The Father and the Son

Jesus said to them, ‘Very truly, I tell you, the Son can do nothing on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, the Son does likewise. The Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing; and he will show him greater works than these, so that you will be astonished. Indeed, just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whomsoever he wishes. The Father judges no one but has given all judgement to the Son, so that all may honour the Son just as they honour the Father. Anyone who does not honour the Son does not honour the Father who sent him. Very truly, I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life, and does not come under judgement, but has passed from death to life.

‘Very truly, I tell you, the hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just 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 judgement, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be astonished at this; for the hour is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and will come out—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.
- John 5:19-29

In the passages of today's reading in John 5, Jesus makes clear his authority. He states very clearly that he is given authority by the Father. Not only does he have the authority given him by the Father, but this authority and this power extends to life and death, and to judgment. This authority happens not through the power of the Son alone, but because the Father has invested authority and power in the Son, and because the Son acts as the Father does, and does not judge of himself alone. This passage clearly lays out the integrated relationship of the Father and the Son, while it also clearly lays out the authority of the Son. Jesus speaks boldly and clearly about himself, his role, his identity. These are strong claims, to say the least, not made lightly by a person who has a form of earthly authority or the power to teach, but made plainly and clearly and without mincing words. All power seems to be invested in the Son.

Jesus takes great care to tell us also that without the Father, there is no authority - that all that the Son does is with the Father, through the Father's will, in complete relationship. But, in this relationship is the great key: that the Son does what the Father wills, therefore those who do not honor the Son also do not honor the Father.

This is a testimony about relationship and authority, what gives authority and what gives power and what it is that grants the power of Judgment. We are to understand Jesus' authority on these terms. I can only imagine what it must have meant for those whom Jesus taught to hear such language. But for us today, we must also ponder strongly and carefully these words and claims. For myself, I can only begin with the writings of Paul in today's reading, from Romans 2:

All who have sinned apart from the law will also perish apart from the law, and all who have sinned under the law will be judged by the law. For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous in God’s sight, but the doers of the law who will be justified. When Gentiles, who do not possess the law, do instinctively what the law requires, these, though not having the law, are a law to themselves. They show that what the law requires is written on their hearts, to which their own conscience also bears witness; and their conflicting thoughts will accuse or perhaps excuse them on the day when, according to my gospel, God, through Jesus Christ, will judge the secret thoughts of all.

But if you call yourself a Jew and rely on the law and boast of your relation to God and know his will and determine what is best because you are instructed in the law, and if you are sure that you are a guide to the blind, a light to those who are in darkness, a corrector of the foolish, a teacher of children, having in the law the embodiment of knowledge and truth, you, then, that teach others, will you not teach yourself? While you preach against stealing, do you steal? You that forbid adultery, do you commit adultery? You that abhor idols, do you rob temples? You that boast in the law, do you dishonour God by breaking the law? For, as it is written, ‘The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.’

Paul states here that there is a law written on the heart, belonging to the Gentiles, to those who have not heard the law. So I take it then, that in this judgment, there is room for everyone, for those who have heard and those who have not. Paul goes on to address his fellow Jews, to say that if they who have the law do not uphold it, then it is they who cause others to blaspheme God. I can simply paraphrase for myself, that if I as a Christian do not uphold what we have been taught by him who called himself the Son, then we also cause others to condemn our faith and to scorn God, or the gift of what is good and true. Having invested in us in so great a relationship as the Son, we then must take care of our own behavior so that it reflects what we have been taught. Our faith isn't a gift we put away in a closet and keep as a precious possession, but it has to be something lived and real each day. Religious hypocrisy is what kills faith. So, in living that faith, how do we make an effort to be true to the Son, as the Son is to the Father, and true to his teachings?