When Jesus healed a man at the pool of Bethesda, His opponents began persecuting Him because He did this on the Sabbath (John 5:1-16). Interestingly, instead of correcting their misunderstanding of the Sabbath law, Jesus said, “My Father is working until now, and I Myself am working” (John 5:17).
Jesus’ opponents knew exactly what His statement meant. By “calling God His own Father, [He was] making Himself equal with God” (John 5:18). Because of this, they were “seeking all the more to kill Him” (John 5:18).
In response, Jesus said, “For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will honor the Son even as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him” (John 5:22-23).
Jesus’ point was that we cannot separate the Father from the Son. If we reject Jesus, we cannot expect to please the Father. Those who think they can come to God apart from Christ will realize their error when they “appear before the judgment seat of Christ” (2 Corinthians 5:10).
So we must honor Christ. His opponents accurately recognized His claim to be equal with the Father but would not accept it. Instead of rejecting Him as they did, we must acknowledge His Deity and serve Him accordingly.