DAY ELEVEN
Since hearing the Father’s voice is so important to being sent, Jesus very likely reminded His disciples of something He spoke about this during His last few years. He spent His entire life, especially after He was baptized in the Holy Spirit by John the Baptist, listening to the Father. In fact, He did nothing and said nothing unless it came from the Father. He lived this way, not as a superhuman. He did it as a man, filled with the Holy Spirit, and dependent on the Father for instructions on what to do and say. He did it as an example of what it looks like for you and me to live in the kingdom of God.
John 5:18-20 says…
18 “For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill Him, because He not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God.
19 Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.
20 "For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.”
Jesus makes it clear that He does absolutely nothing by Himself. Other translations rightly say that Jesus, the Son, does nothing of His own initiative. In other words, He does not decide what He does on a daily, moment by moment basis.
In verse 19, the words “can do” in the phrase, “can do nothing” could literally be translated as “do not have the power to do anything.” The word “nothing” of “can do nothing”, means, “absolutely nothing.” It is a double negative, one of the most powerful designations in the Greek language. The conclusion, then, is that Jesus does not have the power to anything of Himself. In other words, on His own initiative, there is absolutely nothing He can do. He cannot speak or act. He does not have the power to do so.
Unless. Unless He sees the Father doing it. Here again, the Greek words are emphatic. It says literally, “…unless he absolutely sees something that the Father is doing.” So, knowing this to be true, what do you think Jesus did on a daily, moment by moment basis? He stayed in communication with the Father, always on the alert for what God might be doing, so He could enter into the works of God.
The word “for” always means there is a further explanation coming. “For,” He says, “whatever the father does, the Son does in like manner.” It literally says, “Whatever the Father might be doing, the Son does the exact same thing in the exact same way.” In other words, He always follows the Father’s lead in every possible way in order to do the mighty works of God.
And what does the Father do for His Son? Because the Father loves the Son, He shows Him all things that He is doing. What things does He show the Son? All things. Why does He do it? Because He loves Him and wants Him to experience it all. What specifically is the Father showing Jesus? Everything that He Himself is doing. It is the present tense. God is always at work. God, Himself, is always doing things, and he is always showing them to His children. It is in His character to reveal things to His children, not to keep them hidden. This is who He is.
Look at John 5:30. Jesus says, again…
“I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek My own will, but the will of Him who sent Me.”
He uses the same emphatic phrase, “I do not have the power to do anything in and of myself.” Instead of doing what he pleases, Jesus does the will of the one who sent Him. That would be the will of the Father. It was important for the disciples to understand the process of doing the will of the Father, so Jesus what it is like to hear from the Father for everything that He does and says.
First, He hears.
What do we have to do in order to hear? We have to be listening. Jesus had developed a habit of listening for the Father’s voice at all times. He was conversational with God, just like Adam dialogued with God the garden of Eden.
Second, He judges.
He discerns. The literal meaning of this word is to separate, to separate truth from lies, to separate my thoughts from God’s thoughts. The secondary meaning is to rule or govern. In this verse, both apply. Jesus was listening and therefore He could act in authority. He listened. He discerned. Then He received the words spoken by God with great authority.
Third, He knows.
He knows that His judgement and discernment are just. Literally, what He discerns is righteous, everything as it should be in the Kingdom of God. With God on His throne, giving the instructions and the assignments, everything is just the way it was meant to be.
But how did Jesus know? How did He have such confidence? He had surrendered His will and He was seeking the will of the Father. He had completely abandoned all self in the process of hearing from God. Surrender is what gave him confidence in hearing from God and doing what He did with great authority, the authority of the Kingdom of God.
Jesus says something similar in John 8:26-29…
26 "I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you, but He who sent Me is true; and the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.
27 They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father.
28 So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.
29 "And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him."
For the third time He uses the same emphatic phrase, “I do not have the power to do anything in and of myself.” This time, He also describes his utter dependence on the Father and His complete denial of His own ideas and thoughts.
First, Jesus says, “I have many things to speak and to judge concerning you…” In other words, I have many of my own ideas about the things I should say to you. I actually know things about you and could bring judgement on you right now.”
How do we what Jesus was talking about here? Think about what had just happened in the first part of this chapter? The Pharisees had brought to Jesus a woman who had been caught in adultery. They were hoping He would judge her.
But what happened? Instead of judgement, He bent over and started to write on the ground. Then He said to them, “Whoever is without sin, cast the first stone.” No one cast a stone. So, He bent down again and wrote in the sand a second time. The passage says that one by one, the people in the crowd began leaving.
What do you think He was writing in the sand? We don’t know for sure. But I think He was probably writing what He knew to be true about each person, specifically, the sins they had committed. My guess is that some sins were probably far worse than others, many probably just like the sin of the woman caught in adultery.
Jesus demonstrated that He knew far more than He ever spoke. He had many ideas and thoughts about what He should say and do, but He didn’t speak or do it all. Jesus explains why he refrained from speaking in the phrase, “He who sent me is true…” He was speaking about the Father and his statement is that the Father is true and the source of all truth. In other words, to determine what to say and do, the Father is the source of truth. Jesus always went to the Father to get truth before He spoke or acted in any way.
And therefore, He says, “…the things which I heard from Him, these I speak to the world.” He only speaks what he hears from the Father. And again, what does He have to do to hear? He must listen. He must constantly listen for the voice of the Father.
Verse 27 and 28 says…
“They did not realize that He had been speaking to them about the Father. So Jesus said, "When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am He, and I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me.”
How interesting that Jesus knew that the crowd couldn’t possibly understand all that He was speaking, until He had died on the cross and was seated at the right hand of the Father, the position of authority. There is a good chance that He reminded His disciples of this in the 40 days after His resurrection.
Jesus adds another concept here. The concept of teaching. Just as the father is continually speaking and showing Jesus what He ought to do, the Father is also “teaching” Him.
In the Western world the most common form of teaching is the standup lecture, especially in the church. The most common form of “teaching” is a pastor or teacher standing at a lectern and delivering a lecture to students.
This is not what “teaching” meant in the day of Jesus. It is certainly not the form of teaching that Jesus used. The most common definition of the word “teaching” in the time of Jesus was, “…to hold discourse with others in order to instruct them, or to deliver didactic discourses.” It was dialogue. It was conversation.
But wait, there is more…look at verse 29...
"And He who sent Me is with Me; He has not left Me alone, for I always do the things that are pleasing to Him."
Where was the Father during the life of Jesus? He was right with Him. He was not off in heaven. He was by Jesus side. What a perfect place to be in conversation with the Son! So then, what was the result of this ongoing conversation and the obedience of Jesus? The verse literally says that the Father is with me; He has not left me alone “in order that” I might do the things that are pleasing to Him at all times.” The result of ongoing conversation with the Father is always doing and speaking what pleases God. What a beautiful conversation and what a beautiful relationship.
Look at Jesus’ words in John 14:10…
"Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works."
Jesus uses that familiar phrase, literally, “I do not ever speak and I do not ever have the power to do speak…but the Father abiding in Me does His works.”
What are the works of the Father? He is the vinedresser. He is the spiritual director. Jesus received rhema from the Father and passed it on to His disciples. This was His example of how we should live our lives. He didn’t speak anything to others unless He heard it from the Father. And, as a result, the Father was actively working in Jesus in every word that He spoke.
Again, this was not Jesus acting as a superman. This is a man, like you and I, who had put aside His equality with God, surrendered Himself to the Father, and waited on the Father for everything He spoke and did. He is our example. This is exactly how we are to live. Like Jesus, we were made to have conversation with God. Like Jesus, we were made to speak and act on behalf of the Father. And like Jesus, we were made to experience the Supernatural.
WORSHIP: Knowing that Jesus recognized that God, the Father, was supreme, above all, take some time to worship God in His rightful place in heaven. This is the way Jesus taught us to pray, “Our Father, the One who is in heaven. Let you name be Holy.”
PRACTICE: Take some time to listen again. Simply ask the Father what is on His heart and let Him speak to you. Also, find one place in your life where you can purpose not to move forward until you know you have heard from the Father. This is how Jesus lived His life. This is how we can live too.
MEDITATION: Take some time to ponder this idea that Jesus, the Son of God, said that He did not have the power to do anything and He did not have permission to say anything. Stop there. Ponder that. How could it be? Think about what this means for how we should live our lives like Jesus.
ABIDING: Go back and read through this teaching one more time. Ask the Father if there is anything in these passages specifically for you. Write down anything you hear from Him. Spend some extra time listening to see if He has anything more to say to you or if there is a deeper teaching for you today. Write down whatever you hear. Ask the Father if there is someone, He wants you to share this with and follow through with His assignment.