Daily Devotionals

Truths to Live By - One Day at a Time

Devotional: November 29th

“I can of mine own self do nothing.”

Twice in HYPERLINK "javascript:" the Lord Jesus says that He can do nothing of Himself. In verse 19, He says, “Verily, verily, I say unto you, the Son can do nothing of himself…” Then again in verse 30 He says, “I can of mine own self do nothing…”

When we first read these verses, we are apt to feel disappointed. They seem to say that Jesus was limited in His power, just like ourselves. But if He is God, as He claimed to be, He must be omnipotent. How then could He say that He could do nothing of Himself? Indeed, the enemies of the Gospel have used these verses to show that Jesus was just a man with all the limitations of humanity.

But look more closely! Our Lord was not speaking of His physical power. What He was insisting was that He was so devoted to the will of His Father that He could not do anything on His own initiative. He was so morally perfect that He could not act in self will. He wanted nothing apart from the will of God.

You and I cannot say that we can do nothing of ourselves. Too often we act independently of the Lord. We make decisions without consulting Him. We yield to temptation with full knowledge that we are sinning. We choose our own will above His. The Lord Jesus could do none of these things.

Therefore, instead of suggesting that Jesus Christ was weak and finite, the verses prove the very opposite—that He was divinely perfect. This is made clear by reading the verses in their entirety rather than stopping at midpoint. What Jesus said in verse 19 was, “The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.” In other words, the Son cannot act independently of the Father, but He can do whatever the Father does. It is a claim to equality with God.

Then again in verse 30, Jesus said, “I can of my own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.” This means that He made decisions only on the basis of instructions that He received from His Father, and that His complete submission to God’s will insured that these decisions were correct.

J. S. Baxter points out that this passage contains seven distinct claims by Christ to be equal with God. Equal in working (v. 19); equal in knowing (v. 20); equal in resurrecting (w. 21,28, 29); equal in judging (vv. 22, 27); equal in honor (v. 23); equal in regenerating (vv. 24, 25); equal in self-existence (v. 26). Our Savior is not a weak, frail creature with limited power but omnipotent God manifest in the flesh.