12/02/2025

 

Samuel Clifford

Introduction:

 

Belief in the Doctrine of the Trinity denotes more than simple believing that the Father, Jesus, and Holy Spirit are all God. Indeed, one must also believe that all three members are co-eternal and co-equal. Some individuals don’t believe in the co-equal relationship that all three members of the Trinity have. Usually this is born out of a mind that is incapable of believing something they don’t fully understand. However, God is a being we can’t fully understand. And yet, others use scripture to prove that the members aren’t co-equal. One passage used to bear proof that the Father and Christ Jesus aren’t equal is John 5. In this post, we will analyze the passage fully, to try to understand what the passage truly means.

 

Context:

 

In John 5, Jesus healed a man at the pool of Bethesda, and in doing this on the sabbath, the Jews wanted to kill Him:

 

“And therefore did the Jews persecute Jesus, and sought to slay him, because he had done these things on the sabbath day.” (John‬ ‭5:16‬ ‭KJV‬‬)

 

“For this reason the Jews were persecuting Jesus, because He was doing these things on the Sabbath.”
‭‭(John‬ ‭5‬:‭16‬ ‭NASB)

 

Jesus then defended Himself by stating that He was doing Gods work:

 

“But Jesus answered them, My Father worketh hitherto, and I work.”

(‭‭John‬ ‭5:17‬ ‭KJV‬‬)

 

“But He answered them, 'My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working.'” (John‬ ‭5‬:‭17‬ ‭NASB)

 

Even the Rabbi’s believed God was constantly at work. Jesus is claiming He was doing what God is doing. God did not suspend His activities on the Sabbath and neither did Jesus. This was a virtual claim to deity. Jesus was claiming that His relationship to the law was the same as God’s, not the same as man’s.

 

“Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God.” (John‬ ‭5:18‬ ‭KJV‬‬)

“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.”
‭‭(John‬ ‭5‬:‭18‬ ‭NASB)

 

John noted that the Jews already wanted to kill Him because He had broken the sabbath, but Jesus’ claim of equality to the Father increased their efforts. The Jews, unlike present Unitarians, did not miss the force of what Jesus was claiming, namely, equality with the Father.

 

Passage in Question:

 

“Then answered Jesus and said unto them, 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.” (John‬ ‭5:19‬ ‭KJV‬‬)

 

“Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner.” (John‬ ‭5‬:‭19‬ ‭NASB)

 

Jesus was equal with the Father in His essence. The Father and the Son are both God. However, Jesus was not equal with the Father in His subsistence. The Son was subordinate to the Father in this respect. This distinction is one that the Jewish leaders struggled with and that Jesus proceeded to clarify partially.

 

Jesus was was not claiming independence from the Father. He was definitely subordinate to Him, and He followed the Father’s lead (cf. John 4:34; John 5:30; John 8:28; John 12:50; John 15:10; Luke 5:17). Jesus describes His relationship to the Father as similar to that of a son growing up in a household who learns a trade from his father while remaining submissive to him.

 

Unitarians have mistakenly said that Jesus was disclaiming equality with the Father. On the contrary, the whole context argues the opposite (John 5:18; John 5:23; John 5:26). Our Lord is simply saying that He and the Father work together (John 5:17).

 

Succeeding Passages that show Equality:

 

“For as the Father raiseth up the dead, and quickeneth them; even so the Son quickeneth whom he will. Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." (John‬ ‭5:21, 24‬ ‭KJV‬‬)

 

“For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son also gives life to whom He wishes. “Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” (John‬ ‭5‬:‭21‬, ‭24‬ ‭NASB)

 

The Jews acknowledged that only God could raise people from the dead (2 Kings 5:7; Ezekiel 37:13). Therefore, Jesus claiming authority over death further bears proof on His deity.

 

Conclusion:

 

Unitarians falsely use John 5 as a passage against Jesus’ equality with the Father because they don’t realize that Jesus is equal with the Father in essence, as they both are God, and not subsistence, as the Son is subordinate to the Father. Furthermore, they do not understand how the Jewish audience would have understood Jesus’ words. Jesus was speaking to a Jewish audience, so if we can understand their beliefs and culture, then we can understand the hints Jesus gives of His deity.

 

“Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:" (‭‭Philippians‬ ‭2:5-6‬ ‭KJV‬‬)

 

“Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped,” (Philippians‬ ‭2‬:‭5‬-‭6‬ ‭NASB)