John 10:17-18 - "The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life - only to take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down and authority to lay it down and authority to take it up again. This command I received from my Father."
Jesus came to this earth to do the will of his Father, and the Father gave him power and authority, authority to judge and to grant eternal life, Jesus even had power over his own life. Jesus revealed that he was God's Son, through the miracles he performed. His authority could not be denied, even unto death. Jesus was greater than any other of the Jewish authorities.
Jesus does God's will.
John 4:34 - “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
John 5:30 - 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.
John 6:38 - For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
John 8:26 - “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
John 9:4 - As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
John 10:37-38 - “Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
John 12:49-50 - “For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
John 14:31 - “but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. Come now; let us leave.”
John 15:10 - If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
John 17:4 - I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
Jesus receives authority.
John 5:27 - And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
John 13:3 - Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
John 17:2 - For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
Jesus exercises authority.
John 7:30 -At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
John 7:44 - Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
John 11:43-44 - When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
John 18:1-9 - When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” “I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”
John 19:10-11 - “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
Jesus is greater than:
Abraham
John 8:56-58 - Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
Jacob
John 4:11-14 - “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Moses
John 6:30-33 - So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Angels
John 1:51 - He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
The Law
John 1:17 - For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 5:8-10 - Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
The Temple
John 2:18-21 - Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
King/Prophet
John 6:14 - After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
John 7:40 - On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
John 18:36-37 - Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
John the Baptist
John 1:29-31 - The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
John 3:28-30 - You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.
John challenges us to place ourselves under the authority of Jesus Christ, God's Son.
Jesus came to this earth to do the will of his Father, and the Father gave him power and authority, authority to judge and to grant eternal life, Jesus even had power over his own life. Jesus revealed that he was God's Son, through the miracles he performed. His authority could not be denied, even unto death. Jesus was greater than any other of the Jewish authorities.
Jesus does God's will.
John 4:34 - “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work.”
John 5:30 - 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.
John 6:38 - For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me.
John 8:26 - “I have much to say in judgment of you. But he who sent me is reliable, and what I have heard from him I tell the world.”
John 9:4 - As long as it is day, we must do the work of him who sent me. Night is coming, when no one can work.
John 10:37-38 - “Do not believe me unless I do what my Father does. But if I do it, even though you do not believe me, believe the miracles, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
John 12:49-50 - “For I did not speak of my own accord, but the Father who sent me commanded me what to say and how to say it. 50 I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”
John 14:31 - “but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. Come now; let us leave.”
John 15:10 - If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love.
John 17:4 - I have brought you glory on earth by completing the work you gave me to do.
Jesus receives authority.
John 5:27 - And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man.
John 13:3 - Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God;
John 17:2 - For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him.
Jesus exercises authority.
John 7:30 -At this they tried to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his time had not yet come.
John 7:44 - Some wanted to seize him, but no one laid a hand on him.
John 11:43-44 - When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
John 18:1-9 - When he had finished praying, Jesus left with his disciples and crossed the Kidron Valley. On the other side there was an olive grove, and he and his disciples went into it. Now Judas, who betrayed him, knew the place, because Jesus had often met there with his disciples. So Judas came to the grove, guiding a detachment of soldiers and some officials from the chief priests and Pharisees. They were carrying torches, lanterns and weapons. Jesus, knowing all that was going to happen to him, went out and asked them, “Who is it you want?” “Jesus of Nazareth,” they replied. “I am he,” Jesus said. (And Judas the traitor was standing there with them.) When Jesus said, “I am he,” they drew back and fell to the ground. Again he asked them, “Who is it you want?” And they said, “Jesus of Nazareth.” “I told you that I am he,” Jesus answered. “If you are looking for me, then let these men go.” This happened so that the words he had spoken would be fulfilled: “I have not lost one of those you gave me.”
John 19:10-11 - “Do you refuse to speak to me?” Pilate said. “Don’t you realize I have power either to free you or to crucify you?” Jesus answered, “You would have no power over me if it were not given to you from above. Therefore the one who handed me over to you is guilty of a greater sin.”
Jesus is greater than:
Abraham
John 8:56-58 - Your father Abraham rejoiced at the thought of seeing my day; he saw it and was glad.” “You are not yet fifty years old,” the Jews said to him, “and you have seen Abraham!” “I tell you the truth,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!”
Jacob
John 4:11-14 - “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his flocks and herds?” Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Moses
John 6:30-33 - So they asked him, “What miraculous sign then will you give that we may see it and believe you? What will you do? Our forefathers ate the manna in the desert; as it is written: ‘He gave them bread from heaven to eat.’” Jesus said to them, “I tell you the truth, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is my Father who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is he who comes down from heaven and gives life to the world.”
Angels
John 1:51 - He then added, “I tell you the truth, you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on the Son of Man.”
The Law
John 1:17 - For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.
John 5:8-10 - Then Jesus said to him, “Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.” At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jews said to the man who had been healed, “It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat.”
The Temple
John 2:18-21 - Then the Jews demanded of him, “What miraculous sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” The Jews replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body.
King/Prophet
John 6:14 - After the people saw the miraculous sign that Jesus did, they began to say, “Surely this is the Prophet who is to come into the world.”
John 7:40 - On hearing his words, some of the people said, “Surely this man is the Prophet.”
John 18:36-37 - Jesus said, “My kingdom is not of this world. If it were, my servants would fight to prevent my arrest by the Jews. But now my kingdom is from another place.” “You are a king, then!” said Pilate. Jesus answered, “You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me.”
John the Baptist
John 1:29-31 - The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, “Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! This is the one I meant when I said, ‘A man who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’ I myself did not know him, but the reason I came baptizing with water was that he might be revealed to Israel.”
John 3:28-30 - You yourselves can testify that I said, ‘I am not the Christ but am sent ahead of him.’ The bride belongs to the bridegroom. The friend who attends the bridegroom waits and listens for him, and is full of joy when he hears the bridegroom’s voice. That joy is mine, and it is now complete. He must become greater; I must become less.
John challenges us to place ourselves under the authority of Jesus Christ, God's Son.