As we continue our study of the Gospel of John, we pick up at verse 26 of Chapter 5. Under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, the Apostle writes:
“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 judge because He is the Son of Man.” John 5: 26-27
We find Jesus is in the Temple in Jerusalem. He is talking to the Jewish Leaders who were upset at Him for healing on the Sabbath. As He responds to them in this one discourse, He is telling them He is the Son of God. That Life is in Him. That He has been given the authority to judge, and that He is the Son of Man. He said, “I Am the Son of God, I Am One with Him, and everything He is, I Am. I have been given authority to judge ‘because’ I Am the Son of Man.” If they had been listening they would have heard His message. “I Am the One you have been waiting for. I am the Promised One. I Am the Messiah.”
The Word tells us in Genesis of the One who would save, and restore mankind from the fall of Adam and Eve. After the incident in the Garden, and the conversations Father had with Adam, and Eve, and the evil one, He told the evil one: “And I will put enmity (mutual hatred, and hostility), between you and the woman, and between your offspring and hers; He will crush your head, and you will strike His heel.” (Genesis 3:15.) This was a promise to the enemy, and a Promise to mankind.
“He will crush your head” means He will destroy the evil one. This promise was taught from generation to generation, and the One, the Son of Man, who would crush the head of the enemy, and set man kind free came to be known as the Messiah. The Deliverer.
As we read the discourse to the Religious Leaders John penned here in chapter 5, Jesus told them He was the Messiah. He had openly said to the Samaritan woman at the well that He was the Messiah, (John 4:26), but here He was walking the Religious Leaders through the fulfillment of prophecy. He wanted them to see it and hear it.
The Prophecy was: “All power and authority are given to Him as the Son of Man”, stated in (Daniel 7:13,14). Jesus said, “I have it.”, (verse 5:27). Prophecy said, “The Lame and the Sick are healed.”, stated in (Isaiah 35:5-6). Jesus had that authority, as John stated in (5:20-21), and was already demonstrated and recorded in (John 5:9). But the Religious Leaders were focused on the letter of the Law, which shut out the kindness and grace of the Lord. They also had a pre-formed opinion of how the Messiah would come, and were not open to what they were hearing.
Jesus is the Messiah. He is our Deliverer. He is the personification of the Promise. May we always be open to all that He is. He has delivered us from sin and sickness, and death to walk in His love, and grace, and peace, and wellness, and the provisions of an abundant Life. May our focus be on Him, and All that He is. Let us take Him at His Word, and stand on His every Word, every day.
May you be blessed with perfect health, and the divine wealth of wisdom, and may you prosper in all good things, God’s Beloveds. He loves you So. He sent Jesus to prove it, and fulfill His Promise.
Poppa B.