Transcription
Christians claim that Jesus is God, the second person of the Trinity, the Divine son of the Father, and yet in the Gospel of John 5:30, Jesus says, “I can do nothing on my own.” Does it make any sense whatsoever for God to say that he can't do anything on his own? This verse was popularized by Muslim apologists following Nike; they usually quote the King James translation: “I can of my own self do nothing.” You see, God is all-powerful; Jesus says he can't do anything on his own. Does this sound like something God would say?
Muslims around the world now quote John 5:30 to show Christians that we got our theology wrong; we somehow missed this clear verse for nearly 2,000 years. Fortunately for us, Muslim apologists found the verse and shared it with us to correct our dumb theologians. When our Muslim friends bring up this verse, it may be helpful to ask a quick question. The question I would ask Muslims who quote John 5:30 is this: Can you tell me one word Jesus said in the rest of John chapter 5? Can you tell me a single word from the rest of the chapter? Because if you're quoting John 5 to show that Jesus was a mere human being, I don't think you've actually read the chapter.
This is an ongoing problem with Islamic apologists. If I were to quote a Quran verse out of context in a way that completely distorts the meaning, they would suddenly understand the importance of reading an entire passage. But when they go to the Bible, the most basic fundamental rules of interpreting a text go out the window. Let me show you what I mean.
So Jesus says in John 5:30, “I can do nothing on my own.” Our Muslim friends insist this verse proves that Jesus was just a man, a helpless human being, certainly not God. But last time I checked, if we're reading verse 30 of a chapter, there are 29 verses that come before it in that chapter. Perhaps we should look and see what those verses say so we can make sure we're not twisting the words of Jesus. Our Muslim friends respect Jesus and wouldn't want to misrepresent what he said, right? So they'll definitely want to read the passage carefully with us, won't they?
I'll just summarize the first 15 verses of John 5. Jesus heals a man on the Sabbath, and this upsets the Jewish leaders. They regard miraculously healing someone as work, and you're not allowed to work on the Sabbath. We'll pick up the story in verse 16. This is verse 16 of the same chapter Islam's greatest apologists go to when they want to debunk Christian theology: “And this was why the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things on the Sabbath.” But Jesus answered them, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.”
Uh-oh! It's the Sabbath, but Jesus says that he's working because the Father is working. This might not seem like a big deal to someone in the 21st century, but it was a huge deal to first-century Jews. Jews weren't allowed to work on the Sabbath; however, there was a debate among the Jewish rabbis about whether God works on the Sabbath. Some of them reasoned that since God upholds and sustains the universe even on the Sabbath, God works on the Sabbath. Jews don't get to work on the Sabbath, but God works on the Sabbath—that was their reasoning.
How does Jesus answer the Jewish leaders when they complain that he's working on the Sabbath? He says, “My Father is working until now, and I am working.” Like father, like son, as the saying goes. Now, if rabbis are discussing the Sabbath and they conclude that, even though they're not allowed to work on the Sabbath, God works on the Sabbath, and some guy comes along and says, “Yeah, that's why I'm working on the Sabbath,” like father, like son, what does it sound like he's claiming?
It sounds like he's putting himself in the same category with God rather than in the mere human being category. And as the next verse shows, that's exactly what the Jewish leaders thought he was saying. Look at the heading, by the way. Verse 18: “This was why the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because not only was he breaking the Sabbath, but he was even calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.”
In the Bible, people or groups of people can be called sons of God or children of God in various senses. For instance, we're all children of God in the sense that God created all of us. This is the basis for Ahmed Deedat's “Sons by the Tons” response: “Oh, you claim that Jesus is the son of God, but God has lots of sons in the Bible.” Yeah, there are lots of sons of God in the Bible, but the phrase “Son of God” is used in very different ways.
The question is, what does the phrase “Son of God” mean when it's applied to Jesus? Does it mean something more than when it's applied to, say, me? In John 5, Jesus is clearly claiming to be the Son of God in a very special and unique way when he says that the Father is working on the Sabbath, so he's working on the Sabbath. The religious leaders consider this blasphemy because he's calling God his own Father, making himself equal with God.
Notice the Jews here think that Jesus is claiming to be a separate God, a separate deity. He's the Son who's equal with God but who can act on his own, separate from the Father. They think he's claiming to be another God who's equal to God. Now, if our Muslim friends are right about Jesus, and he's a merely human Prophet, how should he respond when the Jewish leaders conclude that he's claiming to be another God who is equal with God? Shouldn't he correct the misunderstanding of the Jewish leaders by saying, “Wait! You think I'm claiming to be another God who's equal to God? You totally misunderstood me! I'm only human, just like the rest of you!”
If our Muslim friends are right, that's how Jesus should respond. But if Christians are right, and Jesus is the Divine Son who has the nature and attributes of God and who is one with the Father, he should correct their misunderstanding by saying, “Wait! You think I'm claiming to be a separate God? I'm not claiming to be a separate God. Yes, I'm God, but I don't act on my own as some extra deity. Everything I do comes from the Father because I'm one with the Father.”
So we know how Jesus is going to respond if Muslims are right, and we know how Jesus is going to respond if Christians are right. Let's see what Jesus does and which view is confirmed by Jesus.
Verse 19: “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord.’” Oh no! Christians, Jesus says that he can do nothing of his own accord! This sounds very similar to verse 30, where you'll recall Jesus declares, “I can do nothing on my own.” But wait a minute! When Jesus says that he can do nothing of his own accord, does he mean that he's a helpless human being, or does he mean that he can't do anything separately from the Father because he's one with the Father?
Let's at least read the entire verse before we decide. “So Jesus said to them, ‘Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of his own accord, but only what he sees the Father doing. For whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.’” Jesus does whatever the Father does. What mere human being, what mere Prophet, could ever say, “Whatever God does, I do that too”?
So when Jesus says the Son can do nothing of his own accord, is he claiming to be a mere human being, or is he claiming to be the Divine Son who's one with the Father and therefore can't do anything separately from the Father? Let's keep reading.
“For the Father loves the Son and shows him all that he himself is doing, and Greater Works than these will he show him, so that you may marvel. For as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, so also the Son gives life to whom he will.” If the Father raises the dead, so does the Son. Why? Because, as Jesus said, “Whatever the Father does, that the Son does likewise.” Like father, like son.
Let's continue. “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son.” Here we have a theological Red Alert! Jesus says that the Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son. Thus, the Son is the final judge.
But according to the Old Testament, God is the final judge. In chapter 3 of the Book of the Prophet Joel, God declares that the nations will be gathered and that he will sit to judge all the surrounding nations. The Quran also claims that God is the final judge. In Surah 22:56, Allah declares, “The sovereignty on that day, the day of judgment, will be that of Allah, the one who has no partners. He will judge between them.” Allah is the final judge according to Islam. Yet Jesus says, “The Father judges no one but has given all judgment to the Son.”
There are two main possibilities here: either the Bible and the Quran are wrong and God isn't the final judge because he's handed all judgment over to a helpless human being, or God is indeed the final judge because Jesus is God, and within the nature of the one God, the Father has given all judgment to the Son.
But why would the Father give all judgment to the Son? Jesus tells us: “For the Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.” Father and Son are one, but the Father hands all judgment over to the Son so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.
Tell me, do we honor mere human beings the same way we honor the Father? Of course we don't. Do we honor human prophets the same way we honor the Father? Absolutely not. What is the only possible basis for honoring the Son just as we honor the Father? The only way we would honor the Son just as we honor the Father is if the Son has the same nature and attributes as the Father.
Side note: Where did Jesus say, “I am God, worship me”? Common question from Muslims. Notice Jesus says that all of us must honor the Son just as we honor the Father. One of the ways we honor the Father is through worship. Jesus says that we have to honor the Son in the same way. What happens if we don't? The verse continues: “Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him.”
Do our Muslim friends honor the Son? Not a bit. And according to Jesus, since they don't honor the Son, they don't honor the Father. Remember, this is the chapter that Muslim apologists go to in order to prove that Jesus was just a human prophet of Islam. The chapter that they go to when they want to defend Islam condemns them and their prophet and their religion.
But there's more. Jesus declares, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.”
Wait a minute! Jesus is the one who raises the dead. I wonder if he simply means that he raises particular people when he performs miracles, because if he means that he raises the dead at the resurrection, we are going to have another theological Red Alert!
“For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself, and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man.”
Ha! You see there, David? Jesus calls himself the Son of Man. This means he's claiming to be a mere human being just as Islam teaches. So let's ignore everything else he says and go with that. Yeah, that works, as long as you completely ignore the fact that the title “Son of Man,” as Jesus uses it, is a Divine title for a particular Son of Man that the Prophet Daniel sees in a vision.
In Daniel 7:13-14, we read, “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory, and sovereign power. All nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”
I'm a Son of Man. There are lots of sons of men, but Jesus claimed to be this particular Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven, who would be worshiped by all nations and peoples and would have an everlasting dominion and an indestructible kingdom.
Watch how the Jewish religious leaders reacted when they found out that Jesus was claiming to be the Son of Man from Daniel 7. This is at his Jewish trial in Mark 14. Again, the high priest asked him, “Are you the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?” And Jesus said, “I am, and you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of power and coming with the clouds of heaven.”
And the high priest tore his garments and said, “What further witnesses do we need? You have heard his blasphemy. What is your decision?” And they all condemned him as deserving death. The Jewish religious leaders understood what Jesus meant when he called himself the Son of Man. Muslims generally don't.
So in John 5, the chapter Muslim apologists keep going to, when Jesus says that the Father has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man, he's claiming to be the Son of Man from Daniel 7, who will be worshiped by all nations, including Muslim nations.
Almost done. “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice.” Whose voice? The voice of Jesus, who is, according to this passage, the Son of God and the Son of Man. “Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.”
Theological red alerts again! Jesus says that he's the one who raises the dead—all the dead at the resurrection. According to the Old Testament, who raises the dead at the resurrection? 1 Samuel 2:6 states, “The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.” According to the Quran, who raises the dead at the resurrection? Surah 22:7 says, “And surely the hour is coming; there is no doubt about it, and certainly Allah will resurrect those who are in the graves.”
The Bible and the Quran both say that God is the one who raises everyone from the dead, and yet Jesus claims that he's the one who raises everyone from the dead. Are these the teachings of a man who thinks that he's a mere human being, just a prophet of God?
So we've gone all the way through verse 29, and now for the very next verse—the verse Muslim apologists quote to show their followers that even the Bible agrees with Islam: John 5:30. Jesus says, “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.”
Now that we've read the passage—something Muslim apologists never ever want us to do—pop quiz! When Jesus says, “I can do nothing on my own. I seek not my own will,” is he saying: A) “I'm a helpless human being, a simple prophet of Allah,” or B) “When I claimed to be the Divine Son of God, you Jewish leaders thought I was claiming to be a separate God who acts on his own, but I'm here to correct you. Even though I have the same nature and attributes that the Father has, and even though I'm the final judge of all people and the one who raises the dead, I do not act on my own. I cannot act on my own. I can do nothing on my own because I'm not a separate God; I'm one with the Father.”
Which one is Jesus saying? How do Muslim apologists read the Bible? They read the Bible like this: their Prophet affirmed the inspiration, preservation, and authority of the Bible, so as much as they like to lie, they can't stop going to the Bible. But the Bible contradicts Islam, so what do they do? They go to a chapter that thoroughly contradicts Islam, verse after verse after verse. They ignore everything in the chapter that refutes Islam; they fixate on a verse that they can twist into something that seems to agree with Islam, so long as they erase the entire context.
And then they proclaim to their followers who have never read the chapter and are therefore in a state of ignorance that the Bible agrees with Islam, and their gullible followers walk away thinking that Christianity has been exposed and that Islam has been vindicated.
Do Muslim apologists approach the Bible honestly? Not at all. Do they handle the words of Jesus with respect and integrity? Not a bit. Do they honor the Son as he commands them to honor him? Precisely the opposite.
So according to Jesus in the passage that Muslim apologists go to when they want to defend Islam, do they honor the Father? Not even slightly. Does John 5:30 support Islam when you pay any attention whatsoever to what Jesus is actually saying in the passage? No! The passage completely, utterly, totally contradicts Islam.
Why do Muslim apologists go to a passage that completely, utterly, totally contradicts Islam, ignore all of the verses that completely, utterly, totally contradict Islam, and then twist the words of Jesus, whom they claim to respect, in an obvious effort to trick their followers into believing that the Bible supports Islam?
Why do they do this? Because they have to! When your book affirms my book, but my book contradicts your book, all you can do is lie. When your Prophet affirms Jesus, but Jesus contradicts your Prophet, all you can do is lie. Dawa is deception; there is no plan B.
The question now for our Muslim friends who are watching is this: since you've seen as plain as day that your apologists are liars, since you've seen that they lie to you about Jesus, are you going to keep following them away from Jesus and away from the Father, or are you going to honor the Son as the Father and the Son command?