It is the day on which this man's healing took place, the Sabbath, which so aggravates the Jewish leaders. This opens the opportunity for Jesus to engage with them about His identity. He clearly states the following:

1. He is one with the Father. Because the Father works, even on the Sabbath, He works (v. 17). In fact, everything the Son does is because He sees the Father doing it-such as raising the dead and giving life (v. 21). The Father has delegated the task of judgment to the Son (v. 22). In these tasks-that of giving life and judgment-Jesus is clearly laying claim to being God. Neither of these are human activities. They belong to God. The unity of Father and Son means that to honour the Son is to honour the Father. To withhold honour from one is to deny it to the other.
2. The Jews understood Jesus to be making himself equal to God and sought to kill Him (v. 18). So how do we determine whether His claims are true?

Jesus argues here as He does in John 8:14-Jewish law required witnesses to testify on a person's behalf, otherwise it would just be their word against another's (Deuteronomy 19:15). Here Jesus refers to four witnesses to back His claim. He does not appear as His own witness; there is another witness to back Him up. John the Baptist has testified to Jesus (v. 33), but Jesus has weightier witness than him. Jesus refers to the works of healing (v. 36)-the signs testify that the Father has sent Him. But the Father's more direct testimony is the Scriptures ″that testify about me″ (v. 39). Yet the Jews have no regard for God or His Word.

Jesus has called on John the Baptist, the signs, and the Scriptures as witnesses, and now He refers to the witness of Moses: ″he wrote about me″ (v. 46). To the two men on the Emmaus Road (Luke 24:27), Jesus began with Moses to show how Scripture testified to Him. In Deuteronomy 18:15-19, Moses foretells God raising up ″a prophet like me″. In Acts, both Peter and Stephen see this prophet to be the Lord Jesus (Acts 3:22-26; 7:37, 51-53).

The consistent response of the Jews is to reject what Moses wrote (v. 47), to reject the Father's testimony (vv. 39-40), and even to reject the reality of the sign itself (v. 16). Hardened, rebellious, a stubborn refusal to come to Christ and have life (v. 40)-this is the story of Israel. It is our greatest privilege to know Christ-one with the Father, universal judge, sovereign giver of life. Therefore, in the words of J. C. Ryle, ″Let us lean our whole weight on this mighty Saviour. So leaning, we need never be afraid.″⁶

⁶J. C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on the Gospels: John, vol. 2 (London: Banner of Truth, 1987), 282.