thing, he talks about what we get is him. We get to behold him.

They shall comprehend the height and depth and length and the breadth of the love of Christ to sinners.
And undergoing for them the agony of the garden and the more overwhelming agonies of the cross.
Now the heart is dull in the contemplation of such things. How often are they heard of by the saints on earth with but little affection? How often when they see him set forth in the Lord's Supper? Are they cold and lifeless?

But then it shall not be so. Then the wonderful works of God and the love of Christ and the work of redemption will appear as they are. Then there will constantly, without any interruption, be a most lively and full sense of it without any deadness or coldness. Everything in the work of redemption will appear in its true glory. The understanding shall be wonderfully opened, and it shall be perpetually like the clear hemisphere with the sun in the meridian, and there shall never come over one cloud to darken the mind.

Then the saints shall see fully how the excellence and loveliness of Christ appear in all that he did and suffered. They shall see the liveliness of those excellencies that appeared in Christ's human nature when on earth, his wonderful meekness and humility, his patience under suffering, his perfect obedience to the Father. And then they shall also see the beauty that appears in Christ's human nature in its glorified state, wherein the excellencies of it shine without veil.

They shall see also the excellence of the divine nature of Christ, and they shall behold clearly and immediately his divine majesty and his divine and infinite holiness and grace and love. They shall see Christ as the perfect image of God, an image wherein all the glory of the divine nature is fully expressed. They shall behold him as the brightness of his Father's glory. They shall see that bright and perfect image of God, which the Father beheld and was infinitely happy in beholding from all eternity.

They shall not only see this glorious person as at a distance but they shall be admitted to be near him and to converse with him. This sight of his glory and loveliness will fill them with the most exalted love, which love will cause them to desire conversation, and they shall be admitted to it, to the full of their desires, and that at all times. It will not be boring, for you will have him, and he is infinite.

You will never get to the bottom of it. You will be discovering his beauties and his supremacy in a hundred trillion years, and it will still be yours. The most important thing in the world is to be found to be a sheep and this great sorting— you do not want to be on the side of the goats. To survive that judgment and to be granted eternal life in him is the highest possible hope, and it should make you wonder what kind of arrogance could ever support that hope.

What could possibly make me think that I have a chance that I could in any way, shape, or form survive this examination? Paul says that on that day, God will judge men's secrets, and if that doesn't scare you, you are not paying attention. What could give you hope that you will survive at this? And this alone?

Jesus said, "What the Father told him to say." He did what the Father told him to do. He gave what the Father told him to give, and for us, perhaps most crucially, he drank what the Father told him to drink.

Jesus asked this question: Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me? — John 18:11

That cup that the Father gave to Jesus contained the wrath of God poured full strength and obedience to the Father. Jesus drank the cup of judgment to the dregs so that when you face yours, the cup will be empty. Not one drop remaining.

The best possible decision you can ever make is to come under his protection. I mean, you guys, just be honest with yourself for five seconds. If you are standing in the dock before a holy, omniscient God, how's it going to go? You do not want to be left to drink your own cup. You want only to drink the empty cup, the cup of Christ that he drank to the bottom.

Guys, he loves you and he has done all this for you. And what waits for you is beyond your imagination. Take him at his word, live in his grace. It is all for you. Amen?

Conclusion

Lord Jesus, who else could be trusted to raise the dead, to judge the world, to grant eternal life? You and only you are so great, and yet despite your greatness, you went to the lowest place and you suffered on a cross, and you did it for people that hated you and hate you still.

Lord, who are you? This constant question throughout John's investigation of your real identity will give us eyes to see. Now we do see dimly in a mirror. The days come and that we will see face to face.

Give us a hint. Open our hearts that we would see how great you are, how much you love us, that we would kneel before you, receive your mercy, and live lives responding to your grace. Lord, we love you. Thanks for loving us. Amen.