Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do

 

 Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and he will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.  

 

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, 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 to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- 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 

 

On Saturday we read that there was a feast of the Jews, and Jesus went up to Jerusalem.  Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, which is called in Hebrew, Bethesda, having five porches.  In these lay a great multitude of sick people, blind, lame, paralyzed, waiting for the moving of the water.  For an angel went down at a certain time into the pool and stirred up the water; then whoever stepped in first, after the stirring of the water, was made well of whatever disease he had.  Now a certain man was there who had an infirmity thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him lying there, and knew that he already had been in that condition a long time, He said to him, "Do you want to be made well?"  The sick man answered Him, "Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up but while I am coming, another steps down before me."  Jesus said to him, "Rise, take up your bed and walk."  And immediately the man was made well, took up his bed, and walked.  And that day was the Sabbath.  The Jews therefore said to him who was cured, "It is the Sabbath; it is not lawful for you to carry your bed."  He answered them, "He who made me well said to me, 'Take up your bed and walk.'"  Then they asked him, "Who is the Man who said to you, 'Take up your bed and walk'?"  But the one who was healed did not know who it was, for Jesus had withdrawn, a multitude being in that place.  Afterward Jesus found him in the temple, and said to him, "See, you have been made well.  Sin no more, lest a worse thing come upon you."  The man departed and told the Jews that it was Jesus who had made him well.  For this reason the Jews persecuted Jesus, and sought to kill Him, because He had done these things on the Sabbath.  But Jesus answered them, "My Father has been working until now, and I have been working."  Therefore the Jews sought all the more to kill Him, because He not only broke the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father, making Himself equal with God.

 

  Then Jesus answered and said to them, "Most assuredly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, but what He sees the Father do; for whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner.  For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself does; and he will show Him greater works than these, that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.  For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son, that all should honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him."  My study Bible asserts that, as Jesus teaches here that the Son can do nothing of Himself, this proves that His every act and word is in complete unity with the Father and the Holy Spirit.  It tells us that this discourse reveals that the Father and the Son are completely united in nature, will, and action.  So, therefore, the Son fully shares the divine attributes of both giving life and executing judgment.  In this discourse, Jesus teaches that His judgment is based on both faith (verse 24) and works (verse 29).

 

 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, 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 to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth -- those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation."  Jesus says that "the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God . . . "  According to my study Bible, the dead of whom Christ speaks here refers both to the spiritually dead, who will find life in Christ, and to the physically dead, who will rise in the general resurrection.  Jesus confirms this when He raises Lazarus from the dead (John 11:38-44) before He goes to His own death.  These particular verses are read at the Orthodox funeral service, thus confirming the same reward for those who fall asleep in faith.  

 

In the Church, we hear a lot about obedience.  That is, in particular, about obedience toward God.  But it's easy to lose sight of the fact that Jesus -- even as the Second Person of the Trinity, the Son of God -- first lives in perfect obedience.  For this is certainly an essential part of the Incarnation, as He also willingly conforms His human will to obedience to the Father and in accord with the Holy Spirit in all that He does.  Indeed, in today's reading Jesus affirms that He could not do the things He does except that the Father does them and shows Him.  In all things, He honors the Father.  And, according to what Christ says here, the Father also honors the Son, committing judgment into Christ's hands.  This cooperative reality is one that we, as human beings, strive to emulate, for this is what the Incarnation teaches us.  Indeed, we might assume that it is because of the Incarnation that we are able to do so.  This is true not only because we are to follow Jesus' example that is given to us through His earthly life, but also through the gift we are given ourselves of the Holy Spirit through Baptism and other sacraments and gifts of the Church.  Of course, there is perhaps no greater example of obedience to and cooperation with the Father than Christ's own self-sacrifice on the Cross.  For this understanding, we are given Jesus' prayer in the garden of Gethsemane before His arrest and crucifixion (Matthew 26:36-46).  In St. John's chapter 17, Jesus prays to the Father, "I have finished the work which You have given Me to do" (John 17:4).  He then goes on to pray for the disciples and all believers, His prayer showing to us His human concerns and His great love (John 17).  Of course, we know of His love in the statement, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends" (John 15:13).  Through all of Christ's teachings and His works, He shows us, through the disciples, that obedience to God is obedience to love.  St. John himself will write that God is love (1 John 4:8).  In the shared love and honor of the Holy Trinity we find a perfect love, and Christ has come into the world to invite us to participate in that love as well.  We may, as human beings, confuse calls to obedience with imperfect love, even abusive relationships that abuse our love, but this is not the place to which Christ calls us.  He first sets the example, and teaches us how the Father loves Him, and of the love shared between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, and this honor and obedience He invites us to share, and makes possible by grace through the Incarnation.  Let us ponder these tremendous mysteries and find the ways to live our faith and this love offered to us through Christ, for this is where He teaches that judgment, and life, will be as well.