John 5: The Humility of the Son Who Does Nothing on His Own

Introduction

"For I, Yahweh, don't change." This verse, Malachi 3:6, opened the service of October 11, 2026 at the Église Protestante Évangélique de Namur. Autumn is settling in, the clocks are about to go back for winter, and the days are getting shorter. "Time passes, seasons follow one another, our surroundings change. Our lives evolve too." God, for his part, remains faithful to himself.

Laurent, who leads the service, strings together two songs that seem unrelated: "King of Kings," then "Forgive Me, Lord." The link is there all the same: if Jesus is the King of kings, we must bring our failings to him. Then comes another contrast: we move from the King of kings to "the humility of God."

Before Communion, Claude carries this thought further from John 5. The one who said "Apart from me you can do nothing" is also the one who said: "The Son can do nothing of himself." This is the humility of God, and this is what we are invited to look at as we take the bread and the cup.

Message Outline

1. God Does Not Change, Whatever Your Season

"Where were we five years ago? Where will we be in five years? Nobody knows." Our concerns are renewed every morning, but God says: "I, Yahweh, don't change" (Malachi 3:6).
God's love does not depend on the season. Even when you feel far away, he remains faithful. "For Yahweh is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations" (Psalm 100:5).
The hardest part on Sunday is refocusing: turning off the phones, being quiet, lifting our eyes to the cross. "You will never be preached anything other than Christ, and Christ crucified."
Jesus is not merely a figure of the past, "probably the best-known figure in all of history." He is alive, he reigns, and he is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8). That is why we can approach with confidence.
God's greatness can be seen in nature: the tree that loses its leaves, the humus that feeds it, the seed that already carries everything it must become, an oak, an ash, a hazel.

2. God's Faithfulness Does Not Turn a Blind Eye to Our Faults

Our lives do not always reflect what we sing: "Sometimes we lack love. Sometimes we lack patience. Sometimes we even lack faith."
Some say: "God is good, he will forgive me, he understands me." But the Bible says: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). Forgiveness comes through confession.
The time of worship is a time to examine ourselves, "each of us before examining others," and to ask: "Lord, what needs to change in my life?"
When we no longer know how to pray, we still have the hymns. "We do not come before God because we are perfect. We come because we need him."
In any case, there is no other choice than to come as we are: God knows our thoughts, our words from the week, and what we confide to no one.

3. The Heart of the Gospel: God Takes the Initiative

"Our hope does not rest on our ability to be perfect." It rests on what God accomplished in Jesus Christ.
"But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). God did not love us because we were worthy.
As in the story of Adam and Eve, it is God who takes the initiative, he is the one who comes toward us.
This love is not limited to the day of conversion: "When we are strong, he remains faithful. When we are weak, he remains faithful. When we no longer understand anything, he remains faithful."

4. The King of Kings Who Becomes a Servant

Jesus says: "I am gentle and lowly in heart" (Matthew 11:29). He was born in very humble circumstances, and he knew weariness, hunger, suffering, and rejection.
Paul writes: "Have this in your mind, which was also in Christ Jesus, who, existing in the form of God, didn't consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant" (Philippians 2:5-8).
Here is the paradox: the one who deserves all the glory accepts humiliation, the one who could have demanded the service of men came to serve. And yet Jesus never ceased to be God: he took this condition willingly.
"His love is that he gives himself. His faithfulness goes all the way to the end of things." We, on the other hand, seek to be recognized, to be right, to be served rather than to serve.
This humility can be seen on the Communion table: a few boards put together, two aluminum trays, small plastic cups. Bread, a little crushed grape juice. "What humility for the King of kings who says: this is my body, this is my blood."

5. The Son Can Do Nothing of Himself

The song "Behold the Humility of God" takes up a text attributed to Francis of Assisi, whose death 800 years ago (October 1226) is being commemorated. A lesson in humility along the way: "We, in the 21st century, look down on those who came before us."
Jesus said: "I am the vine. You are the branches. He who remains in me, and I in him, the same bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing" (John 15:5). If any other man said that, we would wonder who he thinks he is.
In John 5, Jesus heals a man who had been paralyzed for 38 years at the pool of Bethesda. He declares: "My Father is still working, so I am working, too." The Jews understand that he is making himself equal to God, and Jesus does not correct them: he is truly the Son of God, truly God like the Father.
But he adds: "The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he sees the Father doing. For whatever things he does, these the Son also does likewise" (John 5:19). The one who says "apart from me you can do nothing" also says that the Son can do nothing without the Father.
The Father has given all judgment to the Son, so that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father (John 5:22-23). And yet Jesus repeats: "I can of myself do nothing. As I hear, I judge. My judgment is righteous, because I don't seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me" (John 5:30).

6. Humility Is Not False Modesty

Claude takes the example of fashion shows: at the end, the models go and fetch the designer from the back of the stage, and he pretends to resist. "No, no, I only did my job." That is false modesty.
"Being humble does not mean playing the modest one." Jesus is "lowly in heart," the exact opposite of a surface or outward humility.
Judging is one of the hardest tasks entrusted to human beings. If you listen to judges talk, nothing is heavier than pronouncing a sentence. The Son received all authority to judge, and he says he does not do it of himself.
So, before judging others, "judge yourselves, examine yourselves" (see 1 Corinthians 11:28). Let us not take the bread and the cup as proud people who think: "I'm the one who is right."

7. Letting Jesus Join Us

The next day's reading, in John 6, tells of Jesus walking on the water. One very simple verse: "They entered into the boat, and were going over the sea to Capernaum. It had now become dark, and Jesus had not yet come to them" (John 6:17).
"Is it possible that sometimes we get into the boat and we don't even wait to make sure you are with us?" The Lord promises to be with us every day, but we can set out on projects without letting him join us.
Another time, the disciples go ahead of Jesus and want to silence a blind man who is crying out: "Son of David, have mercy on me!" (Luke 18:38-39). "It is not our role to go ahead of the Lord."
What grace, though: Jesus had not yet come to them, but he went to join them by extraordinary means.
The words of Communion remind us: we are not purified by the blood of goats or lambs, but by the blood given by the Son of God (see Hebrews 9:12). "Teach us that it is not only for salvation that we can do nothing without you."

Key Takeaways

God does not change: his faithfulness depends neither on the season nor on the condition of your heart.
His faithfulness does not turn a blind eye to our faults: forgiveness comes through confession.
The King of kings willingly became a servant, without ever ceasing to be God.
The Son himself says he does nothing without the Father: how much more true it is that we can do nothing without him.
True humility is a matter of the heart, not a front of modesty or a gaze that judges others.

Personal Application

In what state of heart do you arrive on Sunday, and what keeps you from refocusing on God?
Are you counting on God's goodness to avoid confessing a specific fault?
In what area of your life are you still acting as if you could do something without him?
Do you ever play the modest one, or pass a judgment on others that is not yours to pass?
In which "boat" have you set out without making sure Jesus is with you?

Verses Cited

Frequently Asked Questions

How can Jesus say "apart from me you can do nothing" and still be humble?

Coming from a mere man, this saying would be the height of pride. But the one who speaks it also says, in John 5, that the Son can do nothing of himself, except what he sees the Father doing. The Son himself lives in dependence on the Father: this is where the humility of God is revealed.

What is the difference between humility and false modesty?

False modesty plays the modest one, like the designer at a fashion show who pretends to refuse the applause. The humility of Jesus is not an appearance: he calls himself gentle and lowly in heart, and he willingly chose the condition of a servant without ever ceasing to be God.

What does "Jesus had not yet come to them" mean in John 6?

The disciples got into the boat at night, without Jesus. The verse invites us to ask ourselves whether we sometimes set out on projects without making sure the Lord is with us, or without letting him join us. In the story, though, Jesus went to join them by extraordinary means.