Tuesday 18 April 2017

Psalm: Psalm33

Background

John's Gospel was written aroundAD100. It was the last of the four Gospels to be written, anddiffers markedly from the Synoptic Gospels, Matthew, Mark and Luke.It is thought to have been written by John, the brother of James,who were both the sons of Zebedee. John was one of Jesus'disciples. John contains many long discourses by Jesus in which heexplains his role to the disciples.

Verses 19-29 come after Jesus hadhealed a paralysed man on the Sabbath (John5:1-18). The Pharisees regarded this to be contrary to the lawof Moses. Jesus responded by talking about God as his father. TheJews considered this to be blasphemous because Jesus was makinghimself equal with God. Jesus was trying to explain to thePharisees that it was not about breaking the Sabbath law; it wasabout something much deeper, that is, about who he was and who hadsent him.

Jesus explains that he was sent byGod, his Father, to do his Father's will on earth. Everything thathe did was done in obedience to his Father. This theme can be foundin several other passages in this Gospel.

There is an intimate relationshipbetween the Father and the Son. This is a relationship ofobedience, and the obedience is based on love.

Jesus was telling the Jews that he wasnot equating himself with God. Instead, he was explaining that hewas carrying out the work the Father sent him to do, and he wasdoing so through the power which the Father had given him.Moreover, God wanted a relationship with human beings, and thisrelationship has been made possible by Jesus coming to earth as ahuman being. The Son has come to give new life and to give it inall its abundance (John 10:10).

To Ponder

• How do you respond to the fact that Jesus said that the Son cando nothing without the Father?

• How does the intimate relationship between God the Father andJesus the Son encourage you in your own relationship with God?