The next significant passage for me is found in John 5:19-47. Now, according to most of the published studies dealing with the chronological order of Jesus’ ministry, this takes place early in the second year. So, maybe it would be helpful to list the significant recorded events that took place from the time Jesus met the Samaritan woman in Sychar to the time the passage above takes place.
Jesus arrives in Galilee (John 4:43-45). He heals the nobleman’s son (John 4:46-54). He experiences His first rejection at Nazareth (Luke 4:16-30). He meets four fishermen (brothers Peter and Andrew, James and John), who leave their fishing business and become His disciples (Luke 5:1-11). Jesus heals the man with an unclean spirit (Mark 1:23-28). There was a day of miracles in Capernaum, including the healing of Peter’s mother-in-law (Luke 4:38-41). Jesus then tours Galilee with His disciples, heals a leper (Mark 1:40-45), then the paralytic man (Mark 2:1-12). Jesus calls Matthew to be His disciple (Matthew 9:9-13). The other significant event in my estimation is found in Matthew 9:14-17 (also Mark 2:18-22 and Luke 5:33-39), the Pharisees questioning Jesus regarding fasting. I recommend you read the article “The Parables of Jesus, Part 2, New Cloth and New Wine”, that describes the context and meaning of Jesus’ answer to their question.
This brings us to John 5 and the circumstances that lead to the passage above. Now Jesus has gone back to Jerusalem to attend His second Passover (John 5:1). In the verses that follow He heals the impotent man (read verses 2-9), the Jews were incensed at the fact the man was carrying his bed on the Sabbath, found out it was Jesus Who had healed the man and told him to “pick up his bed and walk” (verses 10-15), then opposed Jesus and sought to kill Him “because He had done these things on the Sabbath” (verse 16). They become even angrier when Jesus answers them by saying He is doing the work of His Father, Who works even on the Sabbath (verse 17-18).
What follows is Jesus’ discourse on eternal life and His relationship with the Father in verses 19-47. In the past I have mentioned those great verses in John where Jesus talks about His relationship with the Father. This is where they begin. “So Jesus answered them, saying, I assure you, the Son is able to do nothing on His own; but He can only do what He sees the Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son does as well. The Father loves the Son and shows Him everything He does. And to your astonishment He will let Him see even greater things than these.” (Verses 19-20) Let me break it down for you. Here Jesus claims equality with the Father in the things that He does – His works. Then, so the Jews can have something to really get stirred up about, He claims equality with the Father in several more things.
In verse 21 Jesus claims equality with the Father in resurrection power (compare John 11:25). Then in verse 22 He claims equality with the Father in judgment (Acts 17:31). He follows this in verse 23 claiming equality with the Father in honor. “Honor” is time, a valuing, and a reference here to the inestimable value to believers of both the Father and the Son (compare I John 2:23). Next, in verses 24-25, He claims equality with the Father in giving eternal life (John 17:2-3). Then in verse 26 He claims equality with the Father in self-existent life (a good explanation of this is found in John 10:17-18). He claims equality with the Father in verses 27-29 in having authority over death and the destiny of all men (look at Daniel 12:2). Then, lastly in verse 30, He claims to be in total union with the Father in the decisions He makes (John 8:16).
Do you see what is happening here? In verses 17-18 the Jews wanted to kill Jesus because He claimed to be equal to the Father. So, in verses 19-30 He gives them eight more examples of how He is equal with the Father. Jesus is deliberately and purposefully angering these Jews by telling them what they don’t want to hear. But He’s not finished. Now Jesus is going to give them four examples of how they should know that He is Who He claims to be.
The first in verses 31-35 is the witness of John the Baptist. Basically, His argument here is that they believed John to be a prophet (verse 35), so why didn’t they believe what John said (see John 1:29). For the second example Jesus points to the miracles He performs and points out the fact that He could not do those things unless the Father had sent Him (compare John 10:31-38). In the third example in verses 37-38 Jesus tells them the Father Himself had borne witness to Who He was. This could be a reference to what happened during Jesus’ baptism by John as recorded in Matthew 3:17 when a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, in Whom I delight.” But Jesus tells them they had never heard the Father’s voice (so we can assume none of them were there at the time) or seen His shape (see the article “The Shape of God”).
The fourth example in verse 39-42 is the Scriptures. If they knew the Scriptures, they would know Jesus was the Son of God. This could be known by comparing what the Scriptures predicted concerning Messiah and how Jesus’ life and ministry was conforming to that. Of course many of those predictions had not yet been fulfilled, but some had (see lesson 89). On the other hand, as we saw in Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus, even the religious leaders were woefully ignorant of the Old Testament.
The next verse (43) is interesting. “I have come in My Father’s name, yet you will not accept Me; but when someone else comes in his own name, you will accept him.” Again, “name” is onoma, and represents not simply what a person is called, but refers to his authority, character and purpose (in other words, who he is and what he does because of who he is). The one Jesus is talking about who will come in his own name and be accepted by the Jews is the future Antichrist, who will be received by them and with whom they will enter a seven year covenant (all this will be explained in future lessons on the tribulation period).
Then Jesus sums it all up in verses 44-47 by using their hero, Moses. He tells them Moses will accuse them on judgment day, because they refused to believe what he wrote about the coming of Messiah (look at Genesis 49:10 and Deuteronomy 18:15-18 for examples).