I'm thinking about John 5.26 this morning: For as the Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself (KJV). This is an extraordinary statement from Christ.
God the Father has life in himself. I don't believe that any of those who listened to him, be they Pharisees or Saduccees or any other Jewish sect, would have disagreed with that statement. God gives life; on that everyone agreed.
Christ's second statement is the controversial one. God the Father gave to his Son to also have life in himself. What does this mean? As the ESV Study Bible points out: This verse explains why the voice of Jesus is able to speak to dead people and grant them life. Christ had the power to raise the dead to life because he was God in the flesh.
Think about this statement for a minute. What kind of person would make a claim this outlandish? This is not something that a normal person would say. As C. S. Lewis once pointed out; when Christ makes this kind of claim he is either a liar, a lunatic, or truly is God in the flesh. Those are our only choices. Of course, Christ not only made the claims, but he demonstrated them as well when he called Lazarus back to life and raised up the widow of Nain's son.
In Christ we see God coming in the flesh and dwelling among us. Powerful truth for this advent season.
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