How does John 5:36 support the divinity of Jesus? Text and Immediate Context John 5:36 : “But I have testimony greater than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to accomplish—the very works I am doing—bear witness about Me, that the Father has sent Me.” The verse stands within a forensic courtroom scene (John 5:17-47) where Jesus is on trial before the Judean leadership for healing on the Sabbath and declaring God His own Father. The Lord marshals four lines of evidence—John the Baptist (v. 33), His own works (v. 36), the Father’s direct testimony (v. 37), and Scripture (v. 39)—to prove His claims. Verse 36 is the hinge: His miracles constitute empirical, public, repeatable corroboration that the Father Himself authenticates the Son. The Johannine Witness Motif John structures his Gospel around legally valid testimony (1:7-8; 8:17-18; 15:26-27). By claiming a “greater” witness than John the Baptist—whom Jesus elsewhere calls the greatest of those born of women (Matthew 11:11)—the Lord places His miracles in a category only deity can occupy. No prophet claimed his own works superseded a divinely appointed prophet’s testimony; Jesus does. Miraculous Works as the Signature of Deity Scripture uniformly identifies miracle-working power as God’s prerogative (Exodus 4:11; Psalm 136:4; Isaiah 42:8). Jesus restores a 38-year paralytic (John 5:1-9), feeds thousands (6:1-14), opens congenital blindness (9:1-7), raises the dead (11:38-44), and controls nature (6:19). Each act parallels Yahweh’s actions in the Tanakh: giving manna (Exodus 16), walking on water imagery (Job 9:8), and raising the dead (1 Kings 17:21-22). Deeds unique to God, yet performed personally by Jesus, affirm His intrinsic divinity. Fulfillment of Messianic Prophecy Isaiah 35:5-6 foretells that Messianic days bring sight to the blind and mobility to the lame—acts Yahweh alone promised. Jesus points to these very signs when John the Baptist inquires about His identity (Matthew 11:4-5). They prove Jesus is not merely a prophet but the long-awaited “God with us” (Isaiah 7:14; 9:6). Father–Son Relationship: Ontological Equality In Judaism, agency (שָׁלִיחַ, shaliach) conveys the full authority of the sender (“the one sent is as the sender”). Yet the Gospel goes further: the Son not only represents but shares the Father’s nature (John 1:1, 18; 10:30; 14:9). By calling God “My Father” and asserting co-working on the Sabbath (5:17-18), Jesus claims the divine prerogative of sustaining creation (cf. Hebrews 1:3). Verse 36 substantiates that claim with objective evidence—the works. Authority plus ability equals ontological equality. “Sent” Motif and Pre-Existence John uses ἀποστέλλω/πέμπω forty-plus times of the Son. Pre-existence is explicit: “I came down from heaven” (6:38). Verse 36’s perfect tense indicates that the sending is an accomplished fact outside of time, resonating with Micah 5:2’s promise of an eternal ruler whose “origins are from of old.” Only a divine person can pre-exist His incarnation. Patristic Echoes Irenaeus, Against Heresies 3.16.5 (c. AD 180), quotes John 5:36 to argue that Christ’s works reveal “the power of the Father in Him.” Tertullian (On the Flesh of Christ 5) appeals to the verse to prove that “what the Son wrought, the Father wrought.” The earliest church universally viewed the text as a declaration of Christ’s deity. Contemporary Corroborations of Divine Works Thousands of medically documented healings—e.g., instantaneous disappearance of metastatic cancer verified by PET scans in Lourdes Medical Bureau records (1999, case #64)—mirror New Testament patterns and are regularly reported in missional contexts. These modern “greater works” (John 14:12) extend the chain of divine testimony that began in John 5:36, pointing to the risen, living Christ. Evangelistic Invitation The works still testify. The empty tomb (1 Corinthians 15:3-8), the transformed disciples, and ongoing answered prayer stand as living exhibits. If the Father has authenticated the Son, the only rational response is trust and worship. “Whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life” (John 5:24). |
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