John 5:19-20 NASB95
Therefore Jesus answered and was saying to them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. [20] For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and the Father will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.
Even though Jesus was truly God, He was also 100% human. While on earth, He laid down his right to act out of His deity and lived as a Spirit-filled and Spirit-led man. Hebrews tells us that Jesus was “the author and perfecter of faith.” He wasn’t just an example for us, but he was an example of us living the life of faith that God created humanity to walk in. Repeatedly in the Gospel of John, Jesus said that He did nothing on His own initiative, and in John 5:19, Jesus said, “Truly, truly the Son can do nothing of Himself.” His life of faith as a man was characterized by two attitudes; He was fully and radically surrendered to the Father’s will (He did nothing on His own initiative), and He utterly trusted in His Father’s faithfulness (the Son can do nothing of Himself). His every step was characterized by abandonment and confidence. These are the two dispositions of the life of faith. Because Jesus was completely abandoned to the will of the Father, He only did those things He saw the Father doing (this was not an external seeing, but an internal following) – just like we follow the Lord Jesus, who lives in us and leads us from within by the Holy Spirit, Jesus (as the Son of Man) followed the Father who lived in Him and led Him by the Holy Spirit. Verse 20 of John 5 tells us that Jesus not only followed in surrendered obedience, He also walked in absolute and total confidence in the Father who loved Him and would, therefore, always be faithful. This is the Christian life. As the author and the perfecter of faith, Jesus revealed what a life of faith looks like. One step at a time, we are called to live in total abandonment to the will of Christ, who lives in us as our life, fully confident that He will always be faithful because of how much He loves us. It is so simple and so gloriously liberating.