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God the Father had used Yeshua to heal a man who had been an invalid for 38 years. Yeshua told him to pick up his mat and walk. Healing a man on the Sabbath and then telling him to carry a mat was, according to the understanding of the Jewish leaders, a violation of the command against working on the Sabbath. That gave them the justification to persecute Yeshua. To defend Himself, Yeshua made the most astounding claims about Himself.

Many people have made big claims about themselves: I understand the truth better than anyone else. I’ve discovered secret knowledge. I’ve attainted enlightenment. I’m a messenger of God. I’m a prophet. I’m the Messiah. I’m a god. What makes Yeshua’s claims about Himself so special is that they are so amazing, so astounding, and they are true. And they give us some of the very clearest revelation of who Yeshua is.

Yeshua’s first claim: the law about not working on the Sabbath didn’t apply to Him because He is equal to God in nature and authority and has the right to do what God does: In His defense Yeshua said to them, “My Father is always at His work to this very day, and I too am working.” Yeshua claimed that from the beginning of creation, God has been active on the Sabbath – sustaining the universe, ruling the universe and helping the world and its inhabitants. If God ceased all work on the Sabbath, the universe might not be sustained. It might cease to exist. For 24 hours, it wouldn’t be ruled by God. It might become chaotic and unlivable. For 24 hours, human beings would not be given any divine help. God works on the Sabbath.

Yeshua claimed that the command about not working on the Sabbath didn’t apply to Him because, just as God works on the Sabbath, so does He, because He is the unique Son of God who shares the same divine nature and the same divine authority as God the Father!

The Jewish leaders understood this claim and their rejection of Yeshua intensified to the point they wanted to kill Him. For this reason they tried all the more to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbath (according to their understanding of breaking the Sabbath, and their understanding was wrong), but He was even calling God His own Father, making Himself equal with God. Yeshua is equal to the Father in nature because the Father and the Son share the same divine nature. Like the Father, the Son is divine, eternal, uncreated, sharing all the attributes of God.

Yeshua is equal to God in nature and Yeshua is equal to the Father in authority over everything that exists. The Son rules with the Father over the universe and everything in it; over all created beings and over all forces.

However, within the Trinity, the Son is inferior to the Father in authority. Just as a human father is superior to his child in authority, so God the Father is superior to the Son in authority. The Father sits on the main throne in Heaven. The Son sits at the Father’s right hand. The Father commands and the Son obeys the command – never the other way around. Did the leaders really want to oppose Someone who was greater than the law about not working on the Sabbath because He is equal to God in nature and in authority?

Yeshua’s second claim: He never operated on His own. He was always directed by God, who loves Him: Yeshua gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. Yes, and He will show Him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. The best human beings see through a glass darkly. Yeshua claimed, unlike the rest of humanity, to have a view of God that was perfectly clear, unobstructed by sin. He was able to see what the Father was doing all the time, and like a good Son, He imitated what He saw His Father doing. Yeshua never operated on His own. Everything He did was directed by God the Father. If He healed a man on the Sabbath, it was because God showed Him that was what He wanted Him to do.

The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. There is perfect love between the Father and the Son. Because the Father has that kind of love for Yeshua, He trusts Yeshua and shares all of His plans with Him; and the Son faithfully carries out those plans. Therefore to oppose Yeshua, who is loved by God and carrying out the plans of God, is to oppose God and the plans of God. Did these Jewish leaders really want to oppose God and God’s plans?

Yeshua’s third claim: He will do even greater things, like bringing dead people back to life and giving them eternal life: The Father loves the Son and shows Him all He does. Yes, and He will show Him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. The Father had shown Yeshua a number of miracles, enabling Yeshua to do miracles, including the Sabbath healing of the invalid by the pool of Bethesda. While those miracles were impressive, Yeshua claimed that God was going to allow Him to do things which were greater and more amazing.

For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it. In the future, God the Father will raise the dead and restore them to life. Yeshua claimed to have the same kind of authority and ability to resurrect the dead and give life to those people who please Him. Who are the people who please Him? They certainly include those who become loyal to Him. They do not include those who displease Him. Along with God the Father, Yeshua will share the responsibility for resurrecting mankind and giving eternal life to those who please Him. Did these leaders not want to please Yeshua so that He would resurrect them and give them everlasting life?

Yeshua’s fourth claim: He alone will be the judge on the Day of Judgment: Moreover, the Father judges no one, but has entrusted all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. A day is coming when every human being will be judged. On the Day of Judgment, each man, each woman will give an account of their lives on Earth, their actions, thoughts, words, their loyalty to God or their disloyalty, and they and be rewarded or punished; they will be sent to Hell or allowed to live forever in the kingdom of God. The one before whom every human being will appear for judgment? Not God the Father, but God the Son. The judgment of mankind is a responsibility given exclusively to Yeshua.

Judges are entrusted with tremendous responsibility. They make decisions that involve reward and punishment, life and death. Therefore judges are honored. They should be especially honored by those who appear before them. Yeshua claimed that the Father will allow Him to judge mankind so that He will receive the same kind of honor that is reserved for God the Father. Did these leaders want to dishonor the one who will be their judge on the day of judgment, Someone God insists all of humanity honor?

And the opposite is true: Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father, who sent Him. We want those we delegate to accomplish an important task to be honored. If they’re not respected, it’s an insult to the one who sent them to accomplish their task. Yeshua claimed that God the Father sent Yeshua to Earth to accomplish a very important task – the redemption of humanity. Therefore to dishonor Yeshua is to dishonor the Father who sent Him. Did these leaders want to dishonor God, who sent Yeshua to accomplish His task of saving humanity?

Yeshua’s fifth claim: The person who believes that God sent Him, and has faith in Him and His teachings will be pardoned and live forever: Very truly I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not be judged (judged in the sense of condemned and sent to Hell) but has crossed over from death to life. Because humanity joined the rebellion of the fallen angels, we forfeited eternal life. God condemned us to death – the first death and the second death. Prior to the arrival of Yeshua, God made a way possible for the Chosen People to gain temporary atonement – by having faith in God and His Word and offering the sacrifices at the temple.

Yeshua claimed that with His arrival, ultimate atonement and eternal life was now available – not by going to the temple and killing bulls, goats, lambs, rams and pigeons in the presence of a descendant of Aaron. Having the death sentence lifted and living forever was only possible when a person became loyal to Yeshua and His teachings and believed that Yeshua was sent by God, God’s emissary, God’s representative, God’s ambassador, God’s prophet. Did these Jewish leaders want to be condemned and experience the second death in Gehenna, Hell, the Lake of Fire? Did they not want cross over from death to life and live forever? If so, they needed to believe that God sent Yeshua, and have faith in Him and His teachings.

Yeshua’s sixth claim: He will resurrect the dead in the future and gives spiritual life to people in the present: Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. Yeshua claimed that a time is coming when every human being who lived and died will respond to His voice and be resurrected. And He claimed that, in a way, that was already happening. Those who were spiritually dead, and who were hearing Him and believing Him were coming alive – spiritually. Did the Jewish leaders not want to experience spiritual life in the present, which is a real relationship with the living God? Did they not want to participate in the resurrection of the righteous that results in eternal life?

Yeshua’s seventh claim: He has life in Himself: For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son also to have life in Himself. All living things have a kind of life that is dependant on God, who is the source of life. God has a unique kind of life – life that is eternal, uncreated, not dependant on the life of any other. Yeshua claimed that He has the same kind of life-in-Himself kind of life that God the Father has.

What I find particularly interesting about this claim is the way it is stated: that God the Father granted to the Son to have life in Himself. This life-in-Himself kind of life that the Son shares with the Father comes as a grant from the Father to the Son. The one who gives the grant is greater than the one who receives the grant. So, Yeshua claimed to be equal to God in nature, in shared eternal, uncreated divine life, but inferior to the Father in authority. Did these Jewish leaders want to oppose Someone whom the Father granted to have life in Himself?

Yeshua’s eighth claim: He is the perfect human being who will be humanity’s judge: Yeshua claimed earlier that He alone would be mankind’s judge so that He would be honored by every human being. Here He gave us another reason why God will allow Him to be humanity’s judge. And He (God the Father) has given Him (the Son) authority to judge because He is the Son of Man. When you appear before a judge, it’s good to have a judge who is like you, who understands you and your situation. Yeshua claimed that God the Father, who is superior to Him in authority, gave Him exclusive authority to judge humanity because He is the Son of Man – the ideal human being, the perfect human being. Who better to judge human beings than a human being? A perfect human being who is wise and fair and just? Did the leaders want to oppose the ideal human whom God appointed to be their judge?

Yeshua gave additional information about His previous claim to share the responsibility for the resurrection: Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear His voice and come out – those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned. Yeshua claimed that on the day when humans are raised from death, His voice will be heard by billions of dead humans. He will call and every person who has died will respond to His voice, be resurrected and judged by Him.

Those who have lived in a way that is acceptable to Him will be rewarded with eternal life. Those who have lived in a way that is unacceptable to Him will be condemned and sentenced to the second death in the Lake of Fire. Did the leaders want to persecute the One who will call to them, raise them to life, judge them and reward them with eternal life or punish them with the fire of Gehenna?

Yeshua’s ninth claim is similar to His second: He never acted independently from God and was always motivated by the desire to please the Father: By Myself I can do nothing; I judge only as I hear, and My judgment is just, for I seek not to please Myself but Him who sent Me. When a man is motivated by self-interest, his judgment can be distorted. He might be unable to see beyond what is best for himself. Yeshua claimed He was never motivated by self-interest. He was motivated by the desire to please the God who sent Him to complete His mission of world redemption; therefore all judgments were right.

Just as we see through a glass darkly, we hear through mufflers. We are unable to hear God clearly speaking to us – everyone that is, except for Yeshua. Yeshua claimed that He was always able to hear God speaking to Him in a very clear way. And what He heard God say, He did. Nothing was done independently from first hearing from God and then doing what He heard. Did these leaders want to oppose this servant of God who was only motivated by the desire to please God, who always heard God clearly, and always did what God said and always made the decisions that God wanted Him to make?

Yeshua made the most amazing, most astounding claims about Himself. And I believe them. Every one of them.

He claimed the command about not working on the Sabbath didn’t apply to Him because, just as God works on the Sabbath, so does He, because He is the unique Son of God who shares the same divine nature and the same divine authority as God the Father! If you don’t want to oppose the one who shares the nature and authority of God, you had better become loyal to Yeshua!

He claimed He never operated on His own. He was always directed by God. If you don’t want to go against Someone who is constantly directed by God – you need to follow Yeshua!

He claimed He had the same kind of authority and ability to resurrect the dead and give life to the people who please Him that God the Father has.

If you don’t want to offend Someone who has the authority and ability to bring you back to life and give you eternal life – you should please Yeshua!

He claimed that the judgment of mankind is a responsibility given exclusively to Him. If you want to get on the good side of your judge – you had better honor Yeshua!

He claimed the person who believes that God sent Him and has faith in Him and His teachings will be pardoned and live forever. If you want all your sins pardoned and the death sentence commuted – place your faith in Yeshua!

He claimed He will resurrect the dead in the future and gives spiritual life to people in the present. If you want spiritual life now in the present, a life-giving relationship with the living God, and if you want eternal life in the future, listen to Yeshua!

He claimed He has the same kind of eternal, uncreated, life-in-Himself kind of life that God the Father has. If you want to be united to Someone who has life in Himself, join yourself to Yeshua!

He claimed He never acted independently from God because He was always motivated by the desire to please the Father and all His decisions were right. If you want to act in unity with God and please God and make the right decision, become loyal to Yeshua!

As far as I know, these are the most astounding claims any human being has made about himself. If they are true, we must believe them. We must accept Yeshua as the Messiah and the Son of God and as the Lord. If these claims are not true, we must reject them and reject Yeshua as being a liar or a lunatic.

How can we know these claims that Yeshua made about Himself are true? Yeshua told us how we can know – by knowing the testimony of four reliable witnesses. If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not true. Not that what He said is wrong, but His testimony is insufficient, because according to Torah, two or three witnesses are needed for confirmation of an important matter – not just one witness.

Witness #1. The greatest man who ever lived, who was a prophet and more than a prophet: There is another who testifies in My favor, and I know that his testimony about Me is true. You have sent to John and he has testified to the truth.

Witness #2. Yeshua’s miracles: I have testimony weightier than that of John. For the works that the Father has given Me to finish – the very works that I am doing testify that the Father has sent Me. Ordinary human beings don’t do miracles. Normally, God will only allow someone who is very close to Him to do a miracle. Yeshua’s miracles testify that He was close to God, approved by God.

Witness #3. God the Father: The Father who sent Me has Himself testified concerning Me – especially at Yeshua’s baptism.

Witness #4. The Word of God: You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life. The Scriptures are all about Yeshua, direct prophecies like Isaiah 53 and indirect prophecies that point to Yeshua, like Jacob’s Ladder.

Yeshua’s claims about Himself are true. We can know that because of what John said; because of what God the Father said; because of what the Word of God said; and because what the miracles of Yeshua communicate.

Yeshua is so true, so real, so alive, so special, so important, so necessary! May we, and our Christian and Messianic Jewish brothers and sisters everywhere, be loyal to Him, focused on Him, keenly aware of Him, close to Him, filled with His Spirit, receiving power from Him, learning from Him, directed by Him. And may we be passionate about Him and carrying on His mission of evangelism, teaching and good deeds. Amen? Amen!