LESSON 36 THE DEITY OF CHRIST
John 5:1-47
Deity is the character of God that describes His divine and a supernatural nature and power. There are three personalities in the Godhead that have the divine and P supernatural power. These are God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit. They are one and the same God. Centuries before Christ was born into the world, prophets of the Old Testament foretold the coming of the Messiah, the Saviour of the world. Isaiah predicted His virgin birth (Isaiah 7:14), His names (Isaiah 9:6), His suffering and death for humanity (Isaiah 53:1-12). Although the book of the prophets were read every sabbath day in the synagogues, and despite the testimonies of John the Baptist that the Messiah was already among them, the Jewish leaders did not believe.
They were not like the Samaritan woman who believed that Jesus is the Messiah after His supernatural revelation of her sinful past. The Jews refused to believe in the deity of Christ despite the signs and wonders that followed His ministry. The unbelief of the Jews and the religious leaders cannot change the fact that Jesus is both God and Messiah of the whole world. You must not follow their bad examples of unbelief and hardness of heart. Be a believer and surrender your life to the power, authority and divine ownership of Jesus Christ, our Saviour and Lord.
PERSECUTION AND CHALLENGE OF CHRIST’S DIVINE NATURE: John 5:1-16; 7:19-23; 9:14-16; Luke 4:22-30
“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that are bruised, To preach the acceptable year of the Lord” (Luke 4:18,19). This is a declaration of the purpose of Christ’s coming to the earth. To prove His deity, Jesus immediately set out to fulfil this purpose. He went about preaching and saving sinners, healing the sick and setting the captives free. In our Bible passage, Jesus demonstrated His power, love and compassion on a sick man. The man had been sick and unable to stand or walk for 38 years. As Jesus came to where the man was, He healed and made him whole. The religious leaders who were wicked and uncaring were not happy with Jesus for healing the man. They were more concerned about keeping rules and regulations than showing love to a man who had suffered for many years.
SAVIOUR, HEALER DELIVERER. PROVIDER HELPER THE ALMIGHTY:
Jesus was often persecuted by the religious leaders of His time. The Jews confessed that His teaching was gracious and backed up with authority and power (Luke 4:22,36), yet they became jealous.
Instead of rejoicing with the man for his miraculous healing, they were more concerned that he broke the sabbath law by carrying his bed on the sabbath. They accused Jesus of breaking the fourth commandment which forbade any kind of labour on the sabbath day. Jesus explained to them that it is more profitable to do good to fellow human beings than to keep rules and regulations. He also revealed to them the truth about His deity. He made them to realise that, He is equal with God the Father and has authority to do all things as the Father does. This divine revelation further made the Jews very angry. They accused Him of making Himself equal with God and they began to plan how to kill Him.
The Bible says that “… ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). The truth is the word of God you hear and read from the Bible. It is the revelation about Christ and His work of salvation. The call of God to all sinners is that they believe in Christ so that they can be set free. Do not delay, repent of your sins and accept Jesus as your Lord and Saviour.
THE POWER AND PROOF OF CHRIST’S DEITY: John 5:17-43; Mark 2:5-10; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 2:7,8
Jesus ignored the threats of the Jewish rulers and went further to provide more comprehensive proofs of His deity in addition to His divine Sonship. He claimed equality with God in the following areas:
(i) Power and authority to forgive sins (Mark 2:5-10).
(ii) Honour – The Father expects all men to honour the Son as they honour the – Father that had sent Him (John 5:23; Philippians 2:9-11; Hebrews 2:7-8).
(iii) Judgment The judgment of the world is committed by the Father into -the hands of Jesus (John 5:22).
(iv) Resurrection power (John 5:21:11:25)
(v) Power to give eternal life (John 17:2).
(vi) Self existent life (John 1:4; 5:26). To prove that His words were absolutely true, Jesus cited the testimony of these – witnesses:
(a) God the Father – Mark 1:10,11
(b) John the Baptist 1:26,27,29,30; John
(c) The works that He did – John 5:4-39; John 14:11
With these testimonies, Jesus silenced e His persecutors. He, in turn, accused them of unbelief and hypocrisy saying if e they had believed Moses who wrote y about Him, they would have believed Him. As friends of Jesus, we are called to witness about Christ to the dying world. It is an important call that we must do every time. Start to preach the love of Jesus to sinful children around you.
PURPOSEFULLY FOLLOWING IN THE FOOTSTEPS OF CHRIST OUR LORD: John 5:44-46
From our Bible passage, we can see and appreciate some character traits of our Lord Jesus which His friends should emulate (copy).
- His love and compassion for sinners and the lost. Love and compassion are the two reasons behind every activity of 3 Christ preaching, teaching and healing. The Bible commands us to love one another. Anyone who does not love his brother, abides in death (1 John 3:14). Friends of Jesus must have compassion for sinners around and with love bring them to Jesus for salvation and healing.
- His humility. Despite His exalted position as a deity, Jesus humbled Himself and was submissive to God the – Father in all things. All that we are blessed with physically, mentally, emotionally and materially are God- given. We have no reason to be proud or boastful.
- Jesus is holy. God commanded 6 Abraham to walk before Him and be perfect (Genesis 17:1). Jesus cautioned the healed man about sin which could I bring a worse disaster into his life. Sin, therefore, is the root cause of most satanic afflictions and must be avoided by all friends of Jesus. Are you stealing, lying, cursing, abusing, having any relationship with Satan? Repent of them and surrender your life to Jesus.
- Jesus was obedient to His Father in all things. His friends likewise must obey God, parents and constituted authority at all times (Ephesians 6:1-3). 5. Jesus was hardworking since His early childhood. He has been at His “Father’s business” even on the sabbath doing good to the glory of God. His friends must be engaged daily in studying the word of God, praying, attending fellowship, visiting others, evangelising etc. especially on the day of the Lord-Sundays.
Sinful boys and girls cannot follow these examples of Christ. If you are one of them, take the following steps and receive forgiveness and salvation before it is too late: (a) know yourself as a sinner (b) confess your sins and promise not to do them again (c) ask God to cleanse your heart with the blood of Jesus (d) invite Jesus to come into your heart and be your Lord and Master (e) believe that you are saved and live a godly life henceforth.
QUESTIONS:
- What does deity mean?
- Why was Jesus persecuted despite His sound teaching and compassionate healing of the sick?
- State three things that prove Jesus’ deity.
- Give three examples of the characters of Jesus that His friends should copy.
- Mention three witnesses whose testimonies were cited by Jesus to prove His deity.
- How can sinful children be like Jesus in character?
MEMORY VERSE: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life” (John 5:24).
LESSON: Without any doubt, Jesus is God and is worthy of our worship and love.
THOUGHT: I surrender to the Lordship of Christ.
ACTIVITY: Search the Bible and write out two other passages that confirm Jesus’ deity.
CONGREGATIONAL SONG: GHS 213- REJOICE, THE LORD IS KING
CHORUSES:
(1) Messiah is the King of kings
(2) Jesus shall reign for evermore
(3) Jesus is a mighty God, all power bow before Him.
HOMEWORK: Write down in your homework book, three names of Jesus that show His mighty power.
BIBLE WORD SEARCH
Find the meanings of these words. You can use your dictionary.
1. Authority 2. Supernatural 3. Deity 4. Declaration 5. Deliverance.
