Deo Gloria
Sermon for November 7, 2021
Pastor Martin Bentz
Text: John 5:19-24
Theme: Honor the Son!
- He works in harmony with the Father.
- He has been appointed judge by the Father.
If you’ve ever been to court, you know that we have a custom in our legal system: whenever the judge enters the courtroom, everyone stands. It’s our way of showing honor to the judge, who serves as a representative of our government and is charged with upholding the law. It is our way of showing respect to the judge who has the power and authority from our government to punish those who break the law, even to put people in prison for the rest of their lives.
This morning in the verses of our text we hear about another judge, not a county judge or a state judge or one who sits on the United States Supreme Court, but the Judge of all mankind, the Judge all people will have to stand before some day, Jesus Christ, our Lord. And just like in the courtroom here in Scott County you and I are encouraged this morning to honor and respect this Judge. Honor the Son! First of all, because he works in harmony with the Father. And secondly, because he has been appointed judge by the Father.
Think of a pair of business partners, people who work side by side, year after year with one common goal: to build up their business and make a product or perform a service better than anyone else. Think of the Wright brothers, for example—Orville and Wilbur. How many years didn’t they work together on that first airplane? How many times didn’t they fail and have to go back to the drawing board? But they stuck to it. They kept working on it together. And then, on December 17, 1903 they finally succeeded, becoming the first to fly a powered airplane. Or think of some famous comedian team like Abbott and Costello or Laurel and Hardy. For years and years the two of them worked together to make people laugh. And they were very good at what they did.
The same is true of the Father and the Son. They too are a team. They work together. They work together in perfect harmony. That’s the point that Jesus is making, beginning at v. 19:
I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. (vv. 19-20)
The Father and the Son worked together on creation, didn’t they? Normally we think of the Father as being the Creator, the one who made the heavens and the earth and everything in them. But the Bible clearly teaches that the Son was also involved. In fact, back at the beginning of his Gospel, in the very first chapter John states: “Through him”—that is, through the Son—“through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made”(v. 3). Likewise the Father and the Son collaborated on our salvation. The Father planned it out, and the Son carried it out, coming into this world of ours as a true human being, living a perfect life in our place, and then offering his life on the cross as a perfect sacrifice to take away all of our sins. The same is true of the miracles that Jesus performed, like the one recorded right before our text, where Jesus healed the man at the pool of Bethesda, a man who had been crippled for 38 years. The Father gave those miraculous works to Jesus, and Jesus gladly did them. He didn’t act on his own. He did exactly what the Father wanted him to do.
And what purpose did those miracles serve? To give honor and glory to the Son, to lead people to believe that he was the Son of God and Savior of the world. Sadly, though, not everyone believed, not everyone was willing to honor the Son. As John tells us, some of the Jewish leaders criticized Jesus and persecuted him because he performed this miracle on the Sabbath. Here Jesus had just performed a wonderful miracle, a miracle of incredible kindness and mercy, enabling a man who had been crippled for 38 years to walk. And instead of rejoicing in such a wonderful act of God, they chose to criticize Jesus for doing it on the Sabbath.
In defending what he had done, Jesus pointed to the ongoing and continuing work of the Father: “My Father,” he said, “is always at his work to this very day, and I, too, am working”(v. 17).
And that sent those Jewish leaders through the roof. “Not only is this guy breaking the Sabbath,” they said, “but he is even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.” That was something they simply could not accept. They refused to believe that Jesus was the Son of God. They refused to honor the Son. In fact, John tells us that they “tried all the harder to kill him”(v. 18).
Sadly, there are people like that today too. No, they may not necessarily want to kill Jesus, but they do not care to honor him. Instead of giving him the honor and glory he deserves as the Son of God and Savior of the world, they dishonor him and try to discredit what he did. Some like to discredit the miracles that Jesus performed, explaining them away as mere stories made up by his disciples. Some even seek to discredit the greatest of Jesus’ miracles, the miracle of his own resurrection. They claim that Jesus didn’t actually rise from the dead. He simply lives on in the hearts and lives of his people. Still others suggest that Jesus is not the only Savior, that he is not the only way to heaven. They say you can also get to heaven by believing in Buddha or Krishna or Allah.
Such people do not honor the Son. They dishonor him. And in doing so, they dishonor the Father as well. Can you imagine someone ripping on Orville Wright and making fun of him for spending his time working on some stupid “flying machine,” and Wilbur just standing by and saying nothing? Can you imagine Jonathan Scott who works with his brother, Drew, on the show The Property Brothers…. Can you imagine Jonathan listening to people rip on his brother and say all kinds of mean and nasty things about him and not becoming upset? You see, what you do to one you do to the other. What you say about one you say about the other. They’re a team. They work together. They go together. Can you imagine, then, how the Father must feel when he hears people ripping on his Son and making fun of his Son and discrediting him and the things that he did? I shutter to think. The Son is his right hand man. They’re a team. They work together in perfect harmony. Honor the Son. Give him the glory and honor he deserves.
And yet there’s another reason you and I ought to honor the Son: because he has been appointed judge by the Father. Listen again to what Jesus says:
Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.(vv. 22-23)
Many people don’t like to think about Judgment Day. They don’t like to think about the fact that some day they will have to stand before God and answer for the things they did in this life. They prefer to think that this life is all there is and that this world of ours will never come to an end; but they couldn’t be more wrong. The Bible clearly teaches that this world will come to an end and that one day all people will have to stand before God and be judged. Remember what it said in our epistle lesson this morning? “Man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment”(Hebrews 9:27). Or remember what Paul said in Acts, ch. 17? “For he”—that is, God—“he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man he has appointed. He has given proof of this to all men by raising him from the dead”(v. 31).
And who is that man that God has appointed? Who is this judge who will judge the world with justice, the one before whom all people will have to stand? That judge is Jesus. Imagine the fear, imagine the terror a criminal would feel as he standing in front of the judge and he finds out that the car he stole was the judge’s car. Or imagine the fear, imagine the terror a criminal would feel as he standing in front of the judge and he finds out that the house he broke into and vandalized was the judge’s house. That’s what it will be like for unbelievers on Judgment Day. Those who rejected Jesus will be brought into the courtroom of God only to discover that he is their judge. Those who made fun of Jesus and rejected his Word and despised his gift of salvation and discredited him and the things that he did will suddenly discover that he now holds their eternal destiny in his hands. And they will be terrified. Judgment Day will be an awful day for unbelievers. Malachi describes what an awful day it will be: “’Surely the day is coming; it will burn like a furnace. All the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble, and that day that is coming will set them on fire,’ says the LORD Almighty”(4:1)
But what about for you and me, for those who believe in Jesus Christ? Will Judgment Day be an awful day for us too? Do we too need to shiver and shake as we wait for the end of our world and for Judgment Day? We would if Jesus were to judge us on the basis of our lives. We too would be filled with fear if we had to stand before Jesus and answer for all of the things we said and did. I mean, what answer would we give for the lies we told? What answer would we give for the times we took advantage of other people or made fun of other people and put them down? What answer would we give for the times we cursed and swore and misused Jesus’ name? What answer would we give for the times we did not honor the Son, but brought him shame and dishonor in our words and actions? “Ah, I didn’t know it was wrong”? “Ah, well, it wasn’t really that bad, was it”? Do you think such flimsy excuses would fly in God’s courtroom? Do you think the Judge would let us off? Not a chance. If Jesus were to judge us on the basis of our lives, we would be condemned, condemned as guilty and sentenced to eternal death in hell.
But that’s the wonderful comfort we find in these verses. Jesus is not going to judge us on the basis of our lives. You and I are not going to have to stand before the Judge of heaven and earth and answer for the things we said and did. In fact, in our case the judge has already given his verdict. Take another look at v. 24. “I tell you the truth,” Jesus said, “whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life….” Did you catch that? “Has eternal life.” Not will have. Not might have. “Has eternal life.” You and I don’t have to wait until Judgment Day to find out whether or not Jesus is going to let us into heaven. The Judge has already rendered his verdict. Eternal life in heaven is ours.
Let’s go on: “…and will not be condemned…” I like what the original says even better. The original Greek says, “…and he does not come into judgment….” He does not come into judgment…. Jesus is not going to put us on trial on Judgment Day. Jesus is not going to pull out his record books and grill us about the sins we committed. Those who believe in him do not come into judgment. The Judge has already spoken. Remember his words from the cross? “It is finished.”
And then the last part of the verse: “…he has crossed over from death to life.” At one point you and I were dead, dead in our transgressions and sins, as the Bible describes it. But in his grace and mercy God made us alive. Through his Word, through the Sacrament of Holy Baptism God breathed new life into our cold and lifeless hearts. He put faith in our hearts, faith to trust in Jesus as our Savior. He washed away our sins and declared us to be “not guilty” in his sight. He gave us life, new life that leads to eternal life in heaven. And that isn’t going to change on Judgment Day. Jesus, our Savior, has been appointed judge by the Father. And in our case he has already made his decision. His verdict is life, eternal life with him in heaven, which gives people like you and me all the more reason to honor the Son.
When the judge enters the courtroom, everyone has to rise and stand. Whether the judge is an honorable man or not, whether the judge is an honest judge or not, everyone has to stand out of respect for him and his office. How much different it is when it comes to honoring God’s Son, Jesus Christ. Honoring Jesus is not something we have to do. It’s something we want to do, something we are happy to do because he is deserving of our honor and respect. He and the Father are a team. They work together in perfect harmony. Besides that, the Father has appointed him to be the judge. And with him as judge, you and I have absolutely nothing to fear. We will not be condemned. Eternal life is already ours, thanks to Jesus. Honor the Son! Amen.