The World's Most Important Question

Every religion has an opinion about Jesus. From Scientology's bizarre electronic implant theory to Mormonism's spirit brother of Lucifer, everyone has something to say about who Jesus is. But there's only one opinion that matters – His own. Today we're diving into the most compelling declaration of Jesus's deity found anywhere in the Gospels.

John 5:17-18 "But he answered them, 'My Father is working until now, and I myself am working.' For this reason therefore the Jews were seeking all the more to kill him, because he not only was breaking the Sabbath, but also was calling God his own father, making himself equal with God."

Let me ask you the world's most important question: Who is Jesus Christ?

Now, I've asked this question to a lot of people over the years, and very rarely has someone responded with "Who cares?" Everyone cares because every religion has an idea about who Jesus is and was. But here's what's fascinating – when Jesus was confronted by the religious leaders about healing on the Sabbath, He didn't try to de-escalate the situation. He didn't say, "Hey guys, you've taken this too far. Let me help you understand the Sabbath better so we can all be friends."

No. He escalated it. He turned up the volume.

Jesus says, "My Father is working until now, and I myself am working." Now this might not strike you as shocking, but no Jewish individual in the Old Testament would have referred to God as his personal father. As a nation, they referred to God as "our Father," but this was beyond personal – this was possessive. Jesus was saying "My Father."

And then Jesus does something profound. He says, "I, like the Father, never rest." The Jews understood that God didn't just create the universe and back away like some cosmic watchmaker. God sustains the universe. He tilts the water jars of the heavens. Every raindrop that's ever fallen has been providentially placed by God. He causes birds to sing, keeps our world rotating at exactly the right tilt. He's not just a creating God; He's a sustaining God.

And Jesus says, "Whatever your idea of the Father is, that's also true of Me."

How did they respond? They wanted to kill Him. They knew exactly what He was claiming. This is important because sometimes people say Jesus never claimed to be God, but that argument melts in the heat of verse 18. The Jews understood perfectly – this Galilean carpenter with calloused hands was claiming to be equal with the God they knew as Creator and Sovereign King over the universe.

You see, you can't have Jesus as just a nice man if these claims aren't true. You either have delusion, insanity, a liar, or truth. Jesus doesn't claim to be another God or on the same level as the Father – He claims to BE equal with the Father.

This isn't just some academic exercise, friends. The whole of Christianity stands or falls on the deity of Jesus. And the most important question you could ever ask the person in the mirror is: Do I know Him?

Stay dialed in.