"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." John 5:19
Jesus' words here are provoking. We were all once children and watched our parents as we grew up through life and those of you who have the privilege of being parents know or should know that your child listens to and observes everything you say and do. An amazing opportunity to be an influence in their life.
In this passage, Jesus had just healed the man at the pool of Bethesda and was now standing before the Pharisees defending his healing of the man and his relationship with the Father. The feeding of the five thousand followed this dialogue with the Pharisees and where before walking on the water Jesus had spent most of the day alone with the Father.
In John 6:2 we read that the crowd "FOLLOWED Him". In John 6:24, the people realizing that Jesus was no longer at Galilee sought Him out - .."so when the crowd saw that Jesus was not there, nor His disciples, they themselves got into the small boats, and came to Capernaum SEEKING Jesus".
To those who are seeking to win the lost, I believe John 5:19 is wonderful example of not relying on self but total dependency on God. Even Jesus said he could do nothing of himself!! He mirrored what the Father did. In order for Jesus to do what the Father did, He had to spend time with the Father, to learn from Him, to seek Him, to listen to Him. It tells of such an intimate, powerful connection with His Father. We can see this on many occasions in the gospels.
What is the result??
A life that was totally radical!! Jesus' relationship with the Father was so intimate He did "exactly" what the Father did. As a result people "followed" Him and "sought" Him out.
This speaks to me. If Jesus acknowledged He could do nothing of Himself.. how much more should we acknowledge this? A life that is intimate with the Father will lead us to do what the Father would do and say. We would no longer toil and struggle with trying to share the gospel with people but we would be living it!! People would be drawn to us and ask what it is you have. What a position of influence we would have in pointing someone towards Jesus.
We've heard the phrase "like father, like son"... is this true of you??
Yours in Him
Darren
