Our Eternal Judge - John 5:19-22

As Jesus teaches the Jews that He is one with the Father, they are not happy and “sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the Sabbath, but also said that God was his Father making himself equal with God.” Jesus knows their intentions and so continues to teach them, “the Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do; for what things soever he doeth, these also does the Son likewise.” This morning I was thinking why the Savior would answer those who wanted to kill him for healing on the Sabbath about who God really is. Why did Jesus heal that man in the first place? He wasn’t obligated to do it; this man wasn’t a family member or friend that we know of. The man didn’t come to Jesus asking to be healed, in fact he was living with hope in a superstition that reasonably he couldn’t have truly believed, only hoped was true. Jesus saw that man’s potential, he knew him personally, he knew how he got into that situation, and he knew that there was no action he could take to fix it himself. JTC speculates that Jesus’s warning to the man to “sin no more, lest a worse thing come unto thee,” implies that “the man had probably brought about his affliction through his own sinful habits. The Lord decided that he had suffered enough in body, and terminated his physical suffering with the subsequent admonition to sin no more.” Aren’t we all in that same situation? Not necessarily physically debilitated, but spiritually dead? And isn’t that what Jesus does for us, teaches us lessons through hardships, then decide when we’ve suffered enough, and relieve us of our suffering? Heals us, makes us whole? The Jews condemned Jesus for healing on the Sabbath and Jesus responds by telling them of the Plan of Salvation.

Jesus answers the question as to why he healed this man on the Sabbath by teaching of God’s love for Him saying, “For the Father loveth the Son.” In the November 2003 Ensign article entitled “The True Nature of God,” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland teaches, “Some in the contemporary world suffer from a distressing misconception of (God our Eternal Father). Among these there is a tendency to feel distant from the Father, even estranged from Him, if they believe in Him at all.” I think that we all know of my own personal struggles with who God is and who I am to Him. Before, I thought of God as every other man, with a “my way or the highway” attitude, selfish, controlling, and generally disinterested in my life or suffering. Then came the day that changed my life, when God let me see who He really is, who I am and what I mean to Him. That was a life changing experience for me, it was beautiful, and I am truly grateful. I feel like these accusing Jews are like me before I knew, and it makes sense, the Old Testament (which were their scriptures at the time) is full of fire and brimstone and anger and jealousy and violence. It’s reasonable to be terrified of that God, and if you are scared of displeasing your God, a life of fear is exhausting, and you can’t be perfect so you’re going to offender your angry God anyway so what’s the point in even trying? If you’re not perfect then you’ll go to hell, and since you can’t be perfect, then why not get whatever you want out of this life while you can. Enjoy what you can while it lasts because after you die it will be an eternity of misery, I feel like that was their philosophy back then, and Jesus came to teach them differently. Jesus had mercy on the man, and he wanted the people to know that God is merciful.

I think it’s interesting that Jesus speaks in the third person so much of the time, and not in the creepy “Jesus says” way but in a round about way so that we know he’s speaking of himself, but it’s not authoritarian or intimidating. Jesus earlier referred to Himself as the Son of his “Father” who “worketh hitherto, and I work.” Everyone apparently understood that that he was “making himself equal with God,” so they would have made the connection between the “Son” that Jesus spoke of and Jesus himself who declared himself to be that “Son.” By speaking in this manner, Jesus allows the message to come across without it being attached to Him personally, and I wonder if this is another way of teaching that this is the Father’s gospel. Jesus seemingly switches topics from the love of God to the resurrection and judgment, are those who topics related? Does that make a smooth transition while speaking? It seems like verse 20 transitions to verse 21 saying, “and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will.” The works that Jesus is initially referring to appears to be the healing of the man, and the greater things than these is the resurrection. Honestly, I think maybe I need to move on and maybe looking back it will make more sense.

Jesus continues, “For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son.” Why would God the Father hand over judgment to Jesus, His Son? The IM quotes Elder Richard G. Scott as teaching, “The Atonement was a selfless act of infinite, eternal consequence, arduously earned alone, by the Son of God. Through it the Savior broke the bonds of death. It justifies our finally being judged by the Redeemer… He is perfect in every attribute, including love, compassion, patience, obedience, forgiveness, and humility… I testify that with unimaginable suffering and agony at an incalculable price, the Savior earned His right to be our Redeemer, our Intermediary, our Final Judge.” If I were going to trial, who would I want representing me? Jesus is both our lawyer and our judge and that’s an interesting dynamic. In today’s court, can the lawyer be the judge as well? No of course not, that’s an incredible conflict of interest. So why would it be allowed during the final judgment, the ultimate trial, the one that dictates our eternity? There are a couple of reasons that this final trial will be different. First is that all things will be known. Here, anyone can lie and say anything, as long as you are convincing enough to make people believe you, then the actual truth is not readily available. When we come to that moment, we will know that we are guilty, and so will our lawyer/judge. If we come to the table knowing we are guilty, then who do we want judging us? Someone who has experienced our entire existence? Someone who has lived life through our eyes, who has suffered who we have suffered, and lived as we have lived? Someone who knows our feelings and experiences so intimately that he knows and loves us perfectly? There is a saying that I love that says, “He knew the price of those sins was death. He knew the source of those sins was you and since he couldn’t bear the thought of eternity without you, he chose the nails.” Would you want your judge to be the person who loved you so much he died for you? Physically and spiritually? I would want that person to dictate my eternal existence. I am so grateful that he is/will be our judge, our guide, our mentor, our God.