I was taught to be suspicious of anyone who repeatedly insists, “I swear I’m telling the truth,” or those folks who overuse the word honestly. Apparently, no one told that to John, the writer of the fourth Gospel. In these 11 verses alone (5:19-29), John reframes Jesus’ statements about himself using the phrase, “I tell you the truth.” In these verses, the phrase occurs three times!

John is writing to churches in Asia Minor, comprised of Jewish Christians who are experiencing religious and social marginalization. These followers of the Messiah are being pushed to the fringes by orthodox Jews who cannot believe these folks would put their trust in a crucified carpenter from Nazareth (of all places!). More specifically, these loyal disciples of Jesus have been kicked out of the synagogue. They’ve lost their social and religious identity (cf. John 9; 12:42-32).

John’s Gospel, as our text indicates, is a theological story. This story centers around a key person and is written to encourage Christians in their quest to keep their Jewishness without losing the core conviction that Jesus is, somehow, God’s divine agent.

The Text at Hand
John 5:19-29 can now come alive for even the most casual readers. When I read this text through the lens of John’s intended audience, two things grab my heart.

The uniqueness of Jesus. Of the four gospels, John’s is crystal clear about the early church’s unique claims concerning Jesus Christ. Dan Brown, in The DaVinci Code, made waves by claiming the divinity of Jesus was concocted by fourth-century theologians in a desperate attempt to solidify the Christian religion. Historians of all faiths refute Brown’s creative interpretation.

The early church, by her writings, preaching, and willingness to die, insisted Jesus was, somehow, the God who once walked among us. The early church, in confessing Jesus as “Son of God” and “Lord,” had nothing to gain and everything to lose. These men and women really believed God, in Jesus, was doing something new and divine. Jesus is “authority” and “judge” because he is God’s one and only anointed agent for the particular mission at hand.

The certainty of salvation. Moreover, this text reminds readers, old and new, that Jesus rescues us from our sin, shame, and darkness now and forevermore. Our “eternal life” (John’s phrase for kingdom) is as much about the “here and now” as it is the “there and then.” Some groups may teach “once saved, always saved.” I grew up in a tribe that taught “once saved, barely saved.” This text, rightly appropriated, challenges both extremes. Those brought into the fellowship of Father, Son, and Spirit by Jesus need not fret, for that friendship is everlasting.

Our Complex World

Learning to embody texts like John 5:19-29 in our shrinking world is a bit complicated. America is a hotbed for religious diversity. All indications point to declining numbers of citizens who profess Jesus as “Lord,” and an increasing number of faiths being practiced. As Barbara Brown Taylor comments on John 14:6 (“I am the way, the truth, and the life”), we must think carefully about how we apply these “assurance passages.” Taylor just as easily could have been commenting on John 5:19-29 when she writes:

When we wrench that language loose from its moorings and use it to separate ourselves from our neighbors, we deform the good news of God in Christ. We turn the way of servanthood into a way of asserting our own dominance. . . . The danger, when we do this, is that our insistence on Christ may make us less Christian (The Only Way to God, a sermon delivered in 1999 at Duke University Chapel).

As modern disciples who profess Jesus as judge and authority, we must be mindful that many of our neighbors do not share such convictions. It takes faith to believe, despite all the evidence around us, that Jesus is the ultimate authority and judge. It takes holy chutzpah to be more committed to embodying such truth in the way we live than drenching our towns, conversations, schools, and conversations with religious fanaticism.

Jesus understood God to be his authority and judge. And yet, he was willing to die for his friends and for his enemies. His convictions about God caused him to live a life free of self-preservation. As Paul writes, Jesus completely emptied himself.

For those of us who believe wholeheartedly in Jesus as authority and judge, we must remember to live that conviction as closely to the example set forth by the One we claim to follow; laying down our lives for friends, strangers, and enemies alike.