Honor Jesus

¹⁹ Jesus gave them this answer: “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. ²⁰ For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, to your amazement he will show him even greater things than these. ²¹ For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it. ²² Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, ²³ that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.

Last year, while I was at seminary, I worked a retail job at a store in a rather affluent part of the community. Sometimes people's behavior would shock me. They'd just about throw a temper tantrum if we didn't have this or that product just the way they wanted it. Most of the time, dealing with these customers was the most frustrating part of the job. But, a couple times, after such a person would leave the store, another employee would say, “Do you know who that was?” Then I'd find out that I had just checked out a professional athlete or a newspaper writer or an executive from a major company. Now, this didn't necessarily make these sorts of encounters any more pleasant, but it changed my perspective a little bit. Rather than feeling annoyed that I had to deal with people with an unrivaled sense of entitlement, I maybe felt a little bit important because I was brushing shoulders with some big shots. It certainly made me wonder how I would have treated them differently had I recognized who they were.

Today is Last Judgment Sunday. You probably realized from the other readings that this is the Sunday in the church year when we focus our thoughts on Jesus' return. As we say in the Apostles' Creed, he'll return to judge the living and the dead. When you realize this about Jesus, you'll naturally give him the honor he deserves. So, honor Jesus because he is your God and your gracious judge.

In the section just before we pick up our text for today, there were some Jews who would've treated Jesus quite a bit differently if only they had recognized him for who he was. They were upset by some of the things he said, specifically that he claimed to be God, so they persecuted and tried to kill him. They probably wouldn't have done that if they had recognized that his claims were true.

People today are still offended by some of the things Jesus says, aren't they? People are offended when Jesus says that he should come first rather than family. People don't like it when Jesus tells them to give up whatever's gonna get in the way of a good relationship with him. People think that it's simply unloving that Jesus refers to himself as “the way” rather than “a way”.

Do you see any of that in yourself? We may not like it when we hear Jesus tells us to turn the other cheek or to love our enemies. Our sinful, human nature wants to rebel against words like those. And sometimes we do rebel. So we, too, need to recognize Jesus for who he is. We need to honor him as God.

But if we're gonna honor someone as God, we want to be absolutely sure that they deserve such honor. So, how can we be so sure that Jesus is true God? Well, we see a couple proofs of that in our text today. When the Jews got upset with Jesus for claiming to be God's Son, he said, ““I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does.” Jesus tells us here that he really is God. He's so equal to the Father that he saw whatever the Father was doing and he acted in perfect harmony. It's only because Jesus was true God that he was able to act in perfect harmony with God's will. Because you and I are sinful people, we can't do that. We come up short. So we needed someone to live the perfect life that we couldn't. And Jesus was the one who could do that, and did, because he is true God.

In fact, Jesus couldn't have done anything differently. He is so equal to the father that it would be impossible for the two to be at odds. This can be said only of Jesus, who, as we confess in the Nicene creed, is, “one being with the Father.” He drives that point home very clearly here. The Jews were upset with him for making himself equal with God, so he told them in some pretty clear terms here, “I really am God.”

So, Jesus has claimed to be God. But then he went on to say, “the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does.” Now, at this point you might be thinking, “Wait a second, doesn't Jesus already know everything?” Well, yes. Jesus is true God and, as true God, knows everything. But while Jesus was on earth he didn't always use his divine attributes as much as he could. This is why he was born as an infant that communicated by crying. This is why he sat at the feet of the teachers in the temple, asking them questions. He didn't always make use of his omniscience, but he certainly always had it.

But, even at this time when Jesus didn't make use of this knowledge, the Father loved the Son, and showed him all that he did. This really is just another demonstration of Jesus' oneness with the Father. Even while Jesus was in his state of humiliation, the Father loved and blessed him so much that he gave Jesus this special knowledge. That's not something that God does to simple, sinful human beings. Jesus demonstrated his divinity in what he knew and did, in that it demonstrated his oneness with the Father.

So, these verses show us pretty clearly that Jesus truly is God. But why is it important for us to recognize that? Well, it's crucial for us to recognize that Jesus is God because it was his divinity that enabled him to redeem us. Because he is true God, he was able to live a life that was free from sin. And it's only because he is true God that his perfect life and sacrificial death count for everyone. And then, because he was God, he rose again. You see, it's so important for us to recognize and honor Jesus as God because our salvation depends on his divinity. If he hadn't been God, his death couldn't save us. And if he hadn't risen from the dead, we'd have no hope for ourselves.

But Jesus is God. We just saw a couple clear proofs of that. And because he is God, we're confident that our salvation is secure and that he will also raise us from the dead. Verse 21 says, “the Son gives life to whom he is pleased to give it.” And this is where we get to last judgment Sunday. As God, Jesus will also stand as your judge. So we honor him also, because he is a gracious judge.

Jesus said, “the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, ” On the last day, Jesus will be there as judge. That might be a scary thought for some people. This was certainly intended as a warning for the Jews who refused to honor him in his day, and that warning rings true today too. People recognize Jesus as an important person, a good teacher, a loving leader, but God and judge? Maybe not so much. For someone who only views Jesus as a moral teacher, the thought of him as judge would be pretty scary, because who of us has lived up perfectly to his moral teachings?

But for you, who recognize that Jesus is far more than a moral teacher, the picture of him as judge is comforting. You all know that you've fallen short of God's glory, and that you'll die one day because of it. That'd be a scary thought, if it weren't for the fact that Jesus will be your judge. But because Jesus will be your judge, when you face the final judgment, you will hear the same “not guilty!” verdict that was pronounced to you at your baptism. Just as that not guilty verdict is repeated in the absolution every week in church, so it will be repeated again on the last day. How beautiful it is, that the person who will judge you is the same one that died for you. May that be your comfort as we consider the last judgment today.

So, because Jesus is our gracious judge, we give him all glory. Jesus said, “all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent him.” This is how we praise God. God has revealed himself to us in Jesus, so we give him all the honor that he deserves. And this comes naturally when we realize that Jesus is God incarnate, who has forgiven all of our sins and who will graciously judge us on the last day. In thanksgiving, we worship him, just as we worship the Father.

There were a few times at my last job where I was a little bit embarrassed for not putting my best foot forward when there was an important person around. But you know who Jesus is, so honor him. Give him all the honor and glory and praise that he deserves, because he is your God and your gracious judge. Amen.