Womb, Tomb, And Doom

I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does.   John 5:19

Jesus is saying that his activity is limited to what he sees the Father doing. He never does anything that’s outside the range of what the Father would do. I wish I could say, “Everything I do is a reflection of the activity of my heavenly Father,” but I can’t. If that were true, I’d be perfect. But that is exactly what Jesus is saying.

Then Jesus says something even more astonishing—not only does he do only what the Father does; he also does everything that the Father does. All of his activity a reflection of the Father’s activity, and all of the Father’s activity also finds its reflection in Jesus.

We may do some things that reflect what God the Father does. We may love or forgive or make peace, and in that limited sense, we may reflect the nature of the Father, but there are some things the Father does that we can never do—like make a universe! Only God gives life; only God is in a position to pronounce final judgment; only God raises the dead.

And Jesus tells us that he does them: “Just as the Father gives life to those he raises from the dead, so the Son gives life to anyone he wants. . . . The Father judges no one. Instead, he has given the Son absolute authority to judge. . . . The time is coming, indeed it’s here now, when the dead will hear my voice—the voice of the Son of God. And those who listen will live” (John 5:21-22, 25).

Our church recently completed a building expansion, and when the work was completed, keys were distributed. Keys reflect authority—if you have the keys to a place, you have the right to access it.

Some keys belong to God alone—the keys of womb, tomb, and doom. And Jesus holds all the Father’s keys in his hand. They belong as much to the Son as they do to the Father.

For further reading, see John 5