This chapter of John is a mass of overlapping structures. One is:
Joh 5:19-30 chiastic structure:
1a.1) Joh 5:19a, Jesus: The Son can do nothing of Himself;
1a.2) Joh 5:19b-20c, I do not do My own works, but the works of the Father who sent Me;
1a) Joh 5:19b, But what He sees the Father do;
1b) Joh 5:19c, For whatever He does, the Son also does in like manner;
central axis) Joh 5:20a, For the Father loves the Son;
2b) Joh 5:20b, And shows Him all things that He Himself does;
2a) Joh 5:20c, And He will show Him greater works than these;
1b.1) Joh 5:20d, That you may marvel;
1b.2) Joh 5:21, For as the Father raises the dead + gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will;
1c) Joh 5:22, For the Father judges no one, but has committed all judgment to the Son;
1d) Joh 5:23, That the Son should be honored as the Father is honored;
1e) Joh 5:24a, He who hears My word + believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life;
central axis) Joh 5:24b, And shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life;
2e) Joh 5:25, The hour is coming + now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and live;
2d) Joh 5:26, For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself;
2c) Joh 5:27, And has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man;
2b.1) Joh 5:28a, Do not marvel at this;
2b.2) Joh 5:28b-29, All who are in the graves will hear His voice + come forth—the good to life/ the evil to condemnation;
2a.1) Joh 5:30a, I can of Myself do nothing;
2a.2) Joh 5:30b, As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is righteous, because I do not seek My own will but the will of the Father who sent Me.
To know that God is working … that He is working until now, and that the Son is likewise working … that the King has not given up on us, but He is working His plan and His works, and sometimes you can see it, and sometimes it is behind the scenes, but it is always ongoing … is a foundational truth that, once settled in the heart, produces the fruit of patience, selflessness, and that of a good-natured peacemaker. You can receive people with grace, because you know that what they are today is not the finished product. When this truth is not settled in the heart, when the opposite lie of “God isn’t working, in myself, my situation, or the world” is settled instead, the fruit that it bears is impatient selfishness, disharmony, disunity, temper, wrath, and violence. We can choose what we will believe, and what we choose to believe will change the fruit of our lives!
Leave a Reply