Are you still wondering about the deity of Christ? Do you question if Jesus is really God? From His miraculous birth (Luke 2) to His resurrection from the dead (Matthew 28), the Bible tells us Jesus was like no other man. He fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy: “they shall call His name Immanuel (which means, God with us)” (Matthew 1:23). His disciple Thomas recognized Him as, “my Lord and my God” (John 20:28), echoing Psalm 35:23-24.
Right now, I am studying some stirring evidence for Jesus’ deity in John 5. First, Jesus healed a paralyzed man with only a few words: “Rise, take up your bed, and walk” (v. 8). There was no surgery or physical therapy. No steroid injections. But, “at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked” (v. 9).
If you know Jesus’ opponents, you know they were not happy for the man’s newly found life. Instead, they were critical that he was carrying his bed around on the Sabbath (v. 10). Furthermore, Jesus had dared to do this healing work on the Sabbath! They did not understand that Jesus was Lord of the Sabbath (Matthew 12:8). He created it, and He could determine its application. Healing this disabled man was part of God’s plan to show what life in His kingdom will be like.
God is always working to bring about our rescue, to seek and to save and restore (Ezekiel 34:11, 16). And so, Jesus reveals that He and the Father are Co-Workers in this saving plan: “My Father is working until now and I am working” (John 5:17). The Son does the same work as His Father (v. 19) and must be “honored” in the same way (v. 23). Thus, Jesus is working and will be honored as only God can be.
Comments, questions? Email Pastor Jeff: jeffgwilt@gmail.com
