Jesus is God - John 5:16-29

Take some time to stop and reflect. Take a deep breath. Think about what God has done in your life. Prepare your heart. Pray to him. Ask God for insight from this devotional.

Read John 5:16-29

Here, in the first two verses, we see the Jews persecuting Jesus. As a bystander reading, it is terribly easy for us to scoff at the “Jews who were persecuting Jesus” and see how wrong that is. The Jews were clearly putting religious “rituals” or “traditions” in front of what God truly desires. That’s a clear message. Sometimes, we are like the Jews; we get caught up in going through the “rituals” of Christianity, like reading our Bibles, praying, or going to church. These are all good things, but often we care more about just doing it rather than having the right heart for it. When we do our quiet times or go to church or pray, God wants to work in us and grow us. Just doing these things because “it’s what Christians do” isn’t what God intends for us. Pause for a moment to reflect on where your heart is when it comes to doing these things. Ask God to give you a passion for Him and to not just go through the motions of being a Christian.

In the next couple verses, Jesus asserts his divinity. Jesus establishes that he is God, but that he is also separate from the Father. He asserts that he has a right to be worshipped and that “the son also gives life”. This is surely comforting because it gives us a glimpse of what’s in store for us in heaven and it shows how awesome of a being we are worshipping. Furthermore, Jesus talks about eternal life. How awesome is that? Hell? What? We have God on our side and have been given eternal life. I don’t know about you, but I find peace knowing that one day I’ll be in heaven with God because of what Jesus has done for me.

Towards the end of this passage, Jesus once again asserts that he is fully God. He speaks of being the Son of Man (fully human and fully God). Then verse 29 ends with “those who have done good…. And those who have done evil…” That may seem confusing at first, for, after all, is not the way to gain eternal life through belief, not works? Jesus isn’t trying to say that our salvation is based on works. Jesus is trying to say that good works are a light, a symbol of a strong faith. If one were to be reborn in Christ, he is a changed man. Those who believe are able to enjoy the resurrection of life and so their works and deeds should reflect that. Read that line over again, and chew on it. It’s very important to be clear that good work does not bring salvation, but faith alone does. Thus, our faith should lead to good works in order to reflect the good work that God has done.

There is a lot to reflect on and be in awe of. Jesus truly is supreme, and it was this very same person who came, died for us, and gave us the chance at eternal life. There’s also a lesson to be learned in faith and to have love and compassion on others. Don’t be caught up in rituals, and remember to keep your eyes on Jesus. Additionally, in the previous devotional, you read about how Jesus healed the man at the pool. The man wanted to get into the pool to feel better. That’s how we are without God. We struggle to find him. Yet, Jesus, in all his grace, came to us, came to that man, and healed him. How ridiculously awesome is that. Think about that, and then think about this passage. How much more in awe should we be of the fact that The Lion of the tribe of Judah, Emmanuel, The Messiah, came to us fickle human beings, and offered us the promise of eternal life.

Take some time to just sit there, and meditate.