Answer:

I suppose I can see how you got this interpretation from John 5:26, but only if it is taken out of context.  A good rule of interpretation is to ask what is meant by a passage in its context.  So… let us look at the context of John 5:26.  If you go back to John 5:24 we see that the “life” Jesus is talking about is the eternal life that we receive from God when we hear Jesus and believe in him.  “I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life.  I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.  For as the Father has life (ie. eternal life to give to those who believe in Jesus) in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life (ie. eternal life to give to those who believe in the Son) in himself. And he has given authority to judge because he is the Son of Man. (John 5:24-27).

Therefore, the context tells us that the life that the Father granted to the Son is the life that he gives to believers.  For this reason, your question is a moot point.  This passage is not teaching that God gave life (existence) to Jesus, so your question of whether this makes Jesus “just another prophet” is based on an incorrect premise and the answer is “no” it does not make him just a prophet.

Besides, there are a couple of other rules of biblical interpretation you could apply here.  One rule is that we should consider all the biblical passages on a subject before answering a given question.  Another rule is that more difficult passages should be interpreted in light of more clear passages.  Both of these “rules” could be used to show that the Bible is not consistent with the conclusion that Jesus is “just a prophet” or that Jesus was created or given life by the Father.

For example, we could look at John 1:1.  In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  He was with God in the beginning.  Also, there is John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”  Jesus is God.  Jesus existed before all creation.  Jesus was not created.  In John 8:58 Jesus said about himself, “Before Abraham was born, I AM.”  Jesus declares here that He is God–that he is the pre-existent One.  I could list dozens of passages which show that Jesus is God.  He was not created.  Because of these passages, we have another reason to understand that John 5:26 should not be interpreted as implying that Jesus is just a prophet.

In fact, life is in Jesus.  Like he said, “I tell you the truth, he who believes has everlasting life.  I am the bread of life… I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.” (John 6:27, 51) This is the life that Jesus is talking about in John 5:26.

John Oakes