4/5

John 5:22-23

²²"The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, ²³that all may honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him."

Here, once again, we find Jesus making claims that would sound like lunacy coming from anyone else. First, He claimed that all judgment about right and wrong in every life is His to make. Those who believe in Jesus are very glad that this is so. He is the One who said, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do" (Luke 23:34). He has walked in our shoes and knows the struggles we are facing. Even more comforting is the fact that He was willing to take our sins and give us His righteousness. He judges us on His resume, not ours, if you have made that exchange.

The second claim was that if you don't honor Him, you don't honor God. That implies that Jesus' message and deeds are consistent with God's. That is what He claimed in the verse preceding our verses for today (John 5:19). Everything He did and said perfectly represented God. He was claiming oneness with God the Father.

No one ever spoke like Jesus. No one ever performed the miraculous signs that Jesus demonstrated (John 5:36). Whose words can calm a storm? Who can speak to deformity and paralysis and see it instantly made whole? Whom do demons instantly tremble before and refer to as "the Son of God?" Who has walked out of His own tomb after being dead for days without the intervention of man? Who do you say that He is?

Consider: Do you believe He is God's provision for your sins? Have you accepted Him as the Lord of your life?