Then, the Jews complained because Jesus called God His Father, which in their teachings, made Him equal with God. He claimed to be one with God, and He claimed that for all of us. Remember St. John 17? He claimed to “work the works of him that sent me”, which we are supposed to be doing. He taught us to pray, “our Father which art in heaven….” Are we going to get caught up in the Jews’ teachings, their traditions? Let’s get beyond the semantics, the words, the symbols, and our understanding, to the reality of what Jesus was telling the Jews, and us. “Why callest thou me good? there is none good but one, that is, God….” God raised Jesus, His Son, from the dead, glorified Him; and He is, as Stephen, “being full of the Holy Ghost” saw, “Jesus standing on the right hand of God…”; “who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us”. Who makes intercession for us at the right hand of God? “For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” “I have said, Ye are gods; and all of you are children of the most High.” “Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods? If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken; Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not. But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.” (And, this is not St John 17.) Whom has the Father sanctified (set apart) by virtue of our faith in Jesus Christ? Whom has God called “out from among the world”, and then, sent into the world, if not us? And, He calls us His sons, as we’ve previously shown. But, only the Father’s work which we can do shows others we are truly “sons”. Then, they’ll believe the works, and believe in the God that performs them.

Don’t get the big head! Don’t get all puffed up about yourself! We’re only “the finger pointing to the moon”; don’t let others mistake the finger for that to which it is pointing. Remember, “learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart…” And, we’re no Jesus! It is one thing to realize that you share God’s nature, and quite another to think you are God! The One who “created the heaven and the earth”, in us, performs the work. All we’re doing is saying to others, “Look! Look at what God can do!” And, when they look, we can ask God to reveal Himself…and He will gladly do so! Nothing real difficult. This is exactly what Jesus is clarifying for the Jews when He says, “Truly, Truly…

“Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. For the Father loveth the Son, and showeth him all things that himself doeth: and he will show him greater works than these, that ye may marvel. For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man, but hath committed all judgment unto the Son: That all men should honor the Son, even as they honor the Father. He that honoreth not the Son honoreth not the Father which hath sent him.”  

The 1611 KJV is very illuminating when it comes to Jesus’ references to Himself as the “Son”. Any time the word “son” is used by Jesus in reference to His relationship with the Father which is indicative of the time Jesus spent on earth BEFORE His glorification, is NOT capitalized. The 1611 capitalizes the word “Son” when it refers to Jesus glorified. I feel that this is a very important observation of the 1611editors. And, they were “editors”, using numerous previous translations in English, French, German, Latin, and Greek. This does not take away from the character or accomplishments of Jesus. In the 16ll, we get a very real picture of Jesus, the man, and Jesus glorified. When Jesus was here, physically, He identified with these two separate sets of circumstances. Jesus wants us to identify with Him, as the “Son of God” so we can accomplish the work He has prescribed as “sons of God”; just as He did while here on earth. Again, this, by no means, makes us Jesus, glorified or not; nor God. It is only to say that we have entered into Their Relationship by virtue of Who They Are, not what, or who, we are. The above quote reads like this in the 1611 KJV:

“Then answered Jesus, and saide vnto them, Verily, verily I say vnto you, The sonne can doe nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father doe: for what things soeuer he doeth, these also doth the sonne likewise. For the Father loueth the sonne, and showed him all things that himself doth : & he will shew him greater works then these, that ye may marueile. For as the Father raiseth vp the dead, and quickened them : euen so the Sonne quickeneth whom he will. For the Father judgeth no man : but hath committed all judgement vnto to the Sonne : That all men should honour the Son, euen as they honour the Father. He that honoureth not y Sonne, honoreth not y Father that sent him.”

The spelling is significant: it lets us see the difference in Jesus without having to interrupt our comprehension with unnecessary thoughts. It is after His glorification that Jesus will “quickened whom he will.” There is a difference in “raising the dead” and “quickening”. Jesus doesn’t waste words. If it were not different, He wouldn’t have made it so. Jesus plainly shows, by raising up the widow’s son, the Centurion’s daughter, and Lazarus before His glorification, that it is two different things. Put that in your pipe and smoke it!

Once we understand the very different relationship which Jesus had with the Father while here, physically; then we can more clearly understand how we are to go about our Father’s work while we are here, physically. And, by separating our relationships before and after the resurrection, we have a clearer understanding of our relationship after the resurrection. To complete a quote from above: “Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is.” When we “see him as he is”, then we will know “what we shall be”, because “we shall be like him.” Is it really so difficult to see that we are very much (not completely) like Jesus when He was here on earth, and to understand that, “we shall be like him”, glorified? If we can’t be like Him now, how can be become like Him later? We choose.